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Notes for Setting - MYP | RevisionDojo

Setting Is More Than a Backdrop: It Shapes Meaning, Mood, and Persuasion

Definition

Setting

The time and place in which the action of a text happens (or, in non-fiction, where the description or events occur).

Setting is one of the most powerful choices a writer, filmmaker, or advertiser makes.
It is not just "where things happen." Setting influences what audiences feel, what they expect, and what message they take away.

Why setting matters

Setting can:
1. create mood and atmosphere
2. build tension
3. influence character behaviour
4. symbolise ideas or themes
5. affect plot movement
Change the setting, and the story changes.

Types of setting (the useful ones)

Physical setting
1. Where events happen (room, city, landscape)
Temporal setting
1. When events happen (past, present, night, winter)
Social setting
1. The rules and pressures of society (family, class, school, culture)

Note

Most stories use all three at once.

Setting and mood

Setting helps create mood through:
1. weather
2. lighting
3. space
4. silence or noise

Example

A dark, empty setting often creates tension.
A warm, familiar setting often creates comfort.

Setting and character

Setting can:
1. trap characters
2. protect characters
3. challenge characters
4. reflect characters’ emotions

Note

Characters don’t just exist in settings.
They react to them.

Setting and symbolism

Settings often act as symbols:
1. a house can represent memory or confinement
2. a road can represent change
3. a locked space can represent fear or control

Tip

If a setting keeps appearing, it probably means something.

Setting and plot movement

Setting can:
1. slow the plot (pauses, reflection)
2. speed it up (danger, urgency)
3. force decisions
Where a scene happens often explains why it happens that way.

Using PEEL to analyse setting

P: Point

Identify how the setting is used.
1. creates tension
2. reflects emotion
3. symbolises an idea

Example

The writer uses a confined setting to reinforce the short story’s theme of isolation.

E: Evidence

Quote a specific detail about the setting.

Example

This is evident in the description of “the small room with its single window and locked door.”

E: Explain

Explain:
1. what the setting detail suggests
2. how it affects mood, character, or plot

Example

The limited space creates a sense of restriction and loneliness, which mirrors the character’s emotional state and highlights their isolation.

L: Link

Link back to the same effect named in the Point.

Example

As a result, the confined setting reinforces the theme of isolation by reflecting how trapped the character feels.

Exam technique

Sentence starters for setting analysis
- Identifying the setting
  - The setting of the extract is…
  - The scene takes place in a … environment, which suggests…
  - The writer presents the setting as…
- Using evidence
  - This is shown in the description of…
  - The detail “… ” highlights the setting because…
- Explaining effect
  - This setting creates a sense of…
  - The setting reflects the character’s emotional state by…
  - The environment suggests that…
- Linking to theme or meaning
  - As a result, the setting reinforces the theme of…
  - This setting contributes to the overall meaning by…
  - The setting helps the reader understand…

Now it's your turn...

Example question

Practice task: analysing setting
Extract
- The bus stop was empty except for a flickering light and a bench slick with rain. Cars passed without slowing as she stood there, checking her phone again.
Your task
- Write one PEEL paragraph answering the question below.
Question:
- How does the setting contribute to meaning in this extract?
What students should focus on
- where the scene is set
- which details stand out
- what the setting suggests emotionally
- how the setting supports a theme (e.g. isolation, uncertainty, neglect)

Solution

The writer uses the empty bus stop setting to reinforce a sense of isolation and neglect. This is evident in the description of “the bus stop was empty except for a flickering light and a bench slick with rain.” The emptiness of the space, combined with the unstable light and unpleasant weather, creates an atmosphere of loneliness and discomfort. The lack of human presence and the cars passing without stopping suggest that the character is overlooked and unsupported. As a result, the setting reinforces the theme of isolation by mirroring how disconnected the character feels from the world around her.

P: Point
- The setting creates a sense of isolation and neglect.
E: Evidence
- This is shown in “the bus stop was empty except for a flickering light and a bench slick with rain.”
E: Explain
- The empty space, poor lighting, and rain create an uncomfortable and lonely atmosphere, suggesting the character is ignored and alone.
L: Link
- As a result, the setting reinforces the theme of isolation by reflecting the character’s emotional state.

Self review

Revision summary: Setting
- Where and when the story happens
- Creates mood and atmosphere
- Reflects characters’ emotions
- Can symbolise themes
Key question: What does this place suggest about how the character feels or what the story is really about?

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Note

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Tip

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Flashcards

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20 flashcards

How does a warm, familiar setting typically affect mood?

Lesson

Recap your knowledge with an interactive lesson

9 minute activity

DefinitionSettingThe time and place where a text's action happens (or, in non-fiction, where the description/events occur). This includes not only location and historical moment, but also the conditions that come with them (social rules, weather, technology, culture).

Setting is more than a background. Writers choose settings to shape:

what audiences feel (mood)
what audiences expect (genre cues, tension)
what message audiences take away (theme/meaning)

A setting can make a moment feel safe or threatening, ordinary or surreal, and can quietly signal what kind of story you are in.

Common MistakeOnly stating "It happens in a city" is not analysis. Analysis explains what that place and time suggest and how they affect mood, character, or meaning.

Key question to keep asking: What does this place and time suggest about the character, conflict, or theme?

Characterization and Human Behaviour5 subtopics

Dramatic Writing and Performance Techniques 4 subtopics

Narrative Perspective and Voice4 subtopics

Poetic Form and Expressive Techniques4 subtopics

Short Story Structure and Theme4 subtopics

Critical Reading and Media Interpretation4 subtopics

Travel Writing and Descriptive Craft3 subtopics

Ethical Reasoning in Texts3 subtopics

Argumentation and Persuasive Writing4 subtopics

Relationships and Interpersonal Themes3 subtopics

Duality, Conflict and Symbolism2 subtopics

Responsibility, Agency and Theme Development4 subtopics

Setting Notes

Characterization and Human Behaviour5 subtopics

Dramatic Writing and Performance Techniques 4 subtopics

Narrative Perspective and Voice4 subtopics

Poetic Form and Expressive Techniques4 subtopics

Short Story Structure and Theme4 subtopics

Critical Reading and Media Interpretation4 subtopics

Travel Writing and Descriptive Craft3 subtopics

Ethical Reasoning in Texts3 subtopics

Argumentation and Persuasive Writing4 subtopics

Relationships and Interpersonal Themes3 subtopics

Duality, Conflict and Symbolism2 subtopics

Responsibility, Agency and Theme Development4 subtopics

Setting Is More Than a Backdrop: It Shapes Meaning, Mood, and Persuasion

Why setting matters

Types of setting (the useful ones)

Setting and mood

Setting and character

Setting and symbolism

Setting and plot movement

Using PEEL to analyse setting

P: Point

E: Evidence

E: Explain

L: Link

Now it's your turn...

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