Unit 3: Fiction


Here the writer appeals to several of the reader’s senses and captures the slow pace of life in an American small town in the 1930s. Te description enables the reader to experience the world of the narrative which later helps in understanding the thoughts, actions and feelings of different characters.


Word choice can help establish setting and mood. In the extract from To Kill a Mockingbird we can see some excellent examples of well-chosen words. Notice how the courthouse ‘sagged’, how men’s collars ‘wilted’, how people ‘ambled’. Tese verbs help to create the atmosphere of a place which could be unpleasant in both rainy and in ‘sweltering’ weather. Te town is captured as being ‘old’ and ‘tired’, the people behave in a predictable manner and are set in their ways. All of these aspects become crucially important as events unfold because they influence the behaviour of the characters.


When you comment on how a writer creates setting, pay careful attention to small details and be prepared to comment on the writer’s word choice.


2. Questions on Setting


Extract 1. Read the opening lines from the novel, Te Picture of Dorian Grey, by Oscar Wilde and answer the questions which follow.


Te studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came


through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink- flowering thorn.


?


1. Identify three phrases which appeal to our sense of smell and comment on the specific word choice in each phrase.


2. What details of the physical setting are revealed in this short extract? 105


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