As the Assignment 3 Lecture on character points out, only three elements are necessary to create fiction: character, conflict, and setting. Though character and conflict are usually the more dominant elements in a story, setting can have a profound effect on the actions of the characters and the mood of the reader. The setting can serve as a conflict for the central character or influence the behavior of the characters. A bright, sunny setting can uplift the reader, whereas a dark, gloomy setting can depress the reader. And some settings even have symbolic qualities. So, instead of looking at the setting as simply a backdrop for the action, consider the significance of the setting in the structure of the story.
*Remember, you must write only one analysis from Assignments 5, 6, and 7. You do not need to write all three analyses.
VERY IMPORTANT: This assignment requires a research component. Read the assignment requirements below carefully.
If you have forgotten your MLA documentation from your Composition I course, you can find a refresher guide at this link: Research Paper Guide.
Contents
What Is Setting?
How Setting Is Revealed
Analyzing Setting
Detailed Example of Setting Analysis
Writing the Assignment 5 Setting Analysis
Sample Setting Analysis - Assignment 5
MLA Works Cited Entries
ASSIGNMENT 5 REQUIREMENTS
Guidelines for Submitting Your Assignment Files
In a narrow sense, setting refers to the time and place a story occurs--the when and where. In this regard, setting is a crucial factor in the creation of fiction. The most elementary analysis of setting should indicate these two aspects of time and place. Often, a general setting contributes little more to a story than a time and a place for the action to occur.
In a broader sense, the setting becomes the world through which the characters move. Just as you are affected by your surroundings and your world, so are the characters in a well-written story affected by the world they live in. The setting of a story may work to show that the conditions of a chosen time and place have some influence on characters in the story. These conditions are usually historical, cultural, economic, political, social, seasonal, or psychological in nature. They work to create the total environment--or world--of a setting. This larger sense of setting
Setting can be revealed in a variety of ways. One method is through straight descriptive passages--known as exposition--as at the first of London's "To Build a Fire" or Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher." Sometimes a gradual buildup of details is needed to present an overall view of the setting, as in Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" or Charlotte Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-Paper." Occasionally, no time or place of setting is given. Then, the general setting must be deduced through references to characters' dress or language, current events, or to certain objects, such as vehicles, money, movies or music, etc.
On a surface level, many settings seem to be insignificant or only a backdrop for the action. Such is the case in James Thurber's "The Catbird Seat" and Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace." Upon closer examination, one discovers that the settings in these stories do have significant importance. Thurber's World War II setting explains the office dynamics in the central character's company. Street names in Paris have special significance in Maupassant's story.
Often, when a setting is general and serves mainly as a background for the story, the author may be suggesting a more universal appeal of the central idea. "The Lottery" has such a general setting. But if a story has an underlying symbolic level, the setting may have a very special significance. This significance can be seen in such stories as "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" and Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily." In Kate Chopin's "Beyond the Bayou," a small bayou comes to serve as the boundary between an isolated old woman and the world she fears. At last, in a crucial action in the story, she must cross the bayou, which has a profound effect on her character.
The analysis of setting should consider its significance in the story and its effects on characters. Does the setting have significance beyond its simple time and place? Do the setting and background events influence the characters or their problems? Does some aspect of the setting symbolize the central character's conflict or goal? Does the setting contain marked uses of contrast or juxtaposition? If so, what might these contrasts or juxtapositions represent? Are these contrasts or juxtapositions suggestive of some sort of conflict? Does the setting help to establish the tone or central idea?
Your analysis should first identify the time and place of the story. But an analysis should discuss not only what the setting is, but also how the setting works to affect other elements in the story. The reader should interpret how the setting functions in the overall story.
A thesis statement for an analysis of setting should consider the function that setting performs in the story. Two or more secondary elements should be considered as well. Here is an example for "Guests of the Nation": O'Connor uses the isolated Irish setting to reveal Bonaparte's internal conflict and dynamic character.
Here's an example of how setting might be employed in a story. Be aware that this discussion illustrates the use of setting in the story, but it is not a well-organized analytical essay as you are required to do. See the sample analytical essay on "Guests of the Nation" below.
NOTE: Before you continue in this lecture, you should read "Guests of the Nation" in Fiction 100 or elsewhere.
In "Guests of the Nation," Frank O'Connor makes use of several interesting setting devices to make his story more effective. The story concerns a young Irish soldier, Bonaparte, and his friend Noble, who are assigned to guard two English prisoners, Hawkins and Belcher. The Irish soldiers and their British captives become friendly, so when the order comes down that the two English prisoners are to be executed, Bonaparte is faced with a moral dilemma.
The story is set in Ireland between World War I and World War II. There have been longstanding conflicts between the British and the Irish, mostly on religious grounds. At the time the story is set, the two nations are in armed conflict. Many students seem to think Bonaparte is French, perhaps recalling Napoleon Bonaparte, but the story clearly establishes Bonaparte as Irish and as the central character of the story. The particular setting of the story is a small house in or near a bog. Because of the differing types of characters that inhabit the house, it becomes a microcosm (or small universe) for society at large. The bog represents the moral quagmire that overtakes Bonaparte in the course of the story. The author also uses symbolic setting devices of inside-outside and light-dark. These devices will be discussed in more detail later.
At the beginning of the story, dusk is falling, so Hawkins lights a lamp, and the four men--Bonaparte, Noble, Hawkins, and Belcher--play a friendly game of cards in the circle of light. Bonaparte's superior officer, Donovan, occasionally drops by to watch the game. Already in the beginning, certain character traits are revealed. Donovan is said to be similar to Belcher; both men are older, more experienced, and more pragmatic. They both have a sense of duty, even if they don't understand why. Later, Hawkins and Noble are shown to be similar; these two men are younger, they are more impulsive, and they are more concerned with their own personal beliefs and principles. So the minor character-foil triangle is well established. The two older men represent experience and a sense of duty. The two younger men represent inexperience or innocence and a sense of personal principles.
Caught between the two concepts is the central character, Bonaparte. Bonaparte's beginning key trait of innocence or personal principles or conscience is established early in the story. In paragraph 3, he says he sees no reason why they should be guarding the Englishmen. They are not likely to escape, and in fact Hawkins knows the countryside better than the Irishmen. Bonaparte even argues with Donovan about the need to guard the prisoners. Bonaparte regards them as chums, and he has no sense of the two Englishmen as enemies. At the beginning, Bonaparte has no great commitment to duty or to his own principles. He just does what he has to do. Bonaparte's central internal conflict emerges: innocence vs. experience or personal principles vs. duty, or friendship vs. war. As you can see, the central conflict can be expressed in a variety of ways.
Within the circle of light inside the house, the men are friends, not enemies. They can argue without fighting. But outside the house, in the darkness, is war between the nations. The author's use of light and dark, inside and outside, reflects Bonaparte's internal conflict.
Minor conflicts are also present in the story, namely the Irish vs. the British, Protestant vs. Catholic, and atheistic vs. religious. These are all man vs. man minor conflicts.
In section I of the story, the atmosphere is relaxed. Everyone is chummy, and camaraderie is evident. Bonaparte and Noble, as inexperienced but earnest young soldiers, take over guarding the prisoners with "a natural feeling of responsibility." Section I serves as the potential situation, or beginning, of the story.
In section II, the tension begins to mount. Donovan says that he does not really like the Englishmen. The inciting incident is revealed when Donovan tells Bonaparte that the Englishmen are hostages and they likely will be shot. Notice that Donovan delivers this news to Bonaparte outside the house, in the darkness. At this point, Bonaparte's central internal conflict is firmly established. What choice will he make? Notice also that Bonaparte delivers the news to Noble in darkness.
In section III, the conflicts intensify quickly. Before the evening card game begins, before the lamp is lighted, the news that the Englishmen will be shot comes quickly, and the reader is as shocked as Bonaparte is. The abruptness of the news has more of an impact than the facts, which were basically predetermined. In this section, the nature of duty is discussed, and it is suggested that duty comes from a passion for justice. Donovan tells Bonaparte that the English shot "'four of our lads,'" and Bonaparte replies, "'That's bad.'" Though Donovan brings the news of the execution, he is not really a villain. He is simply the bearer of bad news and responsible for the orders being carried out. But he is not responsible for the situation. He is simply more hardened than Bonaparte and Noble, with a greater sense of duty.
Noble refuses to participate in bringing out the prisoners, so he is sent into the bog to dig the graves. Donovan and Bonaparte go into the "pitch-dark" house to retrieve the two Englishmen, and "no one thought of lighting the lamp." Donovan tells the Englishmen that they are to be shot in reprisal for the English shooting the Irish lads. Hawkins thinks Donovan is joking, but Bonaparte must confirm the news is true. Hawkins contends he never did anything to Donovan, that they are all chums, but Donovan explains that duty dictates their actions.
Bonaparte again feels responsibility at the end of the section. He hopes that the Englishmen will make a run for it or that Noble will take the responsibility of shooting the Englishmen from him. Bonaparte is caught in his internal conflict, and he does not want to decide.
In section IV, the men trudge through the bog. Bonaparte sees the faint lantern light in the distance. As the men approach the graves, Hawkins becomes flustered, saying he would never shoot his Irish friends and that he would join their side if he were not shot. As Hawkins continues to argue, Donovan lifts his pistol to the back of Hawkins' head and shoots him. Many students believe that this event is the climax of the story. It is not. Remember, the central character must perform the crucial action or make the critical decision that leads to the resolution of the conflict. Bonaparte is the central character, so he must do something to solve the problem.
Hawkins falls from the shot, his legs and boots in the dim circle of light from the lantern. But he is not dead yet, and Belcher says they better shoot him again. At this point, Bonaparte "knelt and fired." This action is the climax of the story. Bonaparte fires the shot that kills Hawkins, not Donovan. His action resolves the conflicts, but just how the central conflict is resolved is debatable. Obviously, the Irish prevail over the English. But has Bonaparte shot Hawkins out of duty to his nation or a sense of duty or compassion to his friend? Hmm. The choice is yours.
After Hawkins is dead, Belcher tries to tie a handkerchief around his own eyes. His handkerchief alone is not big enough, so he must borrow one from Bonaparte. What does this handkerchief business symbolize? Is it a final act of companionship, or is it an act of joint blindness? Belcher says a few words, illuminating what had been in the dark. He says about Hawkins: "'Now he knows as much about it as they ever let him know, and last night [in the light] he was all in the dark.'" Belcher's ironic comments suggest that Hawkins has gained knowledge in darkness, not in light. Perhaps he has learned the true, brutal nature of life and death.
After Belcher's speech, he says he knows the Irishmen want to get it over with. Donovan says they are only doing their duty. Belcher's face is faintly illuminated, "so that you could only see his chin and the tip of his nose in the lantern-light." He says he never could decide what duty was, but he does not blame the boys for doing what they have to do. Then he is shot and falls. The two bodies are quickly buried.
Noble and Bonaparte return to the house, where the old woman is waiting. The house is cold and dark. Noble tries to light the lamp but has trouble doing so, suggesting that the innocence represented by the light has been disrupted. Finally Noble is able to light the lamp, and he begins to pray by the fireplace in the house, suggesting his return to his personal beliefs and principles. After all, he had not shot the Englishmen, so he is not really affected as much as Bonaparte is.
In the last paragraph of the story, Bonaparte announces his dynamic change. He stands at the door and looks out into the darkness. He hears the "shrieking of the birds dying out over the bogs." He sees the distant stars, tiny points of light. Mostly, though, he sees darkness. And he feels "very small and very lost and lonely like a child astray in the snow." Obviously, he is confused about what he has done, but he definitely feels changed. Now he feels like an innocent child lost in the cold. He has gained experience--his ending key trait--and tasted the dark, cruel nature of war and life. And he shows he is dynamic with his final thought: "anything that happened me afterwards, I never felt the same about again."
How has Bonaparte's central conflict been resolved? Certainly he has moved from innocence to experience. Has he accepted duty over personal principles? That's hard to say. So be sure you state your chosen beginning key trait and central conflict in such a way that you can argue your analytical claims convincingly. If we say Bonaparte's beginning key trait is innocence, we can say he is dynamic because his ending trait is experience. If we say his central conflict is innocence vs. experience, we can say that experience wins out. By the way, you may encounter several stories in which the conflict is innocence vs. experience. These are called initiation stories or coming of age stories, and they involve the maturation of the central character.
In this story, setting is used to symbolize the central character's central conflict. Light and inside the house are used to symbolize Bonaparte's key trait of innocence, and dark and outside represent his ending trait of experience. Together, the two traits form the central conflict of innocence vs. experience. Because Bonaparte's push into experience is so unsettling, the reader comes away feeling sympathetic for Bonaparte.
A few parting shots: Who are the guests of the nation mentioned in the title? Are the English prisoners guests of Ireland? Or are the Irish soldiers the guests of their nation? Aren't guests expected to follow certain house rules? What house rules might Bonaparte and Noble be expected to follow? What is our duty to our nation when we are called upon to defend those social values that give our lives value? If we respond, what might we lose? And if we do not respond and lose those things we cherish, what have we gained? O'Connor's story aptly illustrates the dilemma of duty.
The sample essay below suggests an appropriate content for the setting analysis for Assignment 5. The central idea is in CAPITAL LETTERS, and the thesis statement is underlined. The analysis has used two secondary sources and includes MLA citations and Works Cited entries. Your analysis for Assignment 5 or 6 or 7 must also use at least one secondary source and must include at least two MLA citations and at least two MLA Works Cited entries.
The sample essay below is single-spaced. Your typed essay and Works Cited list must be double-spaced.
Your introductory paragraph for the Assignment 5 essay must include:
In your essay you must include these components:
One Night in the Bog
"Guests of the Nation" is Frank O'Connor's story of a young Irish soldier's struggle with duty and conscience. Bonaparte, the protagonist, must choose between his duty as a soldier and his conscience as a friend of the English prisoners he is ordered to execute. In a dark Irish bog, Bonaparte carries out his duty, taking part in the execution, and then he bemoans his actions. O'Connor uses the isolated Irish setting to reveal Bonaparte's internal conflict and dynamic character. The young man's profound change suggests that ONE'S PERSONAL PRINCIPLES AND CONSCIENCE CAN BE REGRETTABLY SACRIFICED IN THE NAME OF DUTY TO ONE'S SOCIETY.
In the Irish countryside near a bog, between World Wars I and II, O'Connor establishes the troubled world with which idealistic Bonaparte is faced. In a small cottage, around the lamp's warm circle of light, Bonaparte and his friend Noble joke and argue peaceably with the English prisoners, Hawkins and Belcher, as comrades, not enemies. But outside the cottage, in the darkness, is war--the long-standing tension between the Irish and English. In this stark contrasting setting, then, O'Connor puts the morality of his main character to test.
Inside the cottage, Bonaparte is enlightened, a decent young man full of idealism, a "'chum'" (O'Connor 1136). He considers guarding the Englishmen a nuisance. But young Bonaparte is inexperienced in the true nature of life and war. His beginning key trait is that innocence or naivete. Outside the cottage, he is an Irish soldier with a duty to his country and a dark responsibility to kill his enemy. He foolishly believes war holds a certain glory, and he wishes to be sent to the front lines to test his mettle. But in reality, he has never had to kill an enemy. O'Connor uses these contrasts of setting--inside and outside, light and dark--to suggest Bonaparte's central conflict, an internal conflict of innocence vs. experience, idealism vs. reality, conscience vs. duty. Bonaparte is friendly with the Englishmen in the lighted cottage, having no personal conflict with them. In the darkness outside, though, they are his enemies. In the darkness, he learns from Donovan of the plan to execute Hawkins and Belcher. In the darkness, he reveals this discovery to Noble. In the darkness, too, the plan is carried out in the bog, another part of the setting that suggests Bonaparte's moral quagmire. In the execution of the two prisoners, Bonaparte plays an active part by firing the bullet that kills Hawkins, the climax of the story. Whatever his reasons, Bonaparte has performed his duty, whether it is his duty to his society or, perhaps more significantly, his duty to his friend to ease his suffering. Afterwards, Bonaparte finds he has been greatly affected.
Bonaparte's story is one of initiation, as the light of his idealism suddenly dims, replaced by dark reality. This transition demonstrates Bonaparte's dynamic character. Ironically, Bonaparte begins to change when Feeney, the intelligence officer, arrives at the cottage. Contrary to his title, Feeney does not bring intelligence. Quite the opposite, he "destroys all moral intelligence, as represented by brotherly love and friendship. After his arrival, intelligence and love give way to murder and revenge" (Robinson 58). Bonaparte moves from an inexperienced and naive young man at first, full of idealism and personal principles, to an experienced, hardened, yet troubled soldier in the end. He understands that he must follow Feeney's orders without question. Feeney has created "an atmosphere in which Noble and Bonaparte cannot think, only murder" (Robinson 58). In the last scene, standing in darkness and confusion, Bonaparte compares himself to a child lost in the cold. Then he clearly professes his change, noting that "anything that happened me afterwards, I never felt the same about again" (O'Connor 1144). His beginning key trait of innocence has clearly given way to his ending key trait of experience. Even though the reader may be unsure about Bonaparte's motives in shooting Hawkins, the change that occurs in Bonaparte as a result is unmistakable.
O'Connor's setting, especially his use of light and dark, helps to illustrate Bonaparte's internal conflict and his profound change having made his choice. O'Connor's story deftly reveals "the obligations a man can be called upon to fulfill when he has joined a cause. His duty may demand behavior of him he could not possibly have foreseen." By the end of the story, Bonaparte understands that fact (Liberman 441). The young Irish soldier comes to realize the true nature of war and life, learning that one must sometimes sacrifice one's personal principles and desires for one's duty to others.
Works CitedLiberman, Michael. "Unforeseen Duty in Frank O'Connor's 'Guests of the
Nation.'" Studies in Short Fiction Fall 1987, Vol. 24 Issue 4: 438-441.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 May 2012.
O'Connor, Frank. "Guests of the Nation." Fiction 100, 11th Edition.
Ed. James H. Pickering. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 1136-1144. Print.
Robinson, Patricia. "O'Connor's GUESTS OF THE NATION."
Explicator Fall 1986, Vol. 45 Issue 1: 58.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 May 2012.
Most students will likely use one of the MLA Works Cited formats below. You can find other MLA Works Cited formats in the Research Paper Guide. If you can't find the right format for your source, ask your instructor. Your Works Cited entries must be double-spaced.
Primary source:
Last name, First name of author. "Title of Story." Title of book. Editor.
City where published: Name of Publisher, year published.
Page numbers on which story appears. Print.
Example of primary source entry:
O'Connor, Frank. "Guests of the Nation." Fiction 100, 11th Edition. Ed. James Pickering.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 1136-1144. Print.
Secondary source article from an academic journal in an ACC subscription database:
Last name, First name of author (if given). "Title of Article."
Name of Magazine Volume or Date of issue: page numbers.
Name of Database. Web. Date of Access.
Example of secondary source article entry:
Liberman, Michael. "Unforeseen Duty in Frank O'Connor's 'Guests of the Nation.'"
Studies in Short Fiction Fall 1987, Vol. 24 Issue 4: 438-441.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 May 2012.
*Remember, all students must write ONE analysis for Assignment 5 or Assignment 6 or Assignment 7.
You do not need to write all three analyses. Though you might not write this analysis, you are still required to read the information in this lecture. You will need to use this information in writing your Assignment 8 analysis and the C exam.
BE AWARE that you must use research and MLA documentation to complete this assignment.
First, read a story from the list below. Reading the story at least twice is recommended. These stories are in Fiction 100.
Assignment stories:
Second, write an analytical essay of at least five paragraphs. Use the referential-interpretive purpose to write your analysis. Your analysis must also include properly documented research information, as detailed in the third step below.
Develop a thesis that deals with setting in relation to character and conflict in that story. How does the setting work to reveal or influence character and to suggest or cause conflict? Be sure to consider all aspects of setting, not just physical time and place. These aspects could include era, season, weather, environment, symbolic quality, etc.
Identify directly the time and place of the setting. Identify directly the central character. Identify the beginning and ending key traits directly in the body of your analysis. Identify the character directly as static or dynamic in the body of your analysis, and give evidence from the climax or after the climax of the story. Include a detailed discussion of conflict in the story. What general type of central conflict is used? Is it internal or external? What specific forces are at odds? Identify the central conflict directly as ___ vs. ___. Show how the conflict is developed and resolved. Identify the climax of the story directly.
Third, and VERY IMPORTANT: The story you choose is your primary source. You must also use at least one secondary source and MLA documentation in your analysis. In other words, you must do research to aid you in writing this assignment, and you must use proper MLA documentation that accurately credits your sources.
If you have forgotten your MLA documentation from your Composition I course, you can find a refresher guide at this link:
Research Paper Guide.
You might also check out these other links.
ACC Library MLA Documentation Tutorial
Info Game Tutorial
Length: 750 - 1000 words
All students must complete ONE of the following assignments: Assignment 5, Assignment 6, Assignment 7.
Submit this assignment using the Submissions button in Blackboard.
If you are not sure how to submit your assignment file by now, review the guidelines at this link to Assignment 2.