Summary Siti Nurohmah

Setting
by Jo Anne Fontanilla

Every story takes place at same point or points in space and in time. It is incumbent upon the writer of fiction to "place" his story in space and time, as early as possible in his narrative, so that you will begin making the proper associations with the setting.


The degree of elaboration with which setting is depicted depends upon a number of considerations. Those are:
1. The importance of the setting in relation to the other essential elements in the story---plot and character.
2. The familiarity of setting.

With a setting that is remote from most readers not only in space but also in time, a different problem arises. If his story takes place in either earlier period, the writer will have to build up his setting out of appropriate details.

The treatment of setting will depend on the mode in which the writer is working, whether it is classical, romantic, or realistic. In classical stories the setting is usually sketched in broadly, in romantic stories there is a greater attention to detail, and in realistic stories the writer must consider seriously the accuracy and fullness of his details.

Most authors delight in turning out lengthy passages of description, "set pieces" with lavish strings of adjectives but today's readers are impatient and skip solid pages or even paragraphs that do not advance the story. It is best to insert description as unobtrusively as possible, an image here, and after dialogue, or a bit or scatter his pictures of the physical background.

Percy Lubbock observes that paring a novel bare of most detail is occasionally good, but not very often. But, besides this a professor Lathrop suggests, the setting has become ever more important in contemporary fiction. The active pressure of environment in forming personality is widely acknowledged now.

Ultimately, the kind and amount of background detail one likes in a book depends on its subject and aim, and no less on the temperament of the author and each reader.