DESCRIPTIONS OF PLACES, SETTINGS

 

 

Writers rely as frequently on descriptions of settings or habitats as on descriptions of objects to convey the tone, atmosphere, and theme of their stories. In many instances, the key to a character can be found in the environment or space about him or her which that character has chosen to mark with his or her personality, by seeing (describing) it to the reader in a manner that reflects the mood of the observer. (Is the glass half full or half empty?)

 

Not surprisingly, many writers find that a place -- a single room, a town, or a region of the country -- can be used as an organizing principle for a story, and the events that constitute a plot, no matter how large or slight a plot, frequently focus on the characters' relationship to that setting. A few examples drawn from your anthology are:

 

·        Rock Springs, by Richard Ford (NACF, 199)

·        Kwoon, by Charles Johnson (NACF, 293)

·        The New Atlantis, by Ursula Le Guin (NACF, 326)

·        The Plantation Club, by C.W. Smith (LHL, 27)