Teaching 'Setting' with Holes

Setting/Characterisation is one of the criteria assessed in NAPLAN for the years in which creative writing is prompted. In fact, in comparing the Persuasive and Creative options for the NAPLAN writing section, this is the only real point of difference that comes up in the criteria. Without getting too much into it, Setting and Characterisation are conflated on the understanding that both of these textual elements require sufficient detail and a sustained approach across the length of the student's writing. 

I think there's something in this definition.

For example, if a student introduces their setting at the start of their piece, then we want to see them remember that this is the setting right until the end - and the writing should reflect this. If it's a freezing tundra then we want to see constant and varied reminders of this throughout the text, and we also need to see that events and characters within the text interact with this setting appropriately. 

The same is said for characterisation. If a character is dressed in a cumbersome pizza slice suit, then we  need to read about them sweating throughout the story, or the way in which the suit restricts their movements, and that other characters comment on the bizarre appearance of this pizza slice protagonist.

In Stage 4, I have on occasion used the novel Holes by Louis Sachar to teach the literary concept of setting. This can be done across the first 45 pages in relation to the story being set in Texas's Chihuahuan Desert. Before I demonstrate some of the ways this can be explored, here's a quick paraphrasing of what Stage 4 English says about setting:

• EN4-1A contains a content point that asks students to recognise and analyse the ways in which setting interacts with events or characterisation. 
• EN4-2A contains a content point in which students are encouraged to use textual evidence related to setting when justifying a point of view.

So, as we can see, by the time students are in Years 7 and 8 they should be looking at the more complex ways in which setting operates as an element within a text and be able to use their knowledge about this when analysing said text. Here are three ways in which this can be addressed in relation to Holes:

Activity 1 - Stretching Our Creative Muscles

1. Before the students even have a chance to read Holes, I ask them to spend 10 minutes writing about their own setting for a story. Free reign is given here, students can set their story anywhere, anytime. I usually walk around the room and give students a range of options to prompt their imagination - do they like the beach? Bushwalking? Perhaps they'd like to go to an alien world, or a frozen wasteland? Haunted houses, grimy cities, and ancient civilisations all get a look in as well.  
2. Then we go off and do something else for the bulk of the lesson. I like to let their descriptions sit for a little bit, perhaps while the class does one of the other setting-related activities.
3. At the end of the lesson, for about 20 minutes, I then direct students to read through their descriptions and monitor how they used vocabulary to build a setting. This means highlighting any adjectives they've used, and circling any imagery that relates to four of the major senses (sight, smell, sound, touch). Students then come up with an additional 5-10 adjectives or sensory imagery that could have been used in their description.

Activity 2 - Purpose and Complexity

1. Read the opening chapter of Holes as a class and then discuss what sort of setting this is. Students collect together any details that let them know what this setting is, and reflect on what impression Sachar wants the reader to get.
2. Then we read on until we get to Chapter 3, where the protagonist Stanley Yelnats is travelling to the Juvenile Correction Facility at Camp Green Lake via bus. There is a part in this chapter where Stanley thinks about where he is going and expresses gratitude that he will at least be able to go for a swim in the 'Lake'. 

Stop here and explain what irony is. I look at three types of irony and usually a little bit of discussion will get students to recognise that sarcasm is one of these - this is a good way of starting off.

• Verbal Irony: Also known as sarcasm, this is when someone says something that is the opposite of what they mean.
• Situation Irony: This is when we expect something to happen in a story only for it to be subverted or flipped by the writer.
• Dramatic Irony: This is when there is a disconnect between what the audience knows and what a character knows. When the audience knows more about something than a character this can create tension or humour.

    3. I ask students here to consider how Sachar has used dramatic irony. The answer is the bit where            Stanley thinks he is going to be able to swim at Camp Green Lake. Thanks to the opening chapter         (which features no characters and only focuses on setting), the reader is aware that this lake is                 completely dry - although Stanley is not. We see now how setting interacts with character and                 the novel's structure in a more complex fashion than students perhaps realised, and the teacher can         help make it clear here that the entire purpose of the opening chapter was to allow the reader to            know about the setting before Stanley does.

Activity 3 - Textual Evidence

1. Students read Chapters 5 to 7. If you wanted to do this in the classroom, I find that this will take about half an hour. This works well if you read to the students (which is valuable for a whole range of reasons) because the second half of the lesson then has the students working more independently. 
2. After finishing Chapter 7, we look at Reinforcing Setting. That is to say, how has Sachar continuously made references to the setting and shown how this setting impacts on the characters? Students will at this point be asked to gather 8 quotations from Chapters 5 to 7 that demonstrate this.
3. For some students, this could be the first time they've been asked to identify quotes as a form of textual evidence. With that in mind, I think it's useful to give students the page numbers so they don't waste time aimlessly flipping through pages and disengaging altogether. I do the first one for them so they can see exactly what they need to do (NOTE: the page numbers refer to the edition of Holes pictured above. Even though the cover may be the same, be aware that some page numbers may differ a tiny bit due to different printings having slightly different font size):

• P.17, "They were dripping with sweat", this shows the way in which the setting is affecting the characters.
• P.19
• P.21
• P.26
• P.28
• P.32
• P.35
• P.36

What I find interesting about this last activity is that some students will pause and ask how a character being thirsty relates to the setting, and this allows for discussions of more subtle uses of setting beyond "It was dry and hot". 

 

The above activities can of course be adapted for use with a variety of other novels too.

Disclaimer: The above activities were adjusted specifically for this blog. 

Craft of Writing: Irony and Symbolism

Hello! Our cohorts should be passingly familiar with both irony and symbolism by the time they reach Year 12 but it never hurts to revisit these keystone elements of writing, especially as students are preparing themselves to engage with the Craft of Writing module in the HSC. Below are some mini-lessons designed to support students in their consideration of writing craft. Students are shown how to use a technique, alongside examples, and then put it into practice. 

Irony

What is it: Irony occurs when words are used to indicate something opposite to their actual meaning. There are three types of irony, all of which reflect a difference between appearance and reality. These are:

1. Verbal irony - which can take the form of sarcasm, exaggeration, contradictory phrases, or deliberate understatement.
2. Situational irony - when an audience's expectation of something in a text is not fulfilled. Otherwise known as 'subversion'.
3. Dramatic irony - when the audience is aware of something that some of the characters are not.

Examples:

• Verbal Irony: "Some animals are more equal than others" - Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Situational Irony: A woman receives a letter about her husband's death and struggles with the news. When her husband then miraculously shows up, she dies of a heart attack from the idea of not being free of him (subverting the audience's expectation that she is upset that he has died). - The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
• Dramatic Irony: The audience knows right from the outset that Iago is manipulating Othello in regards to Desdemona's handkerchief, however, Othello is driven into a jealous rage at the ideas that Iago suggests as he is unaware of the truth. - Othello by William Shakespeare.

Why use it:

• Irony brings an additional level of meaning to a situation, and calls attention to ideas through a contrast between what is said and reality.
• Readers are forced to use their imagination to consider the full implications and underlying meanings when irony takes place.
• Verbal irony can work effectively to create humour when used in conjunction with kairos (the right time and place).
• Situational irony helps writers subvert reader expectations for more effective and original storytelling. It can add extra dimension and impact to the emotional connection between the reader and the text. 
• Dramatic irony if often associated with the tragedy genre as it emphasises the fatal impact of a character misunderstanding something. Dramatic irony also assists an author in building reader engagement as it creates a tension between the reader (who knows what is happening) and their need for a character to realise what the reader already knows.

Quick Activity #1: Write a paragraph using characters from either The Tempest or Hag-Seed that demonstrates one of the three forms of irony.

Quick Activity #2: Write an explanation of which irony you used in your previous exercise and how it was demonstrated.

Quick Activity #3: Did you write about Hag-Seed or The Tempest last time? This time write a paragraph using the characters from the other, and use a form of irony that you didn't use last time.

Quick Activity #4: Write an explanation of which irony you used in your previous exercise and how it was demonstrated.  

Symbolism

What is it: The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. Symbolism is closely related to the human ability to think abstractly, which is what led to the creation of language. The moment humans could think of things that didn't exist in the physical world was the moment that they needed to come up with symbols to represent them. Written language is symbolism at its most basic; a series of symbols representing different sounds.

Examples:

• "Rosebud," the final word of the ruthless entrepreneur Charles Foster Kane on his deathbed,is revealed to the bed of his childhood sled. The sled symbolises the happier childhood that he lost forever at age 8. - The film Citizen Kane directed by Orson Welles. 
• The Golden Country, dreamt of by Winston repeatedly, symbolises the pleasant world he can never live in. - Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.

Why use it:

• Adds depth to a text and its ideas, and demonstrates the abstract themes that 'power' the text.
• Can allow authors to 'say' things without having to explicitly say them, which in turn allows the audience to bring their own interpretation to the text.
• Symbolism can help the reader identify the sort of text or story they are reading, due to the associations and connotations that come with more well-known symbols (such as the generic convention of a full moon in a horror text).  

Quick Activity: Consider the masque scene in The Tempest, and the discussion in Chapter 28 of Hag-Seed where different ways of staging it are discussed. In what way (different to those discussed) would you stage it? Justify how your version would symbolise one or two themes from the text.  

 

Here are these two writing elements on the one sheet for ease of use:

• Writology Issue 5

Happy writing!