Creating Worlds - Setting in Imaginative Writing

Imagined and literary worlds are always, in some way, a reflection of the world around us. The bedrock of worldbuilding is a keen awareness of setting - and students need to understand that setting has a precise function if they are to use this element well. When I read a great book or short story, I will find myself transported to that setting and sometimes it will be the one thing that stays with me longest after  I finish reading.

An effective setting will do some or all of the following:

• Remain constant in the reader's impression of the story, even when it isn't being explicitly mentioned. This can be achieved through the consistent use of detail and ensuring that nothing occurs in the narrative to contradict the setting.
• Make use of a set of rules - is everything we read a logical extension of the setting? If the setting is an unusual one, then this needs to interact with the characters and narrative in a way befitting this. 
• Be aware of time and place. A setting should have a particular geography but there also needs to be an awareness of the time of day and year, which may shift according to the progression of the narrative. If it is the height of an Australian summer, for example, then the characters need to act in a way that reflects the constant and often oppressive heat that comes with this.
• Reflect theme or a key idea. The most effective setting will often interact with characters in a way that reveals a concept or message that the writer seeks to explore. 

When we teach setting within a schooling context we need to also think about the syllabus. By all means, students should be encouraged to write for pleasure and to explore their imagination without limit, and time can be spent on this in the junior grades or (if your school has them) English creative writing electives. But if we're looking at the pointy end of the curriculum (in my case, NSW), we do need to teach students how to write within the scope of the Craft of Writing module for the HSC, or for  English Extension 1. This means having the ability to write a short piece within 25-50 minutes (depending on the HSC question and course).

So with this in mind, I would ask students to also think of setting in the following way:

• The previously mentioned dot points still largely apply.
• Come to a decision about whether character or setting will take precedence. Both should reflect the idea the student wants to explore, but if the amount of examination time is particularly short (for example, a double-barrelled Craft of Writing question that requires a reflection as well as a piece of original writing) then I think a student will struggle to give ample space to both characterisation and setting. 
• If focusing on setting, consider how it relates to the idea we want to explore. How does the setting reflect genre? Why is the writer writing about this setting? What is the purpose? How can we ensure that the detail included is consistently relevant to the idea or theme? 
• Don't fall into the trap of fantasy worldbuilding - there is limited space in an HSC examination and we need to consider the stimulus and the parameters of the question. It's great to write an evocative setting but this isn't the place to delve into said setting's extensive history and geography.  

What follows is an activity that uses real world locations to provide inspiration. In NSW it could be used for Years 7-10 English, Year 11 Reading to Write, Year 12 Craft of Writing, or Extension English Literary Worlds. 

Students are taken on a tour of 20 slides - 2 for each setting - and asked to respond to them in a way that will get them started on the above journey. The questions below aren't fixed, they're just a way to get students thinking descriptively and, more importantly, conceptually. 

1. Describe what you see in as much detail as possible.
2. Boil it down to just one key idea that could be used in a piece of writing.
3. What sort of short story could you tell in relation to this setting?
4. What would this short story be about in a single word? (EG. Desperation? Survival? Hope? Secrecy?, etc.)

The slides can be found here - Creating Worlds.

Happy writing!

Disclaimer: The above activity was compiled specifically for this blog. 

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. 

Write Right: Authentic Engagement and Creative Writing

It's November 2017 and the English Teachers Association NSW Conference is underway once again, bringing hundreds of English teachers together to talk crafty writing, Stage 6, new continuums, and all things multimodal.

My colleague, Kira Bryant, and I are presenting today on using mini-lessons to build engagement with students in relation to creative writing.

Here are our resources:

Resource: Write Right PPT (our presentation)

Resource: Activity booklet (this accompanied our presentation)

*Please note that the activity booklet omits the short story 'Grandpa's Place' as this piece appears in Volume 2 of the ETA's Creative Writing textbook

Write Right: Authentic Engagement with Creative Writing

This is my first time attending the AATE/ALEA National Conference and I couldn't be more chuffed! Kira Bryant and I are having a great time visiting Tasmania for the first time and want to say a big thank you to everyone involved in making the conference happen.

I would also like to personally express my gratitude to the Copyright Agency for granting me a scholarship to help make my attendance happen :)

Here are the resources that Kira and I presented.

Resource: Write Right PPT (our presentation)

Resource: Activity booklet (this accompanied our presentation)

*Please note that the activity booklet omits the short story 'Grandpa's Place' as this piece is scheduled to appear in an upcoming volume of the ETA's Creative Writing textbook series later this year.