Setting - CCEA

The material on this page is designed to help you with revision and preparation for your CCEA GCSE English Language exams. It applies to Unit 4, Section B, Task 2: Reading literary texts.

• Unit 4 is assessed by a written exam, worth 30% of your final mark
• There are three tasks (numbered 2, 3 and 4) in Section B of the Unit 4 exam, worth 62 of the 150 marks available
• In task two, you will be given two extracts from literary texts (eg novels)
• You will be expected to compare and contrast these two extracts and explain how the writers have achieved something in particular (eg created a sense of excitement, or presented interesting characters)

You can practice for your English Language GCSE exams with a range of CCEA past papers and mark schemes.

• Setting in a story means where and when it takes place - this could be a time period, time of day, season, or a specific place like a city or school.
• Writers use setting to create atmosphere and support themes. For example, dark Victorian streets in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde help show feelings of mystery and immorality.
• Techniques like pathetic fallacy (using weather to reflect emotions) help build mood — for instance, snow covering a landscape can show a character feeling weighed down.
• In The Great Gatsby, descriptions of parties, luxury, and movement create a lively, glamorous setting and show the narrator as an outsider looking in.

The setting of a text is the place and time used within the text. This may be:

• in the past, present day or the future
• a time of day
• a particular time of year
• a specific geographical location – such as a named city or country
• a type of place or event – like a school or a wedding

Setting is an important part of a how a text achieves its effect. It can echo the themes of the narrative. For example, the dark streets of Victorian London echo the theme of immorality in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

The time of day or year when a text is set also adds to its effect. For example, a school at night is a very different place to a school during the day. A ghost story would probably work better at night as it would add a sense of uncertainty and fear and create more tension for the reader.

The writer may use specific techniques to create a particular effect. For example, the writer could use pathetic fallacy to give emphasis to a character’s emotions: “The memory of that afternoon lay heavy upon her. All around the snow smothered the landscape.” In this description, the character’s negative emotional state is reflected by the weather.

Historical context is important when understanding the setting of a piece of fiction.

A writer has chosen to use a particular point in history for a reason. A reader may make certain judgements and assumptions about this historical setting. For example, a reader might assume that a piece of fiction set during World War Two will be serious and moving. The writer could meet these expectations or surprise the reader in some way.

Questions to focus on setting:

• What does the reader learn about this place and time?
• How is this place and time important to theme and character?
• What techniques does the writer use to create atmosphere?
• How does the language influence the reader’s response to this setting?

In this extract from F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the narrator’s description of his neighbour’s house parties establishes an atmosphere of luxury and glamour:

In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On weekends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains.

The Great Gatsby (Chapter 3), F Scott Fitzgerald

Example analysis

• Several archaic words suggest that this setting is in the past: “…omnibus… motor-boats…aquaplanes…”
• The author’s description of the setting establishes an atmosphere of wealth and indulgence: “champagne…his beach…Rolls-Royce…motor-boats.”
• The author presents the narrator as an observer of this setting: he is an outsider looking in.
• The setting is described in a cinematic way, with the narrator sweeping his eyes over several locations: the garden, the raft, the beach and the water.
• This sense of movement from one setting to another establishes a feeling of energy. This is also suggested by the use of phrases like “came and went…to and from…scampered.”
• There is also a contrast between the setting of the gardens at night (whispering…blue…stars) and the afternoon at the beach (sun…hot…slit the waters).
• The author uses personal pronouns to create a strong link between one of the characters and this setting: “…his gardens…his guests…his raft…his two motor-boats…his Rolls-Royce…his station wagon…” Although we don’t know who ‘he’ is in this extract, the reader can see that he owns this world of luxury and pleasure.