unit 1
Literary Plot, Setting, and Mood
Analysis Every story transports you to a fictional world. You might be swept away by a love
Workshop story set during the Civil War or mesmerized by a science fiction adventure that
takes place on an uninhabited planet. No matter where and when they unfold, good
stories allow you to experience times, places, and conflicts that are outside your
everyday life. To understand why a story affects you as it does, you have to analyze
the elements—plot, setting, and mood—that make up its world.
Part 1: Setting and Mood
Almost every story happens in a particular time and place—for example, “long ago,
in a galaxy far, far away,” in a modern city, or during the Great Depression. The time
and place of the story is its setting. Writers create setting through the following:
• details that suggest the time of day, year, season, or historical period
• descriptions of characters, clothing, buildings, weather, and landscapes
Another element that contributes to the world of a story is the mood, the
feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for readers. Whether it is ominous
or uplifting, a mood is developed through a writer’s use of imagery and choice of
words and details. Setting details, in particular, help to establish a mood.
In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” (page 74), the setting affects the mood and
other elements. The bleak story takes place on a wilderness trail in the Yukon
Territory, a region in far northwestern Canada.
setting in
Creates Conflicts TO B U I LD A Serves as a Symbol
FIRE
Can the man build a fire to The man’s frozen
warm his frozen limbs? He surroundings symbolize
faces conflicts like this one death and the indifference of
as he struggles to survive. nature to what people want.
Influences Character
Overconfident and
inexperienced in the cold,
Helps Create Mood
the man learns a life-or-
death lesson. The setting creates a mood
of alienation and fear in the
face of a natural world that
is indifferent.
24 unit 1 : plot, setting, and mood
model: setting and mood
At the beginning of the novel Ethan Frome, the narrator hears
townspeople allude to a tragedy that ruined the life of the title character,
Ethan. When a snowstorm hits the town, the narrator must spend the
night at Ethan’s, where he finally hears the entire tragic story. This excerpt
begins as the storm is approaching.
from
Novel by Edith Wharton
. . . We set out for Starkfield with a good chance of getting there for supper. Close Read
But at sunset the clouds gathered again, bringing an earlier night, and the snow 1. Where and when does
began to fall straight and steadily from a sky without wind, in a soft universal this story takes place?
diffusion more confusing than the gusts and eddies of the morning. It seemed Describe the setting as
5 to be a part of the thickening darkness, to be the winter night itself descending completely as you can.
on us layer by layer.
The small ray of Frome’s lantern was soon lost in this smothering medium, 2. Reread lines 1–11. What
in which even his sense of direction, and the bay’s homing instinct, finally mood do the setting
ceased to serve us. Two or three times some ghostly landmark sprang up to details help to create?
10 warn us that we were astray, and then was sucked back into the mist; and when Support your answer.
we finally regained our road the old horse began to show signs of exhaustion.
I felt myself to blame for having accepted Frome’s offer, and after a short
discussion I persuaded him to let me get out of the sleigh and walk along
through the snow at the bay’s side. In this way we struggled on for another 3. What conflicts does the
15 mile or two, and at last reached a point where Frome, peering into what setting create for Ethan
seemed to me formless night, said: “That’s my gate down yonder.” . . . and the narrator?
“Look here, Frome,” I began, “there’s no earthly use in your going any
farther—” but he interrupted me: “Nor you neither. There’s been about
enough of this for anybody.”
20 I understood that he was offering me a night’s shelter at the farm, and 4. Identify two setting
without answering I turned into the gate at his side, and followed him to the details that may hint at
barn, where I helped him to unharness and bed down the tired horse. When the tragic story that the
this was done he unhooked the lantern from the sleigh, stepped out again into narrator will soon hear.
the night, and called to me over his shoulder: “This way.” Explain your choices. One
25 Far off above us a square of light trembled through the screen of snow. detail has been boxed.
Staggering along in Frome’s wake I floundered toward it, and in the darkness
almost fell into one of the deep drifts against the front of the house. Frome
scrambled up the slippery steps of the porch, digging a way through the snow
with his heavily booted foot. Then he lifted his lantern, found the latch, and
30 led the way into the house. I went after him into a low unlit passage, at the
back of which a ladder-like staircase rose into obscurity.
liter ary analysis workshop 25
Part 2: Plot and Story Analysis
A story is much more than the world in which the action unfolds. The real power
of a story comes from what happens in that world. Most stories follow a plot, a
chain of events that traces a conflict, or struggle between opposing forces. The
conflict can be internal, taking place within the mind of a character, or it can be
an external conflict between a character and an outside force, such as another
character, society, or nature.
Plot is usually talked about in terms of the following stages. Keep in mind,
however, that not every story follows this exact structure.
stages of a typical plot questions for analysis
exposition • What details help to establish the setting
This part of a plot introduces the and create a mood?
setting and characters and establishes • What kind of person is the main
a mood. It may also reveal the conflict character?
or set the stage for it.
• What, if anything, is revealed about
the conflict?
rising action • What is the central conflict?
Complications arise as the main • How do the characters respond to the
character struggles to resolve the conflict?
conflict. “The plot thickens” as
• How does the conflict become more
suspense builds.
complicated?
climax • What decision or action has the main
The climax is a turning point in the character made or taken?
story and the moment of greatest • What impact might this decision or action
suspense. Often the main character have on the characters and the conflict?
makes a decision or takes an action that
• How might the conflict be resolved?
makes the outcome of the conflict clear.
falling action • What is the outcome of the main
This stage shows the results of the character’s decision or action?
decision or action that happened at the • What steps does the main character take
climax. Tension eases as the conflict to resolve the conflict?
is resolved.
resolution • How have the events and conflicts
The resolution reveals the final affected or changed the characters?
outcome of the story and ties up any • Through the resolution, what message
loose ends. might the writer be suggesting?
26 unit 1 : plot, setting, and mood