Setting

Remember settings are not real! The characters exist only on the page in front of you! This means that every aspect of the setting is created for a purpose. Sometimes it may be just to contain the plot, at other times it may be to set an emotion...

The same is true of film - the video below may help you instantly see how setting is used. We then need to consider

As important as the setting, is when setting is mentioned and, of course, what element of the setting is mentioned as this shows when the writer has considered it important enough to tell you. Consider the book the first words were not the contrast of "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house..." Why not when he was walking home from school? Or going to the shops? Or maybe sitting in his garden? Each of these changes something... so what does the choice made give?

By asking questions about the setting we can pick apart where the story takes place but also appreciate how the author is presenting the story.