Assisting Young Writers To Develop A Sense Of SETTING


Recently I have been working with young writers who are developing narratives. We have been focusing on helping our reading audience to visualize where the story takes place- the setting.

For many student writers setting is often receives a cursory mention and glossed over. The rush to get to the action means the all important sense of place receives little attention.  And yet, a sense of place is strongly linked to our hearts and minds. It makes sense to tap into this rich vein as writers.In my classroom work I have undertaken some awareness training around setting by investigating how other authors develop this aspect of their writing and how it assists the reader. I want young writers to understand the potential of settings to enhance the quality of their writing.


Ralph Fletcher in his book, What A Writer Needs writes about setting in this way, ‘The setting or place, creates the world in which the characters live and struggle.  In this world, the plot unfolds. Something will happen.’  As teachers, we need to help our student writers link their characters to the setting. So, when we ask students to think of a setting, it is helpful to have them think about describing it in terms of the senses.


•Touch •Smell •Sight •Sound •Taste

Some Ways to Centre on Settings:                                                                                                          A brief description of a place is an excellent way to set the scene and lead into a piece of writing. It gives the reader time to feel at home before moving into the real action. The setting does NOT have to mean a large place. Place could be as confined as a cupboard, a hiding place under a house, a branch of a tree.

 Example From Quality Literature:                                                                                                                                                                                                                        ‘Jedda was utterly embarrassing and I had to share a bedroom with her. She made  stables out of furniture on her side of the room and slept in them instead of her proper bed. She ate in there too, which I didn’t think was very hygienic. There was always a long line of ants parading across the bedroom floor after Jedda’s left over jam sandwiches and soggy cornflakes.’    

                                                                    
Hating Alison Ashley, Robin Klein


I modeled my own writing to show how I write about contrasting settings.

 Remembering the Forest
       The forest had a magical feel to it. It began directly where our fence line ended. - A magical place to run, hide or explore. We found snakes and lizards. We heard kookaburras. Bright orange fungi sprouted out of fallen logs. Some distance into the forest, there was a clearing that sloped away down the valley. At the base, spring water trickled out of the side of the hill. Just a little beyond that, a creek snaked slowly through the forest. In some places the creek was so narrow, you could leap over it.The forest surrounding the creek created shadows and dappled light where the sunlight squeezed through the canopy of trees. It was a damp dimly lit place most of the year. The smell of dank earth floated up from the forest floor. Moss covered logs, frogs and leeches were features of this cool place. We knew the creek as the home of native black-fish, rainbow trout and yabbies.  On occasions wallabies visited this tranquil place, grazing on the grasses that covered the hillside above the creek line. Over the years, I was lucky to also meet up with echidnas and wombats.

New York’s Springtime Splendor   
    With the start of spring, New York dramatically sheds its drab winter coat. Spring finds it impossible to arrive quietly, it bursts open! It is a brash season to say the least.. A New York spring arrives with a huge build up of energy that can no longer be contained. People take to the parks and streets with vigor. They grasp the opportunity to be out and about.  Cafes and restaurants expand onto sidewalks. The change of seasons is far more dramatic than what we experience in Australia. The air becomes suddenly warmer and heavier. People are more exuberant. If you watch closely you might even see someone skipping along the sidewalk, such is the adrenalin rush that spring provides.  People quickly change to spring costumes. Last week’s heavy coat is no longer suitable.  
       In Central Park people set up games of volleyball, soccer, and team Frisbee. Kids lurch about uncertainly on roller blades, and people run, walk, jog or cycle in every direction. Little leagues baseball begins and numerous games are played at the one time in this huge parkland. Picnics are very much a part of this new scene. The people flock to this great green space with much enthusiasm. They don’t hug the trees or drape themselves in newly arrived leaves–but the urge is barely contained. 


I encouraged students to turn and talk about settings they were familiar with in real life, or settings they clearly recall from books they have read; inviting them to jot down their ideas for settings in their notebooks.

Follow up possibilities:

  • ·Find further examples from books where authors develop a strong sense of place in their writing.  Add an exemplar to your notebook as a reference.
  • Choose to rewrite an existing piece of writing that deals with a setting
  • Place yourself in a different setting.
  • Write about a setting in which an animal or insect may live.
  • Think of a meaningful place. It could be anything from the kitchen table in your home to your favorite place. List small moments related to that place.

It is the writer’s challenge to create a convincing sense of place in the reader’s mind. If the writer can achieve this, the reader is more likely to make an enduring connection with the text they are reading. 


Comments

  1. Anonymous10 May 2019 at 13:15

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular With Other Visitors

Writing Opposite Poems

Image
 O pp o s ite  P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not eve...
Read more

Writing About Reading - Reading Reflection Journals:

Image
UPDATED February 2022 Writing in response to literature can be a great way for students to organize their thoughts, explore what they think, and generate ideas. One of the strengths of writing in journals is that it allows students to capture all of those great ideas that generally float off into the air during the discussion.  Journal writing can also become drudgery if students are asked to write too often, given little choice or inspiration in what to write, or if they simply don't have anything to say. While some students eagerly share their impressions about selections they have read in class discussions, others are less comfortable and keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all students to think more about what they read and confidently share their observations and opinions, some teachers are turning to the reading reflection journal and are gaining insights they never anticipated.  The Value of Reflection Journals   Journals assist teachers...
Read more

Learning How to 'Zoom In' When Writing

Image
It is important for young writers to understand that not all parts of a story are equal. There are parts through which a writer moves quickly, and important parts where the writer slows down and lingers a while. This is where the writer might intensify the action or reveal the character’s reactions in greater detail. Young writers need to know that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of the author. The author consciously zooms in. The writer uses a magnifying glass to view a part of the story more closely; to focus on a moment and to slow down time. When an important part of the story is enlarged upon, it   is a signal to the reader, that this part of the story is important. The strategy of ‘zooming in’ goes by many names: ‘exploding a moment’ ‘magnifying a moment’, ‘hotspot’ ‘snapshot’, ‘adding detail’ or ‘slowing the action.’  What ever the name, the idea is the same. The author writes in a way that expands a significant part of the story with the intentio...
Read more

Slice Of Life Story-The Trials Of A Left Handed Writer

Image
Amazingly I learnt to write using my left hand. An achievement against the prevailing beliefs of the day. My very first teacher saw it as her mission in life to ‘fix’ the poor, wretched little boy suffering from what she clearly diagnosed as left handed disease. She must have thought, 'This child must be re formatted! If he remains left handed he will be forever condemned to writing in a scrawl that no one will be able to read. Ugly hand, ugly hand.' ...They tried to say it couldn't be done, it mustn't be done. They took the pencil out of my left hand and placed it in my right hand. It felt unnatural. It felt weird. It was not right. More to the point it was not left. I was not about to conform. At least they didn't try tying my hand behind my back. Watch me I said. I may be an oddball, left handed scribbler but I am a determined oddball. I mean how boring would the world be if everyone wrote with their right hand? So I dug my toes in –and my hands to...
Read more

Exploring Themes in Poetry With Emerging Writers

Image
There is so much more to poetry than haiku and acrostics. Yet, so many young poets never get to experience the rich breadth of poetry beyond these highly structured forms. Why? Primarily, it’s about their teachers comfort levels with poetry. We often teach to what we know, meaning that being adventurous and taking young poets into new realms is not part of the poetic landscape for many. This sells young poets and poetry itself short. Last week I had the pleasure to again work with a group of young poets from Derrimut Primary School grade 5/6 in Melbourne’s west. We have been exploring patterns and repetition in poetry. We have explored personification as a literary device to develop the writing of poetry. We delved into the idea of writing through a mask to provide inanimate and animate entities with a voice. They told stories in words from their own perspective. On this occasion we again went to the edges and began to explore poetry through themes. We discussed a range ...
Read more