Workshop time and place

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Time and place

Setting

Setting is the time and place where a scene occurs. It can help set the mood, influence the way characters behave, affect the dialogue, foreshadow events, invoke an emotional response, reflect the society in which the characters live, and sometimes even plays a part in the story. It can also be a critical element in nonfiction as the setting provides the framework for what is being discussed.

example of place

The story takes place in a magical world in the 1990's.

Why talk about 'place'?

1) The places scenes are set contribute mood and tone (a dark, eerie wood creates a very different sense of danger or mystery compared to a bright, open plain)

2)Places restrict (or open) possibilities for your characters’ lives and actions (a character living in a small mining town might have very different perceptions and options compared to a character who lives in a large city)

3) Places can evolve and change as your story progresses. You can use their evolution to show the changing circumstances affecting your characters’ views and options.

Place

There is no separate "magical land" in the Harry Potter universe; the wizarding world not only coexists alongside the world of Muggles, but also is embedded within it. The depiction of the Wizarding World is centred on magic, which not only imbues objects such as wands, but is portrayed as an inborn ability. It is also centred on the separation of the wizarding world from the non-wizarding (Muggle) world. Despite being an inherent talent, magic is honed through the study of various branches of magic and practical training into a skill.

A great deal of effort is expended in keeping the Muggles unaware of magic. 

Originally the two worlds co-existed; however, persecution of those with magic meant laws have been put in place over the centuries, designed to keep the existence of the magical world hidden from Muggles. 

Now you do this!

1) Write down the main setting of your book. Is it the name of a city, country or another planet?

2) Describe the primary setting of the story. Write about its main features such as noticeable weather or its appearance. Be descriptive.

3) Describe how the setting of the story pertains to the plot, characters and timeline. Does a major event take place in the primary setting? If so, describe the importance of the book's setting.

4) Add character details to the setting. For example, if the main character has strong opinions about the setting of the story, include this point of view in your description.

Describe primary setting Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

example of time in your book

Time

The entire Harry Potter series is set from 1991 to 1998 aside from the opening chapter of the first book, which takes place on 1 November 1981, and the epilogue of the seventh book, which takes place on 1 September 2017. At various points throughout the Harry Potter timeline, flashbacks and flash-forwards depict the 1920s, the 1930s, the 1940s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 2010s, and the 2020s. 

Why talk about 'time'? 

1) Like place, time  restricts or rather determines, to some extent, possibilities for your characters. The time setting of your novel impacts what types of lives your characters can lead and what choices they can make. Setting drives plot.

2) Time in your novel’s setting determines what kind of technology is available.

3) Time in your story setting is equally useful for showing and underscoring changes that contribute to character and plot development.

Primary Setting Place

Harry Potter lives with his abusive aunt and uncle, Vernon and Petunia Dursley and their bullying son, Dudley in Surrey, England in the 1990's. Their boring neighbourhood consists of a number of almost exact replications of the Dursley residence — row upon row of executive houses for executive people. This uniformity in housing suits Petunia very well as she does not want to stand out and dislikes anything different which she considers to be 'freakish'. Petunia was very house proud and was obsessed with keeping it clean, as she constantly kept her home clean and tidy, even to the point of cleaning the kitchen worktop surfaces before bed....

example

The first several chapters of the book take place at the Dursleys' prim house on Privet Drive. The Dursleys' home may look polite and regular, with its "tidy front garden" (2.1) and its inhabitants' emphasis on behaving just like everyone else, but that doesn't make it a nice or welcoming place to live.  The Dursleys' house might look cheerful from the outside, but inside Harry sees only bleakness. Let's not forget that Whinging, in British English, means whining. Even the town they live in is annoying.

Primary setting Time

Harry's story starts in 1991 and although place is more interesting to discuss the fact that most of the story is set in the 1990's means that a modern audience will be surprised by the lack of technology used in the Muggle world. Fortunately, the main story takes place in the magical worls which sometimes vaccilates between mores from the 1800's with counts of old-fashioned racism and misogyny and rather modern concepts about freedom and life.

Idioms to use

What do you think the idiom "A Fish Out Of Water" means?

1. feel uncomfortable, like you don’t belong in a particular situation
2. in a difficult situation – especially one that is beyond the level of your abilities – or in trouble

cost an ... and a ...

missed the ...

kill two ... with one ...

give it a ...

shot

birds, stone

boat

arm, leg