PRINCIPLES, ELEMENTS,

TECHNIQUES, AND DEVICES OF

CREATIVE NONFICTION

Setting and Atmosphere

Setting – where and when the story happens.

*Social environment, time, and place.

- Showing > Telling

1. “I went to the lake. It was cool.”

2. My breath escaped in ragged bursts, my

quadriceps burning as I crested the summit. The lake
stretched before me, aquamarine, glistening in
the hot August afternoon sun. Ponderosa pines lined
its shores, dropping their spicy-scented needles into
the clear water. Despite the heat, the Montana
mountain air tasted crisp.
 Types of Setting

1. Setting as Mirror

2. Setting as Mold

3. Setting as Escape

4. The Alien Setting

 Types of Setting

1. Setting as Mirror

The setting may mirror a prevailing mood. It may

signal or reinforce prevailing emotions. An arid
landscape, for instance, may mirror despair or
spiritual desolation. 
 Types of Setting

2. Setting as Mold

The setting of a story often shapes character. It helps make people what
they are. Someone growing up on a farm, with its chores, dependence on
rain and sun, and closeness to living things, is likely to have a different
outlook, a different definition of life, than someone growing up in a
neighbourhood where the only open spaces are parking lots.
 Types of Setting

3. Setting as Escape

Escape literature takes us to imaginary settings where we

act out daydreams. The story may take us to a mansion in
the pre-Civil War South to make us witness scenes of
flaming passion. It may take us to ancient Rome to appall
us with scenes of treachery and depravity.
 Types of Setting

4. The Alien Setting

Much modern literature circles back to the loss of roots, the loss
of home. You may find yourself in a setting that is inhospitable,
like an alien planet. You may identify with the exile, the
undesirable, the refugee. In much early-twentieth-century
fiction, you encounter the eternal tourist, the expatriate – the
person in exile from his or her own country. 
Atmosphere – overall mood of story.
In your mind, imagine a place that you don’t like. List down the things that you do not
like about the place. What it looks like, smell of the place, what do you hear, etc? Write
a short paragraph about this place using your notes. Apply what you’ve learned about
atmosphere and setting.
 
Rubric:
Knowledge and Skills 30%
Organization & Coherence 30%
Spelling & Grammar 20%
Content 20%
 
Total 100%