Read the text. Take note of the settings and pay close attention to the author’s descriptions of the physical setting. Examine the language and the author’s use of literary tropes and then determine the author’s intent in using these. The author might describe the atmosphere at an Ivy-league college as self-contained and claustrophobic and that the people who inhabit this world are determined to preserve the status quo. Analyze what these descriptions say about the settings or characters. For example, in Erich Segal's “Love Story,” Oliver Barrett IV's wealthy parents differ from Jennifer Cavilleri's lower-born parents, making this socio-economic conflict the theme that ignites the story. The story is a retelling of “Romeo and Juliet” and in “Love Story” – just as in Shakespeare's story -- the heroine dies. In “Love Story,” Oliver's parents cut him off financially because they are determined to preserve the status quo, as the Ivy-league setting has symbolized. This doesn’t quell the love that Oliver and Jennifer have for each other, however, so Oliver’s parents have acted in vain. However, when Jennifer becomes terminally ill, Oliver’s parents feel satisfied but the reader becomes as anguished as Oliver as he watches his wife die.
Determine how the setting reflects the plot. In a story that takes place in a war-torn country, the plot might center around a family struggling to survive. Examine how the setting might push the plot forward by focusing on a character’s internal reactions. In Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind," Scarlett O'Hara goes back to her home, Tara, only to discover it in ruins and that her father has lost his mind. Amidst this wreckage, Scarlett picks up a handful of dirt, holds her hand high in the air -- and as the sun sets -- she swears that her family will never go hungry again. The well-born Scarlett must learn how to farm, take care of a family, make a fashionable dress from draperies -- and essentially -- how to survive. The setting of the destroyed South and Scarlett’s resolution to overcome adversity advanced the plot, because of how Scarlett reacted to the setting.
Analyze the time period and atmosphere of the story to see how the author enables the period to evoke the era. A story that takes place in the 1950s will reflect the fashions, architecture, décor, speech, attitudes and culture of the 1950s. In J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye," Holden Caulfield is enrolled in an East Coast prep school and the reader sees that the manners, clothing and social expectations are from the 1950s. Noticing these details doesn’t interfere with a reader’s enjoyment from the novel, however, because the reader relates to Caulfield's emotions, which are universal. When an author has painted a character and setting realistically, the reader will relate to those emotions and not to differences in setting.