Before reading Burroway, I always thought of setting simply as a description of the area, like “the trees were tall and luscious green”. However there is so much more to setting because it creates an image that immerses the reader into the author’s world (and you need more than description to do this). I will keep this in mind when I’m writing for setting in the graveyard story.
What intrigued me the most out of the readings was The School by Donald Barthelme. I’m not sure if I really liked it but it has this something that you can’t put your finger on (especially the awkward ending). I don’t really know how The School relates to setting. Barthelme sets up a micro world (meaning that the story represents something on a larger scale) of a school focused on children where things continue to die. I am so focused on what he’s trying to convey that I don’t really notice anything else. As the reader, the only thing I know is that it’s a school but I don’t know what time period it is, weather, ages of the children, etc. So, again, I wonder how this relates to setting? This was opposite of the Thread reading (although it’s listed in the character section of the book). In the Thread there is a good understanding of the surrounding that was created through the narrator who happens to be the main subject just as the teacher in The School.
Abby, what do you think it means, in the Barthelme story? Maybe it's something about how setting can be other things, things that still get points and ideas across to us? Sometimes in unconventional ways?
ReplyDeleteAbby,
ReplyDeleteI also had a hard time figuring out how this story relates to setting. I hope we discuss this in class.
Abby,
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you. Sometimes the Burroway sections seem like they're telling you one thing, (i.e describe your setting) and then she gives you an example that completely contradicts what she just wrote about, as with "The School". It's really frustrating.