Reading 4-1: Time
Stories happen at different times: Past, Present, and Future, but setting and tense do not always happen at the same time. A story’s setting can be the future, but told in past tense.
Setting
Setting is location (place) and time (year, season, month, etc...).
Setting examples:
Scotland - 1564
The Louvre Museum - 1954
The middle of the Pacific Ocean, Winter - 2014
Mars, a human biodome - December 31st, 2099
Often, the writer or author will not tell us the exact location and time. The reader has to make guesses based on the vocabulary in a story.
Tense
- Most stories are told in past tense. Even, a future story (sci-fi) can be told in past tense.
Example: Captain Zap jumped into his spaceship and left Jupiter’s atmosphere. Orby the robot waved good-bye.
The reader cannot use the tense of verbs to find out setting. Past tense does not mean the story is in past history.
In the example, “jumped”, “left”, and “waved” are past tense, but “spaceship” and “robot” are related to stories of the future. What do you think is the the setting of this story?