First paragraph—the setting.

The Setting. A study of the following models will show that there is some resemblance between what is here called the Setting, and the Situation which we learned about in Chapter I. The Setting is a paragraph which states (a) the scene of the story ; (b) the period to which the events narrated belong, whether modern, ancient, medixval, etc., or whether they are connected with some particular historical event ; (c) the general theme or purpose of the story.
MODELS
I.
"It was about 1783 that the events narrated in this
story happened, and the center of action was New York during the last year of the British occupation. The unity of the narrative is in the matrimonial destiny of the dominie's daughter, Miss Montayne."
"The story deals with a few days only, in the sum¬mer of 1862, and with a single episode of the struggle.
The scene of the book is the city of Cincinnati, and its theme the attempted capture of the city by a sudden Confederate raid, abetted by the southern sympathiz¬ers who formed a large part of the population of Cin¬cinnati."
"Hostilities with the Indians on the western frontier during the second war of independence against Great Britain give Mr. James Ball Naylor the materials for The Sign of the Prophet, General Harrison and Chief Tecumseh both appearing among the characters."
"There is a humorous side to house-moving, for all Franklin's ranking it among the calamities ; and this is brought out to the full by Mr. Albert Bigelow Paine in The Van Dwellers. Though concerned with New York, the name is not derived from the Knickerbockers, but signifies those mortals who spend so much time in changing their domicile that they are said to dwell in the furniture vans which convey their chattels."
SUGGESTION.- The time element is not directly stated in the last example, but it is implied. Where?