Famous Setting
Descriptions
The Great
Gatsby – F.
Scott
Fitzgerald
• “The lights grow
brighter as the earth
lurches away from the
sun, and now the
orchestra is playing
yellow cocktail music...”
• Reflects the glamour
and emotional
emptiness of the Jazz
Age.
Harry
Potter – J.K.
Rowling
• “The narrow path had
opened suddenly onto
the edge of a great
black lake... a vast castle
with many turrets and
towers.”
• Builds a magical, aweinspiring atmosphere.
Wuthering
Heights –
Emily
Brontë
• “...the intense horror of
nightmare came over
me: I tried to draw back
my arm, but the hand
clung to it...”
• Creates a gothic and
emotionally charged
setting.
1984 –
George
Orwell
• “The hallway smelt
of boiled cabbage
and old rag mats.”
• Immediately
conveys a bleak,
oppressive dystopia.
Of Mice
and Men –
John
Steinbeck
• “A few miles south of
Soledad, the Salinas
River drops in close to
the hillside bank and
runs deep and green...”
• Offers peace and beauty
in contrast to hardship.
A Tale of
Two Cities –
Charles
Dickens
• “It was the best of
times, it was the
worst of times...”
• Captures
contradiction and
sets tone for
revolution.