On the Beach at Night
BY
WALT WHITMAN
On the beach at night,
Stands a child with her father,
Watching the east, the autumn sky.
Up through the darkness,
While ravening clouds, the burial clouds, in black masses
spreading,
Lower sullen and fast athwart and down the sky,
Amid a transparent clear belt of ether yet left in the east,
Ascends large and calm the lord-star Jupiter,
And nigh at hand, only a very little above,
Swim the delicate sisters the Pleiades.
From the beach the child holding the hand of her father,
Those burial-clouds that lower victorious soon to devour all,
Watching, silently weeps.
46
Spotlight On Literary Elements: Setting © Scholastic Teaching Resources
Weep not, child,
Weep not, my darling,
With these kisses let me remove your tears,
The ravening clouds shall not long be victorious,
They shall not long possess the sky, they devour the stars
only in apparition,
Jupiter shall emerge, be patient, watch again another
night, the Pleiades shall emerge,
They are immortal, all those stars both silvery and golden
shall shine out again,
The great stars and the little ones shall shine out again,
they endure,
The vast immortal suns and the long-enduring pensive
moons shall again shine.
Then dearest child mournest thou only for Jupiter?
Considerest thou alone the burial of the stars?
Something there is,
(With my lips soothing thee, adding I whisper,
I give thee the first suggestion, the problem and indirection,)
Something there is more immortal even than the stars,
(Many the burials, many the days and nights, passing
away,)
Something that shall endure longer even than lustrous
Jupiter,
Longer than sun or any revolving satellite,
Or the radiant sisters the Pleiades.
47
Spotlight On Literary Elements: Setting © Scholastic Teaching Resources
Home-Thoughts,
From Abroad
BY
ROBERT BROWNING
I
Oh, to be in England
Now that April’s there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England—now!
II
And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops—at the bent spray’s edge—
That’s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children’s dower
—Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!
48
Spotlight On Literary Elements: Setting © Scholastic Teaching Resources
SETTING
About Setting
Setting is the time and place
in which story events occur.
When readers are attuned to the setting of a story, it’s easier for them to understand
and accept the characters’ actions and concerns. Students will notice as they read these
poems that writers often choose ordinary settings to provide fascinating new looks at life.
As a preface to reading the poems, write the above definition of setting on the board
and ask a volunteer to read it to the class. Then use one of the discussion starters below
to talk about setting:
{ I’d like to write a story that is set in my hometown—that’s the place—thirty years
ago—that’s the time. What places might I describe in the story? (my home, school,
a friend’s house, a nearby park, and so on) What events might I talk about? (The
birth of my little brother or sister, my first day of school, and so on)
{ Remember the book Number the Stars? The place was Copenhagen, Denmark, and
the time was during World War II. That whole setting felt very real to me. What
setting from another book feels real to you?
Encourage students to identify and describe the settings in some of their favorite
books or short stories. Then invite students to read the two poems in this lesson,
paying special attention to the place and time where each poem is set and their
significance to the tale. When students have finished reading the poems, have them
work on the reproducible activities in this lesson. The activities will reinforce what
they’ve learned about setting and will help them plan settings for their own stories.
28
Spotlight On...Literary Elements © Scholastic Teaching Resources
S T O RY S U M M A R I E S
Settings in Poems
ead the poems aloud together, then discuss the settings with students.
R
{ The setting of Walt Whitman’s poem is very obvious from its title:
“On the Beach at Night.” A young child stands on the beach with
her father, watching the seemingly endless night sky as stars begin to
appear. Then, suddenly, dark masses of clouds gather and “devour” the
stars, distressing the child at the thought of the stars disappearing
forever. Her father then teaches her a lesson about eternity, telling
her that “Something there is more immortal even than the stars . . .”
Invite students to close their eyes and imagine standing on a beach at
night. Ask: What do you see? Why do you think Whitman picked this setting
to talk about eternity? Can you think of another setting that would produce
the same effect?
{ In the poem “Home-Thoughts, From Abroad” Robert Browning describes the
setting—England in spring—from memory. Help students identify the details
that bring the setting alive. For example, the lowest boughs and the brushwood
sheaf / Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf or the fields look rough with hoary dew.
Have students compare the first verse, which describes England in April,
with the second verse, set in May. Ask: How has the setting changed?
Encourage students to write a simple verse that describes how a place has
changed over a period of time.
Spotlight On...Literary Elements © Scholastic Teaching Resources
29
Name
Setting
Date
Starting With Setting
If you’re stuck for a story idea, one way to get unstuck is to dream up a setting for the story. You
can be as imaginative as you like, trying out different settings before you make your final choice.
Combine different times and places from the columns below. Briefly suggest the opening for a
story in that setting.
Examples:
Time: right now
Place: deserted house
Settings
A withered hand reaches around
the creaking door that opens to the
decaying basement stairway.
Time: summer
Place: the moon
What a place to spend a summer vacation!
After all, when Tina mentioned to her
TIME
PLACE
today; right now
the moon
100 years in the future
a shopping mall
yesterday
deep in the woods
the age of the dinosaurs
a school
the middle of the night
in a car
a season of the year
a deserted house
parents that she wanted to go somewhere
different and unusual this year, she certainly
did not expect them to choose the moon!
Setting 1
Time ________________________ Place _______________________
Opener
Setting 2
Time ________________________ Place _______________________
Opener
32
Spotlight On...Literary Elements © Scholastic Teaching Resources
Name
Setting
Date
Describing Places
Good writers want to find the most effective words to describe the places in their stories.
They especially want to avoid tired, overused, ho-hum words, like a nice house or a busy mall.
Use the graphic organizer below to help you describe a setting. Give the place a name, then
answer the questions. On both sides of the door, list some vivid words or phrases that bring the
setting to life. At the back of this page, use your descriptions to write an opening paragraph for
a story set in this place.
(name of place)
What does the place look like?
What special features
stand out?
What does it
remind you of?
Spotlight On...Literary Elements © Scholastic Teaching Resources
33
Name
Date
Setting
A Story of Your Own
In the ''Describing Places'' activity you practiced developing a setting for a story. Use that setting to
write a complete story in which setting plays a major part. Use the lines below to outline your story.
1.
Possible Story Title
2.
Setting:
Time
Place
3.
Main Characters:
4.
Basic Plot Outline:
What big event happens as the story begins?
What big problem results from the event?
What do the main characters do to solve the problem?
How does the setting influence what happens in the story?
36
Spotlight On...Literary Elements © Scholastic Teaching Resources
Name
Date
Setting
Settings in Poems
Like stories, poems can have settings that are realistic or settings that are imaginary. The
settings in “On the Beach at Night” and “Home-Thoughts, From Abroad” are both realistic.
Write two poems of your own, one with a realistic setting, the other with an imaginary setting.
Use the spaces below to write your first drafts.
POEM SETTINGS
1.
Realistic: Time
Place
2.
Imaginary: Time
Place
Spotlight On...Literary Elements © Scholastic Teaching Resources
37