CREATIVE

WRITING
 Cabuyao Institute of Technology

Setting, Scene &

Atmosphere
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 SCENE
The writer creates scenes that are
action-oriented and contain vivid
descriptions.
✣ Setting is the story's time and place.
The elements making up a setting are: the geographical location,
its topography, scenery, and such physical arrangements as the
location of the windows and doors in a room: the occupations
and daily manner of living of the characters the time or period in
which the action takes place, for example, period in history or
season of the year, and the general environment of the characters,
for example, religious, mental, moral, social, and emotional
conditions.

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The Fundamental Elements of Setting
Here is a list of the specific elements that setting encompasses: (Carpenter,
2012)
✣ Locale. This includes country, region, province, city, and town,
barangay, as well as to more specific locales, such as a
neighborhood, street, house or school. Other locales can include
shorelines, islands, farms, rural areas, etc.
✣ Time of year. The time of year is richly evocative and influential.
Time of year includes the seasons, but also encompasses holidays,
such as Christmas, New Year's Eve, and Halloween. Significant dates
can also be used, such as Birthdays, Death anniversary, wedding
anniversary, etc.

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✣ Time of day. Scenes need to play out during various times or periods during a day
or night, such as dawn or dusk. Readers have clear associations with different
periods of the day, making an easy way to create a visual orientation in a scene.
✣ Elapsed time. The minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months a story encompasses
must be somehow accounted for or the reader will feel confused and the story will
suffer from a lack of authenticity. While scenes unfold moment by moment there is
also time to account for between scenes, when a flashback is inserted, and when a
character travels a long distance.
✣ Mood and atmosphere. Characters and events are influenced by weather,
temperature, lighting, and other tangible factors, which in tum influence the
emotional timbre, mood, and atmosphere of a scene.

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✣ Climate. Climate is linked to the geography and topography of a place, and, as in our real
world, can influence events and people. Ocean currents, prevailing winds and air masses,
latitude, altitude, mountains, land masses, and large bodies of water all influence climate.
It's especially important when you write about a real setting to understand climatic
influences. Harsh climates can make for grim lives, while tropical climates can create
more carefree lifestyles.
✣ Geography. This refers to specific aspects of water, landforms, ecosystems, and
topography in your setting. Geography also includes climate, soil, plants, trees, rocks and
minerals, and soils. Geography can create obvious influences in a story like a mountain a
character must climb, a swift-running river he must cross, or a boreal forest he must
traverse to reach safety. No matter where a story is set, whether it's a mountain village in
Quezon or an opulent resort in Boracay, the natural world with all its geographic
variations and influences must permeate the story

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✣ Man-made geography. There are few corners of the planet that have not been
influenced by the hand of human kind. It is in our man-made influences that our
Creativity and the destructiveness of civilization can be seen. Readers want visual
evidence in a story world, and man-made geography is easily included to provide it.
With this in mind, make certain that your stories contain pro footprints that people have
left in its setting. Use the influences of humankind geography to lend authenticity to
stories set in a real or famous locale landmarks include dams, bridges, ports, towns and
cities, monuments, burial grounds, cemeteries, and famous buildings. Consider too the
influences mankind using the land, and the effects of mines, deforestation, agriculture,
irrigation, and rice plantations,
✣ Eras of historical importance. Important events, wars, or historical periods linked to
the plot and there might include the World Wars I & II, The Philippine Revolution of
1898 or the EDSA Revolution or 1986.

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✣ Social/political/cultural environment. Cultural, political, and social
influences can range widely and affect characters in many ways. The
social era of a story often influences characters' values, social and family
roles, and sensibilities.
✣ Population. Some places are densely populated, while others are lonely
places with only a few hardy souls. Your stories need a specific, yet varied
population that accurately reflects the place.
✣ Ancestral influences. In many regions in the Philippines, the ancestral
influences of the Spaniards are prominent. But we can also find Ancestral
influences from the Chinese, Americans and the Muslims. Ancestral
influences can be depicted in cuisine, dialogue, values, attitudes, and
general outlook. (Carpenter, 2012)

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2.16. Style

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✣ Style refers to the language conventions
used to construct the story. A writer can
manipulate diction, sentence structure,
phrasing dialogue, and other aspects of
language to create style.
✣ Thus, a story's style could be described as Place your screenshot here
richly detailed, flowing and barely
controlled or sparing and minimalist to
reflect the simple sentence structures and
low range of vocabulary. Predominant
styles change through time therefore the
time period in which the piece was written
often influences its style.

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Style is the manner of expression of a
particular writer, produced by choice
of words, grammatical structures, use
of literary devices, and all the
possible parts of Language use. Style
Place your screenshot here
is the way a writer uses words to
create literature. It is difficult to enjoy
a story's characters or plot without
enjoying the author's style. The style
of an author is as important as what
he is trying to say.

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2.17. Symbol

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Symbol is a literary device that
contains several layers of
meaning, often concealed at
first sight and is representative Place your screenshot here
of several other
aspects/concepts/traits than
those that are visible in the
literal translation alone. It is
using an object or action that
means something more than its
literal meaning.

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✣ Some symbols are universal, like water for cleansing, but others are more
culturally based. In some African societies, for example, a black cat is seen as
good luck Writers use pre-existing cultural associations as well as meanings
drawn from the context of the story to create multiple levels of meanings.
✣ In Greek mythology, the Gods are all symbols for forces of nature-for example,
Poseidon is a symbol for the sea. He is extremely powerful, but also wrathful
and unpredictable. By telling stories of Poseidon's vengeful fury, the Greeks
symbolically delivered a message about how dangerous the sea can be.

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✣ Symbol comes from the Greek word symbolom. It is a word or an object that stands
for another word or object. The object or word can be seen with the eye or not
visible.
✣ For example: a dove stands for Peace. The dove can be seen and peace cannot. All
language is symbolizing one thing or another. However, when we read the book of
Genesis, it talked about a few symbols. In the story of Adam and Eve when Eve ate
the apple, the apple stood for sin.
✣ Another example is Cain and Abel. The two brothers stood for good and evil,
humility and pride. Cain pulled Abel to the fields and killed him. In this, it is a
hidden symbol. It is showing that Cain stands for the bad and Abel stands for the
good.

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✣ The ability to recognize and interpret symbols requires
experience in literary readings perception, and tact. It is easy to
run wild with symbols-to find symbols everywhere. The ability to
interpret symbols is essential to the full understanding and
enjoyment or literature. Given below are helpful suggestions for
identifying literary symbols:

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1. The story itself must furnish a clue that a detail is to be taken symbolically-
symbols nearly always signal their existence by emphasis, repetition, or
position.
2. The meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by the
entire context of the story. A symbol has its meaning inside not outside a story.
3. To be called a symbol, an item must suggest a meaning different in kind from
its literal meaning.
4. A Symbol has a cluster of meanings

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✣ In the Lord of the Rings movies and books, the One Ring is a
symbol for power, selfish and greed. Everyone wants it and many
characters are willing to kill for it. Some begin with good
intentions, but ultimately the Ring corrupts them and bends them
to its will. The symbolism of the story implies that power
seduces, corrupts, and destroys people who are attached to it, just
as the Ring does to its owners

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 2.18. Theme
✣ Theme is the meaning or concept we are left with after reading a piece
of writing It can be a revelation of human character or it may be stated
briefly or a great length 1 develops from the interplay of character and
plot. A theme is the central and unifying Concept of the story. It must
adhere to the following requirements:

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✣ It must account for all the major details of the story.
✣ It must not be contradicted by any detail of the story,
✣ It must not rely on supposed facts-facts not actually stated or deadly
implied by the story A theme is not the "moral" of the story.
✣ A theme is the author's way of communicating and sharing ideas,
perceptions, and feelings with readers, and it may be directly stated in
the text or it may only be implied.

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 2.19. Tone
✣ Tone is the writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter. For example, the
tone of a biography can be admiring or critical, fawning or hostile. Many
biographers start with a reverential attitude toward their subject, become
antagonistic as the work bogs down and end on a worshipful tone.
✣ For instance, if the author is listing reasons and answering likely objections in
advance, the tone is argumentative or persuasive. If the writer goes on and on
about the snowy, picture-perfect holidays of childhood, nostalgia is a good bet.

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✣ When you're determining tone, "hear the writing in your head.
Put you the author's shoes and imagine what she feels examine
the language closely, and bring your own experience to the
writing.
Famous examples:

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✣ Patriotic Tone: "And so, my fellow Americans Ask not what your country
can do for you ask what you can do for your country - John F. Kennedy
✣ Aggressive Tone: "Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?"
✣ Sarcastic Tone: "All morons hate it when you call them a moron." "If a
girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she's late?
Nobody." "Goddamn money. It always ends up making you blue as hell."
"Catholics are always trying to find out if you're Catholic - Holden
Caulfield in JD Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye"

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✣ Gloomy Tone: "And the trees all died. They were orange trees. I don't
know why they died, they just died. Something wrong with the soil
possibly or maybe the stuff we got from the nursery wasn't the best. We
complained about it. So we've got thirty kids there, each kid had his or
her own little tree to plant and we've got these thirty dead trees. All
these kids looking at these little brown sticks, it was depressing" - The
School" by Donald Barthelme,

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✣ Unhappy Tone: "I shall be telling this with a sigh
✣ Somewhere ages and ages hence:
✣ Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
✣ I took the one less traveled by,
✣ And that has made all the difference." - The Road Not Taken by
Robert Frost

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✣ 3. Figurative Language Used in Creative Nonfiction Figurative language is a
type of language that varies from the norms of literal language, in which words
mean exactly what they say for the sake of comparison, emphasis, clarity, or
freshness. Also known as the "ornaments of language," figurative language does
not mean exactly what it says, but instead forces the reader to make an
imaginative leap in order to comprehend an author's point. It usually involves a
comparison between two things that may not, at first, seem to relate to one
another and can facilitate understanding because it relates something unfamiliar
to something familiar.

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✣ Sometimes, writers resort to sound-effect devices to make their
writing sound good and not just communicate mere information.
✣ To comprehend figurative language, it will require you to use
your imagination to figure out the writer's point or meaning.

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 Here are the common figurative language that most creative nonfiction
writers use. They add texture, energy, and excitement to the narrative, grip
the reader's imagination, and convey information.
1. Adage 10. Assonance 19. Irony 28. Pun
2. Allegory 11. Asyndeton 20. Litotes 29. Repetition
3. Alliteration 12. Cacophony 21. Metaphor 30. Rhetorical
4. Allusion 13. Chiasmus 22. Metonymy Question
5. Anaphora 14. Clichés and Idioms 23. Onomatopoeia 31. Rhyme
6. Antimetabole 15. Colloquialism 24. Oxymoron 32. Simile
7. Antithesis 16. Consonance 25. Parallelism 33. Synecdoche
8. Aphorism 17. Euphemism 26. Paradox 34. Synesthesia
9. Apostrophe 18. Hyperbole 27. Personification 35. Understatement/
Meiosis

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 3.1. Adage
✣ An adage is a short, pointed, and memorable saying that is based
on facts, and which is considered a veritable truth by the majority
of people.
✣ Famous adages become popular due to their usage over a long
period of time. In fact, an adage expresses a general fact or truth
about life, which becomes more and more popular before it is
accepted as a universal truth.

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✣ For instance, "God helps those who help themselves" is now
considered a universal truth because of its usage throughout
human history.
✣ Often repeated sayings and quotes become adages that pass on to
many generations.
✣ Many authors have employed adages in their works, such as CS
Lewis, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Benjamin
Franklin, J.K. Rowling, Aesop, George Bernard, Shaw, Friedrich
Nietzsche, and many others. (Adage - Examples and Definition
of Adage. 2017)

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 examples

✣ "A penny saved is a penny earned - from Poor Richard's Almanack by

Benjamin Franklin
✣ "All the world's a stage. And all the men and women merely players. They
have their exits and their entrances, /And one man in his time plays many
parts, His acts being seven ages. - As You Like It by William Shakespeare
✣ "Appearances often are deceiving." - from The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
by Aesop

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 3.2. Antimetabole
✣ Antimetabole is derived from a Greek word which means "turning about". It is a literary
term or device that involves repeating a phrase in reverse order.
✣ Examples are: "You like it; it likes you" and "Fair is foul and foul is fair" etc.
✣ Chiasmus and antimetabole are usually expected to overlap in usage and it is also often
used as a synonym for Empanadas in modern day books. However, the writer would
make them distinct through his use. ("Antimetabole - Examples and Definition of
Antimetabole, 2017)

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 Other famous examples
✣ a. "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can
do for your country" John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address,
January 20, 1961.
✣ b. "Eat to live, not live to eat." - Socrates
✣ c. "He who questions training only trains himself at asking
questions. The Sphinx, Mystery Men (1999)
✣ d. "I go where I please, and I please where I go." - Attributed to
Duke Nukem
✣ "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with."
-Billy Preston
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 3.7. Antithesis
✣ An antithesis is a rhetorical term for the juxtaposition of
contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or clauses. An antithesis is
used when the writer employs two sentences of contrasting
meanings in close proximity to one another. The purpose of using
an antithesis in literature is to create a balance between opposite
qualities and lend a greater insight into the subject.

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 Famous examples:
✣ 1. "All the joy the world contains Has come through wishing happiness for
others. All the misery the world contains Has come through wanting pleasure
for oneself." - Shantideva
✣ 2 "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -
ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask
not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the
freedom of man." -John F. Kennedy Jr.
✣ 3. "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n In Paradise Lost by John
Milton

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 3.8. Aphorism
✣ Aphorism is a statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and
witty manner. The term is often applied to philosophical, moral and
literary principles. To qualify as an aphorism, it is necessary for a
statement to contain a truth revealed in a terse manner. Aphoristic
statements are quoted in writings as well as in our daily speech. The fact
that they contain a truth gives them a universal acceptance. Scores of
philosophers, politicians, writers, artists and sportsman and other
individuals are remembered for their famous aphoristic statements.

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 Aphorisms often come with a pinch of humor,
which makes them more appealing to the
masses.

Famous Examples:
✣ a. "Tis education forms the common mind, just as the twig is
bent, the tree's inclined." - Golden Treasury of the Familiar by
Alexander Pope
✣ b: "A proverb is no proverb to you till life has illustrated it." -
John Keats
✣ c. "Act well your part; there all the honor lies." - An Essay on
Man by Alexander Pope

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 3.11. Asyndeton
✣ An asyndeton is a stylistic scheme in which conjunctions
are deliberately omitted from a series of related clauses.
The principal effect of asyndeton is to produce a hurried
rhythm in the sentence.

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 Famous examples:
✣ I remember those evenings at Grandma's - full of laughter, food,
family.
✣ She ran jumped, vaulted, landed - a perfect 10!
✣ The dark, the moon, the stars - all created a romantic effect.
✣ Wind, sun, surf - could the day get any better?
✣ You mean to tell me we lost the dog, the house, the car?

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 3.12. Cacophony
✣ Cacophony refers to the juxtaposition of words producing
a harsh sound. The word cacophony originates from the
Greek word meaning "bad sound." The term in poetry
refers to the use of words that combine sharp, harsh,
hissing, or unmelodious sounds.

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 Examples:
✣ "I detest war because cause of war is always trivial."
✣ The part "because cause" is cacophony as because is followed by
a word cause that has a similar sound but different meaning.
Generally, it sounds unpleasant as the same sound is repeated in
two different words.
("Cacophony - Examples and Definition of Cacophony." 2017)
✣ Cacophony is the use of unpleasant sounds for particular effect.

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 Cacophony is the use of unpleasant sounds for
particular effect.

He is a rotten, dirty, terrible, trudging stupid dude!

- In this example, the cacophonic sound of the sentence mirrors its

harsh tone and meaning with hard t sounds in "dirty." "Terrible," and
trudging" hard d sounds in "dirty," trudging" and "dude," and the hard
st sound in "stupid.

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 3.20. Litotes
✣ A litotes is a figure of speech consisting of an ironical
understatement in which affirmative is expressed by the negation
of the opposite.
✣ In this figure of speech, the usages are intentional, ironical and
provide emphasis to the words. This is mainly done through
double negatives. To put it in simple terms, in litotes, instead of
saying that something is attractive, you say that it is not
unattractive.

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 Famous examples
"Not too bad" for "very good" is an understatement as well as a
double negative statement that confirms a positive idea by negating
the opposite. Similarly, saying "She is not a beauty queen," means
"She is ugly or saying "I am not as young as I used to be" in order to
avoid saying "I am old". Litotes, therefore, is an intentional use of
understatement that renders an ironical effect.

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1. A million dollars is not a little amount
2. Einstein is not a bad mathematician.
3. He is not the kindest person I've met.
4. He is not unaware of what you said
behind his back.
5. He is not unlike his dad.
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6. He was not unfamiliar with the works
of Dickens.
7. He's not the friendliest person.
8. Heat waves are not rare in the summer.
9. He's not the ugliest fellow around!
10. I cannot disagree with your point.
 3.28. Pun
✣ A pun is a play on words, sometimes on different senses of
the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or
sound of different words. Humorous effects created by
puns depend upon the ambiguities words entail. The
ambiguities arise mostly in homophones and homonyms.

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 Famous examples
a. A happy life depends on a liver. (liver can refer to the organ liver or
simply the person who lives.)
b. A horse is a very stable animal.
c An elephant's opinion carries a lot of weight
d. The life of a patient of hypertension is always at steak.
e. They're called lessons... because they lessen from day to day

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 3.34. synesthesia
✣ Synesthesia refers to a technique adopted by writers to
present ideas, characters places in such a manner that they
appeal to more than one senses like hearing seeing smell
etc. at a given time.
✣ Synesthesia is an attempt to fuse different senses by
describing one in terms of another

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 Famous examples:
a. The sound of her voice was sweet. (Sweet has something to
do with taste and not sound)
b. The word "cool" is generally associated with temperature.
However, in casual conversations, we can hear phrases like
"cool dress", "cool colors" or "you are looking cool" wherein
the visual sensation is blended with the sense of touch.

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 3.35. Understatement/Meiosis

✣ An understatement or meiosis is figure of speech in which

a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem
less important or serious than it is.

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 Features of Meiosis
✣ a. It is intentional understatement.
✣ b. It is used to belittle a person or an event.
✣ c. It is opposite to hyperbole or exaggeration.
✣ d. often makes use of litotes as synonym to give ironic effect.
("Meiosis - Definition and Examples of Meiosis," 2017)

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 Examples
We use meiosis to describe and belittle professions, such as the
following:

1. The unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable."- Oscar Wilde on

fox hunting
2 "rhymester" for poet
3. "grease monkey" for mechanic
4. "shrink for psychiatrist
5. "slasher" for surgeon

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To be continued…

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