Chinese History in the Twentieth Century China’s two thousand years of imperial rule by various dynasties, the last of which was the Qing dynasty, ended in 1912 when the army overthrew the dynasty and established a short-lived republic. This change in power was followed by a ten-year period of fragmentation in which various “warlords,” provincial…
Tag: SETTING
Great Day by David Malouf – Setting
Australian History The story is set on a warm day during the Australian summer. No date is mentioned, but it is most likely in January, which is Australia’s hottest month. During this month, Australians celebrate two historical events: Australia’s Independence Day on January 1, which honors the day the country won its independence from Great…
The Good Doctor by Adam Haslett – Setting
National Health Service Corps According to its website, the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) was established in 1972, as a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a federally funded agency to address the medical and psychological needs of underserved populations, wherever they are found in the United States, from rural and…
The English Pupil – Setting
The Life and Work of Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus was born in 1707 in Sweden. His father was a Lutheran minister. Even as a child, Linnaeus was interested in botany. At the age of five, he looked after his own garden. As a young man, he studied medicine and natural history at the University of…
The Canal by Richard Yates – Setting
The Last Days of World War II Yates does not say where the battle described in the story took place, but it is possible that it took place in Germany, given that it occurred in March of 1945 and involved American troops advancing against the Germans. The conflict that Yates describes has some similarity to…
Titanic Survivors Found in Bermuda Triangle – Setting
The Sinking of the Titanic Titanic was advertised heavily throughout 1911 and 1912 as illustrating the future of ocean travel, a ship too huge and too well-designed to ever sink. It sank on its first voyage. The theory behind the ship’s presumed stability was its double-lined hull, which was divided into sixteen watertight compartments. Four…
A Silver Dish by Saul Bellow – Setting
The Great Depression At the center of this story is Bellow’s description of the night when Woody and his father, who are both poor, travel from the south side of Chicago to the affluent suburb of Evanston to the north. The contrast between the two worlds is made clear to readers, as the contrast between…
The Pearl by John Steinbeck – Setting
Pearl Diving in La Paz La Paz (meaning “peace” in Spanish) is in the Mexican state of Southern Baja California on the Sea of Cortez. For several centuries, the area was famous for its pearl diving and was known as “The City of Pearls.” The oyster beds, however, became diseased and died out in the…
Mowgli’s Brothers – Setting
Born in India in 1865, Kipling was a product of late nineteenth-century British imperialism, an expansionist policy that justified the economic benefits to be had in conquering undeveloped lands with a language of paternalism and benevolence. In 1899, Kipling’s poem, “White Man’s Burden” (which was in fact addressed to Americans as they took control of…
Islands by Aleksandar Hemon – Setting
Bosnia-Herzegovina Given the autobiographical nature of Hemon’s short story collection, and based on details from the story, “Islands” is likely set in the 1970s, a decade of relative prosperity in what is in 2005 BosniaHerzegovina. Hemon wrote the story in the 1990s, having recently emigrated from Bosnia to the United States. In order to understand…