Treatment of the Mentally Retarded Societal attitudes about mental retardation changed considerably over the course of the twentieth century. In the United States in the early part of the century, individuals with mental retardation were generally sent away to schools for the feebleminded, where standards of care varied widely. These were usually large institutions, each…
Tag: SETTING
The Good Shopkeeper – Setting
Nepal Overview About the size of Arkansas, Nepal is north of India and just south of China. It is a landlocked country with a dramatic landscape of the Himalayan Mountains to the north, bringing frigid weather in the winter, to the flat river plains of the Ganges in the south with subtropical weather. Mount Everest…
Fleur by Louise Erdrich – Setting
North Dakota in the Early Twentieth Century West of Minnesota, on the southern border of Canada, and within the large area of the central United States known as the Great Plains, North Dakota has an arid climate with extreme temperatures and a rural economy. Sparsely populated until the late-nineteenth century, the state has a history…
An End to Dreams – Setting
The Jazz Age American society went through a period of dramatic change in the aftermath of World War I. Traditional beliefs in God, country, and humanity were shaken as Americans faced the devastation of a war of this magnitude. The resulting feelings of confusion and dislocation led to a questioning and often a rejection of…
The End of Old Horse – Setting
Ortiz was born and raised in the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, about 65 miles west of Albuquerque. For centuries, the Acoma Pueblo existed at the top of a mesa, 7000 feet above sea level, in what is now referred to as “Sky City.” The Acoma people first came to the attention of Europeans in…
A Day in the Dark – Story – Setting
The Decline of the Big Houses At the end of the story, Bowen uses setting details to further illuminate Barbie’s transition. She becomes as powerless as the paper boat the river carries away, “traveling at uncertain speed on the current, list[ing] as it vanished under the bridge.” She does not have “the heart to wonder…
Aftermath by Mary Yukari Waters – Setting
Although Waters published “Aftermath” in 2001, the work is set in Japan right after the end of World War II. On August 14, 1945, following several military defeats and the United States’ dropping of an atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan’s emperor Hirohito surrendered unconditionally to the Allied powers, which…
The Thrill of the Grass – Setting
Baseball Strike and Free Agency The 1981 baseball strike was largely fought over the issue of free agency. Baseball owners had become accustomed to thinking of players as property—assets to be traded at will. However, during the decade leading up to the strike, players had been lobbying to obtain the rights of more modern employees,…
Sweet Potato Pie – Short Story – Setting
Sharecropping The practice of sharecropping consists of tenant farmers who pay the landowner with a portion, or share, of the crops they harvest on their rented land. The system became common in the South during the Reconstruction era (the period following the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery). It was a…
Sorry Right Number – Setting
Gothic Roots By the time this story was published, King was well on his way to becoming the best-selling horror fiction writer of all time. Horror, as a genre, has had a long history, and like other popular genres, it has often been considered inferior writing. Its roots are usually traced back to British author…