“Where in the…?" — A Conversation on Literature & Setting

Everything happens somewhere.

Hester and Pearl live on the outskirts of town; George and Lennie start off in the wilderness but then live on a farm; Sethe has to live in Cincinnati with her flashbacks across the river in Kentucky; and while Garcin, Inez, and Estelle suffer in their single room in literal hell, the Youngers all play their parts in a single room that is not hell, but was a hell to them.   

Everything happens sometime. 

17th century Massachusetts, the depression and dust bowl era California, 1850s Ohio and Kentucky, 1940s Hell (seriously), and post-war Chicago.

The “where” and “when” of a text matter, and understanding how and why they matter helps students to better translate the themes of the text to their own experiences. 

AP^® Lit students often become very good at identifying and describing a setting but they often fall short when it comes to examining and explaining how that setting contributes to the development of characters, plot, and even meaning. This webinar explores "how where and when matter" in a literary work and provides some practical classroom approaches. 

Watch it below!

Brandon Abdon has 20 plus years in education including 12 years as a high school English teacher, 8 as a professor of English and Education, and 8 as a curriculum developer and instructional coach. He also has more than 10 years of experience as a consultant and formerly worked as the lead director for the international Advanced Placement program at the College Board. A fellow of the National Writing Project, Brandon believes in the power of writing daily in the classroom. He also knows that all students have a path to literacy when engaged and challenged suitably. He is the senior author of two textbooks: AP^® Language and Composition (2020) and AP^® Literature and Composition  (2021) coursebooks both by AMSCO^®. He is also a collaborator on a number of projects to support English teachers and their classrooms, including the Mosaic Slow-Conference project and The Garden of English. He holds advanced degrees in both English and Education - including a Doctorate in English - and certification as both a teacher and an administrator. During his full time work in high school classrooms, he was recognized with the National Council of Teachers of English “High School Teacher of Excellence” award in 2010. He has taught courses at the University of Kentucky and Georgia State University, teaching courses including English Composition 1, Introduction to Literature, Literature for Teachers, Composition for Teachers, and others. He likes to read and play sports, but does both of them slowly and only one of them well. He has been married to his brilliant wife, Angela, since 2008 and has two sons, Hilton and Dorian.