Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
The setting of “Thank You, M’am” is not made explicit in the story, apart from the fact that it takes place in a large American city at night. Given that Hughes wrote the story in the 1950s and was living in Harlem (a predominantly Black neighborhood in New York City) at the time, scholars generally agree that this is where and when the story takes place. There are some clues in the story that suggest hint at the time period, including the fact that Roger tries to steal Mrs. Jones’s purse in order to buy himself a pair of blue suede shoes—a popular shoe style in the 1950s.