The house smelled musty and damp, and a little sweet, as if it were haunted by the ghosts of long-dead cookies.
Neil Gaiman, American Gods
What do these words conjure up for you? What do you “see”? Is there a type of house (or a hint of a house) that comes to mind?
There! In that one sentence, Gaiman has created a setting for us.
What kind of story is going to be told? Why do you think that?
Again, Gaiman has set up context for us.
You don’t have to spend pages or paragraphs to give a story setting and context. A few well-chosen words will do the trick.
Read the poem on this website, then answer the questions below in the comments section of this page by class time on Thursday, April 15 (2:30 PM):
- What is the setting in the first stanza of the poem for you?
- How about the setting in the third stanza?
- The final line of the poem, “Warsaw, 1944” puts the poem in context. What was going on in Warsaw, Poland, in 1944?
- What do you think this poem is about with the final line?
- What would change if the final line was gone?
The takeaway here is that a few words can change the context of a rather peaceful setting.
Details and deadlines can be found on Week 11’s Assignment page!
1. The setting in stanza one sounds like it’s in a port near the sea.
2. Seems like the people are about to meet the unexpected in this port/town.
3. The poem takes place when the Nazi’s occupied Poland during WW2.
4. The poem is about the the polish people trapped by the Nazis and feeling that the world will end this way.
5. If the poem was missing the final line it wouldn’t really shown the impact of what the author was writing about.
1.In the first stanza, the setting may be near the end of an open watershed by a seaport providing the correct environment for bees, snakes, waterspouts, and porpoise.
2. In the third stanza the setting seems to be in the air space above a rural area. The author speaks of biblical visitors and harsh storms which would usually come with the “world ending” however, with a lack of those things, people don’t believe the world is ending.
3.In Warsaw, Poland 1944, Nazi forces were occupying Poland and the Poland Home Army was working to drive them away.
4.I think the poem is about the author’s feeling of despair while being under Nazi rule.
5.If the final line was gone despair would not have been properly conveyed.
1.What is the setting in the first stanza of the poem for you? The setting in the first stanza is probably near the sea or ocean. So near a type of body of water.
2.How about the setting in the third stanza? I think the setting in the third stanza is at an unexpected place.
3.The final line of the poem, “Warsaw, 1944” puts the poem in context. What was going on in Warsaw, Poland, in 1944? The Warsaw, Poland, 1944 was an uprising was the single largest military effort undertaken by resistance forces to oppose German occupation during World War II.
4.What do you think this poem is about with the final line? I think this poem is about the end of the Warsaw in Poland.
5. What would change if the final line was gone? What would change is that maybe the tone of the poem would change.
1. The setting to me seems like the normal everyday life of the world, what usually happens to these animals on a day-to-day basis is still happening, nothing too special. The setting is just a normal day for all species on earth.
2. The setting still feels as if it is everyday life, and it’s saying as long as normal life carries on no one would realize it was the end of the world
3. War is happening and that’s why it is considered the end of the world to them because it is seen as the end of those normal days that are explained in the previous stanzas
4. This poem is about a soldier to the person looking back and remembering the days before the war and since those days are gone and all there is is destruction, it is being considered the last day on earth in this person’s perspective.
5. With the last one removed I think it can be considered someone saying that if the world were to end, it would most likely be on a normal day with nothing crazy happening, it wouldn’t be climactic and movie-like. Which is much different then if we knew it was from Warsaw
1.The setting seems to be an average place that is unsuspecting of unfortunate events that are about to take place.
2. The setting of the third standaz is the present time
3.The Warsaw Uprising to push Germany out of occupying Poland in world War II
4.That the world can end at any moment because of tragic events. They happen everyday events that change the world as we know it.
5.Nothing would change because the last line is a repeat of the one before. It might lose a little empishese if it is only said once.
1. The setting in the first stanza seems to be that of the Earth itself.
2. The setting in the third stanza is that of where people who expected a dramatic ending of the world are observing the polar opposite phenomenon.
3. Warsaw was being occupied by Nazi Germany during WW2.
4. The poem is an anonymous letter describing what the end of the world looks like to/is for a citizen of Warsaw in 1944.
5. If the final line were gone, the poem would simply be about the world ending in an unexpectedly anti-climatic way, or predicting it to happen that way.
1. For me, the settings of the first stanza include a garden, the sea, a tree, and a tropical forest.
2. The setting in the third stanza is the natural environment on earth.
3. In 1944, Warsaw was destroyed by Germany.
4. The final line suggested that there are very few persons who believe that the world is ending.
5. If the final line is gone, the message that the author wanted to send would be weaker.
What is the setting in the first stanza of the poem for you?
-The setting in the first stanza is a house by the sea.
How about the setting in the third stanza?
-the setting in the third stanza is any where on earth with a view of the sky,
The final line of the poem, “Warsaw, 1944” puts the poem in context. What was going on in Warsaw, Poland, in 1944? – Warsaw was being taken by Nazi Germany.
What do you think this poem is about with the final line?
-from the last line i think this poem is about something coming to an end sooner than you think.
What would change if the final line was gone?
– i think the poem wouldn’t make sense without the last line to wrap everything up.
1. The setting in the first stanza of this poem is a big lake in the middle of a small forest.
2. The setting in the third stanza of this poem is in a country side area with the sky view and mountains.
3. The Warsaw Uprising, getting destroyed by Germany
4. I think this poem was about how the end of world was looking like it would be for the person who wrote this.
5. I feel like the purpose of the poem wouldn’t make sense then.
1) The poem seems to take place near a body of water filled with green.
2) The setting talk about how much of an average day it is but loops at the end of the world.
3)The uprising of people in Warsaw against Nazi Germany.
4)The person who wrote this poem seems as this is going to be the end of the world.
5)The author’s main emphasis on the end of the world wouldn’t make the poem iconic.
(1) I believe it’s taking place by a lake or near a beach shore.
(2) it sounds like day of judgment, an unpleasant day.
(3) it sounds like it was taking place during world war 2 or 1.
(4) it’s about the world ending in sorrow and pain and how there’s no way out.
(5) the tone of the poem would definitely change.
1. The setting in the first stanza is a normal day. The normal things are going on perusal. I think it’s expressing that the day the world ends people won’t know when it’s going to come they’ll just be going about life as normal
2. Here the poet is saying that things like thunder or trumps won’t happen to warn or announce the end it will just happen but people don’t seem to believe if there isn’t some sort of sign
3. Warsaw 1944 was a major WWII uprising going on which gives the poem a darker form and the end that is coming that’s being referenced is war
4. People not believing that the world will come to an end again however the end could be humanities self destruction with things such as war
5. If the last line was wasn’t there I think the poem would be less of a statement and more of a pondering thought