• Section 1 •
CLUES
1. Time can be inferred
through the weather
in the story.
example:
We had no choice but to
continue on, trudging
through the snow
drifts, clutching our
paltry coats closed in a
vain effort to shut out
the cold.
It can be inferred that
the setting of this
scene is in the winter.
When time is not clear
More often than not, stories don’t tell you when
they take place as authors prefer to show you
than tell you details. Unless the story is a murder
mystery where dates, hours, and even minutes
are clearly marked, readers must rely on clues
within the passage in order to figure out just
when the events in the plot take place.
2
One way to go about determining the time frame
is to look for clues regarding the weather. For
example, if the story has hungry bears coming
out of hibernation, readers can infer that it is
spring (Author’s, n.d.).