Hamilton, Essential Literary Terms (98-111; 150-166) -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)
"As with other aspects of narration, and author's choices about time and place exert an important influence on a work's tone and meaning, which the reader must infer."
I found this particular point made in Hamilton's text quite interesting and likewise verifiable. I don't know why, but while I was reading this section I found my mind dwelling on the description of Miss Havisham's establishment in Charles Dickens's classic, Great Expectations, one of my personal favorites. In this part of the novel, it is implied that the condition of Miss Havisham's home is also the condition of Miss Havisham herself. Everything is old, rotting, and decayed, and there is the ever-present sense that time has stopped once one enters Satis House, which is only reinforced by the fact that all the clocks throughout the manor are stopped at twenty minutes to nine. This would be a perfect example in demonstrating the greater importance of setting than just the standard "time and place" of the literary work.