SETTING THESAURUS

HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY



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HELPFUL TIP:

Settings should always be chosen with care. Consider the emotion you want your viewpoint character to feel and how setting choices, weather elements, and symbolism might build a specific mood in the scene, create tension and conflict, or even raise the stakes.
SIGHTS:
Walls of dented or scraped lockers
Scuffed floors
A trophy case
Student-painted murals
Colorful handmade posters for school events (an upcoming prom, a chess club tournament, drama tryouts, pep rally reminders)
Fire extinguishers
Classroom doors
A display case of student sculptures
Class pictures
A framed school jacket or school banner
Garbage cans
A floor dotted with debris (discarded gum wrappers, broken pencils, pencil-top erasers, crumpled papers)
Janitors pushing wide brooms
Teachers making for their classes or stopping to chat with students
A school police officer wandering the halls
Students (rushing to class, digging in backpacks, slamming locker doors, sitting with their backs against lockers, hanging out in groups, chatting with friends, cramming for a test with a pile of books or a backpack resting on the floor next to them, texting on phones)
Bathrooms
Small graffiti carved into door frames or written in marker on the walls
Shiny silver locks on lockers
Papers and shoelaces sticking out of locker door vents
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SOUNDS:
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SMELLS:
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TASTES:
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TEXTURES AND SENSATIONS:
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POSSIBLE SOURCES OF CONFLICT:
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PEOPLE COMMONLY FOUND IN THIS SETTING:
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SETTING NOTES AND TIPS:
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SETTING DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE:
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TECHNIQUES AND DEVICES USED:
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DESCRIPTIVE EFFECTS:
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