In reviewing feedback on my students’ AP Literature* exam scores, I observed that they scored lower on the skills connected to explaining the function of setting. I use Yaa Gyasi’s novel Homegoing to teach these skills:

• • 2.A: Identify and describe specific textual details that convey or reveal a setting.
  • 2.B: Explain the function of setting in a narrative.
  • 2.C: Describe the relationship between a character and a setting.

Homegoing is a perfect text for teaching the function of a setting because of the overwhelming influence setting has on the characters. I typically teach this book with a discussion-heavy approach, which works well when you have classes that love discussion. I currently have a great class that loves to discuss the literature we are reading; however, I’m also approaching my teaching in general with more small-group activities designed to engage students in the text. I created a setting-based activity I plan to use in teaching Homegoing this year. It’s called “Setting as Shaper.”

As students read, they will annotate or collect 4–6 specific setting details, then sort them into categories:

• Physical environment (landscape, buildings, climate, geography)
• Social structures (laws, customs, power systems, economics)
• Historical moment (era-specific realities shaping daily life)
• Psychological atmosphere (fear, safety, confinement, belonging)

When they annotate, quote, or paraphrase the detail, they should identify where it appears and label the category.

After each reading, students will convene with a small group in class and discuss their observations. The group will select two setting details and answer: “What is the setting doing to the character in this chapter?”

Students will either choose from the following list or add your own idea:

• Restricting choices
• Enabling survival or resistance
• Reinforcing power hierarchies
• Shaping identity or self-perception
• Creating generational trauma
• Offering false or fragile safety
• Forcing moral compromise

After their discussion, they will write a 1-2 sentence claim about the setting in the chapter: In this chapter, the setting functions to ________, which shapes ________.

I am also going to have students create concept maps for each chapter. For Effia’s chapter, students will create a Belonging Map (see details below).  The guiding questions for this particular chapter: Where does Effia belong? And where is she erased?

Effia’s chapter is fundamentally about conditional belonging. The Cape Coast Castle is simultaneously:

• a site of privilege and protection
• a site of moral erasure and violence

This map helps students analyze:

• how Effia belongs only by ignoring certain spaces
• how physical proximity does not equal moral or emotional access

Instructions for the Belonging Map:

1. Draw concentric circles:
   1. Inner = belonging
   2. Middle = conditional belonging
   3. Outer = exclusion or danger
2. Place locations, naming:
   1. Who grants or denies belonging?
   2. What is the cost of belonging?
3. Unpack belonging maps together as a class.

Maps in Homegoing

Chapter Type	Map	Applicable Chapters
Confinement / institutional	Pressure Map	“Esi,” “Ness,”  “H”
Movement / transition	Before–Inside–After	“Kojo,” “Abena,” “Yaw,” “Marcus”
Moral compromise	Moral Geography	“Akua,” “Sonny”
Identity & displacement	Belonging Map	“Effia,” “Willie,” “Marjorie”
Power systems	Agency Spectrum	“Quey,”  “James”

Below, you can find some instructions for using these different concept maps:

Map Type	Core Question(s)	How to Create	Annotations	Analytical Payoff	Best Used When	Other
Agency Spectrum Map Focus: Power, choice, and limitation across different spaces	Where does the character have agency? Where is that agency limited or illusory?	Draw a horizontal line across your page. Label the left end: Little or No Agency. Label the right end: High Agency / Control. Identify 3–5 key locations from the chapter. Place each location along the line based on how much control the character has in that space.	What choices are available to the character here What choices are denied One brief textual detail that supports your placement	This map shows that agency is uneven and often depends on setting, not personality.	Characters move between spaces Power feels partial or unstable The setting offers freedom that may not be real
Pressure Map (Setting as Force) Focus: How the environment exerts control over the character	What pressures does the setting apply, and how do they shape the character’s behavior or survival?	Write the character’s name in the center of the page. Draw arrows pointing toward the character. Each arrow represents a pressure created by the setting. Write 2–3 outcomes such as: Loss of agency Adaptation or withdrawal Survival strategies Identity erosion or fragmentation	One specific setting detail A brief note explaining its effect on the character	This map treats setting as an active force, not background.	Characters are confined or controlled Institutions dominate the chapter Action is limited by environment	Types of pressure to consider: Physical (space, labor, confinement, violence) Social (laws, customs, hierarchy) Psychological (fear, silence, isolation) Temporal (waiting, repetition, loss of future)
Moral Geography Map Focus: Ethics, compromise, and survival shaped by place	What actions become normal or necessary in this setting, and why?	Divide your page into two columns: Setting Conditions Moral Consequences List 3–5 features of the setting (rules, expectations, dangers). For each feature, explain what it requires, rewards, or punishes. Optional Visual Layer—Use symbols or colors to mark: Survival choices Complicity Resistance	Take notes on: What behaviors does the setting make necessary for survival What moral compromises does it encourage or demand What actions would be unthinkable in a different place?	This map shows that ethics are shaped by environment, not just individual values.	Characters face moral compromise Systems normalize harm Survival conflicts with personal values
Before – Inside – After Map Focus: Transformation caused by entering a setting	How does entering this setting change the character?	Divide your page into three sections: BEFORE the Setting; Identify: The character’s beliefs or expectations Hopes, goals, or sense of identity INSIDE the Setting; Analyze: Key features of the environment Rules for survival or belonging Dominant emotions or pressures AFTER the Setting; Explain: What has changed in the character What is lost, gained, or hardened How the character now sees the world	Include at least one specific textual detail in each section. (Annotate during the activity.)	This map highlights setting as a catalyst for change, not just a location.	Characters move into a new environment A chapter centers on transition or realization Change is psychological or moral

A good way to differentiate for stronger students might be to have them choose the map for each chapter. You might give them instructions for how to choose that look something like this:

• Is this chapter about power? → Agency Spectrum
• Is it about constraint or survival? → Pressure Map
• Is it about ethical compromise? → Moral Geography
• Is it about change over time? → Before–Inside–After
• Is it about belonging or not belonging? → Belonging Map

Setting is never neutral. These maps help students explain what the setting does and why it matters , and should help strengthen students’ setting analysis skills. I’ll let you know how it goes!

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