By Kenton Rambsy
Below, I have comprised information relating to time and setting in select short stories. The information is based on my investigation of the various stories and details the authors use to describe the characters and background of their narratives.
Charles Chesnutt: “The Wife of His Youth”
Location: Ohio (Fictional town of Groveland)
Historical Period:1880s- 1890s
Duration of Story: 1 Day
Rudolph Fisher: “The City of Refuge”
Location: Harlem, New York
Historical Period: 1920s
Duration of Story: 2-3 Weeks
Zora Neale Hurston: “Spunk”
Location: Unnamed Florida Town
Historical Period: 1910-1920s
Duration of Story: 1 Week
Zora Neale Hurston: “Sweat”
Location: Unnamed Florida Town
Historical Period: 1910-1920
Duration of Story: 1 Week
Richard Wright: “Big Boy Leaves Home”
Location: Unnamed Southern Town
Historical Period: 1930s
Duration of Story: 1 Day
Richard Wright: “The Man Who Lived Underground”
Location: Unnamed City (Presumably New York or Chicago)
Historical Period: 1930s/1940s
Duration of Story:1 Day
Ralph Ellison: “Battle Royal”
Location: Unnamed Alabama Town
Historical Period: Early 1930s
Duration of Story: 1 Day
James Baldwin: “Sonny’s Blues”
Location: Harlem, New York
Historical Period: 1940s/1950s
Duration of Story: 1 Year (with a series of flashbacks)
Ernest J. Gaines: “The Sky is Gray”
Location: Unnamed Louisiana Town (Near Bayonne)
Historical Period: Late 1930s/Early 1940s
Duration of Story: 2-3 Days
Henry Dumas: “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”
Location: Harlem, New York
Historical Period: 1960s
Duration of Story: 1 Day
Amiri Baraka: “The Screamers”
Location: Newark, New Jersey
Historical Period: Late 1960s
Duration of Story: 1 Day
Toni Cade Bambara: “Raymond’s Run”
Location: Harlem, New York
Historical Period: 1970s
Duration of Story: 2-4 Days
Toni Cade Bambara: “The Lesson”
Location: New York City
Historical Period: 1970s
Duration of Story: 1 Day
Alice Walker: “Everyday Use”
Location: Unnamed Georgia Town
Historical Period: Early 1970s
Duration of Story: 1 Day
Charles Johnson: “The Education of Mingo”
Location: Unnamed Southern Illinois Town
Historical Period: October 7, 1855
Duration of Story: 1 Day
Paule Marshall: “Reena”
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Historical Period: 1960s
Duration of Story: 1 Day
Toni Morrison: “Recitatif”
Location: New York State
Historical Period: Late 1950s- Early 1980s
Duration of Story: Over the 30 some years
Octavia Butler: “Bloodchild”
Location: N/A (Undisclosed)
Historical Period: N/A Undisclosed)
Duration of Story: 1 Day
Edwidge Danticat: “Seven”
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Historical Period: Late 1990s- Early 2000s
Duration of Story: 1 Week
Edward P. Jones: “Old Boys, Old Girls”
Location: Washington, D.C. (and prison outside of D.C. in Virginia)
Historical Period: 2000s
Duration of Story: Over the course of 20 years
Related:
• A notebook on short stories by black writers
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