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What is the setting of the story "Head and Shoulders"?

Like many of this author's stories, the setting of "Head and Shoulders" by F. Scott Fitzgerald is New England in about 1915-1920.


Notice how the story starts in 1915 at Princeton University, which is in New Jersey, then quickly moves to Yale University in Connecticut as the main character, Horace Tarbox, finishes his undergraduate work and begins his graduate work.


Later, Horace and Marcia, his love interest, move together to Westchester County, which is in New York.


The setting stays in the northeast, then, in New England, and a few years go by as the story goes on, so you can best summarize the setting with the phrase "New England, around 1915-1920."


Understanding the setting helps us pick up on details that exemplify that time period, like Marcia's being a "flapper." But more importantly, the time and place are important to our understanding of the story, because they give us a sense of what the characters are probably experiencing: a sense of loss in the search for meaning in life, like much of the literature taking place in this period. Knowing that many stories that take place in this time deal with this same theme, we can pay special attention to it--and that helps us know to focus on the story's idea of "raps" on the door as a metaphor for opportunities that infuse meaning into life.

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