Take notes on social setting details and images as you read the story or poem. Organize your notes under subtopics such as economy, society, politics, religion, environment and culture. Perhaps the author uses images of dryness and dust and then juxtaposes these with fertile images of farms. Descriptions of characters' houses might reveal class, politics and religion.
Identify patterns and themes in the setting details and imagery you have noted. What details are repeated? Which characters move between settings? Analyzing patterns in the setting details will help you understand larger themes in the work. For example, if characters who are living in squalid tenement housing have a rewarding religious and cultural life, while characters living in mansions are described as remote, cold or unhappy, you can infer the author's thematic point. You may also want research the setting to help you understand significant events and dominant values and beliefs of a particular time period.
Examine how character motivations and actions are influenced by the social setting of the novel. One way of determining this is to ask what the character wants (motivation) and what is in her way. Once you have identified motivation and possible barriers for a character, figure out how the social setting influences those things. In a story set during war time, a character may want justice (motivation), but may be blocked by political unrest.
Analyze social setting details in relation to the plot. Remember social setting is the "world" of the novel -- it shapes the actions of the characters. If the literary work is set during the Great Depression or Vietnam War, everything in the story relates to this. Identify patterns in plot events as they relate to setting details. Characters may be idealistic at the outset of a story, but larger political events (such as war) crush this, altering the course of their lives. Ask yourself how the story's setting has influenced the novel's plot.
Examine the work's social setting in relation to character, theme and plot. Find larger patterns supported by symbols and imagery. Reach some conclusions about why the author chose the social setting she did and how it influenced character motivation and plot events.