The setting of a story can be considered as a literary element, it is used to describe the location, where the story takes place, but also, the time and duration of the story. It usually entails imagery by the author to make the reader imagine and understand. In this excerpt, the author uses imagery like the phrase in option A: "The cement being overtaken by flowers and grass implies that the sidewalks are no longer maintained", to give a sense of the setting, so this would be the correct answer since it makes the reader imagine just how lonely and abandoned the town is.
Option B is incorrect because it doesn't transmit the sense of abandonment that the author is trying to convey.
Option C is incorrect because the author is not trying to convey cautiousness, rather he is trying to transmit loneliness.
Option D is incorrect because in the excerpt, it is never mentioned that the man's house is the only one lit.
