The Short Story |
Definition & General Information | Historical References | ||
Elements | 10th Grade Home Page | ||
Mrs. Westenskow's Home Page |
Def.: fictional narrative brief enough to be transmitted in single hearing or reading. |
Designed to entertain or instruct |
Found in all modern literary cultures |
7th c. B.C. - Aesop's Fables |
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Biblical Parables |
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Stories of Arabian Knights |
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Edgar Alan Poe |
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer |
Decameron by Boccaccio |
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Edgar Alan Poe - father of the short story Established standards by which stories are judged |
Gives order to series of actions or events |
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Def.: characters performing actions involved with conflict |
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CONFLICT |
Def.: struggle between two opposing forces |
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Provides interest, suspense, tension |
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Connects one incident to another --develops cause and effect pattern |
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Develops plot line |
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TYPES OF CONFLICT |
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External |
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Man vs. Man |
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Man vs. Nature |
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Man vs. Society |
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Man vs. Fate |
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Man vs. Technology |
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Internal |
Man vs. Self |
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PARTS OF PLOT LINE |
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Exposition (introduction) |
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Narrative Hook |
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Rising Action (complications) |
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Climax |
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Highest point in the conflict |
Occurs before the end of the story |
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Meeting of two forces - one comes out the winner |
Outcome relies on climax |
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Falling Action (resolution) |
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Denouement |
Def.: method by which author reveals a character's personality |
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Direct Characterization |
Author tells reader directly about a character |
Indirect Characterization |
Author shows character's actions and reader draws conclusions |
Through character's actions |
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Through character's speech & thoughts |
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Through other character's speech, thoughts and actions |
TYPES OF CHARACTERS |
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Round |
Fully developed personality - many or opposing traits |
Flat |
Character with only a few developed traits |
Protagonist |
Central character |
Evokes reader sympathy |
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Antagonist |
Person or force that opposes the protagonist |
Stereotype |
One trait which immediately identifies personality |
Rapidly establishes character | |
Lacks individuality | |
Often a foil | |
Foil |
Character in similar situation who reacts opposite to main character |
Sets off another by contrast |
Environment in which the story takes place |
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Different functions in action and emotional effect |
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Sometimes almost a character in itself |
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Elements of setting |
Time or period action takes place |
Geographical location - topography, scenery, physical arrangements | |
Occupations and daily habits of characters | |
General environment of characters | |
religious | |
mental | |
moral | |
emotional | |
social | |
Regionalism - setting is stressed: locale, manners, customs |
Functions of Setting |
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Provide backdrop for action - physical background for action | |
Shapes character and action - shapes attitudes of characters | |
Establish atmosphere | |
Reflects character psychology - reflects inner feeling of character | |
Creating Setting |
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By details - realistic/authentic |
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By sense images - appeal to reader senses (sight, sound, smell, feel, taste) |
Def.: perspective from which the story is told/relationship between the narrator and the story | |
**Determines the type of information and how much information** |
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Author creates narrator |
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Narrator tells story |
Different persona from author |
Different attitudes from author | |
Is narrator reliable? |
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Ask "Who is telling the story?" |
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Usually only one consistent per short story |
Types of Point of View |
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3rd person omniscient | Narrator outside story |
Knows thoughts and actions of all characters | |
Most reliable, most objective | |
3rd person limited | Narrator outside story |
Narrator tells from viewpoint of one character, one character's thoughts | |
Helps develop particular character | |
Can slant story, less reliable | |
1st
person |
Narrator part of story |
Tells from one side, narrator's thoughts and feelings only | |
Least reliable | |
Easily slanted | |
Key word "I" |
Def.: universal or general statement that suggests the idea or moral behind the story |
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What the story is about |
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Problems or issues it explores |
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Universal idea suggested by specifics in story |
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Holds true for whole story - not just part of the story |
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Essential meaning of the story |
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Can be more than one theme in longer works |
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Not a summary of the plot |
Clues to Theme |
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Title |
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Images or symbols in story |
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Observations made by author, narrator, or characters |
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Moral suggested by outcome of conflict |
Traditional Theme Topics |
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Good vs. Evil | |
Nature vs. Civilized Society | |
Country Life vs. City Life | |
Free Will vs. Fate |
Figure of speech |
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Tone created when speaker intends a meaning opposite to what is said or done |
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More emphasis than direct speech |
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Humorous or serious |
Types of Irony |
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Verbal
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Intent and actual words opposite |
Meaning is different or opposite to what is said |
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Hyperbole: exaggerated statement for strong effect |
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Pun: play on words - double meaning |
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Double entendre: plays on connotation and denotation |
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Situational |
Opposite to what is expected or appropriate ex. Go to a party to have fun and someone dies. |
Dramatic
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Audience or reader knows more than speaker or narrator |
Meaning hidden from character |
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Most often in theater ex. Audience knows murderer is behind curtain. |
Something that stands for, suggests, or means something else |
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Can be an image, object, character, or action |
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Flag stands for a nation | |
Language is symbolic | |
Suggests a larger meaning |
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Uses denotation & connotation |
Types of Symbolism |
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Universal/conventional |
Commonly recognized |
Voyage suggests life |
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Particular/nonconventional |
Developed by a specific use - context |
More than one meaning |
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snow white - goodness cold - cruelty |
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Functions in a specific environment |
Recognizing Symbols |
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In titles, characters, place names |
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Nature images - snow, thunderstorm |
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Allusions to classical, literary, or historical references |
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Images or figures that appear at important points |
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Images that receive special emphasis - repeated |