short story South

The Short Story

DIRECTORY
	Definition & General Information	Historical References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

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
7th c. B.C. - Aesop's Fables
Biblical Parables
Stories of Arabian Knights
Edgar Alan Poe	Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
	Decameron by Boccaccio
	Edgar Alan Poe - father of the short story Established standards by which stories are judged

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PLOT
Gives order to series of actions or events
Def.: characters performing actions involved with conflict
CONFLICT	Def.: struggle between two opposing forces
	Provides interest, suspense, tension
	Connects one incident to another --develops cause and effect pattern
	Develops plot line
TYPES OF CONFLICT
External
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Society
Man vs. Fate
Man vs. Technology
Internal	Man vs. Self

PARTS OF PLOT LINE
Exposition (introduction)
Narrative Hook
Rising Action (complications)
Climax
Highest point in the conflict		Occurs before the end of the story
Meeting of two forces - one comes out the winner		Outcome relies on climax
Falling Action (resolution)
Denouement

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CHARACTERIZATION
Def.: method by which author reveals a character's personality
Direct Characterization	Author tells reader directly about a character
Indirect Characterization	Author shows character's actions and reader draws conclusions
Through character's actions
Through character's speech & thoughts
Through other character's speech, thoughts and actions

TYPES OF CHARACTERS
Round	Fully developed personality - many or opposing traits
Flat	Character with only a few developed traits
Protagonist	Central character
Protagonist	Evokes reader sympathy
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
Foil	Sets off another by contrast

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SETTING
Environment in which the story takes place
Different functions in action and emotional effect
Sometimes almost a character in itself
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
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
By details - realistic/authentic
By sense images - appeal to reader senses (sight, sound, smell, feel, taste)

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POINT OF VIEW
Def.: perspective from which the story is told/relationship between the narrator and the story
Determines the type of information and how much information
Author creates narrator
Narrator tells story	Different persona from author
	Different attitudes from author
Is narrator reliable?
Ask "Who is telling the story?"
Usually only one consistent per short story

Types of Point of View
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"

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THEME
Def.: universal or general statement that suggests the idea or moral behind the story
What the story is about
Problems or issues it explores
Universal idea suggested by specifics in story
Holds true for whole story - not just part of the story
Essential meaning of the story
Can be more than one theme in longer works
Not a summary of the plot

Clues to Theme
	Title
	Images or symbols in story
	Observations made by author, narrator, or characters
	Moral suggested by outcome of conflict

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IRONY
	Figure of speech
	Tone created when speaker intends a meaning opposite to what is said or done
	More emphasis than direct speech
	Humorous or serious

Types of Irony
Verbal	Intent and actual words opposite
	Meaning is different or opposite to what is said
	Hyperbole: exaggerated statement for strong effect ex. "I couldn't do that in a thousand years."
	Pun: play on words - double meaning
	Double entendre: plays on connotation and denotation Usually sexual
Situational	Opposite to what is expected or appropriate ex. Go to a party to have fun and someone dies.
Dramatic	Audience or reader knows more than speaker or narrator
	Meaning hidden from character
	Most often in theater ex. Audience knows murderer is behind curtain.

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SYMBOLISM
Something that stands for, suggests, or means something else
Can be an image, object, character, or action
Flag stands for a nation
Language is symbolic
Suggests a larger meaning
Uses denotation & connotation

Types of Symbolism
Universal/conventional	Commonly recognized
	Voyage suggests life
Particular/nonconventional	Developed by a specific use - context
	More than one meaning
	snow white - goodness cold - cruelty
Functions in a specific environment

Recognizing Symbols
	In titles, characters, place names
	Nature images - snow, thunderstorm
	Allusions to classical, literary, or historical references
	Images or figures that appear at important points
	Images that receive special emphasis - repeated

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