Elements of Short Stories and Literary Elements

1. Elements of Short Stories andLiterary Elements

2. The setting is the place where the story takes place. Setting includes the following: • The geographical location • For example: London, Cairo, Halifax, Vancouver • The time period • For example: 1865, during WWII, today • The socio-economic characteristics of the location • For example: wealthy suburbs • The specific building, room etc. • For example: a prep school, a log cabin, a bus, a military base Setting

3. SettingCan be used to set the atmosphere for the story: “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, though a singularly dreary tract of country.” “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe

4. Round Characters are convincing, true to life. Have many different and sometimes even contradictory personality traits. • Dynamic Characters undergo some type of change or development in story, often because of something that happens to them • Flat Characters are stereotyped, shallow, and often symbolic. Have only one or two personality traits • Static Characters do not change in the course of the story CharactersThe people (or animals, things, etc. presented as people) appearing in a literary work.

5. Characters • Protagonist: The main character in a literary work (for instance, Charles in “Here There Be Tygers” or Cinderella or Snow White in the fairy tales named for their characters) • Antagonist: The character who opposes the protagonist (for instance, Miss Bird in “Here There Be Tygers” or the wicked stepmothers in the fairy tales)

6. Indirect Characterization: Revealing a character’s personality through: • The character’s thoughts, words, and actions • The comments of other characters • The character’s physical appearance Methods of Characterization

7. Plot Climax Rising Action Plot is how the author arranges events to develop his/her basic idea. It is the sequence of events in a story or play. The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle and end. Falling Action Conflict Resolution Exposition

8. Exposition: The start of the story, the situation before the action starts Conflict: The struggle between opposing forces begins Rising Action: The series of conflicts and crisis in the story that lead to the climax Climax: The most intense moment – either mentally or in action – the reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not? Falling Action: The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. (The events between the climax and the resolution) Resolution: The conclusion, the untangling of events in the story Plot Components

9. Conflict Conflict is the dramatic struggle between two forces in a story. Without conflict there is no plot.

10. Interpersonal Conflict • Human vs. Human • Human vs. Nature • Human vs. Society Internal Conflict • Human vs. Self Plot: Types of Conflict

11. The angle or perspective from which the story is told • Who is telling the story? • For instance, is it a player on the home team or someone watching the game? • How do we know what is happening? • For instance, does a character tell us? Point of View

12. Told from the viewpoint of one of the characters, using the first person pronoun “I”. “The thousands of injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I give utterance to a threat.” “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe First Person Point of View

13. Innocent Eye:The story is told through the eyes of a child (his/her judgment being different from that of an adult). • Stream of Consciousness: The story is told so that the reader feels as if they are inside the head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions.

14. The main character in the story is referred to using the second person pronoun “you”. “Rubbing your aching head, you take in the scene around you. Nearby you see a narrow dirt road, and beyond it a fast-running brook. The road disappears into dense woods on either side of the field. You hear the sound of hooves, and a strange clanking noise. Someone is coming! You duck behind a tree as two men on horseback ride toward you. They are wearing shining metal armor. One of them carries a white banner with a golden lion on it. They must be knights! You watch as they rein in their horses and dismount just a few yards away.” Choose Your Own Adventure : The Forbidden Castle by Edward Packard Second Person Point of View

15. The story is told using a narrator who is located outside of the action of the story and uses third person pronouns such as “he”, “she”, “his”, “her”, “they”, etc. Third Person Point of View can be broken up into three different types: • Omniscient • Limited Omniscient • Objective Third Person Point of View

16. The narrator has the power to show the reader what is happening though a number of characters’ eyes. “Myop carried a short knobby stick. She struck out at random at chickens she liked, and worked out the beat of a song on the fence around the pigpen. She felt light and good in the warm sun. She was ten, and nothing existed for her but her son, the stick she clutched in her dark brown hand, and the tat-de-ta-ta-ta of accompaniment.” “The Flowers” by Alice Walker Omniscient Point of View

17. Third person, told from the viewpoint of a character in the story. “They all laughed, and while they were laughing, the quiet boy moved his bare foot on the sidewalk and merely touched, brushed against a number of red ants that were scurrying about on the sidewalk. Secretly his eyes shining, while his parents chatted with the old man, he saw the ants hesitate, quiver, and lie still on the cement. He sensed they were cold now.” “Fever Dream” by Ray Bradbury Limited Omniscient Point of View

18. Third person, told as if from a camera that follows the characters. Only what is said and done is recorded. “Hansel walked ahead of Gretel. Gretel dropped breadcrumbs behind her as she went. Ahead of them, an old witch waited.” “Hansel and Gretel” by the Grimm Brothers Objective Point of View

19. Theme is the central idea or central message of the story. It usually contains some insight into the human condition – telling something about humans and life. • The theme can be stated directly or implied by the events and actions in the story. Theme

20. Literary Elements

21. Verbal Irony:  This is the contrast between what is said and what is meant. In other words: sarcasm. • Dramatic Irony:  This is the contrast between what the character thinks to be true and what we (the reader) know to be true.  Sometimes as we read we are placed in the position of knowing more than what one character knows.  Because we know something the character does not, we read to discover how the character will react when he or she learns the truth of the situation.  • Situational Irony:  This is the most common in literature.  It is the contrast between what happens and what was expected (or what would seem appropriate).  Because it emerges from the events and circumstances of a story it is often more subtle and effective than verbal or dramatic irony. Types of Irony

22. SymbolismA symbol represents an idea, quality, or concept larger than itself.

23. Flashback This is a writers’ technique in which the author interrupts the plot of the story to recreate an incident of an earlier time (goes back in time; like giving the reader a memory).  This device is often used to provide additional information to the reader.

24. Foreshadowing This is a writers’ technique in which the author provides clues or hints as to what is going to happen later in the story.  It’s like the music in a scary movie when we know that something bad is about to happen.