Short Story Literary Terms

1. Short Story Literary Terms By Amy Jo, Katie, Brandon, and Joe

2. Protagonist • In the most dangerous game, Rainsford was the protagonist. His main goal was to get off the island and not die while General Zaroff was hunting him. Rainsford was the main character in the story. Without him, the story wouldn’t exist.

3. External Conflict • In The Most Dangerous Game external conflict appeared when general Zaroff said “ I give him a supply of food and an excellent hunting knife. I give him three hours start. I am to follow, armed only with a pistol. If my quarry eludes me for three days he wins the game. If I find him “He smiled” he loses” (28). This is external conflict because it is man vs. man, this is Rainsford vs. Zaroff. Without this conflict, the story would be very boring with no climax or excitement.

4. Dialect • In the Most Dangerous Game, the narrator was talking about the way how Zaroff talked "In a cultivating voice marked by a slight accent that it gave it added precession and deliberateness”(21). This shows that he is foreign by the way he talks. Without Zaroff being a foreign Cossack, he may not have been as fierce during battle.

5. Hyperbole • In the Most Dangerous Game, Rainsford was met by Ivan, who was “The largest man Rainsford had ever seen- a gigantic creature, solidly made and black-bearded to the waist”(21). This was an over exaggeration because no man is truly gigantic. Without this hyperbole, we may think that Ivan is a tiny guy, which wouldn’t give off the threatening affect.

6. Static Character • In the Most Dangerous Game, General Zaroff is a static character. He doesn’t go through a change throughout the course of the story. If General Zaroff had changed, it may have taken out some of the excitement affect if he had decided to stop the game because of a change of heart.

7. Third Person Limited • In the Most Dangerous Game, the story is written in third person limited, because it focuses on the thoughts and actions of Sanger Rainsford. This enhances the story because if it had been written in any other point of view or written from the perspective of another character, then it would take away from Sanger Rainsford and may change our view on all the characters.

8. Metaphor • In The Most Dangerous Game, they use many metaphors. One they used was the blood warm waters of the Caribbean. They are comparing blood to the waters of the Caribbean. This metaphor really enhances how you think of the waters. Not just warm, blood warm.

9. Imagery • In The Most Dangerous Game, they use imagery to help a reader feel as if they are actually there. They use the metaphor of the sky being “moist black velvet.” This helps a reader really feel as if they are actually there, experiencing the moistness from the dark sky.

10. Plot • In Harrison Bergeron, the plot started with the exposition of Hazel and George sitting down. It is revealed that the year is 2081. Their son, Harrison, is not revealed until about half way through the story. The rising actions occur when the TV then says that Harrison has escaped from jail. The climax is when Harrison bursts through the door and dances with a ballerina at her true potential. The falling action occurs when Diana Moon Glampers shoots them and they die. The conclusion is when Hazel is crying and George comes back into the room and is confused as to why she is crying. She doesn’t know.

11. Direct Characterization • In Thank You Ma’am, they directly describe Luella Bates. “She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything but a hammer and nails. It had a long strap, and she slung it across her shoulder”(110). This directly describes how she looks, which helps us know what she is like.

12. Theme • In The Interlopers, the theme was to not hold grudges for too long, or else when you realize it’s dumb, it may be too late. This theme helps us because it gives a purpose to reading the story.

13. Stereotype • In The Interlopers, they have a stereotype of each other, without really knowing each other. Without the stereotypes, we may not have an inclination towards either character.

14. Dynamic Character • Both men in The Interlopers are dynamic characters. They hate each other at the beginning, but by the end, they have had a change of heart. This enhances the story because it gives a change of plot that is slightly unexpected, and keeps us hooked.

15. Climax • In The Interlopers, the climax was when they started to stop hating each other. “In pain and languor that Ulrich himself was feeling, the old fierce hatred seemed to be dying down”(192). This was the turning point after they got pinned under the tree and before they were (supposedly) eaten by wolves. It is the most exciting part of the story.

16. Internal Conflict • There was internal conflict in both men in The Interlopers. They were both so busy keeping their pride that they didn’t work together until it was too late. This keeps us wondering if they will ever get out, keeping us hooked.

17. Situational Irony • The situational Irony in The Interlopers was that as soon as they became friends, wolves came. This enhances the story because it is a twist that is unexpected and interesting.

18. Third Person Omniscient Point Of View • In The Interlopers, the story is written in Third Person Omniscient Point Of View. This makes the story better because we can hear both sides and make a decision for ourselves who we side with throughout the whole story.

19. Allusion • In The Cask of Amontillado, they use an allusion dating back to the free masons. “Nemo me impune lacessit”(215). This is a Latin phrase that alludes back to the free masons. With this, we have more background on Fortunato, which is always nice.

20. Antagonist • In The Cask of Amontillado, Fortunato is the antagonist, or the opposing person. It makes the story more interesting because with an antagonist, you can have conflict.

21. Tone • In The Cask of Amontillado, he used a hateful tone throughout the whole story. He was mad at Fortunato, so he had a very hateful tone throughout the whole story. It made it interesting because we didn’t know if the hateful tone would escalate through the whole story.

22. Unreliable Narrator • In The Cask of Amontillado, our narrator was unreliable, because he hated Fortunato. Since he hated Fortunato we didn’t get both sides, just his side. This intensified the story because we had no idea what was going to happen next.

23. Verbal Irony • There was a lot of verbal irony in The Cask of Amontillado. In one case, the narrator uses verbal irony to make Fortunato believe that he actually cares about Fortunato’s health. “Your health is precious.”(211). This makes Fortunato believe that the narrator cares, even though he doesn’t, and we know.

24. Dramatic Irony • In The Cask of Amontillado, there is a large case of dramatic irony. We know that the narrator is going to kill Fortunato, but Fortunato has no idea, which makes us wonder when Fortunato is going to figure it out.

25. First Person Point Of View • The story is written from the perspective of the narrator, making it first person. This makes the story interesting, because we know the intentions of the narrator, but the other characters have no idea.

26. Foreshadowing • In The Cask of Amontillado, they foreshadow about when Fortunato insulted the narrator. “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had bourne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge”(211). This lets us know that in the future, he will have his revenge on Fortunato, which makes us think, “what will he do?”, and hooks us.

27. Flat Character • The free-states sniper in the Sniper is a flat character, because we know very little about him. This helps us stay on the side of the other sniper, because we don’t have much information about the free-states sniper.

28. Setting • In The Sniper, they describe the setting as a June night in Dublin. The setting helps us know how the story is set, helping us infer what’s going on, based by the setting.

29. Indirect Characterization • They indirectly characterize the narrator from The Sniper by when the sniper shoots the lady, we may think of that as mean, or him just doing his job. This lets us think of how we think the narrator is, rather than us just being told.

30. Suspense • In A Sound of Thunder, when they see the t-rex and run away. This keeps us tuned in, because it is super suspenseful and we want to know what happens. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBTzKpJ9BRg&feature=related • Suspenseful music

31. Simile • There was a simile in A Sound Of Thunder, that made you think and get scared at the same time. “There was a sound like a gigantic bonfire burning all of time”(582). This helped you know how loud and scary the sound was, which made you wonder what was going to happen next.

32. Flashback • While there was no flashback in any of our stories, it is a great way to help readers know about the past and that helps them understand the rest of the story. It is used in stories, television shows, and movies a lot because it can hint as to what is going to happen next.