1 / 19

Elements of Storytelling

Elements of Storytelling. Prof. Myrna Monllor Jim énez BWP Summer Institute. What you need. Establish the problem/ conflict Establish the point of view Provide information as to where, when, the story is happening (setting). Conflict. Point of View The angle from which the story is told.

luisa
Download Presentation

Elements of Storytelling

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Elements of Storytelling Prof. Myrna MonllorJiménez BWP Summer Institute

  2. What you need • Establish the problem/conflict • Establish the point of view • Provide information as to where, when, the story is happening (setting)

  3. Conflict

  4. Point of ViewThe angle from which the story is told • Innocent eye • Stream of consciousness • First Person • Third Person • Third Person Omniscient

  5. How can you begin the story? • Describing the setting • Direct or indirect description of the character • In the middle of the action • With dialogue

  6. “Snow drifted through the streets and now that it was dusk, Christmas trees glittered in the windows. Maria moved her nose off the glass and Cameback to the counter. She was acting grown-up now, helping her mother make tamales. Their hands were sticky with masa.” From “ Too many Tamales” by Gary Soto Signatures

  7. “Long, long ago, in a town that was neither near nor far, there lived a man who did not like the night.” From “The Night of the Stars” by Douglas Gutierrez, Maria FernandaOliver

  8. “The thousand 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 gave utterance to a threat.” From “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

  9. “ONE DOLLAR AND EIGHTY-SEVEN CENTS. THAT WAS ALL. AND SIXTY CENTS of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.” From “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry

  10. Plot StructureMap of the Story • Aristotle’s Elements of Complex Plots • Gustav Freytag’s Pyramid • Episodic Plot • The Hero’s Journey • The Mountain Plot • The W Plot

  11. Reversalscharacters find themselves going from good fortune to bad, and back again Discoveries What the character discovers about himself. It can be a talent or a flaw Complications Something that prevents the protagonist from achieving his/her goal Catastrophe Does not have to be physical Resolution Satisfactory Conclusion

  12. Gustav Freytag’s Pyramid

  13. Episodic • a character goes through a series of adventures • close to what happens in real life • the tension does not generally increase as the story • progresses • often used in video games

  14. Hero’s Journey

  15. The Mountain Plot • the protagonists’ problems • increase in intensity as the • plot develops • the protagonist either • triumphs or fails in his/her • objective

  16. The W Plot • The protagonist encounters his/her first problem • Once he/she overcomes it and the reader thinks the • protagonist has triumphed, a second worse problem • arises • The protagonist may/may not be successful in the • resolution of the conflict

  17. Archetypal Motifs • Journeys/Quests • Birth/Death • The Wise Old Man • The Hero • Awakening • The Savior Motif

  18. How can you conclude the story? • Resolution of the principal conflict • A symbolic phrase or action • A return to the place the story started • An open ending • A hanging ending

  19. Bibliography • Elements of the Short Story http://staff.fcps.net/tcarr/shortstory/plot1.htm • Lit Web The Norton Introduction to Literature Website http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/litweb05/glossary/glossary_p.htm • Elements of Good Storytelling http://www.skotos.net/articles/PlotStrategies.html

More Related