elements of short stories - shannon hayes--english...

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…ACCORDING TO MS. HAYES AND HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON Elements of Short Stories

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Page 1: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

…ACCORDING TO MS. HAYES AND HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON

Elements of Short Stories

Page 2: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

A story that is short, right? Come on, you can

do better than that.

It is a piece of prose that can be read at one

time.

What is prose, you may ask. Prose is ordinary

writing, like in a paragraph. It is the opposite of

poetry and doesn’t have rhyme and meter.

Remember: writing is divided into two

categories: poetry and prose.

Page 3: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

CHARACTERIZATION Characterization:

the act of creating and

then developing those

characters

Two Types:

Direct

Indirect

Page 4: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

Always a direct comment from the narrator

From “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Poe

TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and

am.

From “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry

Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham

Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's

gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's.

The other was Della's hair.

Page 5: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

Judgments by the reader based on a

character’s speech

and actions

Judgments based on how the

character looks and dresses

I will decimate

anyone who

stands in my way!

Page 6: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION 2 Letting the reader hear the character’s inner

thoughts and feelings

Revealing what other characters in the story

think or say about a character From Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol:

"I have no patience with him," observed Scrooge's niece. Scrooge's niece's sisters, and all the other

ladies, expressed the same opinion.

"Oh, I have," said Scrooge's nephew. "I am sorry for him; I couldn't be angry with him if I tried. Who suffers

by his ill whims? Himself, always. Here, he takes it into his head to dislike us, and he won't come and dine

with us. What's the consequence? He don't lose much of a dinner."

Nerve, nerve,

nerve…I must

keep my wits.

Page 7: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

TYPES OF CHARACTERS

Protagonist

Antagonist

Round

Flat

Dynamic

Static

Subordinate

Page 8: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

PROTAGONIST

The main character

Story focuses on this character

Usually a good guy, but not always

Page 9: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

ANTAGONIST The character opposite the protagonist

When you antagonize someone you annoy them,

so the antagonist annoys the protagonist or

causes conflict.

Just like the protagonist is not always the good

guy, the antagonist is not always a villain.

BTW--

This is

the old

man

from

“The

Tell-Tale

Heart”.

Page 10: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

MORE CHARACTER TYPES

ROUND CHARACTERS FLAT CHARACTERS

These characters show many

different traits.

Usually a major character

Characters we come to know,

like real people

These characters show

only one or two traits.

Commonly stereotypes

The nagging wife

The hyperactive child

The troublemaker

The mean librarian

Page 11: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

MORE CHARACTER TYPES

DYNAMIC CHARACTERS STATIC CHARACTERS

Characters who experience

an emotional growth due to

the story’s events

These characters usually

learn a lesson related to the

story’s theme.

These characters, on the

other hand, do not

experience emotional growth

or change.

They stay basically the same.

The story’s events have not

taught them a lesson.

Dying does not count as a

change.

Page 12: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

SUBORDINATE CHARACTERS

These are the characters who are needed to

add depth and complication to the plot, but

they are not main characters.

Page 13: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

MOTIVATION the driving force behind a character’s actions

Page 14: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

SETTING Time and place of story

Season Time, date,

or year

Geographical

location

Time Period

or Era Weather

Economic

Atmosphere

Social or Cultural

Atmosphere

Page 15: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

MOOD A story’s atmosphere

The feeling the story evokes in the reader

Strongly influenced by setting

eerie

joyous

peaceful

Page 16: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

POINT OF VIEW The relationship of the

narrator to the story and what the reader sees from that vantage point

Types First person

Third person limited

Third person omniscient

Third person objective

Page 17: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

FIRST-PERSON NARRATOR •The narrator is a character in

the story.

•The readers sees only what

this character observes and

feels.

•He or she is commonly the

protagonist.

•Refers to himself or herself

with the first-person

pronouns, such as I, me, my,

mine, our(s), we, and us

Page 18: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

UNRELIABLE NARRATOR Untrustworthy

As the reader, you are

not sure that you can

believe everything the

narrator tells you.

Especially true with first-

person because the

reader gets one side of

the story

First person narration

includes bias and

opinion.

HOWEVER, some first-person

narrators are reliable; as the

reader, you must decide based on

the evidence in the story.

Page 19: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

THIRD-PERSON LIMITED Narrator is outside of the

story.

Narrator is limited to

focusing on the internal

thoughts and emotions of

one character at a time.

Technically, this means the

narration can shift from one

character to another.

Uses the third-person

pronouns he, she, him, or

her

Ernest Hemingway's The Old

Man and the Sea

“Then he looked behind him

and saw that no land was

visible. That makes no

difference, he thought. I can

always come in on the glow

from Havana.”

Page 20: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

THIRD-PERSON OMNISCIENT

Omniscient is Latin for all-knowing.

Narrator is outside of the story.

Narrator can focus on the thoughts of many characters and their situations.

Sort of like an eye that can see into any aspect of the story that he or she chooses

Page 21: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

THIRD-PERSON OBJECTIVE The narrator is totally outside

of the story and relates only what he sees or hears.

He doesn’t know any of the characters’ thoughts and feelings.

Like a reporter, telling the story without judgment, just giving the facts

Like a fly on the wall

Some literary examples:

“Young Goodman Brown”

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

“The Lottery”

by Shirley Jackson

“Animal Farm”

by George Orwell

Page 22: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

TONE The author’s attitude

toward his or her work

Tone is conveyed through

the author’s word choice.

Somber

Sentimental

Optimistic

Nostalgic

Regretful

Gloomy

Critical

Contemplative

Objective

Vengeful

Reminiscent

Thoughtful

Restrained

Ridiculing

Wrathful

Sarcastic

Neutral

Sympathetic

Unsympathetic

Page 23: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

PLOT Plot: A series of events through which the writer reveals

what is happening, to whom it happens, and why

Broken down into five major sections:

Exposition

Rising action

Climax

Falling action

Resolution (or to those more refined, the denouement)

Page 24: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

PARTS OF THE PLOT Exposition—beginning of the story; background info;

sets scene for characters and conflict; exposition “exposes”

Rising Action—events leading to climax

Climax—moment of greatest emotional intensity; the point during which the conflict will be decided; very close to the end of the story

Falling Action—Results of climax; events leading to resolution

Resolution or Denouement—the outcome of the conflict, i.e. they lived happily ever after

Page 25: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

CONFLICT

Conflict: A struggle between opposing forces, be it man, woman, child, beast, crazy townspeople, or a two-ton iceberg

Page 26: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

CONFLICTS

Man vs. Man-external

struggle between two or more individuals

Man vs. Himself—internal struggle concerning

emotion and decision

Jack or Cal….Cal or

Jack?

What will I do with that nice

old man who happens to be

blind in one eye?

To be or not to be…

that is the question.

Page 27: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

CONFLICT Man vs. Environment

An external struggle between man and an element of his

surroundings (not necessarily nature)

Page 28: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

CONFLICT Man vs. society—an external struggle between

man an element of his culture’s traditions, beliefs,

government, values, customs, etc.

Page 29: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

SUBJECTS VS. THEMES Subjects are the words that

immediately come to your mind as topics broached in a story.

Subjects are brief, usually one word—for example, love, hate, jealousy, revenge, war, etc.

Subjects are the words that writers use to elaborate upon to create the deeper, more abstract themes of stories.

Theme—the central message the writer is trying to reveal in his or her work;

Always ask yourself as the reader: “What message is this author trying to convey to me?”

Theme shows a generalized truth about human nature.

Theme is not the subject; therefore, theme is written as a complete sentence.

Page 30: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

SUBJECT VS. THEME

Subjects

Love

Jealousy

Forgiveness

War

Themes

Love will cause people to do things they

usually wouldn’t. Jealousy causes more harm than good.

Giving forgiveness allows a person who

has been betrayed to move on with his/her life without growing bitter and cynical.

Wars often occur due to the greed of a small number of people though many more innocent people usually die.

Page 31: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

IRONY Irony is the contrast between an expectation

and reality.

Page 32: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

SITUATIONAL IRONY A contrast between what you would expect to

happen and what really happens

Page 33: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

VERBAL IRONY A writer speaks or says one

thing but means something

completely different.

Sometimes verbal irony is very

obvious sarcasm, but not

always.

Other characters may or may not

understand the irony of what

another character is saying.

Yet Brutus says

[Caesar] was

ambitious, and

Brutus is an

honorable man.

Antony says this after

Brutus has killed

Caesar—his best friend.

He really believes Brutus

to be a murderer.

Well, it is so

great to see

you!

…Even though

these two are arch

nemeses.

Page 34: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

DRAMATIC IRONY The audience or reader

knows something that

at least one character

does not.

The word “drama” helps

to remember this

because it is often

found in plays and

movies.

Page 35: Elements of Short Stories - Shannon Hayes--English Imshayesenglish9.weebly.com/.../6/4856495/elements_of_short_stori… · Elements of Short Stories . HOW DO YOU DEFINE A SHORT STORY?

THE END

…and now you see what happens when a teacher is stuck at home

for a week due to snow days!