Short Stories

Techniques Glossary

•Personification – giving human qualities to animals or objects

•Alliteration – the repetition of a consonant sound. The effect is to provide a rhythm or beat and create a particular sound (harsh or soft)

•Simile – comparison; saying one thing is “like” another, or one thing “as” another

TEE from “The Perfect Murder”

The Perfect Murder

Character•Describe the main characteristics of the

protagonist.•How does the descriptive language

demonstrate their character traits (provide an example)?

The Perfect Murder

•Identify and Plot the action:OrientationComplicationSeries of eventsClimaxResolution

•How does the sentence structure help advance the story (example)

The Perfect Murder

Perspective and Tense•From whose perspective is the story

written?•What tense is the story written in and how

does this effect the reader’s understanding?

•Re-write the last paragraph in a different tense.

Techniques Glossary

•Slang – highly informal language•Onomatopoeia – words that are written

as they sound. They create a sound effect when spoken

•Metaphor – a comparison between two things where you say one thing is another

TEE from “My Country”

My Country

Title•After reading the story, what is the

significance of the title?

Character•How does the dialogue demonstrate the

protagonist’s characteristics?

My Country

Action•Describe the ending of the story and what

the message is to the reader.

Perspective and Tense•From whose perspective is the story told

and how do we know this?•Re-write the last three paragraph’s

(“Maybe he’s just realised ...”) from the father’s perspective.

Techniques Glossary

•Repetition – words or phases used over and over to create emphasis

•Juxtaposition – bringing two things together to compare them

•Rhyme – end or beginning of the line. Creates a rhythm and emphasises particular words or ideas

•Alliteration

TEE from “A Pound of Flesh”

A Pound of Flesh

Structure•Describe how the story has been set out

(pieces of information from magazines and author’s narrative).

•What is the effect of this layout?

Tone•Compare the tone of voice in the parallel

pieces of information (factual v descriptive)

A Pound of Flesh

Perspective and Tense•From whose perspective is the story told?•Write a paragraph from the Mother’s

point of view and in third person narrative.

Purpose•What could be the purpose of a story such

as this? Is it purely to entertain?

Checklist for short stories

1. Minimal number of characters (2 or 3)2. Read in one sitting3. One major plot / incident4. No unnecessary information – “Show not

tell”5. Action takes place over a short period of

time

Structure

1. Set the scene – characters introduced and basic situation explained

2. Developing complication – something happens to the character/s

3. Rising Action 4. Crisis (climax)5. Falling action – crisis sorted and tension

fades6. Denouement - conclusion

Creative Writing Task

•Choose 1 feature from each column story:

Character Location Goal Obstacle

Grumpy Old Guy

Home Olympic Medal Death

Lawyer Beach To get to a party

Law/Police

Satan Train station Rule the World Guilt

Bully Traffic Jam Famous Religious Morals

Little person Space Ship Become a millionaire

Money

Creative Writing Task•Using the structure – plan a creative story:1. Outline the characters and basic situation

(describe the location)2. Describe what happens to the character/s3. Outline the rising action (how the

characters try to reach their goal despite their obstacles)

4. Outline the climax 5. Describe how the crisis is sorted including

the conclusion

Glossary Words

•Cliché: An overworked phrase. Often figurative e.g. ‘its raining cats and dogs’

•Euphemism: A nice way of saying something not so nice e.g. When someone has died, we say they have ‘passed away’

•Paradox: A seeming contradiction in words, designed to shock initially and then convey and important truth e.g. The child is father to the man

Glossary Words

•Hyperbole: A deliberate exaggeration for effect e.g. All the oceans in the world couldn’t clean this hand

•Colloquial: Everyday, informal language e.g. dunno, can’t

•Jargon: Language used by a particular group of people e.g. Technical jargon (talking about interfaces and RAM)

Glossary Words

•Parody: An imitation; to satirise, be funny•Biased: A logic that leans one way•Idiom: Localised language. The words

used by people in a particular location

Expressions

Narrative Style•Describe what is different about the

narrative style of this story compared to others we have read?

•What is the effect?

Setting•Describe the setting of the story.

Expressions

Language Techniques•Identify ONE language technique and use

the TEE template to explain its effectiveness

Ending•Discuss the effectiveness of the ending.

What is the implication of the last word.