Short Stories

Terminology

Why read?

• Enjoyment• Understanding

Escape Literature

• Entertaining• Helps us pass the time agreeably• Takes us away from the real world• Helps us forget our troubles• Its goal is to provide pleasure for the reader

Interpretive Literature

• Broadens, deepens, sharpens our awareness of life• Illuminates some aspect of life or human

behaviour• Provides insight into the nature and conditions of

our existance• Takes the reader deeper into the real world• Helps us understand our troubles, ourselves, and

others• Its goal is pleasure and understanding

Escape vs. Interpretive metaphorEscape Interpretive

• the author is a magician – devises tricks for our entertainment

• the author is a discoverer – takes us behind the scenes and shows us how the tricks work

Immature vs. Discriminating Readers

Immature Discriminating

• seeks only escape• has fixed demands on a story1) Must have a sympathetic hero2) Must have an exciting plot3) Must have a happy ending4) Must have a theme which agrees

with / confirms his/her ideas about life

• requires little mental effort• tends to prefer one type of subject matter

• likes fiction that deals with life significantly• reads material on a variety of subjects• requires thoughtful consideration of the material• shows the reader a different or new way of seeing the world and those around him/her• helps us discover the world around us

Dangers of escape literature

1) Can create superficial attitudes towards life2) Distorts our views of reality and gives us false

concepts and expectations

Cautions:

1) Be careful your personal response to a piece of literature doesn’t get in the way of your interpretation.

2) Facts do not make a story interpretive3) A moral is usually found in escape literature4) Fantasy can be interpretive

Plot

1) Introduction: introduces the characters, setting and catches the reader’s interest

2) Rising Action: begins with the inciting (initial) incident and is all the conflicts leading up to the climax

3) Climax: the highest point of tension in the story – the point at which the conflict is resolved

4) Falling Action (Denouement): the unraveling or unknotting of the plot

5) Conclusion: ties up any loose ends (happy, unhappy, surprise, indeterminate)

Types of conflict

• External:- Person vs. person- Person vs. environment

•Internal:- Person vs. self

Suspense:

• Makes the reader question what will happen next

• Two ways of achieving suspense:1) Mystery (foreshadowing)2) dilemma: a choice between 2 alternative, both unappealing

Foreshadowing

• Hints in the text about what will later occur

Flashback

• When the author “flashes back” to information that occurred before the story takes place

In media res

• When an author plunges right into the middle of the action at the beginning of the story (not a typical introduction)

Setting

• The time and place of the story• Setting is used to set the general atmosphere– Ie. Gloom or optimism, despair or hope

• Setting may also give the circumstances of the particular time and place– Ie. Rich or poor, violent, etc.

Mood

• The atmosphere of the story• The emotional effect the story has on its

audience• Wording, description, characterization can all

contribute to mood

Tone

• The author’s attitude toward the subject, characters, and sometimes audience.

ie. The author can be sincere, sarcastic, condescending, whimsical, etc.

Character

• All characters in a short story are essential for the development of the plot

Types of character

• Protagonist: main character (does not have to be a good person)

• Antagonist: force or character in opposition to the protagonist

• Round: well-developed character who has many dimensions to his/her personality

• Flat: a character who is not well-developed, such as a stock character. There is little the reader knows about him/her and this character does not experience growth or change

• Developing/Dynamic: a character who develops or changes as a result of what happens as the story progresses. Usually an internal change

• Static: a character who remains unchanged throughout the story

• Stock: a stereotypical character such as a wicked step-mother, mad scientist, etc. Her/his purpose is often to advance the plot or develop conflict

• Foil: a character, who by contrast, points out the qualities or characteristics of another character

ie. A foolish character sets a wise character’s wisdom in a stronger light

Characterization

• The method by which an author creates the appearance and personality of a character, and reveals his/her personality

• Can be done two ways:1) Direct Presentation: the narrator explains the characters appearance, traits and attributes2) Indirect Presentation: we learn about the character through his/her actions and what others say about him/her, and his/her internal thoughts

Qualities of good writing

• A character should be:1) Plausible: could exist in real life; believable2) Consistent: the character’s actions are in keeping with what the reader already knows about him/her3) Motivated: there must be a logical reason for the character’s actions

Point of View

• The story is told from the point of view or perspective that best suits the author’s intention

There are 4 points of view

• First Person: the narrator is a character in the story, usually the protagonist, and the story is told from this character’s perspective

• Do not assume that the narrator is reliable: it could be the voice of a child, a lunatic, a liar

Third Person Points of View

• The narrator is NOT a character in the story1) Objective: the author records objectively. The author does not

presume to know what the character thinks. This is like a reporter giving the facts without a strong sense of feelings and emotions

2) Limited Omniscient: the author tells what the main character does, sees, and thinks

3) Omniscient: the thoughts and feelings of more than one character are given. This is like a camera roving into the minds of different characters. Points of view may shift and sometimes the author makes judgments about the characters

Symbol

• Something which means more than what it is; an object, person, situation, action or other item which has a literal meaning in the story, but suggests or represents other meanings as well

To be considered symbolic

• The story must furnish a clue that a detail is meant to be taken symbolically

• The meaning of the symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of the story

• The item must suggest a meaning different to its literal meaning

• A symbol’s meaning can develop throughout the story

Irony

• A discrepancy or incongruity

Three types of irony

1) Verbal Irony: when the opposite is said than what is meant

Ie. Understatement: it’s a little damp (it is pouring with rain)Ie. Overstatement: there’s a flood out there (it is hardly raining)

2) Dramatic Irony: a contrast between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true

3) Irony of situation: a discrepancy between appearance and reality, expectation and fulfillment

Theme

• The controlling idea or central insight • Usually a generalization about life• Not a moral (a rule of conduct)– A story is NOT a lesson– You shouldn’t look for a lesson in every story you

read

Rules for expressing theme

1) must be a complete sentence2) should be a generalization3) use qualifiers (sometimes, may, some) NOT absolutes (every, all)4) avoid cliches (familiar sayings)5) avoid lessons (you should / you shouldn’t / do/ don’t)6) the theme should be a unifying concept in the story