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Elements of short story.notebook
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September 22, 2011
Plot• Plot is the literary element that involves the events in the story
• We can organize the events of the story in a plot line
• A plot line should show all the significant events that happen in the story and put them in order
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Climax Turning point; the higest point of action
Rising Action: The series of conflicts and resolutions that lead to the climax
Exposition: the begining of the story characters are introduced
Resolution: the conclusion
Falling Action: Action that happens after the climax; moving toward the resolution
Plot Line
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SettingSetting is the time and place where the story takes place
Authors often set a story in a specific time or place for a purpose (to create an atmosphere, or tell something about the characters or themes)
When describing setting, include both general and specific details
eg. Time Include the period (the 1990's) and the time (at night from 11:30pm 12:01 am) if possible.
Place Include the geographic location (New York) and the specific place (in an alley).
To determine the setting you often have to make inferences based on the details in the story.
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Point of ViewPoint of view concerns the narration style in literature
It involves the narrator's relation to the story
There are basically 4 types, with some variation
Each type has pros and cons, and authors purposefully choose point of view to convey certain ideas or emotions
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Third Person Unlimited (omniscient)
The narrator is outside the story and knows all character's thoughts and knows things that the characters do not
know.
Pros ConsWe have information about all the characters
Objective and unbiased narrator
We know all the facts
Distances us from the story
We don’t feel as strongly connected to any of the characters
Character
Character
Character
Character
Narrator
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Character
Character
Character
Character
Narrator Third Person Limited
The narrator is outside the story, but knows the thoughts of only one character.
Pros Cons
We can identify somewhat with at least one character
Still somewhat objective
We only get one perspective
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Objective
Character
Character
Character
Narrator
Character
Narrator is outside the story and does not know any of the characters' thoughts. It is told as if from someone observing the events.
Pros ConsCompletly unbiased/trustworthy narrator
Good for explaining directions or facts
Used for newspapers and magazines
Little, or no, connection with any of the characters
Often lacks strong voice or style
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First Person
Character
Character
Narrator
Character
The Narrator is a character in the story.Narrator uses pronouns such as "I", "we"...
Pros ConsMore personal story we feel a strong connectionto the narrator
Most biased narrator may present unfair/ inaccurate portrayal of events and characters
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September 22, 2011
CharacterRound characters convincing/ true to life. They have many different personality traits.
Flat characters sterotyped, shallow, and usually only have one or two personality traits. They are often symbols, or they are used to highlight other elemsnts of the story.
Dynamic characters undergo some type of change or development during the story, often because of something that happens to them.
Static characters do not change through the course of the story.
Characters can be both round and dynamic or flat and static. They cannot be both round and flat or dynamic and static.
Source: Read/Wriet/Think
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The main character is usually the protagonist. The protagonist has a mission or a goal.
The force that attempts to stop the protagonist from reaching his goal is the antagonist.
The antagonist may be another character, society, the forces of nature, or the protagonist himself.
There is often more than one antagonist
When the protagonist and the antagonist struggle we have conflict.
Protagonist/ Antagonist
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Conflict
Conflict is the struggle between two forces in literature.
Conflict drives the plot; without conflict, there would be no plot.
When the protagonist and the antagonist struggle we have conflict.
There are four types of conflict
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Character vs Character
A character is in conflict with another character.
The conflict may or may not be physical
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Character vs NatureA character is in conflict against the forces of nature.
Nature is the antagonist
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Character vs Society
A character has conflict with a larger group(a community, a society, a culture).
It often involves a character who rejects the governing ideas in society
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Character vs Self
A character experiences an inner struggle.
The character must overcome his own issues.
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Writing about conflictWriting about conflict, in literature, involves not only identifying what conflicts exist, but also explaining the conflict with specific examples and details.
You must also explain how the conflict was resolved.... Which force won the struggle? What was the outcome?
For example:
Character vs Character: Ponyboy vs Darry
One of the key conflicts in the outsiders involves Ponyboy and his oldest brother Darry. Pony thinks that Darry hates him: "Darry thought I was just another mouth to feed and somebody to holler at". He also says that he does not care about Darry, but realizes that he is only lying to himself, and that he actually does care about Darry.
Other characters also try to convince Ponyboy that Darry does care about him. Soda tells Pony that Darry is, "really proud of you because you are so brainy". Two Bit also tells Pony that he has "got it all wrong".
The conflict comes to a head between these two characters when Pony comes home late and Darry yells at him, and hits him and Ponyboy runs away.
Pony seems to have conflicted ideas about Darry as he says he does not care if Darry worries himself "grey headed" when Pony runs away. However, he also realizes that he has a better home life than Johnny: "at least Darry didn't get drunk and beat me up or run out of the house".
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Theme
"The central or dominating idea in a literary work"
Ask yourself why has the author written the story?
Usually concerns some aspect of human behaviour/ human nature.
We can understand theme by looking at other aspects of the story especially character and conflict
Common themes "good vs. evil", "courage in the face of danger", "problems faced with adolescence"
What are some of the Themes that have been explored in the stories we have read so far?
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Literary Terms
Foreshadowing
A technique for providing clues about elements that may happen later in the story
Flashback
A technique for presenting something that happened earlier (often prior to the beginning of the story) that helps explain something about the current situation
Symbol
Something that stands for or suggests something else. For example: a lion often symbolizes courage; a maple leaf symbolizes Canada; a gold medal symbolizes excellence.
Irony
A subtle humourous contradiction whereby an event or something that should be straightforward turns out to be the opposite or the unexpected.
