Storytelling in the Classroom

8/11/2019 Storytelling in the Classroom

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III- How to analyse a short story

A short story should be analysed in terms of the following aspects:

1) setting

2) conflict

3) climax

4) anticlimax

5) denouement

6) theme

7) message or morale

8) symbols9) character analysis

The setting indicates time and place, when and where did the action take place?

A further function of setting is the creation of atmosphere.

Atmosphere has been more talked about than defined because it refers to the

suggested rather than stated. In the novel Wuthering Heights for example, the

atmosphere at the beginning, the presence of grey sky, thunderstorms, dark and

solemn rooms, coldness etc, reflects a feeling of desorder, confusion, houbles,

illnesses etc, which predict the facts in the story.

Conflict means complication. Once the setting has been presented, something

happens that will determine a certain course of action. There should be an element of

instability in the initial situation. In Young Goodman Brown for example, the

conflict arises when Brown encounters a strange man in the forest

Climax: It is the highest point of interest. The element of instability has led on to the

climax. For example in OHenrys The Gift of the Magi, the conflict arises when

husband and wife exchange the special gifts they have brought for each other.

The Anti-climax: when that highest point of interest falls down and the situation is

solved.

Denouement: How does the story finish? Was it an expected or unexpected

denouement? Several times, this is a point for further discussion.

Theme: To put the matter simply, theme is the meaning of the story. Theme is the

meaning the story discovers. By theme, we mean the necessary implications of thewhole story, not a separate part os the story. In the story the students read at the


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workshop, the theme could be: Education should bring on commitment.

Sometimes the theme could coincide with the message taught by the story. Lets take

another example:

Hemingways A clear-well-lighted Place, the theme could be the story of an oldmans life and the message could be:

Try to help or understand old and lonely people or We are all going to be old and

we may all experience a feeling of made at a certain point of our lives

Symbolism: A symbol in a story is the representation of something else. A symbol

may also predict something that will happen in the future. In cat in the rain,

Hemingway has used the kitten to represent somebody who is very unprotected and

lonely, the rain may symbolize life, hope, nature, future, etc. The Great Gatsby by

Fitzgerald is the realm os symbolism in American literature. The city representingcorruption versus the countryside representing purity and sincerity is only one

example of the many ones presented in the novel.

Character analysis: To put it simply, character may be divided into 2 groups:

a-Flat characters: they are the typical representation of a stereotype character:

the typical greengrocer, the typical teacher responding to a standard

characterization.

b-Round characters are the ones with a complex personality that changes andevolves as the action develops. A round character is the one affected by what

happened to him or her. The Catherine that appears at the beginning of

Wuthering Heights is not the same person eho dies in Heatcliffs arms. She is

a completily different person.

To put all these ideas into practise, the students read the story Free at last (in a loud

voice) and analysed exhaustively in the terms explained above.

The experience was fruitful, motivating and gratifying for everybody started regardingthe reading skill as a new adventure worth to be explored in depth, not only for

themselves but for their students as well.


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IV- Conclusion

Teaching reading is difficult work. Teachers must be aeare of the progress that students

are making and adjust instruction to the changing abilities of students. It is also

important to remember that the goals of reading stories is to underestand the texts and

be able to learn from them.

Reading is a skill that will empower everyone who learns it. They will be able to benefit

from the store of knowledge in printed materials and, ultimately, to contribute to that

knowledge. Good teaching enables students to learn to read and read to learn. In real life

we read for different purposes. Teaching reading, therefore, reflects what takes place inreal life.

A student may read out of interest, necessity or both. We have discussed the teaching of

reading stories as well as the importance of the teachers role in creating expectations

and enthusiasm for the text that is to be read. Through this representation, we have tried

to explore some of the many ways of helping the students acquire this receptive skill.

Also, as a conclusion, I read the following quotation:

I am a survivor of a concentration cam). *yeyes have seen what no man should witness+gas hambers built by learned engineers,children )oisoned by educated )hysician, infantskilled by trained nurses, women and babies shotand burned by high school graduates. o I amsus)icious of education. *y re-uest is this+ kee)your students to become humane. Your eortsmust never )roduce learned mosters, skilled)sycho)aths, educated ichmanns. Reading,writing and mathematics are im)ortant orly ifthey serve to make our children more humane.

/aim !inott

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Storytelling in the Classroom