1.1 Short Stories

1.1 SHOW UNDERSTANDING OF SPECIFIED ASPECTS OF STUDIED WRITTEN TEXTS USING SUPPORTING EVIDENCE.

External

4 credits

Adapted from NZQA resource

booklet by Christine Wells Updated for

1:1 devices2014

Your mission…

As we study the short story, Job, you will be required to make a study guide for yourself. You will use Creative Book Builder, Book Creator, or a similar app or website of your choice to do this.

This study guide will include all of the information you need to know the story well.

Any task that you do and any artifacts that you create will need to be added to the study guide.

Types of short story

Slice of Life: Deals with an experience of ordinary life; often has no climax; reveals character and situation.

Surprise Ending: Popular form, includes horror, suspense stories.

Story of Incident: Looks at the course and outcome of a single event.

Story of Narration: Beginning, middle and end, building to a climax, often with a turning point. May cover a long period of time.

Story of Atmosphere: Bringing alive a certain mood or setting.

Story of Character: Reveals a characters mind, motivation or moral quality.

Gathering

Job by Dan Preston: Plot

If something happens or is described in a short story, it is important and there is a reason for it. The plot contains only a few incidents, which are sketchily drawn, very condensed and neatly put together.

1. Read the story.2. TASK: Use the BeforeNow app to create a flow chart to

show the progression of the story. For each section, write a brief description from the

story. Include a picture to represent the section.

ThinkingUsing language,

text and symbols

Managing selfGatheringProcessingApplying

Characters

Seldom more than two or three characters are described in any detail.

Any information about the characters is important to the story.

Characters seldom develop or change in any way during the story, which often deals with a point of crisis in one person’s life.

1. List the characters in the story.2. Describe the crisis in Job’s life.3. Explain how he coped with it.4. What do we learn about the type of person he is?5. Create a short iMovie to make a news item about the crisis

in Job’s life. Include an interview with Job and one other character. Your interview should include information from questions 2, 3 and 4.

ThinkingUsing language, text and symbols

Managing self

GatheringProcessing

Character Profiles

1. Choose 2 characters and use PicCollage to create a personal profile for each one. Find pictures that you think represent each character well.

Include: Name Age Gender Occupation Interests

ThinkingUsing language, text

and symbolsManaging self

Gathering

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonist is the leading character in the story, the one that the audience empathises with.

The antagonist is the main character who is in opposition to the protagonist.

In pairs,1. Identify the protagonist and the antagonist.2. Use SimpleMind+ to brainstorm a list of at least

5 adjectives for the protagonist and 5 adjectives for the antagonist in the story.

3. Choose 3 for each person and locate a quote from the story that supports each adjective.



Participating and contributing

GatheringProcessing

Compare and Contrast

1. Create a Venn diagram to show the similarities and differences between 2 characters.

2. Choose 1 similarity and one difference and discuss what may have caused this similarity or difference.




ProcessingApplying

Setting

Short Stories are usually located in one place and are usually set during a brief time period.

Setting is rarely described in detail and is often of little significance – story could happen in any city or secondary school etc.

Important details of setting are often described rather than the whole setting.

Gathering

Setting description

As a class:1. Brainstorm a list of adjectives to describe Job’s house.2. Locate 3 quotes from the story that link to your adjectives. Use

Skitch to import a photo and write the adjectives and quotes onto. 3. Add a text box and explain why the setting helps the reader to

understand the characters.

ThinkingRelating to

othersUsing

language, text and symbols

Managing self

Participating and

contributing

GatheringProcessing

Setting & Effect

As a class discuss the following:

1. Explain the effect that the setting has on the life of Job.

2. Imagine how the setting would affect you. Write a paragraph to describe how you would react to the setting.

3. Explain what you think the author wants us to learn about Job by placing him in this setting.

ThinkingRelating to others

Using language, text and symbols

Managing selfParticipating and

contributing

ProcessingApplying

Themes

In short stories, themes are usually stated in the most general terms, or hinted at subtly through repetition of certain words or phrases or through the title.

A short story does not necessarily contain a particular message, other than to say “this situation exists – can you understand how it feels?” Many slice of life stories are like this.

Gathering

Choose from the list:

•Loss of innocence.•A person grows only in a crisis of confidence or identity. • Enjoy life now because we all die too soon. •Isolation.•Through alienation comes self-knowledge.•Modern culture lacks community.•Man’s struggle to understand God•Crime does not pay

•Love•Violence•Family drama •Good vs evil•Conflict•Transformation•Man struggles against nature•Society vs individual •Friendship is dependant on sacrifice. •Overcoming adversity•The importance of family•Sacrifice brings reward•Humans all have the same needs

GatheringProcessing

Theme & text

1. As a class brainstorm a list of possible themes.2. For each theme, describe the relevant section

of the story where the theme is shown.

Themes

ThinkingUsing


Managing selfParticipating

and contributing

GatheringProcessing

Theme & characters

Use Educreations to create a short presentation to answer the following:1. Choose 2 themes and list the characters

that are linked to each theme.2. Explain why you linked each character to

the theme. 3. Speculate on and explain what you think

the author wants us to learn about these characters by using this theme.


Managing self

ProcessingApplying

Theme in action

1. Choose a part of the story that shows one of the themes in action and use ComicBook to create a short cartoon to show what happens.

2. Include dialogue from the story.



contributing

ProcessingApplying

Theme quotes collage

In pairs:1. Use Word Collage to create a collage of

quotes from the story that are linked to the main theme.




contributing

Gathering

Processing

Applying

Style

A short story can be likened to a microscope – the chosen details are magnified and the background detail is cut out.

Short Stories have limited space so they are usually very structured.

Short Stories use an economy of style – material is carefully selected and arranged so certain words, images or ideas are repeated. Repetition emphasises important ideas and links different parts of the story.

1. As a class, find 2-3 examples of repeated words, ideas or images from the story and record them.




Gathering

Language

Atmosphere and creating tension between characters is important to the stories effectiveness.

Tension is achieved through the use of descriptive and emotive words to show stress or conflict.

The type of language used can help us understand the characters and the sort of people they are.

As a class:1. Locate at least 5 words or phrases that show stress or

conflict.2. Explain what type of language the author uses. Is it formal

or informal? Record an example to support your opinion.3. Record an example of a character’s speech and explain

what we learn about them as a person.

ThinkingUsing language, text and

symbolsManaging self


GatheringProcessing

Language features

Language features are used to add description, sound effects and help the reader visualise what is in the story. These include: alliteration, assonance, simile, personification, metaphor, onomatopoeia, rhyme and repetition.

Work in pairs to:1. Choose 3 language features and find examples from

the story.2. For each one, write a sentence to explain why it is

effective.3. Link each language feature to a theme in the text.

Explain why you linked it – what did it help you understand about the theme?




contributing

GatheringProcessing

Narrative viewpoint

A first person story (“I”) has one character as narrator. The viewpoint may be less obvious in other stories but often the reader only finds out what one character learns or sees other characters from one person’s point of view.

1. Is the story written in first, second or third person?2. Whose point of view is the story told from? Identify

whose voice is heard the most in the story.3. Record an example from the story.4. Use the Paper app to draw a picture of the

character and a speech bubble of them saying something that you found interesting from the story.


Managing self

GatheringProcessing

Style, Language & Narrative Viewpoint

Eithera) Use Quiz your Friends to create a quiz on the information you have gathered about style, language and narrative viewpointOrb) Create a presentation to show what you have learned. You may use Keynote, Educreations, Prezi or another appropriate app or website.

Event

Discuss and answer in pairs:1. Describe an important event from

the story. What happens?2. List the characters that are

involved.3. Identify the theme that you would

link to this event. Explain why.4. List 3 outcomes from this event.5. What do you think the author

wants us to learn from this event?6. In pairs, use Quickvoice to record

a podcast which answers the above questions.




contributing

GatheringProcessing

Conflict

1. Describe a conflict from the story. What happens?

2. List the characters that are involved.

3. Identify the theme that you would link to this event. Explain why.

4. List 3 outcomes from this conflict.5. Judge what you think the author

wants us to learn from this event.6. Use Mematic and create a meme

which reflects this conflict in some way.




contributing

GatheringProcessingApplying

Essay Topics – choose one

1. Describe at least ONE character or individual you enjoyed reading about in the text. Explain why the character or individual helped you understand an idea in the text.

2. Describe at least ONE idea in the text that you found interesting. Explain why the idea was interesting in the text as a whole.

3. Describe at least ONE important aspect of setting in the text. Explain why an aspect of setting helped you understand a key idea in the text. Note: Setting could include time and /or place.

4. Describe at least ONE language feature that was used to help you understand an important idea in the text. Explain why the language feature helped you understand key ideas in the text. Note: Language features could include imagery, style, vocabulary, or symbolism.

5. Describe at least ONE event at or near the end of the text that was important. Explain why the event helped you understand a key idea in the text.

6. Describe ONE important conflict in the text. Explain why the conflict helped you understand a key idea in the text.

ThinkingUsing


Managing self

Applying

Education

1.1 Short Stories