Elements Include:Elements Include: Character Plot Setting Theme.
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Transcript of Elements Include:Elements Include: Character Plot Setting Theme.
Elements of the Short Story
For the CP 10 Short Story Unit
Elements Include:
Character
Plot
Setting
Theme
Character
Definition: An individual represented in a work of literature. Characters are defined by:
what the narrator says
what others say
what the character him/herself says.
Thoughts
Actions
Protagonist: The main character in the story; from the Greek: “first actor; the protagonist usually is trying to achieve something.
Antagonist: The character against which the protagonist struggles or contends; blocks the desires of the protagonist.
Foil: A character that serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in another character
Characters are Static or Dynamic
Characters that are static do not grow or change over the course of the story.
Dynamic characters do grow over the course of the story.
Characters are Flat or Round
Round characters are complex and life-like, drawn with subtlety.
Flat characters are built around a single idea or concept
Conflict
Conflict is defined as the opposition between two characters, between two large groups of people, or between the protagonist and a larger problem such as forces of nature, ideas, public mores, and so on. Conflict may also be completely internal, such as the protagonist making a decision or coming to terms with something.
Conflict
Internal Conflict occurs inside a character: i.e. making a choice, coming to terms with something, or overcoming a personal problem.
Janie can’t decide what shoes to put on this morning.
Nadine is torn between applying early decision to Yale or Brown.
Conflict
External Conflict: between two individuals, between the individual and society, between the individual and a force of nature.
Nathan wants to watch Toy Story; Simone wants Care Bears.
Simone likes to keep her toys safe; Nathan likes to break them.
Plot
Exposition: also called basic situation
Complication (inciting incident)
Rising action
Climax
Falling action
Resolution (Denouement)
Exposition
Also called “situation”
The introduction of the materials in the story: the main characters, the setting, and the hint of conflict (foreshadowing)
Example from Everyday Use?
Inciting Incident
The onset and development of the major conflict.
The complication is introduced by the inciting incident, and is developed by the rising action.
Example from Everyday Use?
Rising action
The onset and development of tension as the conflict unfolds.
Example from Everyday Use?
Climax
A character makes a decision, a discovery, or a decisive action which resolves the conflict
Example from Everyday Use?
Falling Action
Events that occur immediately after the climax
Example from Everyday Use?
Resolution / Denouement
Loose ends are tied up; conflict is fully resolved
Example from Everyday Use?
Setting
When and where a story is taking place
Includes cultural beliefs and assumptions
“Setting is fate.”
Functions of setting:
Setting reveals character
Establishes mood or atmosphere
Causes / influences action
Reveals theme
Mood/atmosphere
A feeling, emotional state, or disposition of mind--especially the predominating atmosphere or tone of a literary work.
Established by diction, syntax, and descriptive phrases.
Which stories that we have read have distinctive moods?
Theme
The main idea / message of the text
In great works of literature, theme is sometimes ambiguous (supporting divergent perspectives)
A theme statement is… Universal A complete sentence Supported by the text
Symbolism
A symbol is an object, a setting, an event, an animal, or a person that stands for something greater than itself, usually something abstract.
Examples from the stories that we have read?
Point of View
Omniscient
First person
Limited third person
From what perspective is the story told?
What is revealed? What is hidden by the narrative voice?
Omniscient
Omniscient means “all knowing”. The omniscient narrator is a godlike observer who knows everything that happens in the story and can see into all of the characters’ minds.
First person
Told from the perspective of an “I” who usually participates in the action.
The first person POV draws us directly into the story as if we are talking to a friend.
Third person limited
The story is told by an outside observer, but the narrator is not able to see into all characters’ thoughts and feelings. The narrator might be able to see into one or more characters’ thoughts and feelings.
Verisimilitude
How life-like is the story? How similar is it to the reality that we know? Verisimilitude (realism) is what makes us connect to the story and want to read.
Tone
Tone refers to the speaker’s attitude toward the subject
Tone is revealed through denotation and connotation
Denotation: the literal, dictionary definition of the word.
Connotation: the cultural associations that we make connected to the word.
Irony“The opposite of what you would expect”
In its original Greek sense, means the pretense of ignorance in order to ridicule a
person or to expose the truth. Situational
Dramatic
Cosmic
Verbal
Situational Irony
An occurrence in the story’s plot that is the opposite of what the reader might expect.
Verbal Irony
When a character says one thing but means another.
Sarcasm (Gr. to tear flesh) is a type of verbal irony that uses words in a particularly harsh and cruel way.
Dramatic Irony
When the reader knows something that a character does not know.
Known as “Dramatic” because it is often used on stage.
Cosmic Irony
Based on the belief that a greater power is toying with us, that there is no divine empathy for our pain.
“Man cries, god laughs.”