...Given the eponymous brevity of short stories, authors have very limited space in which to draw the reader into the world that they have created as to impart the desired effect or feeling in them. In this respect, the careful use of detail and the emphasis on a single character are very important to any short story. Each word describing something outside of, or tangential to, the main point of the story and its protagonist therefor detracts from the final effect that the story has on the reader. The proper use of detail in a short story, from intricate descriptions of settings to the choice of individual words, allows for the atmosphere, setting and mood of the story to be effectively established, and serves to draw the reader into the world of the story, making them a silent, incorporeal character in the narrative. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman uses detail in a highly effect manner, telling the reader only what they absolutely need to know, leaving the rest unspoken. The period of the story is set by the relationships between the characters, the dominant husband and the submissive wife, as well as by the use of period language, such as the mention of “a slight hysterical tendency”. Through her gradual shift from including details of the normal elements of the narrator’s life, such as her surroundings and the activities of her husband and others, to speaking only of the wallpaper and the woman trapped inside Gilman allows the reader to join the narrator on her journey into...
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...Contents Elements of a Satisfying Short Story 1 Elements of a Satisfying Short Story In order for me to enjoy a short story, there are two essential elements which must be satisfied. Firstly, the storyline must be one of which I can become immersed within; secondly, I must have characters to which I can relate. Becoming immersed in a storyline is the most satisfying thing that happens to me while reading. I believe that the ultimate achievement of an author is to have the reader—as a result of anticipation— excited to turn the next page; whilst, at the same time leaving the reader with sadness knowing the story will be ending in a few short pages. In the short story “Sonny’s Blues”, when Sonny’s brother is about to see Sonny play for the time states, “All I know about music is not many people ever really hear it.” At that moment of the story I felt myself there, in the room with Sonny waiting for him to play. A great plot can facilitate such immersion; take one there, let one feel and experience the story. In contrast, I found “The Yellow Wall Paper” had no such engulfing qualities. Rather than being immersed by the storyline, I was begging for the final page. To make matters worse, when the ending arrived, it provided no closure and only added to the disappointment of the story. Reading the story was a laborious chore rather than an enjoyable experience. When I find a character believable I will relate to that character on many levels, making the story more satisfying...
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...AND NARRATIVE ELEMENTS IN A SHORT STORY XAVION LAY INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE JACLYN MALLAN-KING THEME AND NARRATIVE ELEMENTS IN A SHORT STORY The short story that was chosen to write this paper was the Welcome Table by Alice Walker that was written in 1970. This story being racial in theme and treatment was one of the best stories and that was heartfelt in this book. While without describing the story in detail I will point out its theme and narrative elements that make this story what it is today. Just as in the Oxford Companion to African American Literature states: “Though we are aware of the dismissal of so much black American writing for so many years because it did not conform to prevailing aesthetic or critical canons, our understanding of literature is not restricted to these traditional genres.” (Oxford Companion, 1997) This book was definitely written by one the greatest writers ever know. She placed her heart mind and soul into the writings of which she made which brings me to the writing of the Welcome Table. The Welcome Table was a short story that had a racial theme. Due to the story taking place in the time that black who were referred to as colored at the time could not congregate in the same place as whites. The point of view that was in play was omniscient. This is a story is written from another point of view. Not that of the person that is in the story but from someone on the outside that understands the way the character in the story feels. Or as...
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...A short story illustrates the effectiveness of the plot, particularly one that has a surprise ending such as, “The Gift of the Magi”. In this story of Jim and Della, they are approaching Christmas and have very little money to spend on one another. They each want to surprise the other one with a marvelous gift for Christmas but they have little money and Della only has $1.87. Della ends up cutting her hair for the money while Jim sells his cherished watch. Through selfless acts done for love, they each end up giving one another a Christmas gift they will always remember and cherish. It didn’t matter to either of them what they had to do in order to provide the gift. The theme was portrayed by the literary elements within the story. Plot, point of view and symbolism are just a few of the literary elements which helped developed the theme of the story. The story I read and critiqued was, “The gift of the Magi”. In order to find the theme of this short story, I had to look beyond the plot, which tells the reader what happened in the story (Clugston, 2010, section 5.5). The theme of this story I believe would be “selfless love”. Other readers, who read the same short story as I did, might have an entirely different theme. This is actually to be expected and is even common. This is because every reader has a different relationship to literature due to each individual’s different experience throughout life. The theme of selfless love, I chose due to I feel like the writer chose...
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...ENG 125 WEEK 2 THEME AND NARRATIVE ELEMENTS IN THE SHORT STORY A+ Graded Tutorial Available At: http://hwsoloutions.com/?product=eng-125-week-2-theme-and-narrative-elements-in-the-short-story-2 Visit Our website: http://hwsoloutions.com/ Product Description PRODUCT DESCRIPTION ENG 125 Week 2 Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story, We all at some point want to get away from our problems that we are faced with. At times we try to disguise them with things of lesser value. In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway the female character continuously talked of the clouds looked like white elephants. The woman and the American man hid their conflict throughout the entire story so that no one would know they were having problems. The female character of the short story talked about the clouds looking like white elephants because she was to never forget the decision she was to make in the not too distant future and the color white symbolized the purity that she felt was growing inside of her. She, as in the female character, tried to avoid the discussion many times. I personally feel she just didn’t want to go through it. There was more than one theme going throughout the short story. I saw the theme of imagination, avoidance, alcoholism, dependency, uncertainty, and confusion. And in so naming these themes there are also many literary elements that contribute to the theme or help the theme to better be recognized by the reader....
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...ENG 125 WEEK 2 THEME AND NARRATIVE ELEMENTS IN THE SHORT STORY A+ Graded Tutorial Available At: http://hwsoloutions.com/?product=eng-125-week-2-theme-and-narrative-elements-in-the-short-story Visit Our website: http://hwsoloutions.com/ Product Description PRODUCT DESCRIPTION ENG 125 Week 2 Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story, We all at some point want to get away from our problems that we are faced with. At times we try to disguise them with things of lesser value. In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway the female character continuously talked of the clouds looked like white elephants. The woman and the American man hid their conflict throughout the entire story so that no one would know they were having problems. The female character of the short story talked about the clouds looking like white elephants because she was to never forget the decision she was to make in the not too distant future and the color white symbolized the purity that she felt was growing inside of her. She, as in the female character, tried to avoid the discussion many times. I personally feel she just didn’t want to go through it. There was more than one theme going throughout the short story. I saw the theme of imagination, avoidance, alcoholism, dependency, uncertainty, and confusion. And in so naming these themes there are also many literary elements that contribute to the theme or help the theme to better be recognized by the reader....
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...essay on the comparison and similarities of short stories and poetry, and drama. They all are different types of literature but they share many of the same elements. Some of the things that short stories, poems, and drama have in common are figure of speech, conflict, and foreshadowing. The setting id the same element in short stories poetry, and drama. Setting can also be important in short stories, and the other literatures because setting encompasses a wide variety physical and cultural elements. The settings can add attitude to a short story, or poem. Short stories and plays have narrators, but poems have voice. The speaker is a persona that poets creates. The narrator or voice can set the tone for a poem. An allegory is a short story with two parallel meanings one is figuratively and the other is literal. An allegories is often used by writers in short stories and poetry and drama to give their writing a deeper meaning and can be used to teach reader or viewers a lesson. Foreshadowing is often used in short stories, and poetry and drama. Foreshadowing can be used in poetry in the title to give the reader an idea of what the poem is about. Another element shared by short stories poetry is mood. The mood is used to add atmosphere and to help convey the theme. Mood gives these literary feeling. Figure of speech is another element that is shared. Figure of speech are expression such as a hyperbole element in drama, short stories, and poetry. Writers use imaginary to give...
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...every time we are facing a problem, we should really pay attention and take the message of it. There will always be sort of a lesson in every single difficulty. Not only shall we find in our daily lives, but we could also find it while reading literary works, watching movies and suchlike. Reading literary works has interesting adventure in which an extra attention is needed to figure it out. For some people, reading novel or short story is more than just about looking for the beautiful story or the greatnesses of the story. Yet, there are some people who only read novel without a deep understanding. Usually the readers will be facing some questions which have something to do with the author’s intention making story. Common question coming out automatically after reading novel or short story is such what is the author trying to tell us in the story or what the moral lessons of the story is. According to Nurgiyantoro (1995:66) to know of what the author feels like to convey in the story is the main task of reading fiction work, it is either Novel or Short story. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of advantages gained by reading fiction. According to Nurgiyantoro (1995:3) Fiction talks about various problems of life in terms of interaction with environment, ourselves, and our interaction with god. Fiction is the result of dialogue, contemplation, and author reactions of environment and life. Although it is fictitious, it is not true if fiction considered as the...
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...Example Daily Lesson Plan Subject: English Date: ______________________ Grade: 8-__ Teacher: __________________ I. Unit: Reading - Short Story “Seventh Grade” II. Sub-Topic: Elements of the short story III. Key Concepts: • Character = Person performing the action in a work of fiction. • Protagonist = Character who is clearly central to the story and takes part of all the major events. • Setting = The time and location in which a story takes place. • Plot = How the author arranges events to develop his basic idea; it is a sequence of events in a story or play. • Point of view = The angle from which the story is told. IV. Skill: Identifying elements of the short story V. Value: Punctuality (Pillar 3: Responsibility) (This will be presented in the value of the day at the beginning of the class). VI. Teaching Model: ECA Phase: Application VII. Teaching Strategies: Discussion, individual work VIII. Teaching Across the Curriculum: N/A IX. Content Standard(s): Reading, Listening/Speaking X. Grade Level Expectations: ▪ R.8.3 Distinguishes main from supporting characters…explains setting, distinguishes between first and second person point of view. ▪ L/S.8.1 Listens and responds… and relates to character and setting… XI. Learning Objectives: A. Through a socialize discussion at the beginning of the class, the students with the help of the teacher...
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...Serup Gregersen 3.a The short story ” No Angel” is written by Bernie McGill from 2011. The story takes place in Northern Ireland. A limited 1st person narrator tells the story because the main character Annie tells the story from her point of view. The short story starts in media res. The short story is about how people handle death and the effect it has on a person. The short story circles about the main character Annie who sees her dead father´s ghost. In this essay there is an analysis and interpret the short story´s composition, supernatural elements, theme and the relationship between Annie and her father. The composition in the short story contains flashbacks because it jumps back and forth in time. In the short story there are some streams of consciousness, and that is why the chronological order has been unregulated. There is harmony between the start and the end. The use of flashbacks has an effect - it gives a full picture of the theme to understand the main character and her problems dealing with her father’s dead. It is a common element for a short story to have flashbacks. “The first time I saw my father after he died, I was in the shower, hair plastered with conditioner, when the water stuttered and turned cold. He was at the sink in front of the misted-up mirror with the tap running, his back to me. It was two weeks after his funeral. His things were all where he’d left them. ” This is the first flash back in time in the short story. Annie is seeing her father...
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...Rough Draft In the three short stories, “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, “Prey” by Richard Matheson, and “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, all partake in the use of grotesqueness and violence. All of the Gothic Elements in the short stories relate back to the story’s main idea or purpose of the story. Also it highlights the theme the author is attempting to intertwine with the story to the reader. To start off, in “The Black Cat”, Poe implements an abundant amount of violence, he- “..slowly slipped the noose about its neck and hung it to the limb of a tree...”(Poe 2). The vicious imagination of the cat being hung directly affects the reader with a sinister feeling, contrary to the plot getting more and more vivid. In addition to that, in “The Devil and Tom Walker”, Irving displays violence throughout the story as Tom, “Found nothing...
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...Theme and Narrative Elements of the Secret Life of Walter Mitty Josetta James ENG 125 Introduction to Literature Instructor: Angela di Gualco 01/10/2014 Theme and Narrative Elements of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” The theme is one of the most involved elements of a short story. The themes job is to give the readers the over-all idea that is fabricated behind a story. A short story is marked as portraying broad ideas and elements into small pieces. In short, the theme in a story reflects or serves as the presentation of its ideas. (Clugston, 2010) The objective of this essay is to reveal the ways in which the literary elements tone and character contribute to the larger narrative theme by analyzing the short story by James Thurber titled The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. James Thurber created the character of Walter Mitty whose life seems so ordinary and boring. Walter Mittys imagination (daydreams) helps him to escape his dull life. His imagination places him in heroic situations such as a commander in the Navy steering his crew though bad weather in an 8-engine Navy hydroplane, or thinks he's a famous surgeon who is asked to help a rich Englishman, who is a friend of President Roosevelt. James Thurber set the tone for Character Walter Mitty by his actions of day dreaming, escaping reality Tone is more than merely an author’s attitude toward his/her audience and characters; it is the stylistic means by which an author conveys his/her Attitudes in a work of literature...
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...Short Story Analysis David C. Franklin ENG 125 Sarah Lahue January 7, 2013 During my reading the short story I enjoyed the most is “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber. In his writing Mr. Thurber uses lots of literary elements from third person limited to symbolism. His ability to go from the reality of life to a fantasy or dream without you even realizing is absolutely amazing. Describe what the theme of the short story is, using Chapter Seven of the text as a reference. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is all about a man that constantly day dreams. He loses touch with reality at every opportunity. Not quite sure if it is intentional or if he cannot stay in touch with what is actually going on around him. To me it seems as though it maybe intentional like he enjoys going to another life and imagining he is someone else. He sees himself like he wants to be someone that is “big” and in charge having people that answer to him. Identify at least two of the literary elements in the short story that contribute to the theme (e.g., plot, point of view, tone, setting, character, symbolism, etc.), providing an example of each element. There are many literary elements in this short story but to limit it to just two I am going to use character and setting. During this short story Mr. Thurber uses the element of the narrator’s point of view being from multiple characters that are actually just one character. Walter Mitty slips into...
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...special devices * ELEMENTS OF POETRY 1. Persona or the voice- “speaker”, may be a poet or completely different character 1 2. Theme- insight into life revealed by the poem 3. Rhythm and Rhyme-2 (pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry ,3 repetition of sound at the ends of words, * 4. Form/Genre (Lyric, Narrative, Dramatic)4-6 * 5. Diction (Connotative, Denotative) * 6. Literary Devices (Techniques, Figures of Speech) * Miscellaneous elements: * Tone-attitude of the writer 7 * Mood-atmosphere or general feeling * TYPES AND FORMS OF POETRY 1. LYRIC POETRY- meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre -short, simple and easy to understand 8 A. Kinds of Lyric Poetry B. Sonnets- 14 lines with a formal rhyme scheme or pattern 9 C. Elegy- expresses lament or mourning for the dead 10 3. Ode- noble feeling, expressed with dignity and praises * TYPES AND FORMS OF POETRY * 4. Songs- poem w/ or w/o definite number of syllables and stanza and always accompanied by musical instrument * 5. Psalms- song praising God or the Virgin Mary and containing philosophy in life 11 * 6. Simple Lyric- includes a variety of poems with varying theme and characterized by subjectivity * II. NARRATIVE POETRY * -describes important events in life either real or imaginary 12 * -tells a story * -present dramatic events in a vivid way, using same elements as short stories: plot, characters...
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...should pay attention to some of the following elements: - What is the setting of the short story? (Where, when, the environment) - Who are the main characters, and how can you characterize them? (Age, looks, mentality, etc.) - Do any of the main characters change or develop during the story? This is often the case, and is almost always significant. - What are the main conflicts of the story? In all stories the main character(s) has a problem, or a number of problems, which he/she has to solve. Find out what the problems are in your story. The passages where the conflicts are clear are often important in short stories, and can be used when you quote from the text. - What is the theme(s) of the short story? All short stories are focused on an important theme. This theme must be found and discussed. The Writing Process 1. Make a plan (disposition), before writing your essay! The elements of an English essay will often be: 1. An introduction. In the introduction you give a general introduction to the main theme of the story, and relate it to the story. 2. The analysis of the story. English essays very often include the following ’building blocks’. -Setting -Characterization of main characters - the themes - the ending 3. A conclusion. In the conclusion you often return to the main theme of the story, or you may discuss what the point of the short story You will often be asked to include the above elements in you essay, but.... THIS IS IMPORTANT!!! ...
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