Short Story Literary Elements/Short Stories
Internal Conflict
conflict within the character's mind
Foreshadowing
hints or clues to events that will occur in a story later
Protagonist
main character
Theme
main idea or message (complete statements)
3rd Person Omniescient
narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all characters
3rd Person Limited
narrator presents the events as they are experienced by one personally
Point of View
perspective from which a story is told
1st Person
the narrator is a character in the story; uses "I" or "we"
Characters
the people or animals who take part in the action
Climax
the point of highest intensity
Plot
the sequence of events
Suspense
the tension created when the reader is unsure about the outcome of a situation
Characterization
the way ones character is revealed in a story
Setting
time, place and historical significance
Satire
writing that ridicules a subject by combining humor or criticism
The Price (Neil Gaiman- Short Story/Suspense) Characters/Plot
1. Black Cat: cat wounded every night, Narrator: writer, who observes cat every night, Devil: changes forms and attacks Black Cat, Other cats: frightful of danger 2. A stray black cat gets taken in by a family. It fights off the devil to protect the family that adopted him.
In Your Hat (Ellen Conford- Short Story/YA) Characters/Plot
1. Dennis: a school boy who has a crush on Ariel, likes to play practical jokes and is a procrastinator, Ariel Greenbanks: an intelligent and attractive girl who tricks Dennis when doing his work, Mr. Frazetti: Dennis' teacher who fails Dennis; "no-nonsense" teacher 2. A boy who struggles in school gets blinded by his love for a beautiful girl ultimately ends badly when she tricks him into failing by telling him the plot of a fake story (thinking that she was "helping"him)
Harrison Bergeron (Kurt Vonnegut- Short Story (dystopian/sci-fi)) Characters/Plot
1. Harrison: 14-year old with great strength and intelligence; rebels against the government and killed, George and Hazel Bergeron: H's parents; Hazel not very smart, Diana Moon Glampers: Handicapper General (not handicapped), Ballerina: dances with H; killed for it 2. The Bergerons live in a society where everyone is equal through the use of handicaps by the government. Their son and a ballerina rebel on TV against being restricted. The duo ultimately get killed by the General, but no one remembers (even Harrison's parents) due to their handicaps.
The Last Night of the World (Ray Bradbury-Short Story/Sci-Fi) Characters/Plot
1. Husband/Wife: adult who gets a dream about the world ending, Stan: husband's co-worker, Children: husband and wife's kids 2. A man and wife discuss the world coming to an end and go about their evening as usual.
1408 (Stephen King- Short Story/Horror) Theme/Setting/Symbols/Elements
1. Ignorance is bliss, Life imitates art, Seeing is believing 2. Dolphin Hotel, late 90s, NYC, room 1408 3. Tape recorder=sense of security and comfort for Mike 4. Foreshadowing: stories of past deaths & suicides, Olin's warnings, Characterization: Enslin is dynamic who never believed in supernatural until 1408, Irony: supernatural writer does not believe, Suspense: stories of 1408 suicides, Mr. Olin's constant pleads
The Road Virus Heads North (Stephen King- Horror/Sci-Fi) Theme/Setting/Elements
1. Imagination can be deadly, Life imitates art 2. Rosewood, 1990s 3. Suspense: when the painting is in the back of car, unsure if it changes and kill someone, Foreshadowing: Aunt Trudy is very offended by painting, when he only likes it AND painter unable to destroy painting when all others burned
In Your Hat (Ellen Conford- Short Story/YA) Theme/Setting/Symbol/Elements
1. Love can blind you from the truth, Revenge is sweet 2. US present day, library of high school 3. Hat=rejection, Madame de Maupassant=Dennis (getting fooled) 4. Irony: Ariel: "What's happened to your sense of humor?" when she doesn't like Dennis for practical jokes, Suspense: Dennis gets an F and confronts Ariel, Foreshadowing: Dennis sending pizza, handcuffs, rates (practical jokes), Ariel couldn't find book, Ariel's friends laughing, ELLE magazine, Climax: "F" as in "fake", Conflict: Ariel vs. Dennis
Lamb to the Slaughter (Roald Dahl- Short Story/Suspense) Characters/Plot
1. Mary Maloney: Patrick's obedient wife who is pregnant; snaps and kills him after finding out he is leaving her, Patrick Maloney: Mary's husband; ignores her and treats her badly, killed, Sam: Mary's cashier who suggests Patrick's favorite foods and alibi, Jack Noonan and policemen: head of police force; eats lamb leg after investigating crime scene 2. An obedient wife murders her ignorant and quiet husbands. She attempts to cover up her tracks by going to the grocery store as if it was a normal day and arrives home, pretending to be in shock from her husband's death and calls the police to investigate
1408 (Stephen King- Short Story/Horror) Characters/Plot
1. Mike Enslin: horror writer who rents out room 1408, doesn't believe in ghosts but eventually saved from the room, Mr. Olin: hotel manager who warns Enslin about horrors of 1408, tells him backstory, room 1408: things in the room change (paintings, menu, door); 42 deaths, Rufus Dearborn: man who saves Enslin from burning room by throwing bucket of ice and water (room 1414), Vee and Cee: maids of hotel, worked together in 1408 ("bond" kept them safe) 2. A horror writer requests to stay in room 1403. Although manager warns the writer, his seventy-minute stay almost gets him killed; burns room to escape and then another man saves him (never fully recovers and never writes again).
The Road Virus Heads North (Stephen King- Horror/Sci-Fi) Characters/Plot
1. Richard Kinnell: buys sketchy painting at yard sale, suffers death due to it- an impulsive man, well-known for oddness and author, Judy Diment: monitoring yard sale, dies due to painting, Aunt Trudy: Kinnell's aunt, offended by the yard sale painting 2. An author stops by a yard sale and buys an odd-looking, evil painting there. He realizes the painting is changing and the images how that its following him and killing in its path. Although he tries to destroy it, it eventually ends his life in his home.
The Last Night of the World (Ray Bradbury-Short Story/Sci-Fi) Theme/Setting/Elements
1. Sometimes people have to accept things that are out of their control 2. February 30, 1951- US 3. irony: the couple accepts their fate w/o protest, as if it was a typical evening
The Price (Neil Gaiman- Short Story/Suspense) Theme/Setting/Symbol/Elements
1. There is a price to pay to protect the ones you love, Things are not always what they appeared to be 2. 1990s in English countryside 3. Black cat=good luck 4. Irony: black cat brings good luck, Foreshadowing: wife- "that cat is a person.", other cats flee in fright, bad luck happened while cat in basement, External Conflict: Black Cat vs. Devil
Lamb to the Slaughter (Roald Dahl- Short Story/Suspense) Theme/Setting/Elements
1. Things aren't always what they appear to be, Sometimes the truth is right in front of you, There is a fine line between love and hate, Bad endings can lead to new beginnings 2. England home in 1950s 3. Irony: "Probably right under out noses, [the murder weapon]" and cops eating lamb, Conflict: Wife vs. Man, Wife vs. Herself (convincing herself that she didn't kill him), Suspense: wife was too suspicious of being stereotypical 50s homemaker who fully obeys husband and not suspecting of murder capability, Foreshadowing: Patrick drinking lots, not wanting to go out, Dynamic character: Mary- from subordinate wide to cold murderer
Harrison Bergeron (Kurt Vonnegut- Short Story (dystopian/sci-fi)) Theme/Setting/Symbols/Elements
1. True equality cannot exist, Everything comes at a price, Competition can bring out the best, It's better to burn out than to fade away. 2. US 2081 3. Handicaps=opressions and restrictions on individuals in society by the government 4. Satire: criticism of communism with humorous elements (April weather), Climax: Harrison screams and enters to the stage, Hyperbole: H is 7' tall boy and has superhuman strength, Irony: not truly equal
External Conflict
Character vs. Nature Character vs. Society Character vs. Character
Antagonist
character/force who opposes the main character
Dynamic Character
a character that changes or grows in understanding
Static Character
a character that remains the same
Situational Irony
a contrast between whats expected and what actually happens
Motif
a recurring theme
Conflict
a struggle between opposing forces
Parody
an imitation of a serious work of literature
Symbol
an object that represents something else
