(TUD) Short Story Shenanigans Module Overview

Short Story Shenanigans

Introduction

Each work of literature in this module will focus on the theme of determination in order to draw comparisons between the novel for this semester and the short stories. Short stories provide complete, beautiful snapshots of a longer work of literature. They must grab the reader in a limited amount of time due to the length, so many elements work together to create the intrigue and excitement of a short story. Exploring the time and location allows readers to understand where a character comes from. Each character brings important elements to a work of literature, and the reader must use information from the text to uncover important concepts contributing to each character and the story as a whole. This module will use the literary terms from the first module and apply them to short stories.

Introduction

1. What is characterization?
2. What are the elements of a plot diagram?
3. What are the different types of conflict?
4. How do I determine an author's point of view and explain how it appears in the text?
5. What is irony?
6. How do I identify different types of figurative language?

Key Terms

1. Exposition: The background of a story, usually presented at the beginning, in order to understand the story properly.
2. Foreshadowing: Hints of what is to come in the action of a play or a story.
3. Suspense: Nervous uncertainty; tension.
4. Rising action: The events in a conflict that lead to a climax.
5. Climax: The point where forces in conflict meet; turning point.
6. Falling action: The conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist; events that occur after the climax has been reached.
7. Resolution: When the falling action unwinds to conclusion—all ends are tied.
8. Dénouement: When the falling action unwinds to conclusion—all ends are tied; another word for the resolution.
9. Characterization: The way in which an author presents and defines characters.
10. Direct characterization: When the writer makes direct statements about a character's personality and tells what the character is like.
11. Indirect characterization: When the writer reveals information about a character and his personality through that character's thoughts, words, and actions, along with how other characters respond to that character, including what they think and say about him.
12. S.T.E.A.L: An acronym indicating what to look for when finding indirect characterization: Speech, Thoughts, Effects on others, Actions, Looks.
13. Narrator: The voice that relates, or tells, the events; the speaker.
14. Conflict: A struggle between two or more forces.
15. Man v. man conflict: An external conflict where a character has an argument, disagreement, struggle, or other type of problem with another character.
16. Man v. nature conflict: An external conflict where a character has a problem with outside forces in nature such as weather, animals, and land.
17. Man v. society conflict: An external conflict where a character encounters a struggle with the laws or beliefs of a group.
18. Man v. himself conflict: An internal conflict where the character struggles deciding what to do or think.
19. Chronological order: The arrangement of events following one after another in time.
20. Implied setting: The time and place of the story suggested by clues within the text.
21. Stated setting: The time and place of the story clearly stated in the text.
22. Cultural context: Understanding the behaviors, beliefs, and characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group that may be relevant to understanding the meaning of the story.
23. Historical context: Understanding the political and social events of a period that may be relevant to understanding the story's meaning.
24. Historical fiction: A type of literary genre that tells a story that is set in the past. The setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the main characters tend to be fictional.
25. Protagonist: The main character of a story.
26. Antagonist: The person or force that opposes the main character.
27. Point of view: The perspective of a narrator.
28. First person: The point of view where the narrator uses the pronoun "I."
29. Third person: The point of view where the narrator uses the pronouns "he," "she," "it," or "they."
30. Omniscient: The point of view where the narrator is “all-knowing” or sees and hears everything.
31. Theme: The meaning behind a story.
32. Tone: The attitude of the writer conveyed through writing.
33. Dialect: A particular form of a language or accent that is peculiar to a specific region or social group.
34. Dialogue: Conversations between or among characters.
35. Plot: The sequence of events in a story.

 

[CC BY 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION