This section will focus on short stories from American literature. Students will learn literary forms and terms associated with the selections being read. Students will interpret possible influences of the historical context on the literary work. Students will use critical reading skills, vary reading styles, and write responses to various aspects of the story.

Section 2: Objectives

Students will be able to:

1. Read to be entertained, to appreciate a writer's craft, to be informed, to take action, and to discover models to use for his/her own writing.
2. Read in such varied sources as textbooks, electronic text, and other media.
3. Read American literature including classic and contemporary work.
4. Interpret possible historical context influence on a literary work.
5. Recognize distinctive and shared characteristics of cultures through reading.
6. Compare events with his/her own and other reader's experiences.
7. Establish a purpose for reading such as to discover, to interpret, and to enjoy.
8. Draw upon his/her own background to provide connection to text.
9. Monitor his/her own reading strategies and make modifications when understanding breakdowns, such as rereading, using resources, and questions.
10. Construct images such as graphic organizers based upon text descriptions and text structures.
11. Analyze text structures such as compare and contrast, cause and effect, and chronological ordering for how they influence understanding.
12. Draw inferences such as conclusions, generalizations, and predictions and support them with text evidence.
13. Produce summaries of texts by identifying main ideas and their supporting details.
14. Use study strategies such as skimming and scanning, note taking, outlining, and using study guide questions to better understand texts.
15. Read silently with comprehension for a sustained period of time.
16. Expand vocabulary through wide reading.
17. Rely on context to determine the meaning of words and phrases such as figurative language.
18. Use reference material such as glossary, dictionary, thesaurus, and available technology to determine precise meanings and usage.
19. Use elements of text to defend his/her own responses and interpretations.
20. Analyze the relevance of setting and time frame to text's meaning.
21. Describe and analyze the development of plot and identify conflicts and how they are addressed and resolved.
22. Connect literature to historical context, current events, and his/her own experience.
23. Understand literary forms and terms as appropriate to the selection being read.

Topic 1 - The Short Story

A short story is a short piece of fiction similar to a novel, but with a simpler plot and setting. In order to understand a short story, the reader must be able to recognize and interpret the literary elements used by the writer in creating the story.

The short story will contain:

1. Setting  -  Setting is the time and place in which the action happens. The setting may provide background for the action or be a crucial element in the plot. The setting may create the mood of the story.

2. Mood  -  Mood is the feeling created in the reader by the story. One way a mood is created is by the use of suspense.

3. Suspense  -  Suspense is the feeling of growing uncertainty about the outcome of the story. Suspense creates questions in the mind of the reader about what will happen next. The suspense builds until the climax of the plot.

4. Plot  -  The sequence of events in a story makes up the plot.

   The plot contains:

   1. Exposition  -  the beginning of the story when the characters are introduced, the setting is described, and the situation is presented.

   2. Rising action  -  the part of the story in which the suspense is building.

   3. Climax  -  the point in the story at which the suspense reaches its peak.

   4. Falling action  -  the events following the climax.

   5. Resolution  -  how the conflict is resolved.

    

5. Conflict  -  Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces.

   The conflict can be:

   1. internal - within a character:
      • making a decision
      • choosing a course of action
      • dealing with feelings

   2. external - between a character and an outside force:
      • another character
      • society
      • nature
      • fate

    

6. Characters  -  Characters can be animals or people that take part in the action.
   1. Main character  -  the one character on which the story focuses

   2. Major characters  -  those characters that play an important role in the story

   3. Minor characters  -  those characters that play minor roles in the story

   4. Dynamic characters  -  those characters who change during the story

   5. Static characters  -  those characters who do not change during the story

The main character is the protagonist. The antagonist is the character or force in conflict with the main character. Not all stories have antagonists, but in many stories, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist is the basis of the story.

Characterization is the method used to develop a character. There are two types of characterization.

1. In direct characterization, the writer simply states the traits of the characters.

   Example:  John was a stingy, mean man.

2. In indirect characterization, the traits of a character are revealed through:
   • words, thoughts, and actions of the character.
   • description of the character's appearance or background.
   • what other character's say about the character.
   • how others react to the character.

   Example:  As John walked along the street, he smiled at everyone he met and often stopped to talk with his neighbors.

The writer uses a narrator to tell the story. The narrator is a speaker or character that tells the story. The narrator's point of view is the perspective from which the narrator tells the story. Commonly used points of view include:

• First person point-of-view  -  If the narrator is a character in the story, the point-of view will be first person. The narrator will use "I" and "we" to describe the action. The narrator will tell what he/she sees, hears, and feels about the action.

• Third person limited point-of-view  -  If the narrator is not a character in the story, third person point of view is used. If the narrator tells the story as one character would see the action, third-person limited is used.

• Third-person omniscient point-of-view  -  If the narrator knows everything that is going on in the story, third-person omniscient is used. The omniscient narrator knows what all the characters feel and think and will know what is happening in more than one place at the same time.

The central message revealed by a story is its theme. The theme is often a general message about real life. The theme is usually not stated directly so the reader has to infer the theme from the elements in the story.

Short stories may also contain:

• dialogue:  conversation between characters.

  Dialogue is used to:

  • reveal character traits
  • present events
  • promote reader interest

• dialect:  the form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group. Using dialect makes characters seem more realistic and more interesting.

• flashback:  a section of a story that interrupts the chronological order of events in order to reveal an event which happened at an earlier time. The flashback may be presented as a character's memory, as part of a story told by a character, as a dream or daydream, or by having the narrator switch to a time in the past. The flashback usually provides background information which helps the reader understand what is happening in the story.

• foreshadowing:  the use of clues to suggest events that will happen later in the story. Foreshadowing is used to create suspense in the story.

• imagery:  descriptive language which creates pictures in the reader's mind. The pictures are created by details of sight, sound, taste, smell, touch, and movement.

• motivation:  the reason that explains a character's thoughts, feelings, actions, or words. Characters are motivated by values, wants, needs, dreams, and desires. Character's motivation may be revealed directly or may be merely suggested.

Figures of speech: an expression which is used imaginatively rather than literally.

• hyperbole:  a deliberate exaggeration often used to create a comic effect.

• irony:  a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens in a story.

  Types of irony include:

  • verbal irony  -  a word or phrase used to suggest the opposite of actual meaning

  • dramatic irony  -  a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader knows to be true.

  • irony of situation  -  an event occurs that directly contradicts what the character or reader expects will happen.

• metaphor:  a comparison in which one thing is spoken of as though it was something else.

  Example:"death is a long sleep"

• oxymoron:  two opposing or contradictory ideas combined in one phrase

  Example:  "burning cold"

• personification:  giving human characteristics to non-human things.

  Example:  The wind caressed her cheeks.

• simile:  a direct comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as".

  Examples:  "as red as fire", "as hot as the sun"

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     Activity # 1 - Learn While You Surf!    

Read more about literary elements used in short stories at:

Literary Terms
Cyber English - An Internet Project

Activity # 2 - Study Literary Terms

If you are going to do well in this unit, you have to be able to understand the meaning of the bold-faced words in the lesson. For this activity, you will need note cards and paper clips. Write each bold-faced word from the lesson on a separate note card. Write the meaning of the boldfaced word on separate note cards. (You may use one color card for definition and another color card for bold-faced words if you wish.)

Now spread the word cards out on the table. Select a definition card and find the bold-faced word card that matches it. Paper clip the cards together. When you have all the words matched, check your work by reading the definition of the word from the lesson. Repeat this activity until you recognize the meaning of all the bold-faced words.

Study Guide #1      

1. What is a setting? How does the setting contribute to a short story?
2. What is mood? How does an author create mood in a short story?
3. Define these terms:
   1. suspense
   2. climax
   3. rising action
   4. plot
   5. exposition
   6. conflict
   7. falling action
   8. resolution
4. Explain the different types of conflict.
5. Explain the differences between:
   1. major and minor characters
   2. dynamic and static characters
   3. protagonist and antagonist
6. What is direct characterization?
7. In indirect characterization, how are character traits revealed?
8. What is a narrator? What are the different points of view from which the narrator can tell the story?
9. What is a theme and how can the reader determine what the theme of a story is?
10. Why is dialogue used?
11. What is dialect and why is it used?
12. What is a flashback and why is it used?
13. What is foreshadowing?
14. What is motivation? What motivates a character?
15. List and define the different figures of speech presented in this lesson.

On a sheet of paper, answer each question above. When you have finished, review your work with your Red Comet Contact Person.

Click Here for Sample Study Guide Answers

Activity # 3 - Practice

Online Quiz
Students: You can take this online quiz as many times as you need in order to insure you understand the topic.