Elements of the Short Story

Part II

From AHS AP Literature and Composition

TONE: The Expression of Attitude in Fiction

Tone:• Methods by which writers and speakers reveal

attitudes or feeling to create meaning• Tone refers not so much to attitude itself BUT instead

to those techniques and modes of presentation that reveal or create the attitude

Tone con’t.Tone and Attitudes1. Author’s attitude toward the material / character’s attitude toward the material

or subject2. Author’s attitude toward the readers3. Other dominant attitudes of the author or charactersTone and HumourA major aspect of tone is humour. Everyone likes to laugh, and shared laughter is part of good human relationships. But not everyone can explain why things are funny. Laughter resists close analysis; it is unplanned, personal, idiosyncratic, and usually unpredictable.Some common elements:4. An object to laugh at5. Incongruity – anything contrary to what is expected6. Safety and/or good will (i.e. seeing a person slip on a banana peel and hurtle

through the air; getting hit in the face with a pie)7. Unfamiliarity, newness, uniqueness, and spontaneity – the task of the comic

writer is to develop ordinary materials to that point when spontaneity frees readers to laugh

Tone con’t.Tone and Irony:The capacity to have more than one attitude toward someone or something is a uniquely human trait. We know that people are not perfect, but we love a number of them anyway. Therefore we speak to them not only with love and praise, but also with banter and criticism.

On occasion, you may have given mildly insulting greeting cards to your loved ones, not to affront them but to amuse them. You share smiles and laughs, and at the same time you remind them of your affection. The word “irony” describes such contradictory statements or situations. Irony is natural to human beings, who are aware of life’s ambiguities and complexities.1. Verbal irony

a. Understatementb. Overstatement or hyperbolec. Double entendre

2. Situational irony3. Cosmic irony or irony of fate4. Dramatic irony

ThemeDefinitions of Theme The theme of a literary work is a message or value or insight about life or

human nature that the writer wishes to communicate A theme is an idea or message communicated by a work of literature; it is a

perception about life or human nature that the writer chooses to share with the reader

Some themes are stated directly, and some are implied; but every theme is a expression of the significance of the story being told

Certain works of literature contain more than one theme Theme is NOT the subject of the story; theme is NOT what the work is about A theme is NOT the action that happens in a story A theme is NOT a situation a character is in or event in the story Discover the theme of a literary work by what happens to the central

characters; the importance of those events, stated in terms that apply to all human beings, is the theme

Discover the theme by 1. the characters’ actions and reactions and 2. the dialogue in the story

STYLE

Style is the way authors assemble their words to tell the story (or develop the argument as in a an essay) or compose a poem.

Style consists of many elements. These include the choice of words, the sentence structure, and literary devices.

THE WORDS THAT TELL THE STORYThe way writers assemble words to tell the story. It is the

choice of words in the service of contentNarrative and descriptive passages may use a different

style than dialogue doesThe more appropriately the words fit the situation, the

better the style

Style con’t.Diction: Choice of WordsShould be accurate and explicit, so that all actions, scenes, and ideas are clear e.g.

• A passage describing action should emphasise active verbs• A description of a place should contain nouns and adjectives that evoke locations, relationships, colours, and

shapes• An explanatory or reflective passage should include words that convey thoughts, states of mind and emotion

1. FORMAL OR HIGH DICTION: standard and ‘elegant words2. NEUTRAL OR MIDDLE DICTION: ordinary, everyday standard vocabulary, shunning longer words but

using contractions when necessary3. INFORMAL OR LOW DICTION: ranges from colloquial speech to the level of substandard or slang

expressions; appropriate for some narrative dialogue, natural choice for stories in 1 st person4. SPECIFIC LANGUAGE: words that bring to mind images from the real world5. GENERAL LANGUAGE: refers to broad classes i.e. cars instead of Hondas; fruit instead of apples6. CONCRETE WORDS: refers to qualities or conditions of immediate perception; used for more specific

descriptions such as a person, a place, or a thing e.g. Ice cream is cold.7. ABSTRACT WORDS: refers to qualities or conditions that are broader, less palpable; used for description

of things like emotions, thoughts, mental states of character etc. e.g. words like ‘bad,’ ‘fine,’ ‘excellent,’ etc.

8. DENOTATION: what a word means (dictionary definition)9. CONNOTATION: what a word suggests (words may have pretty much the same dictionary definition

(denotation) but each one has an underlying or cultural meaning – that’s its connotation e.g.• Friendly, warm, polite, cordial• Skinny, gaunt, skeletal• Fit, trim, svelte, slim, slender

STYLE con’t.Other Forms of Style:1. Rhetoric: the art of persuasive writing2. Counting / Word Numbers: counting various elements is a quick and

easy way to begin the study of style (some authors use more of one type of word than another; some use longer words than others etc.)• The number of verbs, adjectives, prepositions, and adverbs in a passage• The number of syllables in relation to the total number of words

3. Sentence Types: different authors use different types of sentences; this contributes to their style of writing• Simple Sentences – contain one subject and one verb (short and

appropriate for actions and declarations• Compound Sentences – contain two simple sentences joined together with a

coordinating conjunction, semicolon, or conjunctive adverb• Complex Sentences – contain a main clause and a subordinate clause;

describes cause and effect relationships and also analysis and reflection• Compound / Complex Sentences – contain two main clauses and a

subordinate clause

STYLE con’t. 4. Parallelism: the repetition of the same grammatical form

(nouns, verbs, phrases, clauses) to balance expressions, conserve words, and build climaxes

5. Fragments and Run-ons: although these are grammatically incorrect, writers of fiction occasionally use them for certain purposes, such as emphasis or part of colloquialism

6. Repetition: similar to parallelism but usually refers to repetition of individual words versus repetition of phrases and larger portions of sentences for parallelism

7. Sentence Length: writers use of a variety of sentence lengths to achieve their purpose. Some authors are known for their extremely long sentences; some are known for their short sentences.

Style con’t.Sentence LengthShort Sentences: Indicates action Perhaps used with younger characters Might indicate quickness, fear, desperation, or excitement

Longer Sentences: Typically used in stream of consciousness-type writing Typically used for thoughts versus narration or dialogue

Fragments: Used for emphasis Used sometimes to make a humourous point Used sometimes to show tone (author’s attitude) such as irony or sarcasm Sometimes used in dialogue

Run-ons: Sometimes used to show constant action Sometimes used for a character’s thoughts – that’s how we think Sometimes used in dialogue – we do sometimes talk that way; perhaps out of fear, desperation, or

excitement