Novels/Short Stories

NOVEL

• A long fictional story, whose length is normally somewhere between one hundred and five hundred pages

• Uses the elements of storytelling: PLOT, CHARACTER, SETTING, THEME, and POINT OF VIEW

SHORT STORY• A short fictional prose narrative that usually makes

up about 10 to 20 book pages

• Follows the elements of plot-introduction/exposition, complications/rising action, climax, falling action, resolution

• 1st written in the 19th century

• More limited than novels-usually have only 1 or 2 major characters and one important setting

PLOT• The series of related events that make up a story• INTRODUCTION/ EXPOSITION: tells us who the

characters are and, usually, what their conflict is• COMPLICATIONS/RISING ACTION: arise as the

characters take steps to resolve the conflict• CLIMAX: the most exciting moment in the story,

when the outcome is decided one way or another• FALLING ACTION: final part of a story when the

characters’ problems are solved • RESOLUTION: the story is closed

CONFLICT• A struggle or clash between opposing characters, or

between opposing forces.

• INTERNAL CONFLICT: a struggle occurs within the character’s own mind– Man vs. self

• EXTERNAL CONFLICT: a character struggles against some outside force– Man vs. man– Man vs. nature– Man vs. society

POINT OF VIEW

• The vantage point from which a story is told• OMNISCIENT: All knowing, the narrator knows

everything about the characters and their problems; past, present, and future

• 3RD PERSON LIMITED: the narrator focuses on the thoughts and feelings of just one character

• 1ST PERSON: one of the characters is actually telling the story, using the personal pronoun “I”

SETTING

•The time and place of a story or play

ATMOSPHERE/MOOD

• The overall mood or emotion of a work of literature

• Ex: scary, dreamy, happy, sad

• Atmosphere is created through a writer’s use of words to create images, sounds, and descriptions that convey a particular feeling.

CHARACTER

• A person, animal, or thing in a story, play, or other literary work.

• Static character: one who does NOT change very much throughout the story or piece of work

• Dynamic character: one who changes as a result of the story’s events.

PROTAGONIST

• The main character in a work of literature

• ANTAGONIST: a character who is opposing the protagonist

CHARACTERIZATION• The process of revealing the personality of a

character.• 6 ways to reveal characterization– By letting us HEAR THE CHARACTER SPEAK– By DESCRIBING how the character LOOKS AND DRESSES– By letting us LISTEN to the CHARACTER’S INNER

THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS– By revealing what OTHER PEOPLE IN THE STORY THINK OR

SAY about the character– By showing us WHAT THE CHARACTER DOES– By TELLING US DIRECTLY what the character’s personality

is like (i.e. cruel, kind, sneaky, brave, and so on)

FORESHADOWING

• The use of clues or hints suggesting events that will occur later in the plot

• Used to build suspense or anxiety in the reader

SUSPENSE

• The uncertainty or anxiety we feel about what will happen next in a story

FLASHBACK

• Interruption in the present action of a plot to flash backward and tell what happened at an earlier time

• FLASH FORWARD: a break in the movement of a plot to an episode in the future

IRONY• A contrast between what appears to be true and

what is really true or between expectation and reality

• VERBAL IRONY-contrast between what is said or written and what is really meant

• SITUATIONAL IRONY-occurs when what happens is very different from what we expected would happen

• DRAMATIC IRONY-occurs when the audience or reader knows something that a character does not know

TONE

• The attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character

• Conveyed through the writer’s choice of words and detail

• EX: humorous, sad, serious

THEME

• A main idea of a work of literature

• NOT the same as a subject

• Theme must be expressed in a statement or sentence, not just one word