ENGLISH TEN

EXPLORING THE SHORT STORY

TASK ONE: CREATE A COMPRHENSIVE POWERPOINT THAT DEALS WITH THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS OF THE SHORT STORY

*Some ELEMENTS MAY REQUIRE MORE THAN ONE SLIDE, however each slide should be accompanied by a diagram or a picture that helps YOU understand the function of the element

1. Title Slide

2. What is a short story? Provide some classic examples of short stories

3. Plot: Name and define the five elements that generally go into the plot of a short story? What are some typical plotlines that help generate short stories?

4. Setting: What is the simple definition of setting in a short story? What elements go into the development of setting in a short story?

5. Character: How is the simple definition of character in a short story? Distinguish between protagonist and antagonist, distinguish the difference between flat, and round characters, distinguish the difference between static and dynamic characters, define stock characters and provide the different methods of character development in a short story.

6. Point of View: Define the different points of view that might exist in a short story

7. Theme: Provide a definition of theme as it functions in a short story. Provide a list of at least five themes that are recognizable in many short stories.

8. Provide a definition for at least five literary elements that an author might employ to create literary merit in his or her short story.

TASK TWO: Choose a short story that interests or intrigues you. You may choose a short story from an anthology or from the web (you must provide your source). Create a comprehensive study guide for your short story hat provides the following information.

I. PLOT--the action of a story: Instead of just retelling the story, give a basic outline of the plot by providing the following information

A. How it begins
B. What is the major conflict
C. What is the climax of the story
D. How does the story end
E. Is this ending forced,
Consistent, satisfying?

II. CHARACTER--tell about the main character or characters (not just a physical descriptions--what kind of people are they?) Do not fail to mention if you see anything unusual about the type of characters that are used.

They could be symbolic, satirical, stock, realistic, round, dynamic, flat, static, exaggerated, or comic for example

PROTAGONIST
How do we find out about them? / By what they say / By what they do / By what we are told about them
Type of Character?
With
Explanation
Antagonist
How do we find out about them?
Type of Character?
With
Explanation
MINOR CHARACTERES / What is their importance to the story?

III. SETTING—time, place, era, atmosphere, mood

Time
Place
Era
Atmosphere
Mood
Is the setting important to the story? Explain

IV. Point of View

What point of view is being used? What does this mean?
From whose perspective is the story being told?
How does the point of view affect your response to the characters?

V. THEME—what was the author's purpose in writing this story? Was it one of the following

1. Moralistic--to teach a lesson

2. For entertainment--just to tell an exciting tale

3. To make us laugh

4. To weave a fantasy and let us escape from reality

5. To explore a certain character

6. To explore a certain setting and how it affected people or events

In one statement, what is the purpose and the
Theme of this story?
VI. STYLE--the way an author writes: This element of the short story is often the most difficult to understand and discuss at first. Here are some possible things to consider, but remember to use your own observations about the way the author writes
Is symbolism important?
Are there any flashbacks, what purpose do they serve?
Does the author make use of irony? If so how and why?
Was exaggeration used in the story? Why?
Was foreshadowing or suspense employed? Was it effective?
Did the author make use of dialogue? Did he or she use dialect or colloquialisms? Why?
Is humour used? How and why is it used?
What elements of the short story are most important? Are they effectively used?
What else did you observe about how the story was written?

TASK THREE: A critical essay analyzes the strengths, weaknesses and methods of someone else's work. Generally these essays begin with a brief overview of the main points of the text, movie, or piece of art, followed by an analysis of the work's meaning. It should then discuss how well the author/creator accomplishes his/her goals and makes his/her points. A critical essay can be written about another essay, story, book, poem, movie, or work of art. In your case you will be writing a critical essay about a short story of your choice.

Writing an Essay of Analysis

To write an effective critical analysis, you must first have a thorough understanding of the literary work and the author’s intention. Re-visit all of the observations you have made on the short story. Consider these observations you and think about how effectively the author has conveyed his or her (THEME) intention? Try to formulate a rough thesis statement (your "claim"). Now try to select those pieces of evidence that you feel you can most convincingly use to support the claim you made.

REMEBER WHEN WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE BE EXPLICIT

Name the work and the author.

Provide a very brief plot summary. (Three or four lines)

Relate some aspect of that plot to the thesis statement or topic that you will address

Now proceed to introduce and discuss the evidence you mentioned in your introduction, in the order in which you mentioned it. Ensure that you deal with each kind of evidence in a paragraph of its own, and that you introduce the topic of each paragraph with a carefully focused topic sentence. Also ensure that you end each paragraph with a concluding sentence that sums up the thrust of that paragraph’s argument and possibly paves the way for the next piece of evidence to be discussed. (Alternatively, you can begin the next paragraph with a transitional phrase that links the new piece of evidence with the one you have just summarized.)

Finally, write a conclusion that restates your thesis (but using different words), incorporates a brief restatement of your key evidence, and provides a sense of closure. A good closing technique is to somehow link the claim you have made about this particular piece of literature with the author’s general style or preoccupations, or to suggest some way in which the topic you have just discussed relates more generally to some aspect of human existence.

When writing about literature here are some generic topics you may consider

How an author developed the characters in his or her story effectively

How an author used setting to enhance the theme of the story

A discussion of effective use of literary techniques such as irony, tone, flashback, mood, or foreshadowing to enhance the plot or theme of the story

SAMPLE ANALYSIS OF A SHORT STORY

A Scarcity of Charity

In the short story of "A Visit of Charity" by Eudora Welty, a fourteen-year-old girl visits two women in a home for the elderly to bring them a plant and to earn points for Campfire Girls. Welty implies through this story, however, that neither the society that supports the home nor the girl, Marian, knows the meaning of the word "charity." The dictionary defines "charity" as "the love of man for his fellow men: an act of good will or affection." But instead of love, good will, and affection, self-interest, callousness, and dehumanization prevail in this story. Welty's depiction of the setting and her portrayal of Marian dramatize the theme that people's selfishness and insensitivity can blind them to the humanity and needs of others.
Many features of the setting, a winter's day at a home for elderly women, suggest coldness, neglect, and dehumanization. Instead of evergreens or other vegetation that might lend softness or beauty to the place, the city has landscaped it with "prickly dark shrubs."1Behind the shrubs the whitewashed walls of the Old Ladies' Home reflect "the winter sunlight like a block of ice."2Welty also implies that the cold appearance of the nurse is due to the coolness in the building as well as to the stark, impersonal, white uniform she is wearing. In the inner parts of the building, the "loose, bulging linoleum on the floor"3 indicates that the place is cheaply built and poorly cared for. The halls that "smell like the interior of a clock,"4 suggest a used, unfeeling machine. Perhaps the clearest evidence of dehumanization is the small, crowded rooms, each inhabited by two older women. The room that Marian visits is dark, with a drawn shade and too much furniture. No colors, decorations, or beauty brighten this room, which is packed with beds, a chair, a wardrobe, a washstand, a rocker, and a bed table. The wet smell of everything and the wet appearance of the bare floor suggests that this cramped room is more like a stall in a barn, a place for animals, than that it might be a home fit for use by human beings.
The character Marian represents the society that has confined old women to this dismal, neglected home. Specifically through Marian's thoughts, words, and actions, revealed by the third person partially omniscient narrator, Welty shows how selfishness and indifference can obscure the needs of the less fortunate.
Throughout her so-called visit of charity, Marian perceived the old women she meets sometimes as things and sometimes as animals. She refers to an old woman as an object to be used and discarded when she announces the purpose of her visit: "I'm a Campfire Girl ... I have to pay a visit to some old lady."5 These words and her frequent thoughts about the points she will get for the visit reveal her real reason for coming: self-gain. An old woman -- "any of them will do"6 she says -- is an impersonal thing with no identity or personality. Clearly, her concern is focused on her progress in Campfire Girls. During her brief stay at the Home, Marian things of the first old woman as a bird and the second as a sheep. In her eyes, the first woman moves in "short, gradual jerks"7 like a bird, has "a hand quick as a bird claw,"8 and grabs her with the grip of a talon. The other woman, bundled up in bed with a quilt, appears to Marian to resemble a sheep. When Marian first sees her, she describes her mentally as having "a bunchy white forehead and red eyes like a sheep."9When this second woman clears her throat or talks, she sounds to Marian like a sheep bleating or a lamb whimpering. Marian's unconscious dehumanization of the women, her reduction of them to objects and creatures, reveals her own insensitivity.
Welty also dramatizes the blinding power of self-interest through Marian's lack of preparation for her visit and her inability to talk with or listen to the old women. Marian is so preoccupied with the points she is earning that she never thinks beyond her task to deliver the potted plants to some old woman. When the first woman takes the plant, Marian realizes that she has not even looked at it. Nor has she thought that during her visit she would be interacting with human beings in need of warmth, concern, an cheer. From the moment she finds herself in the dark, tiny room, her uppermost thought is escape. She is so stunned by her surroundings and the strange, lonely women that she cannot remember her own name or answer the questions that the first woman asks her. She identifies herself only as a Campfire Girl and never learns the names or histories of the women. A few of the remarks Marian blurts out do not even make sense, and the one question she asks,"How old are you?"10 only serve to remind the bedridden woman of her helplessness and age. If Marian had had a different purpose or had let herself become involved in the lives of these women, she might have seen beyond their squabbling. She might have realized that emptiness and despair led the one to contradict and deny her roommate's identity, past, and meager memories while it led the other to give away her roommate's birthday secret. But Marian only hears and does not understand. Her flash of interest in the old woman's age quickly fades when the woman refuses to answer the question.
Finally, Welty illustrates the theme of self-interest and callousness through Marian's actions, particularly at the end of the story. Even before her visit she was thinking about herself when she hid her apple under a bush before entering the building. Marian came to give a thing, a potted plant, not herself. She even gave less time than another Campfire Girl who read the Bible to the old women. Throughout her visit she is uncomfortable, until finally her desire to escape overwhelms her. When the first old woman begs Marian for a penny or a nickel to buy something of her own, Marian does not even speak to her. Instead, she exerts all her strength to free herself from the woman's grasp and run away. Marian is stylishly dressed, indicating her social standing. She could have given the old woman something, something for the woman's sake and not just something to buy herself points. Even after her rude departure, she is untouched by the raw needs and emotional vacuum revealed to her. As she yells for the bus to wait, leaps on, and chomps on her apple, she shows her untouched feelings and undisturbed ignorance. She is young, vigorous, and free. She has her points; nothing else matters.
Neither the maintenance of the Old Ladies' Home nor Marian's delivery of a potted plant qualifies as an act of charity. In fact, as an analysis of the setting reveals, the Home is inhumane in many ways. Marian indicates in her thoughts, words, and deeds that she is opportunistic and indifferent to the needs and feelings of the aging women. Welty further suggests in this story that pseudo-charity can destroy the very humanity it pretends to acknowledge and uphold. People like Marian acting either out of duty or for personal advantages have created the Home and the conditions that have made the inhabitants cranky, clutching, and unlovable. Marian left the women more lonely and distraught than she found them. This kind of charity is uncharitable indeed.