Name: ______

ENG2DB Short Story Analysis Presentation Prompts and Questions


Setting:

Consider when the story takes place – TIME

Consider where the story takes place – PLACE

Consider what senses this place appeals to – ATMOSPHERE

TIME:

… of Year ( spring, winter, holiday season)

… of Day (midnight, morning, mid-day, sunset, evening)

 … in History (colonial, ancient, medieval, 19th century, the seventies)

PLACE:

Geographic (country, city, town, countryside, wilderness)

Specific (castle, office, restaurant, beach, backyard, ship)

ATMOSPHERE:

Weather (rainy, crisp, windy,sunny, sweltering, foggy, calm)

Smell (fresh baked cookies, mildew, ploughed fields)

Sounds (silence, howling wind, bustling, chirping birds, crickets, whispers)

Ask: Does the setting reflect or create a sense of states of mind or feelings? Is the setting a symbolic or allegorical representation of something else?

Character:

Perhaps the most important element of literature is character development – examine how the characters change over the course of the story

Look for connections and links between characters – examine character relationships and dependencies

Ask yourself what the function and significance of each character is

Make a determination about each character based on their history (what is revealed and not revealed about the characters)

Is there a protagonist and an antagonist? If not, why not? Effect?

Are there foil characters? A foil is a person who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight various features of the main character's personality (opposite yet complimentary).

Consider physical traits and descriptions

Explore what the character does (actions)

Explore what the character says/thinks

Examine what other characters say/think about him/her

Consider the character’s role in the novel (main/major/minor character? Do they shape the conflict?)

Ponder the significance of character names (an immature man named Teddy)

Analyze how the character changes over the course of the story. What is the thematic significance?

As a reader, what do you like and/or dislike about this character?

What does the author want the reader to feel for the character (empathy? hatred? fondness? )?

As a reader, do you identify with this character on any level?

As a reader, do you care about this character?

To what degree are her/his morals defined by contrasting minor characters, by the testimony of characters who are readily acceptable as witnesses?

What are the character's inclinations to specific virtues and vices, her/his powers or weaknesses with relation to those virtues and vices?

Examine the important actions through which her/his moral stature is apparent.

What are her/his dominant traits or desires? How did these traits or desires apparently originate? Do they support or oppose one another?

Through what modes of awareness is the protagonist most responsive to life and experience: rational, instinctual, sensory, emotional, intuitive?

How does the character deal with a crisis?

Theme:

What are the central messages of the story? What dominant impression do you get after reading this story?

In what ways is theme developed throughout the story?

Is there an evident moral judgement conveyed through the story? If so, what is the effect?

How does theme link to other elements of the short story?

Would the short story be the same without the existance of this theme?

Is the theme revealed in the title of the short story?

Plot:

Focus on elements of the plot graph and the significance of this structure to the development of the story

Consider how the structure of the story affect you as a reader

Consider the types of conflict that appear in your short story

Ask: Why do certain elements play a larger role in the story? Conflict drives the plot, so what is the thematic significance of the central conflict of the story? Why did the author arrange the short story elements the way he/she did? Do these choices control our emotional responses as readers and/or prepare us for reversals in expectations and surprises?

Are the following plot related techniques used in the short story?:

1) Allegory

2) Deus ex machina

3) Flashback or flashforward

4) Foreshadowing

5) Subplot

6) Suspense

Irony:

Examine the various types of irony that appear in the short story and WHY they are significant to the story

Dramatic Irony- Discrepancy between what characters know and what readers know.

Verbal Irony- We understand the opposite of what the speaker says.

Irony of Circumstance or Situational Irony - When one event is expected to occur but the opposite happens. A discrepancy between what seems to be and what is.

Narrative Perspective (including voice and tone):

Consider from what narrative perspective the short story is told, and what is its effect?

Ask: How does the point of view affect the reader's responses to the characters? What would be the effect if the story was told from a different point of view?

Focus on style as the verbal identity of a writer, oftentimes based on the author's use of diction (word choice) and syntax (the order of words in a sentence).

Examine the writer's use of language to reveal his or her tone, or their attitude toward the subject matter.

As a reader, how did the author’s word choice influence your experience and emotional response to the literature?

Do the stylistic choices the author has made effectively convey tone, mood, images, and meaning?

Literary Devices (except irony):

Identify literary devices such as simile, metaphor, alliteration, personification, hyperbole, imagery, juxtaposition, etc.

For each literary device mentioned, ANALYZE its effectiveness. Why does the author use this device and what is its significance to the story?

How does each device enhance/influence your reading of the story?