SHORT STORY ELEMENTS

1
SHORT STORY ELEMENTS

• With special reference to Roald Dahls works in
  The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other
  Stories

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MAIN ELEMENTS

• Setting the time and location in which a story
  takes place
• Plot the sequence of events in a story or play
• Conflict the opposition of forces which ties
  one incident to another and makes the plot move
• Character the person and his characteristics in
  a work of fiction
• Point of View the angle from which the story is
  told
• Theme the central idea or belief

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SETTING

• The time and location in which a story takes
  place is called the setting. For some stories
  the setting is very important, while for others
  it is not.
• There are several aspects of a storys setting to
  consider when examining how setting contributes
  to a story. Some, or all, may be present.

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ASPECTS IN SETTING

• Place Where is the story taking place?
• Time When is the story taking place?
• Weather conditions Is it rainy, sunny?
• Social conditions What is the daily life of the
  characters like? Does the story contain local
  colour?
• Mood or atmosphere What feeling is created at
  the beginning of the story?

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Setting in Roald Dahl

• To what extent is setting important in the
  following stories
• The Landlady
• The Umbrella Man
• Parsons Pleasure
• The Butler
• Neck

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PLOT

• The plot is how the author arranges events to
  develop his basic idea it is the sequence of
  events. The plot is a planned, logical series of
  events having a beginning, middle and end. The
  short story usually has one plot so it can be
  read in one sitting.

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Five essential parts of plot

• Introduction the beginning of the story where
  the characters and the setting is revealed
• Rising Action This is where the events in the
  story become complicated and the conflict in the
  story is revealed
• Climax This is the highest point of interest
  and the turning point of the story.

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Plot cont.

• Falling Action The events and complications
  begin to resolve themselves. The reader knows
  what has happened next and if the conflict was
  resolved or not
• Denouement This is the final outcome or
  untangling of events in the story

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Plot in Roald Dahl

• Discuss the essential parts of the plot in the
  following stories
• Mrs Bixby and the Colonels Coat
• Taste
• Man from the South

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CONFLICT

• It is the opposition of forces which ties one
  incident to another and makes the plot move. It
  is any form of opposition that faces the main
  character.
• Within a short story there may be only one
  central struggle, or one dominant struggle with
  many minor ones.

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There are two types of conflict

• 1. External a struggle with a force outside
  ones self
• 2. Internal a struggle within ones self a
  person must make some decision, overcome pain,
  quiet their temper, resist un urge, etc.

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There are four kinds of conflict

• 1. man vs man (physical)
• 2. man vs circumstances (classical)
• 3. man vs society (social)
• 4. man vs him/herself (psychological)

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Conflict in Roald Dahl

• What elements of conflict do you find in
• Katina
• Parsons Pleasure
• Neck

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CHARACTER

• This includes the person in a work of fiction
  and the characteristics of a person.
• In a work of fiction, one finds the protagonist
  and the antagonist. The protagonist is the
  central character with all major events having
  some importance to him/her. The opposer of the
  main character is the antagonist.

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The Characteristics of a Person

• Characterization is the information the author
  gives the reader about the characters themselves.
  These include
• His/her physical appearance
• What he/she says, thinks, feels and dreams
• What he/she does or does not do
• What others say about him/her and how others
  react to him/her

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Character cont.

• Characters are convincing if they are
• Consistent
• Motivated
• Life-like
• Characters are
• Individual (round, many sided and complex)
• Developing (dynamic, changing)
• Static (stereotype, characteristics that never
  change and are emphasized)

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Character in Roald Dahl

• Which characters do you find most interesting in
  Roald Dahls anthology?
• Are they protagonists or antagonists?

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POINT OF VIEW

• This is defined as the angle from which the story
  is told
• 1. Innocent Eye
• 2. Stream of Consciousness
• 3. First Person
• 4. Omniscient
• a. Omniscient Limited
• b. Omniscient Objective

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Point of View in Roald Dahl

• Discuss point of view in
• The Umbrella Man
• Royal Jelly
• Katina
• Taste

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THEME

• The theme is the controlling idea or its central
  insight. It is the authors underlying meaning
  or main idea that he is trying to convey. It may
  be the authors thoughts about a topic or view of
  human nature

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Theme cont.

• The title of the short story usually points to
  what the writer is saying and he may use various
  figures of speech to emphasize his theme, such
  as
• symbol, allusion, simile, metaphor, hyperbole
  or irony

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Themes in Roald Dahl

• Categorise the stories in The Great Automatic
  Grammatizator and Other Stories according to
  their theme. You might want to consider the
  following themes
• Relationships
• Cheating and trickery
• Betting
• Horror or macbre
• Making money

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General Question

• Matsec 2009 Paper 2A
• With reference to any two stories in the
  collection, write about three characteristics
  typical of short story writing.