Transcript SHORT STORY ELEMENTS

SHORT STORY ELEMENTS
With special reference to Roald Dahl’s
works in The Great Automatic
Grammatizator and Other Stories
MAIN ELEMENTS
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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
SETTING
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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.
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There are several aspects of a story’s
setting to consider when examining how
setting contributes to a story. Some, or
all, may be present.
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
 Parson’s Pleasure
 The Butler
 Neck
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PLOT
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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.
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.
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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
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Denouement – This is the final outcome
or untangling of events in the story
Plot in Roald Dahl
Discuss the essential parts of the plot in
the following stories:
 Mrs Bixby and the Colonel’s Coat
 Taste
 Man from the South
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CONFLICT
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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.
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Within a short story there may be only
one central struggle, or one dominant
struggle with many minor ones.
There are two types of conflict:
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1. External – a struggle with a force
outside one’s self
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2. Internal – a struggle within one’s self;
a person must make some decision,
overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist
un urge, etc.
There are four kinds of conflict:
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1. man vs man (physical)
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2. man vs circumstances (classical)
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3. man vs society (social)
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4. man vs him/herself (psychological)
Conflict in Roald Dahl
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What elements of conflict do you find in:
Katina
 Parson’s 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.
The Characteristics of a Person
a.
b.
c.
d.
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
Character cont.
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Characters are convincing if they are:
Consistent
Motivated
Life-like
Characters are:
1. Individual (round, many sided and complex)
2. Developing (dynamic, changing)
3. Static (stereotype, characteristics that never
change and are emphasized)
Character in Roald Dahl
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Which characters do you find most
interesting in Roald Dahl’s anthology?
Are they protagonists or antagonists?
POINT OF VIEW
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This is defined as the angle from which the
story is told:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Innocent Eye
Stream of Consciousness
First Person
Omniscient
a. Omniscient Limited
b. Omniscient Objective
Point of View in Roald Dahl
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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
author’s underlying meaning or
main idea that he is trying to
convey. It may be the author’s
thoughts about a topic or view of
human nature
Theme cont.
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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
Themes in Roald Dahl
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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
General Question
Matsec 2009 – Paper 2A
With reference to any two stories in the
collection, write about three
characteristics typical of short story
writing.