AP Literature short story boot camp

Setting The word “setting” might remind you of a play’s set. Inexperienced readers may think of setting as a mere background. However, settings can prompt characters to act, bring them to realizations, or even reveal innermost nature.

What can setting do? Affect character action and motivation Reveal the nature of a character Mirror the plot Act as a character Provide key symbolism Set atmosphere or mood Illustrate irony

Students often think about setting like real estate … it’s all about “location, location, location” Setting is more than location. Think “locale” – refers to the physical location of the a house, street, city, landscape, region It may also critically involve the time of the story, the day, year, or century James Joyce’s epic masterpiece Ulysses takes place on a single day June 16, 1904in Dublin, Ireland.

Truly, setting includes the entire society (itself a product of time and place). This includes the beliefs and assumptions of the characters. The harsh judgment cast on Hester Prynne in The Scarlett Letter is largely a product of the time period. It is nearly impossible to Understand the novel without understanding the Puritan culture in the early 17th Century.

In summation …. Setting encompasses locale, time period, and the mores of the society within a work of literature. Setting is the natural, manufactured, political, cultural, and temporal environment, including everything the characters know and own (Roberts & Jacobs 275).

Character defined A character is presumably an imagined person who inhabits a story, though there are some exceptions to this simple definition. Characters require motivation, sufficient reason to behave as they do if we are to believe they are realistic.

Types of characters Flat › Round › Static › Dynamic › Protagonist › Antagonist › Hero › Anti hero › Stock

Stock characters Stereotypical characters that require little detail from the author since audiences know them so well. › Examples: Prince Charming, the mad scientist, the greedy explorer, the reckless police detective.

Flat characters Flat characters may be minor characters with a single unique role or physical attribute. One way that round characters come to life is when we get differing perspectives from multiple other characters about them. Charles Dickens’ Tiny Tim is a memorable flat character. He serves to remind others of their Christian duties and blessings

Dynamic characters Dynamic characters change over the course of a work. Static characters remain largely the same. Major characters tend to be round & dynamic. It is difficult to avoid making minor characters flat and static. Ebenezer Scrooge is an obviously dynamic character

Characterization 5 Methods of Indirect Characterization Actions = what the character does Appearance = what the character looks like Private Thoughts = what the character thinks; tied to point of view. Speech = what the character says and how she/he says it. What Others Say = public and private opinion of the character by others in the work.

Character analysis Step 1 - Select a character Step 2 - Decide what is the effect of your selected character’s depiction in the story: Sympathetic? Catalyst for plot development? Reflection of a theme? Symbolic? Social commentary? Other? Step 3 - Find examples of characterization that reflect your idea about the character. Step 4. USE STRONG ESSAY STRUCTURE!!!

Point of view Definition “…the speaker, narrator, persona, or voice created by authors to tell stories, present arguments, and express attitudes and judgments. Point of view involves not only the speaker’s physical position as an observer and recorder, but also the ways in which the speaker’s social, political, and mental circumstances affect the narrative” (Roberts & Jacobs 225).

Point of view 1st Person 3rd Person Limited 3rd Person Omniscient “Revelation is key”

Unusual point of view Innocent-eye narrator . The character telling the story may be a child or a developmentally disabled individual; the narrator is thus naïve. Stream of consciousness (interior monologue) is a narrative method in modern fiction in which the author tells the story through an unbroken flow of thought and awareness. Reflective is when there is narration from a different time in a character’s life (e.g., Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird or David in David Copperfield ).

Nonparticipant point of view Omniscient narrator. The author can enter the minds of all the characters. Selective (limited) omniscient narrator. The author limits his omniscience to the minds of a few of the characters or to the mind of a single character. Objective narrator. The author does not enter a single mind, but instead records what can be seen and heard. This type of narrator is like a camera or fly on the wall.

Know - it - alls Omniscient Point of View - The omniscient point of view allows great freedom in that the narrator knows all there is to know about the characters, externally and internally. The third-person narrator describes what characters are feeling and thinking, the third-person narrator describes what characters do,› the narrator may shift focus from the close view to the larger perspective. The narrator may comment on events and characters, thus explaining their significance to the reader & narrator may offer multiple perspectives on the same event. Limited Omniscient Point of View - The author knows everything about a particular character. The story is portrayed through the eyes of one character, and there is a sense of distance from the other characters. The limited omniscient point of view approximates conditions of life in that only one character’s thoughts are known. The story is more unified through the use of this point of view.

Objective point of view The objective point of view allows inferences to be made by readers through their observance of dialogue and external action. Readers are not directly influenced by the author’s statements. Readers’ perceptions are influenced more subtly by the author’s selection of diction and details. Hamlet by Shakespeare with its focus on dialogue is a perfect example.

Key questions to ask Who is telling the story? How much is this person allowed to know? How is this character’s mind and personality affecting my interpretation of the story? Has the author chosen this POV for maximum revelation or for another reason? Has the author used the selected POV fairly and consistently? What is the effect of any shifts in POV?

Symbols – how do I know?? How much importance does the author give it? Emphasis? Repetition? Position? Meaning must be established and supported by the entire context of the story. Symbol has its meaning in the story, not outside it. Item must suggest a meaning different in kind from its literal meaning. It may have multiple meanings.

Symbol prompt Choose one symbol from your selected story, discuss its meaning, and how understanding this symbol impacts your understanding of the work as a whole. You might want to focus on how it impacts characterization, setting, or theme.

Irony Definition: A contradiction or incongruity between appearance or expectation and reality. Purposes of Irony (Effects) To convey a truth about human experience. Allows the author to achieve compression. (Suggest complex meanings without stating them.) Achieves its effects through misdirection.

Types of irony Verbal Irony = a figure of speech in which the speaker says the opposite of what he or she intends to say. (Simplest form) Sarcasm = designed to hurt, ridicule. Dramatic Irony = the contrast is between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true. (Conveys truth about the character or character’s expectations.) Situational = the discrepancy is between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between what is and what would seem appropriate.

Satire Definition: A literary genre that uses irony, wit, and sometimes sarcasm to expose humanity’s vices and foibles, giving impetus to change or reform through ridicule. Jonathon Swift Oscar Wilde were two famous satirists who took aim at British society. Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” pointed out the heartlessness England’s social policies in Ireland, while Wilde wrote about the emptiness of high society in Don’t the miss effects!!

How to determine tone See Handout for examples… Pay attention to diction. In speaking, diction refers to how words are pronounced. In literature, it refers to the words the author chooses to use, whether the words chosen are abstract or concrete, general or specific, and formal or informal. Look at the imagery. This is descriptive language that reveals what the author or character thinks and feels about what's happening. Study the details. No author can include every fact about a character, a scene or an event in the story. Which details are included and which omitted are important indicators of tone. Listen to the language. The author will choose words according to their connotation, a meaning beyond the literal definition, that's suggested by a word, in order to reveal to the reader, the author's attitude toward the subject. Break down the sentence structure. This is the way individual sentences are constructed. The author varies his or her sentence structure to convey tone and may employ a pattern the reader can recognize.

Theme Definition “The theme of a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight. It is the unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story” (Arp and Johnson 188). Not all stories have a significant theme, but theme exists in virtually all literature. Also, moral does not equal theme!

Where is the theme??? Theme exists only (1) when an author has seriously attempted to record life accurately to reveal some truth about it. (i.e. Mark Twain Adv. of Huck Finn) OR (2) When an author has deliberately introduced, as a unifying element, some concept or theory of life that the story illuminates. (i.e. George Orwell— Animal Farm)

Questions for discovering theme??? What is the central purpose of the piece? What view of life does the piece support? What insight about life does the piece reveal?

Principles relating to theme Theme must be a statement about the subject. Cannot be one word or a simple phrase—what is the author saying about that idea? (So what?) Theme should be stated as a generalization about life. Do not use the names of characters or specific plot elements and developments to state the theme. Do not make the generalization of theme larger than is justified by the terms of the story. Use terms such as all, every, always , with caution! Unacceptable -“Habitually compliant and tolerant mothers will eventually stand up to their bullying children” Acceptable – “Ingrained habits can be given up if justice makes a greater demand.”

Theme principles (con’t) Theme is the central and unifying concept of the story. Thus, it accounts for all the major details of the story. If an important character or incident doesn’t fit the theme, then the theme needs modification or the analysis is incomplete. The theme must be based on the data of the story itself, not on assumptions supplied by the reader’s experience. There is no ONE way to state the theme of a story, nor is there often just one theme in a story. Avoid any statement that reduces the theme to a cliché. (“You can’t judge a book by its cover” or “A stitch in time saves nine”) GO DEEP!