Short Stories

Short Story: A relatively brief make-believe story. Short Story Terms Short Story: A relatively brief make-believe story.

Characteristics Usually less than 10,000 words, but more than 500 Deals with a single event or problem Usually focuses on one main character Events in the story are usually told in a specific sequence or in chronological order Has a definite beginning, middle and end

PLOT The collection of events that take place in a story. Includes: Introduction Trigger Incident Rising Action Climax Resolution

Plot Graph Climax Resolution Trigger Incident Rising Action Introduction

Introduction Introduction: the beginning of the story where readers meet characters and establish the setting Introduction: The readers are introduced to Arnold Spirit Jr. “I was born with water on the brain” (page 1)

Trigger Incident Trigger Incident: the event or problem that starts the story Trigger Incident: When Junior gets his geometry textbook and it is so old that his mother had it 30 years ago “And let me tell you, that old, old, old, decrepit geometry book hit my heart with the force of a nuclear bomb.”(pg. 31)

Rising Action Rising Action: increasingly exciting and suspenseful events in the story Rising Action: Junior goes to Reardan, Junior deals with Roger, Junior makes friends with Gordy, Junior goes to the school dance, Junior plays basketball etc.

Climax Climax: the most exciting and suspenseful moment in the story, near the end, a turning point for the main character Climax: When Arnold finally wins the basketball game against Wellpinit “We beat Wellpinit by 40 points. Absolutely destroyed them” (pg. 194).

Resolution Resolution: the ending in which all loose ends are tied up Resolution: Rowdy and Junior make up “I would always love Rowdy. And I would always miss him too.” (pg. 230)

Major Characters Protagonist: the main character in a story. He/she is often the hero, the leader, or the main cause of events. The reader identifies/sympathizes with him/her the most.

Major Characters Antagonist: the character who opposes or is against the protagonist/main character. The antagonist usually tries to prevent the protagonist from reaching his/her goals. Rowdy – discourages Junior from going to a new school, knocks him out during the basketball game etc.

Minor Characters they interact with the Protagonist or Antagonist and reveal their characters

We can describe characters in different ways: How they look What they do What others say about them or how others act towards them

Conflict 1. Person VS. Person Two people/ characters fighting or in opposition Ex. Junior and Rowdy fight when Junior goes to Reardan

Conflict 2. Person VS. Self One character torn between 2 decisions or is fighting against him/herself Ex. Junior has to figure out his identity (white vs. indian)

Conflict 3. Person VS. Nature A character trying to survive against the elements of nature Ex. Junior is sometimes unable to go to school because it is too far

Conflict 4. Person VS. Society Main character fights against an organized group or institution Ex. Everyone in Wellpinit is against Junior because they feel betrayed, so when Reardan goes to Wellpinit for the basketball game, the Indians all turn their backs on Junior.

Setting Includes the location and the time, date or time period of the story Ex. Wellpinit/ Reardan, Spokane. 30 years ago.

Foreshadowing Is a hint about what will happen later in the story Ex. “Yeah Dad is a drunk and Mom is an ex-drunk, but they don’t want their kids to be drunks” (pg. 46) Junior talks about his parents and how Indians are drunks, which is an early hint to the deaths of Eugene, grandma, and his sister.

Flashback A replayed memory set in an earlier time Ex. Junior remembers the time when he and Rowdy climbed the tree – near the end of the novel

Point of View First Person: the story is told by one character, using “I” Third Person Limited: the reader sees the actions of the characters and hears their words but not their thoughts Omniscient: the reader sees the thoughts and actions of everybody

Suspense A feeling of fear or excitement about what will happen next Ex. Increasingly exciting when Junior’s basketball team has a rematch against his home town team.

Emotion in a scene created by music (movie) or description (book) Atmosphere/Mood Emotion in a scene created by music (movie) or description (book) Ex. Junior’s mother holds him tightly after his sister died (sadness, grief) and then she tells him never to drink and slaps him (anger, grief)

Simile Comparison using “like” or “as” Ex. “I’m as serious as a tumor,” (51) Junior is telling Rowdy that he is going to Reardan tomorrow and Rowdy does not believe him, so Junior uses a comparison to explain that he is positive he is going to Reardan.

Metaphor A comparison that does not use “like” or “as” Ex. “If those Andruss brothers had punched a hole in the aquarium of my skull, I might have flooded out the entire powwow,” (21) After the Andruss brothers beat on Junior Rowdy makes sure that Junior did not get hit on his head because he has with hydrocephalus. Junior is creating a picture of what would happen if the water on his brain was drained out.

Personification Giving something inanimate (not alive) human or animal characteristics Ex. “Poverty only teaches you how to be poor,” (pg.13)

Imagery Using the senses of touch, taste, sight, sound and smell to describe something to a reader Ex. “Hell, he fought the weather. He’d throw punches at rain.” (18) Ex. “Rowdy stopped screaming with his mouth but he kept screaming with his eyes” (pg.53). Ex. “My nose bled like a firework” (pg. 53).

Symbols Something solid (tangible) that represents something intangible (can’t touch it) Ex. The apple (Indian on the oustide but white on the inside.) Ex. the road between Wellpinit and Reardan (Junior’s journey)

Irony When the opposite of what is expected happens Ex. “Plenty of drunken Indians have killed other drunken Indians. But my grandmother had never drunk alcohol in her life!” (158) Dramatic Irony: the reader or viewer knows something that a character doesn’t Ex. The reader knows why Arnold cannot pay for Penelope at the diner after the dance but since Penelope is in the story she does not know until he tells her