The Short Story Mr. McLeod English 1 Fall 2011

What is a short story?  A short piece of prose fiction, having few characters, and follows definite plot structure.  Examples: “Most Dangerous Game” “The Necklace” “The Lady, or the Tiger”

A little fun…

Understanding Short Stories  When reading short stories we will focus on: Plot Setting Characterization Conflict Point of view Theme Irony Figurative language

So, where do we begin?  __________ is the sequence of events in a story. Each event causes or leads to the next. Each event hooks our curiosity and pulls us forward to the next event.

Example of Plot…  The Lion King  A young lion prince is born in Africa, thus making his uncle Scar the second in line to the throne. Scar plots with the hyenas to kill King Mufasa and Prince Simba, thus making himself King. The King is killed and Simba is led to believe by Scar that it was his fault, and so flees the kingdom in shame. After years of exile he is persuaded to return home to overthrow the usurper and claim the kingdom as his own thus completing the "Circle of Life".  (International Movie Database)

The Plot Structure…  Most plots develop in five stages: 1. Exposition 2. Rising Action 3. Climax 4. Falling Action 5. Resolution

Exposition  The exposition of a story introduces the story’s characters, setting, and conflict.

Rising Action  The second part of the plot is complication.  The rising action occurs as complications, twists, or as the conflict intensifies.

Conflict  The conflict of a story happens during the rising action.  The conflict is the struggle between opposing forces.  There are two types of conflict in literature: internal and external.

The two types of conflict:  __________ conflict is one between a character and an outside force, such as another character, nature, society, or fate.  Example: The conflict between a character and a tornado.  _________ conflict take place within a character’s mind or heart. The internal conflict takes place within the mind of a character who is torn between opposing feelings or between different courses of action.  Example: The desire to win someone's friendship might conflict with a fear of rejection.

Now it’s your turn…  Take 2 minutes to write down an example of an internal and external conflict from a popular movie, TV show, or children’s story…

Climax  The climax is the emotional high point of the story. This is the key scene in the story- that tense or exciting or terrifying moment when our emotional involvement is greatest.

Falling Action  The falling action of a story is the logical result of the climax. When the reader begins to finally feel at ease and relaxed near the end of the story. That moment during a long movie where you start checking your cell-phone for missed text messages.

Resolution  The resolution presents the final outcome of the story.  Occurs at the end of the story  Now all the struggles are over, and we know what is going to happen to the characters.

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry  The nineteenth-century novelist George Eliot wrote, “One must be poor to know the luxury of giving.” What do you think she meant? Do you agree with her?  Write for 5 minutes discussing what this quote could possibly mean. Also, please state whether you agree or disagree with what is being said.

Question  Why might the narrator be describing the vestibule? Use context clues to take a guess as to what the “vestibule” could possibly be.

Review  What do you know about Jim and Della so far?

Visualize  What does the view from the window look like?

Predict  What do you think Della is going to do?

Respond  How do you feel about Della and what she did for Jim?

Question  What do you think Jim might be thinking?

Predict  What do you think will be in the package?

Evaluation  The narrator says that people like Jim and Della are the wisest of gift-givers. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Real-life Connections  Read the short biography of O. Henry on page 6. How might what he did for his wife serve as inspiration for the composition of his short story The Gift of the Magi?