8 TH GRADE NOTES Unit 1: Short Stories 1 st set of notes

W HAT IS A SHORT STORY ? A short story is a brief piece of fiction. Fiction is writing that is about imaginary people, places and events. There are many different types of short stories: mysteries, romances, adventures, thrillers.. and many more In a limited amount of space, a short story can get your heart pounding, make you cry, or make you laugh.

L ITERARY E LEMENT : C LIMAX The climax is the turning point of the story. It is an exciting moment that all the earlier events lead up to. After the climax, you can almost figure out how the story will end. Some very suspenseful stories have more than one climax.

L ITERARY E LEMENT : P OINT OF V IEW Point of view is the relationship of the narrator to the story. The person who is telling the events is the narrator. In first person point of view, the narrator is a character in the story. The story is told by the character who uses the pronoun I. In third person point of view, the narrator is outside the story. A third person point of view can describe the thoughts and feelings of one or all characters in the story.

R EADING S KILL : P REDICT Readers often use clues in a story to guess what will happen next. This is called predicting. Predicting is thinking ahead to guess how things might turn out. For example, in a mystery you might guess who committed the crime. When you read how events actually turn out, you are checking your prediction. Predictions don’t have to be right! What’s important is that you get involved with your reading from the start of the story.

R EADING S KILL : C AUSE AND E FFECT A cause is something that happens that sets something else in motion. An effect is the result or outcome. For example, a character may refuse to study for a test, causing him to fail. To find a cause-and-effect relationship, ask yourself: Did this happen because of something else? Sometimes clue words such as because, as a result, therefore, since, and so, let you know of a cause-and-effect relationship.