1. SHORT STORY ELEMENTS
With special reference to Roald Dahl’s works in The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories

2. MAIN ELEMENTS
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

3. SETTING
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.
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.

4. Place – Where is the story taking place?
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?

5. 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

6. PLOT
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.

7. 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.

8. Plot cont.
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
Denouement – This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story

9. 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

10. CONFLICT
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.
Within a short story there may be only one central struggle, or one dominant struggle with many minor ones.

11. There are two types of conflict:
1. External – a struggle with a force outside one’s self
2. Internal – a struggle within one’s self; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist un urge, etc.

12. There are four kinds of conflict:
1. man vs man (physical)
2. man vs circumstances (classical)
3. man vs society (social)
4. man vs him/herself (psychological)

13. Conflict in Roald Dahl What elements of conflict do you find in:
Katina
Parson’s Pleasure
Neck

14. 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.

15. The Characteristics of a Person
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

16. Character cont. Characters are convincing if they are: Consistent
Motivated
Life-like
Characters are:
Individual (round, many sided and complex)
Developing (dynamic, changing)
Static (stereotype, characteristics that never change and are emphasized)

17. Character in Roald Dahl
Which characters do you find most interesting in Roald Dahl’s anthology?
Are they protagonists or antagonists?

18. POINT OF VIEW
This is defined as the angle from which the story is told:
1. Innocent Eye
2. Stream of Consciousness
3. First Person
4. Omniscient
a. Omniscient Limited
b. Omniscient Objective

19. Point of View in Roald Dahl
Discuss point of view in:
The Umbrella Man
Royal Jelly
Katina
Taste

20. 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

21. Theme cont.
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

22. Themes in Roald Dahl
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

23. General Question Matsec 2009 – Paper 2A
With reference to any two stories in the collection, write about three characteristics typical of short story writing.