1. STORY ELEMENTS ENGLISH I

2. SHORT STORY A work of fiction that usually can be read in one sitting. Has one main conflict, a few characters, and limited detail. Largely a product of the writer’s imagination with made-up characters and events. However, the characters, events, and places in a short story often reflect the real world.

3. READING A SHORT STORY Question Predict Use what information you have to assess what could happen next. Clarify Pay close attention to detail and analyze how a writer develops each element and technique used. Summarize Pull It Together- Determine the central point or insight of the story. What did it mean to you? React to it. Did you like it? Why or Why not? Key to understanding the story is with your feelings.

4. ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY Plot: the plan of action, the arrangement of events in a story. Plot comes from a…. Conflict: struggle between opposing forces. Character: the people or animals who take part in the action Point of View: the angle or perspective from which a story is told Setting: where and when the action takes place Theme: the message of the story. An insight into life revealed by the story. Theme is conveyed through the characters, setting, and plot.

5. PLOT A series of connected, related events. Framework of a story. Like links in a chain “Hooks” our curiosity Read to find out “what happens next”— creates suspense Based on conflict Things to keep in mind: Picture the action that is unfolding. Be aware of the order in which events take place. Identify the conflict and note details that move the plot forward. Think about the structure of the plot, the way that the events fit together to make an interesting story.

6. PLOT CHART/FREYTAG’S PYRAMID

8. EXPOSITION Introductory material Creates the tone of the story Sets the scene Introduces and identifies characters Establishes the situation at the beginning of the story

9. PLOT CHART/FREYTAG’S PYRAMID

10. RISING ACTION Events that complicate the plot Complications of the plot usually arise from the protagonist’s attempt to solve the conflict These are the events that lead to the climax.

11. PLOT CHART/FREYTAG’S PYRAMID

12. CLIMAX The point of greatest interest or highest excitement The turning point This moment determines all remaining events of the story

13. PLOT CHART/FREYTAG’S PYRAMID

14. FALLING ACTION Events which lead to the resolution of the conflict Tying up of loose ends

15. PLOT CHART/FREYTAG’S PYRAMID

16. RESOLUTION/DENOUEMENT Literally the “un-knotting” The end of the story The solving of the conflict

17. PLOT CHART/FREYTAG’S PYRAMID Exposition: background information, sets the scene for the conflict Rising Action: series of events leading up to the climax. Climax: central turning point in the story. The point at which the conflict comes to a head. The most dramatic point in the story. Falling Action: series of events from the climax leading to the final resolution Resolution: shows how the situation turns out and ties up loose ends.

18. “The Most Dangerous Game”Pre-Reading – English I (4 th period) Directions: a) Decide if you agree or disagree with each statement. b) Write a response paragraph (5-7 sentences) for each that explains your opinion and connects the statements to your own life. 1. Those who perform well under pressure tend to succeed. 2. A person’s character is revealed during intense competition. 3. The first impression you have of someone is always correct.

19. SETTING Physical background of a story—the time and place in which the action occurs Geographical location, scenery, weather, furniture, clothing, time of year, period of history, etc Specific (4:15 on the baseball field in West Park) OR General (sometime in the future in outer space). Direct – describe setting Indirect – showing characters’ reactions to their surroundings

20. SETTING Functions of a setting: help create the mood of a story Can trigger an action or cause conflict Try to picture the setting when you read. Notice how it influences the plot or the characters. Think about the mood that it creates. Assess the importance of setting by deciding whether the same story could happen in any other time or place.

21. THEME Theme is the main idea within a work of literature. A writer’s statement of the way things are or should be. Difference between theme and subject Theme: always a statement, makes some revelation about the subject. Subject: topic of the story, can be stated in one or two words. Revealing a truth about human behavior Writer has usually discovered through experience Not usually stated directly in the story. Can be the story’s most forceful element Extract the theme through careful reading and analysis

22. THEME Conflict between what OUGHT to be and what IS Previous eras—teach morality Basic conflict in human experience Thinking critically about theme Question the author’s presentation of theme (presenting a truth or trying to force us to accept a false view of life). Reader must make a judgment

23. THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME INTRO

24. THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME Author: Richard Connell (1893 – 1949) Sports reporter at age ten! By sixteen, he was editing his father’s newspaper in New York Harvard University editor Enlisted WWI – editor division newspaper After the war – fiction, movie screenplays 1924—The Most Dangerous Game (movie in 1932) Received two Academy Award nominations for his work.

25. THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME Ship-Trap island Characters: Whitney, Rainsford, General Zaroff, Ivan Rainsford—main character. Celebrated hunter Culture – hunting (specifically, big game) practiced by all cultures, more so than farming Humankind’s occupation for more than half a million years Traits – cooperation, organization, aggression Hunting large wild animals – ultimate test of skill

26. THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME Large, dangerous animals - unfamiliar, exotic surroundings Now a subject of controversy (endangered species) Insight Are human beings really civilized? In the jungle of life, the “beast” within us is not as far below the surface as we think.

27. THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME Themes and topics - Hunters vs. the hunted  Role reversal Murder vs. hunting Humanity Questioning of accepted logic Suspense Defined as curiosity, uncertainty, anxiety about the outcome of events Place characters in tense, risky or unpredictable situations Provide hints, keep reader guessing

28. POINT OF VIEW Who is telling the story? Narrator: a story’s voice 1. Third Person Omniscient – “all knowing” Not a character in the story and never refers to himself or herself with the first-person pronoun “I” Can tell us everything about every character (including how they think and feel)

29. POINT OF VIEW 2. First Person - “I” tells the story One of the characters in a story Talks to us using “I”/”me” We can only know what this person sees and hears about events and about other characters.

30. POINT OF VIEW 3. Third Person Limited – focus on one character Not a character in the story We witness the events of a story just as this one character witnesses them.

31. POINT OF VIEW Why is Point of View important? How would the story be different if someone else were telling it?

32. CHARACTER All you need to tell a story is a character, an adjective, and a series of choices that the character must make. Interesting because of what it tells us about people and how it makes us feel about them Creating Characters Indirect 1. Speech – the most obvious: tone of voice, kinds of words, etc. Dialogue is like listening to a conversation. 2. Appearance – looks, sounds, physical characteristics, etc. 3. Private Thoughts – character’s 4. How other people feel about them.

33. CHARACTER Creating Characters Indirect 5. Actions – what we see them doing. Direct Characteristics – tells us directly what a character is like or what a person’s motives are (vs. indirect, where the story shows us a character and allows us to interpret things for ourselves).

34. CHARACTER Protagonist Main character This is the character we focus our attention on, the person who sets the plot in motion. Always a well-rounded character that learns something by the end of the story, Often, but not always, the hero.

35. CHARACTER Antagonist The character or force that blocks the protagonist Often the villain

36. CONFLICT Struggle or clash between opposing character OR forces Without conflict, there would be no plot. Not merely limited to open argument, it is any more of opposition that the main character faces There are two types: internal conflict and external conflict

37. INTERNAL CONFLICT Man vs. himself This is the only type of internal conflict This when the protagonist struggles with himself, with his own soul, his own ideas of right and wrong, physical limitations, etc.

38. EXTERNAL CONFLICT Struggle with forces outside of one’s self Man vs. man The protagonist struggles against other men Man vs. society The protagonist struggles against ideas, practices, rules, and customs of other people.

39. EXTERNAL CONFLICT Man vs. nature The protagonist struggles against forces of nature, animals, etc. Man vs. fate The protagonist struggles against fate or the circumstances of life facing him.