IED 281 - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

IED 281 THE SHORT STORY

Asst

. Prof. Dr

. Sinan AkıllıSlide2

WHAT IS THE SHORT STORY?

S

hort

S

tory

,

a

fictional

prose

tale of

no specified length

, but

too short

to

be

published

as a volume

on its own

,

as

n

ovels

usually

are. A short story will normally

concentrate

on a

single

event

with only one or two characters, more economically than a

novel's

sustained

exploration of social background

.

Chris

Baldick

,

The

Concise Oxford Dictionary

of

Literary

TermsSlide3

WHAT IS THE SHORT STORY?

S

hort

S

tory

:

A short story is a

brief

work of

prose fiction

, and most of the terms

for

analyzing

the component elements, the types, and the narrative techniques

of

the

novel

are

applicable to the short story as well

. The short story differs from

the

anecdote—the

unelaborated narration of a single incident—in that, like

the

novel

, it

organizes the action, thought,

and

dialogue

of its characters into the

artful

pattern

of a

plot

, directed toward particular

effects on an audience

.

M. H.

A

brams

&

Geoffrey

Galt

Harpham

,

A

Glossary of Literary TermsSlide4

WHAT IS THE SHORT STORY?

In

athletic

terms

, if we take the

novella as

a

‘middle-distance’ book story, then

the short story comes into the

100/200

metre

class.

Nevertheless,

there

are very long short-stories and very short ones

. D. H.

Lawrence's

The Fox

(1923) is

about

3o,ooo

words; Kleist's ghost story

Das

Bettelweib

v

on

Locarno

(1810)

is only

800

words. In his preface to

his

Complete

Short Stories

Somerset Maugham remarks that the

shortest item

runs to about

1,600

words and the longest to about

20,000 words. The

vast majority of short stories would fall somewhere between

the t

wo.

J.A.

Cuddon

,

T

he

P

enguin

D

ictionary

of

L

iterary

Terms and Literary TheorySlide5

WHAT IS THE SHORT STORY?

The literary form short story is usually defined as a

brief fictional prose narrative

, often involving

one connected episode

. […]

Unity of effect

is the story’s most characteristic feature. […] The short story is a

concentrated

form, dependent for its success on

feeling and suggestion

.

Ann Charters,

The Story and Its WriterSlide6

WHAT IS THE SHORT STORY?

Concentrated work of fictional prose, usually between 1,600-20,000 words in length, involving one connected episode, artistically organized and constructed, directed towards creating a unified emotional and intellectual effect on the reader by way of feeling and suggestion, and not published as a volume on its own. Slide7

WHAT IS THE SHORT STORY?

Concentrated

(intensive use of literary devices: begins

in medias res

or close to climax; uses symbols instead of lengthy description of social-historical background and/or characters)

fictional

(not factual, re-presentational not presentational)

prose

(narrative style, prose devices)

one connected episode

(no sub-plots)

artistically organized and constructed

(setting, plot structure, action, flashbacks, characters and characterization, symbols etc.)

unified emotional and intellectual effect

(theme, message, thesis)

on the reader by way of feeling and suggestion

(point of view, tone, mood, language, style) Slide8

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORYProbably the most ancient of all literary forms; the term covers everything from the fable, folk-tale or fairy story to such sophisticated and highly developed structures as the German

novelle

via the stories of the

Decameron

. Like the epic, short fiction goes back in time far beyond the art of writing.Slide9

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORYIt

was

only

at the beginning of the

nineteenth century

that short fiction, because

of the

requirements of magazines of

everwidening

circulation

, came into its

own and

attracted notable writers to

practise

it

, like Pushkin, Edgar Allan

Poe,

Henry

James, Anton

Chekhov

,

James

Joyce

, Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka

and

D

. H. Lawrence, as well as those

like

Maupassant

and Katherine

Mansfield

who

excelled in this particular genre.Slide10

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORYEarliest tales are of oral tradition, the creation myths.

Next important stage, the period beast fables: animals are shown acting like humans to teach a moral lesson. Aesop (620-560 BC)

Religious parable: a short story with a moral twist, for instance, Cain and Abel, the prodigal son.Slide11

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORYMedieval period: short narratives mostly in

verse. Heroic episodes (

Battle of

Maldon

) and lowlife comic tales of French origin

fabliaux

.

Eastern stories being introduced to Europe. (

Arabian Nights

)

Prose usually reserved for devotional and instructional pieces until the 14

th

century.

Giovanni Boccaccio’s short prose tales

Decameron

(

1353)

, Geoffrey Chaucer’s

Canterbury Tales

(1387). Pleasure and moral instruction. Framed-tale device.

Moral and religious values in narratives continue during the Renaissance.Slide12

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORY18

th

century, secularization, fictional narratives began to evolve into forms we recognize as close relations of modern stories and novels.

These forms developed in periodicals popular with readers from the emerging middle class who had the time and money to enjoy them.

Periodicals became a market for professional writers of stories (character sketches, satires, gothic tales, adventure stories). Slide13

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORYRomantic period: Originality and imagination valued above all other qualities in writing. Horror stories and criminal stories became popular.

The short story did not appear until the nineteenth century, when original prose works emerged, in which every word chosen and every detail of description and characterization contributed to a unified impression.

Germans first experimented with this new form. Brothers Grimm are the most famous German writers in early 19

th

century. They published a collection of folk and fairy tales.Slide14

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORYIn the USA: Washington Irving (1783-1856) was inspired by German writers and created American versions of European folktales. “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow,” earliest short stories appeared in 1819-20.

Sir Walter Scott published the first modern short story in England: “The Two Drovers” Slide15

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORYNathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe are credited as the first American writers to create a considerable number of successful short stories.

Poe was the first person to theorize on the short story.

Herman MelvilleSlide16

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORYMid-19

th

century romanticism gave way to realism.

Stories that reflected everyday reality. Characters’ psychology is manifested in the things said and done by characters themselves.

Late 19

th

century masters of the short story proper:

Americans: Henry James, Edith Wharton, Stephen Crane, Jack London

Europeans: Guy de Maupassant (French), and Anton Chekov (Russian) Slide17

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORYMaupassant: tightly organized plots, conclude with decisive action. Details of characters’ physical appearance given in narrative.

Chekov: Plots include less decisive action. Dramatization of characters’ psychology and mood.

Modernist writers of early 20

th

century were influenced by Chekov’s style. Interiorized plot.

European Modernists: Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, D.H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield

American Modernists: William Faulkner, Ernest HemingwaySlide18

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORYThe

form has

flourished especially

in America; Frank O’Connor has called it “the national

art form

,” and its American masters include (in addition to the writers

mentioned

above

) Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Katherine Anne Porter, Eudora

Welty,

Flannery

O’Connor, John O’Hara, J. F. Powers, John Cheever, and J.

D.

Salinger

.Slide19

HISTORY OF THE SHORT STORYTwo types of stories being written today:

Traditional stories: descending from Poe and Maupassant, which are plotted and closed.

Modern stories: descending from Chekhov and Joyce, which are less plotted and more open.Slide20

COMPONENTS OF A SHORT STORY

Plot:

The sequence of related events compos

i

ng the narrative,

Character

s:

The persons who play their parts in the narrative.

Setting:

The place and time in which the story’s action occurs.

Point of view:

Establishes a consistent perspective on the characters and their actions.

Style:

The way the author uses the resources of language.

Theme:

The unifying idea that brings to life all other elements of fiction.Slide21

PLOTThe sequence of

events

in a story and their relation to one another. Usually they are related by causation.

It sustains the illusion of reality.

Plot can be carried forwards not only by the description of events, but also by the outgrowth of a character’s will, the dialogs between characters, an apparent accident or fate, and even the setting.

It can proceed chronologically or by flashbacks, and dream sequences.

The beginning sets up the problem or conflict; the middle is where various complications

that prolong the

suspense are introduced; the end resolves the conflict to a greater or lesser degree.Slide22

PLOT

Exposition: Introduces characters, scene, time and situation. Usually brief.

PART OF THE NARRATIVE BUT NOT PART OF THE PLOT

Rising Action: The dramatization of events that complicate the situation and gradually intensify the conflict.

Climax: The turning point of the story, its emotional high point. The pace of the narration breaks off at this point.

Falling Action: The problem or conflict proceeds toward resolution.

Resolution/Denouement: The final paragraph. Usually brief. Often contains an element of surprise.Slide23

PLOT STRUCTURESSlide24

CHARACTERSThe chief character in a plot, on whom our interest centers, is called the

protagonist

(or

alternatively, the

hero

or

heroine

), and if the plot is such that he

or she

is pitted against an important opponent, that character is called the

antagonist

.

A character in a work who, by sharp contrast, serves to stress and highlight

the distinctive

temperament of the protagonist is termed a

foil

.Slide25

CHARACTERIZATIONCreated through description (appearance) and action (verbal and dramatic).

Flat character (flat, passive)

Round character (more real, capable of alternatives, active)

Static character (does not change)

Dynamic character (changes)Slide26

SETTINGHelps make the characters seem real.

Setting must have a dramatic use, to be most effective must affect character or plot.

Might have symbolic function.Slide27

POINT OF VIEWThe way the story is told.

Should be in accordance with the complete dramatic ordering of the subject.

First person narrator: “I”

Narrator a participant in the story

A major character

A minor character

Third person narrator: “he,” “she,” “they”

Narrator a nonparticipant in the story

Omniscient (seeing into all characters)

Limited omniscient (seeing into one or two characters)Slide28

FIRST-PERSON NARRATORCan move freely in the fictional world.

Has no way of understanding the other fictional characters except by observation of what they say and do.

The authority of FPN is limited.

Only an eyewitness.Slide29

THIRD-PERSON NARRATOROmniscient TPN knows all there is to know about all the characters, both inside and out.

May be judgmental or impartial. Slide30

STYLEThe specific way

the author uses

language in narration.

Made up of various elements including,

Tone:

the way the writer uses the words to convey unstated attitudes toward the subject. Humorous, serious, excited, compassionate

Irony:

Belief in and exploitation of the difference and distance between words (verbal irony) and events (situational irony) and their contexts.

Symbols:

An object, animate or inanimate, that stands for something else. Symbols are specific images (visual ideas) that tell more than paraphrases.Slide31

THEMEA generalization about the meaning of a story.

What the story is

about

.

Usually a word or phrase.

The theme must be true to any and all of the specific details in the narrative.

All other elements of fiction must be accounted for in determining the theme.Slide32

HOW TO ANALYZE A SHORT STORYEXPOSITION

What do we learn about the characters that prepares us for the conflict in the story?

Where and when the story is set? Is the setting essential to the working of the story? How does the setting contribute to the story’s mood?

What is the significance of the title of the story? How does it prepare us for the action? Slide33

HOW TO ANALYZE A SHORT STORY

CHARACTERIZATION

Who is the protagonist? What are his/her main personal characteristics?

Do we tend to admire/dislike the protagonist? If so, on what basis?

Who is/are the antagonist(s) and foil(s), if any?

Which characters are round/flat and dynamic/static?

Are the characters described or do we understand them by their actions and dialog?

Are their names significant, do they tell about the characters?

Does any one character seem to speak for the author?Slide34

HOW TO ANALYZE A SHORT STORY

PLOT

What is the plot structure?

What is over when the story is over? Has a central conflict been solved?

Is the primary change in external circumstances (health, well-being, wealth, power, relationships) or is it primarily internal (moral character, philosophical outlook, emotional maturity etc.)?

Does the story contain strong elements of suspense (anticipation, curiosity)?

Does the protagonist control his/her fate through his/her moral decisions? Is his/fate controlled by other characters, environment, good or bad luck, divine providence?Slide35

HOW TO ANALYZE A SHORT STORYCONFLICTS

What is the central conflict? Is it external or internal?

[wo]man vs. nature

[wo]man vs. [wo]man

[wo]man vs. the environment

[wo]man vs. machines/technology

[wo]man vs. the supernatural

[wo]man vs. self

[wo]man vs. god/religion Slide36

HOW TO ANALYZE A SHORT STORY

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE

Is the entire plot narrated in the story? Anything omitted and left for the reader to infer?

Is the narration in chronological order? Any flashbacks? If so, how would the story change without them?

What is the point of view? If FPN, is the narrator the protagonist, a minor character, an observer? If TPN, is the narrator which character(s) are in focus, is the attitude ‘objective’?

Is the narrator conscious of the act of telling a story?

What elements of plot are dramatized and what are narrated?

Do we identify with one or more of the characters? Does the author encourage emotional involvement?Slide37

HOW TO ANALYZE A SHORT STORY

STYLE

, DICTION, LANGUAGE

What devices of language (figures of

spee

c

h or unusual vocabulary) are used to set mood in the story?

Do all characters use the same language?

Any recurring words or patterns of imagery?

Do any objects seem to be symbolic? How do they function in the story?

Is the dialog colloquial? Or is it stylized or unusual? What purpose is served by unrealistic dialog?

Are there sentences too long or complex? Is the vocabulary highly unusual?Slide38

HOW TO ANALYZE A SHORT STORYTHEME

&

MESSAGE

Does the story embody a central theme

, a moral or intellectual problem that can be abstracted from the concrete action?

Is the story organized around a message? What is that message? Is it explicitly stated in the story or is it implicit so that it needs to be inferred by the reader?Slide39

HOW TO ANALYZE A SHORT STORYMODE AND GENRE

Does the story belong more or less to any of the traditional classes of fiction such as: the realistic novel, the Gothic romance, the tale of adventure, the fairy tale, or science fiction.

I

s the story a retelling of some older story, a folk tale, a story from mythology etc.