October 2
Assignment to be written in tutorial next week! (10%)
Bring anthology to class and print off a copy of the academic integrity quiz
Prose Fiction: Short Stories
1. Intro to the genre
a. Definitions: how short is "short"?
b. Generic features (compression)
-Plot: few events, condensed structure
-Characterization: only 1 or 2 major characters, developed mainly through what they do,
say, or think in the moment
c. Economy of language
-A short story is usually limited to one effect (ex. horror) and one or two characters; characters
are examined by what they do in the moment; there is usually a simple plot with little or no
digression
-There's an intro, rising action, climax, resolution; but many short stories start right at the
climax; "Story of an Hour" gets right into the action--> "your husband's been killed"
-economy of language: every word needs to count; since you can't have a lot of description you
have to pick the most important; this means the reader needs to be more aware; short stories
share characteristics with novels
2. Reading short stories: categories of analysis
a. Title: ex. "The Lottery" brings to mind certain images; what does the title focus on - person,
place, etc
b. Point of view or narrative perspective
-1st person
-3rd person: omniscient, limited, or limited omniscient
c. Symbols and images
-Imagery: visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile
-Anything that can be experienced through our senses
d. Symbols: traditional (or conventional) and incidental (or contextual)
3. Setting & atmosphere
4. Control conflict & turning points
5. Narrative structure
a. Anachronies (order in time): flashbacks or foreshadowing
b. Story vs. plot
c. Summary & scene
6. Story's conclusion or denouement
7. Thematic concerns
8. Relation to other texts on (or outside) the course
9. Overall impressions
"Hills Like White Elephants": title makes you think it's somewhere far away, and possibly a
poetic work because there's a simile in the title
"Story of an Hour" p. 61: title gives a sense of irony once you've read the story; there's also irony
at the end of the story because she says that life will be long and then she dies
If any item is repeated, it may have symbolic meaning; ex. red=passion, birds=freedom
Can be used for good ironic effect In "The Lottery," the black box is very important, it takes centre stage; in "Interpreter of
Maladies," the father always takes pictures - what does this say about how he sees the world
All readings from this week are in 3rd person
An omniscient narrator knows everything and can provide more i
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