SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS NOTES
-K. HOOEY
“The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.”
-Tom Clancy
SHORT STORY UNIT NOTES
A short story is a literary genre; i.e. an art form with predictable characteristics which distinguish it from every other genre: poetry, drama, or novels. Because it is short, it has one plot, one theme, one setting, one emotional effect, few characters, and is very economical in style. The chief art of the storyteller is his/her ability to make the readers or listeners lose themselves in a story and assume the identity of the characters. The competent author can thus arouse in his/her audience a wide range of emotions and present life from countless points of view. He/She offers priceless opportunities for escape, entertainment, or enlightenment.
FOUR TYPES OF SHORT STORIES
Short stories divide, depending on which elements predominate, into four main types: plot, character, setting, and theme. Below are definitions of each of these elements.
PLOT STORY: Plot is the sequence of the actions or events of which a story is composed. Traditionally, the events follow in ascending order of interest until the climax, or highest point of interest and suspense, is reached. This climax is really a resolution of the problems or conflicts that were developed throughout the story. Plot, in its barest outline, is the sequence of events in the story. It is the action. However, this action is composed of acts performed by the characters in the story; acts occur because of the kind of people they are. We see, then, that plot generally consists of an interweaving of incidents in which the characters make decisions appropriate to their personalities. The plot or action is only an outward demonstration of internal motivations. Plot is then more than a series of events; it is the underlying structure of the story in which the personalities of the character and the events coalesce and form a unified whole.
Examples of “movies” that focus on plot: “Lethal Weapon,” “Speed,” “Terminator,” and murder mystery/detective films.
CHARACTER STORY: A story which focuses on character is one whose main interest is in revealing the personality, feelings, motives and character of some person or persons. The narrative attempts to give a portrait or development of the person as he/she feels and thinks inside and not merely how he/she is seen on the outside. We should not think that there is no action in a character story, but rather that the action helps show character, our main interest. An author may present his characters either directly or indirectly. In “direct presentation” (refer to notes on “Character in the Short Story”), he tells us “straight out,” by exposition or analysis, what a character is like, or has someone else in the story tell us what he is like. In “indirect presentation” (refer to notes on “Character in the Short Story”), the author shows us the character in action; we infer what he is like from what he thinks, says, or does, and how he does these things.
Examples of television shows that focus on character: “E.R.,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Melrose Place,” “90210,” and soap operas.
SETTING STORY: Setting refers to the temporal, spatial, and geographical background in which a narrative occurs. The setting includes both general conditions (such as century, and country) and more specific conditions (time of day, city, and street). Just as environment shapes a person, so it is true that the setting must fit into shape or influence the action and characters. In other words, the actions and characterizations are natural outgrowths of the setting. The best setting is that which reflects the thoughts and feelings of the characters involved.
Examples of movies that focus on setting: “Blood Diamond” (also, considered a plot film), “Jurassic Park,” and “The Ghost and the Darkness.”
THEME STORY: The theme of a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or central insight. It is the unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story. To derive the theme of a story, we must ask what its central purpose is: what view of life it supports or what insights into life it reveals. Theme exists ONLY
1) when the author has seriously attempted to record life accurately or to reveal some truth about it, or,
2) when he has mechanically introduced some concept or theory of life into it which he uses as a unifying element and which his story is meant to illustrate. In other words, theme refers to the generalized truth or idea that underlies a piece of writing or upon which the writing is based. This idea of “subject” is to be demonstrated or proved through the action (plot) and characters in the story.
The theme is the thread of thought that runs through the entire work; each main episode demonstrates, ideally, some facet of theme. The characters and the plot work together to serve theme. The author is deliberately trying to prove a point or convey a message.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SHORT STORY
1. SINGLE EFFECT: The short story is declared to demand not merely brevity, but also a UNIFIED IMPRESSION or EMOTIONAL EFFECT, i.e., a single mood dominates the entire story. It is usually not longer than 5000 words, and so it can be read in one sitting of about half an hour. It, therefore, also deals with only one main idea or theme. The author has one point he wishes to present and so all incidents and all details of characterization are carefully selected and structured so that they will all point to this one dominant concept.
2. LOCAL COLOUR: The writer uses significant details typical of a particular locality, combining those details which would not very likely be found together anywhere else.
3. IMPLIED BACKGROUND: As with character, little space can be given to the development of the setting; hence the latter is given by implied rather than by direct description. Short stories are restricted in time and place. All incidents in the short story usually happen in the space of a few hours or days. They never span many years or generations as novels do. Nor does the setting move (change). The entire plot is usually resolved in one place.
4. SUGGESTION: By careful choice of significant details which fire the imagination, other details can be implied. The reader’s interest can be thrown ahead and an economy of space can be achieved.
5. FEW CHARACTERS: In a short story, there is never enough room for more than a few characters, and these are never developed as in a novel; rather, they are presented to us through the dialogue and through the characters’ actions. There are few main characters and usually only one central character around whom the entire story is structured with one or two secondary characters.
6. DRAMATIC ACTION OR EFFECT: This quality of the short story demands that the events and the characters determine each other, i.e., an interplay of action brings about certain actions or happenings which in turn have an effect upon character- like a chain reaction.
7. SUPPRESSION OF INFORMATION: In the good short story, there is always a suppression of important facts; this is equivalent to saying that the short story cannot be told in a logical order. Information from the beginning is withheld to give point to the end. Suspense is created by holding back from the reader certain facts which the characters in the story may know. However, the author must be fair to the reader; the good reader must be able to identify the outcome as one of several possibilities.
8. THE CLIMATIC END: At some point in the story, the suppressed details are revealed to the reader making this the point of highest interest. In a short story, this place occurs at the very end, or near the very end of the narrative.
ELEMENTS OF PLOT IN THE SHORT STORY
The plots of most short stories follow a similar line of development. Although the author of the short story may not follow the elements in the order given here, these elements are almost always found somewhere in the story.
A. EXPOSITION (1): This first element is of vital importance to the short story reader. In it, the author outlines, either directly or indirectly, background information which the reader must be aware of if he is going to understand the story. The exposition may act as an introduction to the story, or it may be included in various places throughout the narrative, as the need arises, as explanation to help the reader. The following may be considered parts of the exposition:
1. Time: How specific the author is with the time periods of the story varies greatly. He may be very specific, saying for instance that this event took place between the hours of one and two on the morning of August 29, 1935. He may, on the other hand, tell the reader nothing about the time; the reader may be able, by implication only, to arrive at the time period. Usually, however, the time period of the story is made clear in some manner which falls between these two extremes.
2. Place: The events of the story must happen in some place, even if that setting is outer space. As in the case of time, the author may be very specific or very vague about the setting of the story.
3. Antecedent Action: This part of the exposition is probably the most important. Just as a person must become familiar with a new situation before he can understand what is going on, so does the reader of a short story need to become familiar with the events that have occurred prior to the opening of the story, and which have led up to the situation or event beginning in the story itself. The author will be selective, and will only include those things which have a bearing on the story.
B. INITIAL INCIDENT (2): The initial incident begins the story proper. It is the first incident which introduces the conflict and begins the suspense. Without this particular incident taking place, the conflict developed in the narrative could not have taken place. Care must be exercised to not confuse some incident from the antecedent action, which happened prior to the introduction of the conflict, with the initial incident itself.
C. RISING ACTION (3): The major part of the short story is made up of the rising action. It is based on the conflict introduced in the initial incident, plus complications which cast doubt on the eventual solution of the protagonist’s problem. Suspense is built through the combination of the two.
Three types of conflict may be found in a short story, one of which will form the major conflict. The other types may be present to a lesser degree, or may be absent altogether.
1. HUMAN VS. HUMAN CONFLICT: In this type of conflict, the protagonist finds him/herself pitted against some other person or group of persons.
2. HUMAN VS. ENVIRONMENT CONFLICT: In this type of conflict, the protagonist is pitted against some other larger external force, such as nature, society, or fate.
3. HUMAN VS. HIM/HERSELF CONFLICT: In this type of conflict, the protagonist is pitted against him/herself and some element in his/her own nature.
D. CLIMAX: The climax occurs when the conflict, as introduced in the initial incident is solved.
1. Happy Ending: If the protagonist solves the conflict successfully, the climax brings about a happy ending to the story.
2. Unhappy Ending: If the protagonist does not solve the conflict, but is beaten by the forces arrayed against him/her, the climax brings about an unhappy ending.
3. Indeterminate Ending: In some stories, the conflict is not solved. In this case, there is no real climax, and the ending of the story is in effect indetermined.
E. DENOUEMENT: The short story may or may not have a denouement. It is the “wrapping up” of the story, where the author may explain the climax or tell what happens to the main characters following the climax. The denouement ties up any loose ends.
POINT OF VIEW IN THE SHORT STORY
1. OMNISCIENT NARRATOR: The author may be compared with “God”, seeing all and knowing all. He/She knows about the past, present, and future of all of his/her characters, and may take the reader into their minds to tell him/her what they are thinking. The story is written in the third person.
EXAMPLE: The room was dark and the air oppressive. Beneath the crumpled sheet, Clara felt herself slipping slowly into the great immensity of death. Something seemingly detached from her fought terribly against a final surrender, but she herself welcomed almost gratefully the soft and caressing promise of release. Beside her bed, Ralph sat drugged by his sense of utter helplessness and his curious fascination with the sheer power of the darkness relentlessly overwhelming his wife. And, as though he were two separate persons, he remained acutely aware of the riotous merriment of the Carnival crowd in the streets outside.
2. LIMITED OMNISCIENT NARRATOR: The author limits his/her omniscience to only one character, about whom he/she knows all. He/She can tell the reader what that character is thinking, but cannot do so for the other characters. The story is written in the third person.
EXAMPLE: The room was dark and the air oppressive. Ralph sat by the bed, feeling drugged by his sense of utter helplessness and his curious fascination with the sheer power of the darkness overwhelming Clara. As she slowly surrendered herself to death, he was also acutely aware, despite his grief, of the riotous merriment of the Carnival crowd in the streets outside.
3. FIRST PERSON NARRATOR: The author becomes a character in the story. He/She knows all about the character’s past and what is happening to him/her at the present, but he/she cannot predict the future. The story is written in the first person (“I”).
EXAMPLE: I sat in the dark and oppressive warm room, watching Clara surrender herself slowly to death. It was as if I were drugged by my feeling of utter helplessness and my curious fascination with the sheer power of the darkness overwhelming her. And, as though I were two separate persons, I remained acutely conscious of the riotous merriment of the Carnival crowds in the streets outside.
4. OBJECTIVE OR DRAMATIC NARRATOR: The author tells the story as though he/she were a combination movie camera-tape recorder. He/She tells only what he/she sees and hears, and does not try to interpret nor go into the feelings of the characters. The story is written in the third person.
EXAMPLE: The room was dark and the air oppressive. Through the open window floated the inappropriately gay clamor of the Carnival street dances outside. Ralph sat, as in a stupor, beside the bed. Beneath the crumpled sheet, Clara slipped slowly into the immense darkness of death.
CONTINUE
CHARACTER IN THE SHORT STORY
Character development in the short story will depend on the relative importance of the character to the overall story. However, a person’s character may be revealed in five ways, regardless of how deeply the author wishes to him/her.
1. What a person says
2. What a person does INDIRECT PRESENTATION
3. What a person thinks
4. What others say about the person
5. What the author says about the person DIRECT PRESENTATION
The first three methods of character revelation are the most effective, for the reader generally prefers to reach his own conclusions about a character from what the character says, does, and thinks- rather than be told directly about him by the author or someone in the story.
After a person has read a story, each character can be described by using one or more of the following terms/character types:
A. FLAT CHARACTER: A flat character is a character which may be summed up by one or two traits. He/She receives limited development at the hands of the author.
B. ROUND CHARACTER: A round character is a character who is complex and many-faceted, and thus realistic. The author develops this character fully.
C. STATIC CHARACTER: A static character is a character who is the same at the end of the story as at the beginning. He/She does not undergo any basic personality changes.
D. DYNAMIC/DEVELOPING CHARACTER: A developing character experiences a permanent change in his/her personality as a result of the situation presented in the story. (Example: A character who is good at the beginning of the story will turn evil and remain evil at the end of the narrative)
E. STOCK CHARACTER: A stock character is a stereotyped character, whose characteristics are immediately known because of common conceptions (or misconceptions) about certain groups of people. (Example: “dumb blondes”)
F. PROTAGONIST: The central character in a story who is trying to reach a goal.
G. ANTAGONIST: The character or force(s) arrayed that try to prevent the protagonist from reaching his/her objective.
To be convincing, characterization must follow or observe three other principles (the PRINCIPLES OF CHARACTERIZATION):
1. The characters must be CONSISTENT. They should not behave one way on one occasion, and a different way on another unless there is a clear and distinct reason for the change.
2. The characters must be clearly MOTIVATED in whatever they do, especially when there is any change in their behaviour. The reader must be able to understand the reasons for what they do, if not immediately, at least by the end of the story.
3. The characters must be PLAUSIBLE or lifelike. We, the readers, must feel that they have come from the author’s experience- that they could appear somewhere in the normal course of worldly events.
Characters may be divided into two types in their relation to the plot. The PRINCIPLE CHARACTERS are those whose destinies the plot is chiefly concerned; the SUBORDINATE CHARACTERS are those who are used to fill out the story.
Subordinate characters have many uses in the story:
1. Necessary instruments in carrying out the plot.
2. Comic relief.
3. Fill in, to give life and variety to the scene.
4. Contribute local colour.
5. Commentators- might make interpretative remarks on actions of principle characters.
6. Foils, to emphasize or throw light on the principal characters by contrast.
SUSPENSE AND SURPRISE IN THE SHORT STORY
Fundamentally, suspense makes the reader ask, “What is going to happen next?” and “How will this turn out?” These questions compel the reader to read on to find the answers. Suspense is greatest when the reader’s curiosity is combined with anxiety about the fate of some character.
The forms of suspense range from crude to subtle and may concern not only action, but also psychological considerations and moral questions. Two devices for achieving suspense are to introduce the element of MYSTERY- an unusual set of circumstances for which the reader craves an answer or explanation, or to place a hero/heroine in a DILEMMA (choosing between two attractive or undesirable alternatives).
However, the importance of suspense is often overrated. The discriminating reader does not devalue suspense, but may be suspicious of stories in which suspense is artificially created. When a reader’s primary interest has shifted from “What happens next?” to “Why do things happen as they do?” or “What is the significance of this series of events?” he has taken his most important step forward.
Suspense Definition: “In literature, suspense means uncertainty and anxiety. It is the creation of a perpetual question regarding the outcome of the conflict and its complications. It means holding one’s breath, curiosity, and the urge to hurry on.”
Devices used to create suspense (Authors who write stories of suspense resort to a number of tricks or devices to create suspense for the reader). These devices include:
1. Use of swift-racing sentences
2. Use of sharp, vivid adjectives and verbs
