1.

0 Compare and Contrast The Elements In The Short Stories A literary element is an element found in whole works of literature. There are many literary elements that we need to concern about when we read a short story. These elements are important for the readers as a medium for a better understanding of the reading. A good short story compiles all the literary elements creatively and then, the short story will be so nice to read. Literary elements are not used by authors but instead, they exist inherently in forms of literature and are derived by the readers of a work in question. Theme, characterization, conflict, setting, protagonist, antagonist, rising action, falling action, resolution, climax, and point of view are among the many literary elements that exist. They can be about the setting, plot, or even the characters.

In this coursework, I will compare and contrast five elements which are the plot, characters, theme, setting and moral values in two short stories. The short stories are The Landlady written by Roald Dahl and The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin. The Landlady focuses on a young and bright man named Billy Weaver who has just stepped into the world of work. Arriving in Bath for a business trip, he looks for a place to stay, and is recommended to the Bell and Dragon. While headed there, he comes upon a bed and breakfast sign which advertises a cheap room and board, and due to his intense curiosity he goes to check it out. He presses the doorbell, and a middle-aged landlady answers the door immediately as if she had been waiting for him. She treats him generously, by calling him Mr. Weaver and giving him a whole floor of his own to stay on, and charging him much less than he expected. However, she also emits a sense of spookiness, which, though apparently Billy does not notice, appears quite evident to the reader.

The old landlady gives him tea with a ginger biscuit. In the inn's guest book, he sees that only two other guests have stayed there one older, the other younger, and both having arrived earlier than two years prior. Billy finds the names vaguely familiar. On further reflection recalls that they "were both famous for the same thing" (going missing). The landlady makes a comment about one of the two boys in past tense, to which Billy replies that they must have only left recently. The landlady replies that both of the guests are still residing at the inn. Billy then
1

notices that the dog by the fireplace and the parrot he had noticed earlier were stuffed as he looks closer and touches the dog to examine it.He sees that both pet been taxidermied. She then tells him, "I stuff all my pets myself," and offers him more tea. Billy refuses because the tea "tasted faintly of bitter almonds" (a characteristic of cyanide). The story ends with Billy asking if there have been any other guests or visitors in the past few years, to which the landlady replies, "No my dear, Only you." While The Story of An Hour describes the series of emotions Louise Mallard endures after hearing of the death of her husband, who was believed to have died in a railroad disaster. Mrs. Mallard suffers from heart problems and therefore her sister attempts to inform her of the horrific news in a gentle way. Mrs. Mallard locks herself in her room to immediately mourn the loss of her husband. However, she begins to feel an unexpected sense of exhilaration. "Free! Body and soul free!" is what she believes is a benefit of his death. At the end of the story, it is made known that her husband was not involved in the railroad disaster and upon his return home Mrs. Mallard suddenly dies. The cause of her death is ambiguous and left for analysis as it can range from her known heart problems to psychological factors. We can ask ourselves if the real reason for the death was knowing that she wouldn't be free after she sees that her husband isn't really dead.

1.1 Plot Both The Landlady and The Story of An Hour have a good plot structures. Plot structure in a short story contains exposition, rising action, conflict, climax, falling action or denouement and resolution. 1.1.1 Exposition

Mrs. Mallard has a weak The story was started heart. The fact that Mrs. when the main Mallard has a weak character, Billy Weaver, heart changes the way came to Bath for the everybody has to business purpose. It was behave to her. She has about 9 p.m. when he to be handled gently so arrived in Bath, so he that her heart doesn't get had to find a place for a shock. Just in case we sleep. Then, the porter forget, should she get a recommended him to shock at any point, she stay at Bell and Dragon could die. This results in Hotel. The exposition instant and constant ends when he walked dramatic tension. through the city to find the Bell and Dragon. In this part, the author tells the reader about In this part, the author Mrs. Mallard's tells the readers about characteristics. She has Billys characteristic. He a weak heart that was seventeen years changes the way old, but he has become everybody has to a successful behave to her. businessman. All things that he wore that day were brisk as it was a common characteristic of a successful businessman at that time. The expositon of both of the story has a similar approach to the reader. The authors tell the reader about the characteristics of the main character.

The Landlady

The Story of An Hour

1.1.2 Rising Action

The story continued when Billy walked to the Bell and Dragon. He suddenly saw a boarding house with a big sign BED AND BREAKFAST. After a while, it seems that he was hypnotized when he decided to sleep at that boarding house although he preferred to sleep at pub a minute before. After that, when Billy press the bell, the landlady suddenly appear. It is strange because normally when you ring the bell, you have at least a half minutes wait before the door opens.

The Landlady

Mr. Mallard dies and Mrs. Mallard's friends have to break the news to her gently. Not only has her husband died, Mrs. Mallard could very well die too upon hearing the news. His death puts them both in danger. Mrs. Mallard's friends have to take special care in letting her know what happened so that she doesn't die also.

The Story of An Hour

The rising action in both stories describe the rising of the situation that will lead to another situation in the stories. In The Landlady, Billy felt so weird when he arrived at the landladys house whereas in the The Story of An Hour, friends of Mrs. Mallard were a bit afraid to tell that her husband had died because she could die too upon hearing the news.

1.1.3 Conflict

The Landlady

The conflict that occurred in this story is man against man conflict between Billy and the landlady. Since he came to landladys house, he felt that there was something wrong with the landlady. Although she always showed her politeness, Billy still curious with everything that the landlady did.

Mrs. Mallard mourns and tries to deal with her unusual feelings. In the case of this story, the complication stage itself embodies the idea of complicated. We'll explain: Mrs. Mallard complicates the traditional or expected reaction of a widow to a husband's death by reacting in a totally unusual way. Instead of refusing to believe the news or take it in, she instantly grasps it and cries her eyes out, before going off to be alone. All this is meant to show us that she's an unusual widow, and it prepares us for the climax to follow.

The Story of An Hour

Both stories describe the same conflict which are occured to the main characters themselves. But, the difference is in The Landlady, the conflict that occured is man against man whereas in The Story of An Hour, the conflict is man against nature.

1.1.4 Climax

The climax of this story is when Billy saw two names in the guest book. All of them are the landladys victim. When Billy ask about them, the Landlady always interrupt him, as if there was something that she hide from him.

Mrs. Mallard declares that she is free. Mrs. Mallard struggles with her grief, and then also struggles with a piece of new knowledge coming at her. She tries to avoid it, but can't completely push it off. Finally, she succumbs to the realization that she is free, and that she's glad. After the tragedy of hearing such bad news, and managing such changing emotions of grief and abandonment, Mrs. Mallard is so overwhelmed by her feeling of freedom that she can barely whisper.

The Landlady

The Story of An Hour

The climax of both stories tell the reader what are the stories about. In The Landlady, the author give a feeling of suspense to the reader about what will happens next whereas in The Story of An Hour, the author shows the real characteristic of the main character.

1.1.5 Falling Action

The Landlady

The landlady gave Billy a cup of tea which smells like almond. Actually, it is a cyanide poison because almond smell is a characteristic of cyanide. Finally, the landlady told him that the dachshund and the parrot are all embalmed dead animals.

Mr. Mallard walks in, far from dead, shocking everyone. Suddenly, a totally unexpected thing happens: Mr. Mallard comes home. Everyone's shocked, except Mr. Mallard, who has no idea of what's been going on. Even though Josephine and Richards are surprised too, they try to keep Mrs. Mallard from receiving the shock. But they can't. As if getting a shock wouldn't be hard enough on her heart, she's got all these emotions and excitement about freedom running through her body.

The Story of An Hour

The falling action in both stories lead the story to the resolution. In The Landlady, reader knows that the landlady tried to kill Billy silently whereas in The Story of An Hour, reader shocks with the walk in of Mr. Mallard because everybody know that he was already dead.

1.1.6 Resolution

The Landlady

In the end, the landlady told Billy that he was the only guest who came to her house after two persons in the guest book. The final part of this story can be categorized as opened, because the author let the readers guess the resolution by themselves.

Doctors say Mrs. Mallard died of joy. We readers have to piece together the fact that Mrs. Mallard has died based on what we know about her (the weak heart), her shock on seeing Mr. Mallard, and the narrator's dry statement that Richards could not prevent her new shock. Between that and the doctors' explanation for her death, we realize that Mrs. Mallard has passed away. Unlike her husband's death in the train accident, there's no room for error or miscommunication there. She cannot return. The events foreshadowed in the exposition have come true.

The Story of An Hour

The resolution of both stories describe what happen to the main characters. But, in The Landlady, the author let the readers guess the resolution by themselves whereas in The Story of An Hour, the author tell directly the resolution.

1.2 Characters The Landlady (Billy Weaver) The Story of An Hour (Mrs. Mallard) The physical appearances of are not clearly seen.

Billy Weaver described as a tall, handsome, young man with beutiful looking teeth. e.g. But they were incredibly handsome, both of them, I can promise you that. They were tall and young and handsome, my dear, just exactly like you. in fact Im sure he was, and his teeth werent quite so white. You have the most beautiful teeth, Mr. Weaver, did you know that?

Billy is doing well, industrious, smart, thrifty, and not tied down by a family. He wanted to show that he independence young man. It described with the way he dresses in a rather old fashioned way, despite his young age. e.g He was trying to do everything briskly these days. Briskness, he had decided, was the one common characteristic of all successful businessmen He had never been to Bath before. He didnt know anyone who lived there He was wearing a new navy-blue overcoat, a new brown trilby hat, and a new brown suit

An intelligent, independent woman, Louise Mallard understands the right way for women to behave, but her internal thoughts and feelings are anything but correct.

The Landlady (The landlady)

The Story of An Hour (Mr. Mallard) Louises husband, supposedly killed in a train accident. Although Louise remembers Brently as a kind and loving man, merely being married to him also made him an oppressive factor in her life. Brently arrives home unaware that there had been a train accident.

The landlady described as a quite old woman, and has very warming smile . Her eyes color are blue and has round shaped face. e.g "She was about fortyfive or fifty years old, and the moment she saw him she gave him a warm welcoming smile." "She had a round pink face and very gentle blue eyes." She seemed terribly nice. She looked exactly like the mother of one's best school-friend welcoming her into the house to stay for the Christmas holidays "He noticed that she had small, white, quickly moving hands and red finger-nail."

The landladys personality described as a good person with blue gentle eyes.However, we thought that there is something mysterious with the landlady.

10

1.3 Theme The Landlady Deceptive - deceptive is one of the main theme in the story. Deceptive reflects the proverb 'don't judge the book by its cover. The landlady seems to be very nice and gentle woman but, exactly there are mystery in her. The landladys external veneer is attractive, she seems warm and kind with gentle blue eyes. So courteous is she that she has thoughtfully prepared Bills room. She is depicted as being affectionate such as calling him an endearment, dear. This draws him to her. Such wonderful treatment is highly suggestive of concealed evil and ulterior motives, yet Billy suspects nothing. She wishes to preserve his corpse, but he believes her to be a good woman. This may result in his luckless demise. Moreover, the landlady generously prepared tea for him, which he accepts. The tea tastes of bitter almonds and he is still innocent to her devious schemes.

The Story of An Hour Deceptive - deceptive in the story shows that life is not as it seem. Women had very few rights, they could not vote, had few opportunities for employment, and were expected to cook, clean, and look pretty for their husbands. Women had very little recourse if they married an abusive or mean husband. Chopin makes Mr. Mallard a good man and a good husband, highlighting, not the wickedness of men, but the deficiencies in society, which allowed a system of unfairness to exist. Louise, who readily admits that her husband was kind and loving, nonetheless feels joy when she believes that he has died. Her reaction doesnt suggest any malice, and Louise knows that shell cry at Brentlys funeral. However, despite the love between husband and wife, Louise views Brentlys death as a release from oppression. She never names a specific way in which Brently oppressed her, hinting instead that marriage in general stifles both women and men.

11

The Landlady Mystery and Horror - In 'The Landlady' mystery and horror surround the plot of the story that can be imagined by the reader. Eventhough the landlady looks like a gentle and good woman, there is a mystery in her. She actualy has her own desire to kill Billy Weaver, but she pretend to be kind and nice to him. She is a psycho and a killer. The story is also surrounds by horror when Billy Weaver found that the boarding house was visited by two men only whose were his friends, Mr. Mullholland and Mr. Gregory Temple since two years ago and he was the third visitor.

The Story of An Hour Forbidden Joy of Independence - In 'The Story of an Hour', independence is a forbidden pleasure that can be imagined only privately. When Louise hears from Josephine and Richards of Brentlys death, she reacts with obvious grief, and although her reaction is perhaps more violent than other womens, it is an appropriate one. Alone, however, Louise begins to realize that she is now an independent woman, a realization that enlivens and excites her. Even though these are her private thoughts, she at first tries to squelch the joy she feels, to beat it back with her will. Such resistance reveals how forbidden this pleasure really is. When she finally does acknowledge the joy, she feels possessed by it and must abandon herself to it as the word free escapes her lips. Louises life offers no refuge for this kind of joy, and the rest of society will never accept it or understand it. Extreme circumstances have given Louise a taste of this forbidden fruit, and her thoughts are, in turn, extreme. She sees her life as being absolutely hers and her new independence as the core of her being. Overwhelmed, Louise even turns to prayer, hoping for a long life in which to enjoy this feeling. When Brently returns, he unwittingly yanks Louises independence away from her, putting it once again out of her reach. The forbidden joy disappears as quickly as it came, but the taste of it is enough to kill her.

12

1.4 Setting The Landlady Bath e.g ....and by the time he got to Bath... The landladys house e.g ....he was actually moving across from the window to the front door of the house.... At nine oclock in the evening e.g ...it was about nine oclock in the evening... Time In the late nineteenth Setting Place The Story of An Hour Home of Mrs. Mallard e.g she could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees....

century An hour The story takes place within an hour.

Guests accomodation in a lodging house

Sociocultural

Union territories

13

1.5 Moral Values

We must be cautious and not too trusting

In the story 'The Landlady', Billy should be cautios and not too trusting about the landlady. From the outside, the landlady described as a good and gentle woman. However, we thought that there is something mysterious with landlady. We should not too trusting to someone that we do not know who is. We should always be catious for anything that possiblt occur.

In the story 'The Story of An Hour', we must be cautious of the originality of the news that we receive. We cannot make a fast conclusion about what we hear before we see by our selves. This is because maybe the news are not authentic. From the story, Mrs. Mallard was so shocked when Mr. Mallard, her husband that she tought was already died appeared in front of her. So, we should not too trusting of what we hear unti we confirm that the news is authentic.

14

The Landlady We should know and alert of what happening around us. In the story 'The Landlady', Billy Weaver still cannot detect that he was trapped in the boarding house with the dangerous landlady. He was not alert of what he saw in the house such as the parrot and dog.

The Story of An Hour We should love our family sincerely. In the story 'The Story of An Hour', Mrs. Mallard was very happy of her husband's death. She did not feel any sadness or guilty eventhough her husband was so kind and nice. She did not love her husband by her heart.

15

2.0 Choose The Story I Like Best The story I like best is The Landlady written by Roald Dahl. This short story is so interesting and very nice to read. I am not boring when I read the story and I feels that the story is one of the best short stories that I have read. It is hard to find a short story that has a good way of how the author tells the story to he readers. The Landlady by Roald Dahl is the first short story I read of his that I thought was written specifically to shock the reader. I think it is a scary story, even as an adult reader. It is a fantastic tale. Briefly, the story focuses on a young and bright man named Billy Weaver who has just stepped into the world of work. Arriving in Bath for a business trip, he looks for a place to stay, and is recommended to the Bell and Dragon. While headed there, he comes upon a bed and breakfast sign which advertises a cheap room and board, and due to his intense curiosity he goes to check it out. He presses the doorbell, and a middleaged landlady answers the door immediately as if she had been waiting for him. She treats him generously, by calling him Mr. Weaver and giving him a whole floor of his own to stay on, and charging him much less than he expected. However, she also emits a sense of spookiness, which, though apparently Billy does not notice, appears quite evident to the reader.

The old landlady gives him tea with a ginger biscuit. In the inn's guest book, he sees that only two other guests have stayed there one older, the other younger, and both having arrived earlier than two years prior. Billy finds the names vaguely familiar. On further reflection recalls that they "were both famous for the same thing" (going missing). The landlady makes a comment about one of the two boys in past tense, to which Billy replies that they must have only left recently. The landlady replies that both of the guests are still residing at the inn. Billy then notices that the dog by the fireplace and the parrot he had noticed earlier were stuffed as he looks closer and touches the dog to examine it.He sees that both pet been taxidermied. She then tells him, "I stuff all my pets myself," and offers him more tea. Billy refuses because the tea "tasted faintly of bitter almonds" (a characteristic of cyanide). The story ends with Billy asking if there have been any other guests or visitors in the past few years, to which the landlady replies, "No my dear, only you."
16

I like The Landlady because the plot of the story is so attractive. Roald Dahl had organized the plot so well to make the story more fantastic and interesting. Everyone knows that teenagers love horror and that is exactly what `The Landlady' is. Roald Dahl definitely got hold of the right ideas in this story that I think any teenager would enjoy. I think the way he held the atmosphere from the beginning was ingenious. This phrase is at the end of the first paragraph: "The air was deadly cold and the wind was like flat blades of ice on his cheeks ." Roald Dahl's word choice is excellent and chillingly describes the opening scene. By the use of words, such as cold, deadly and blade the author gives us clues, hinting at Billy's - the main character - fate.

Roald Dahl uses the setting to the maximum and without it the story would not work. If it was set in the modern day we would have the problem of mobile phones and all the other forms of easy access modern technology. In the modern day Billy's mum or the people receiving him in his new job would have phoned the next day when they did not hear from him but at the time when the story is set there was a lot less communication between people and it is likely that he would not have been missed for a long while after his disappearance. Instead he is stuck, unknowingly, at a strange bed and breakfast with a psychopathic old lady but no form of communication with the outside world. That is what makes it interesting.

Roald Dahl manages to keep me interested the whole way through. By starting with the ice-cold weather and going on to talk about the perfect, good looking teenage boy he stops me from putting down the book. He draws me in with enticing clues put in here and there throughout the story like little hints of horror or `spookiness': Billy comes across a `swanky residence' with porches and pillars `but the white facades were all blotchy and cracked For all the above reasons I think Roald Dahl's `The Landlady' is an uncommonly good read and should definitely be included in an anthology of short stories aimed at teenage readership.

17

18