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Short Story Elements: With Special Reference To Roald Dahl's Works in The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories
Short Story Elements: With Special Reference To Roald Dahl's Works in The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories
Short Story Elements: With Special Reference To Roald Dahl's Works in The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories
With special reference to Roald Dahls works in The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories
MAIN ELEMENTS
Setting the time and location in which a story takes place Plot the sequence of events in a story or play Conflict the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move Character the person and his characteristics in a work of fiction Point of View the angle from which the story is told Theme the central idea or belief
SETTING
The time and location in which a story takes place is called the setting. For some stories the setting is very important, while for others it is not. There are several aspects of a storys setting to consider when examining how setting contributes to a story. Some, or all, may be present.
ASPECTS IN SETTING
Place Where is the story taking place? Time When is the story taking place? Weather conditions Is it rainy, sunny? Social conditions What is the daily life of the characters like? Does the story contain local colour? Mood or atmosphere What feeling is created at the beginning of the story?
PLOT
The plot is how the author arranges events to develop his basic idea; it is the sequence of events. The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle and end. The short story usually has one plot so it can be read in one sitting.
Plot cont.
Falling Action The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not Denouement This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story
CONFLICT
It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move. It is any form of opposition that faces the main character. Within a short story there may be only one central struggle, or one dominant struggle with many minor ones.
1. External a struggle with a force outside ones self 2. Internal a struggle within ones self; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist un urge, etc.
1. man vs man (physical) 2. man vs circumstances (classical) 3. man vs society (social) 4. man vs him/herself (psychological)
CHARACTER
This includes the person in a work of fiction and the characteristics of a person. In a work of fiction, one finds the protagonist and the antagonist. The protagonist is the central character with all major events having some importance to him/her. The opposer of the main character is the antagonist.
a.
b.
c. d.
Character cont.
Characters are: 1. Individual (round, many sided and complex) 2. Developing (dynamic, changing) 3. Static (stereotype, characteristics that never change and are emphasized)
Which characters do you find most interesting in Roald Dahls anthology? Are they protagonists or antagonists?
POINT OF VIEW
This is defined as the angle from which the story is told: Innocent Eye Stream of Consciousness First Person Omniscient a. Omniscient Limited b. Omniscient Objective
1. 2. 3. 4.
THEME
The theme is the controlling idea or its central insight. It is the authors underlying meaning or main idea that he is trying to convey. It may be the authors thoughts about a topic or view of human nature
Theme cont.
The title of the short story usually points to what the writer is saying and he may use various figures of speech to emphasize his theme, such as: symbol, allusion, simile, metaphor, hyperbole or irony
Categorise the stories in The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories according to their theme. You might want to consider the following themes: Relationships Cheating and trickery Betting Horror or macbre Making money
General Question
Matsec 2009 Paper 2A With reference to any two stories in the collection, write about three characteristics typical of short story writing.