Short story Flashcards
Who is the antagonist
Forces against protagonist (persons, things, conventions of society or traits of their own character
Who is the protagonist
Centre of conflict, the person who the conflict surrounds
Who is the flat character
Characterized by one or two traits
Who is the rounded character
Complex, many sided, presented in detail
Who is the stereotype character and what is the other name for this
Stock character
A “flat” character who is certain type (jock nerd)
Who is the dynamic character
Changed over course of story
Who is the static character
Does not change or grow over course of the story
What is the setting based on
Time place and mood of story
What is the time (setting)
Period in history, season of year, day of month, hour of the day, which events of the story occur
What is the place (setting)
The geographical location of the story, a country or city, large city or small village, indoors or outdoors or both
What is the mood (setting)
A setting mag be used to help create a particular mood (ie writer wants to create a frightening mood, depict a setting involves darkness and isolation of an old deserted house miles away from town on a stormy night)
What is the theme
Central idea of the story, not stated by the author instead reader must discover theme by questioning and examining meaning of story
What are three ways to find the theme?
1) what was the authors purpose in writing the story?
2) does the title provide a clue in understanding the theme?
3) does the plot characters, setting contain evidence to support your interpretation of the theme?
What are the two basic points of views
First person and third person point of view
Describe first person point of view
The narrator tells the story in the first person “I” the reader sees and knows only as much as the narrator
Describe the basic third person point of view
The story is told by the author using the third person (ex he, she, it)
What are the two types of third person point of view?
Omniscient and limited omniscient
Describe omniscient point of view?
He knows everything about all characters. The author is free to enter into the minds of any of the characters as well as comment upon and interpret their behaviour. The ahoy her doesn’t need to reveal the thoughts or feelings or all characters in order to have omniscient point of view. If the southern reveals the thought of 2 or more its omniscient
Describe limited omniscient point of view
The author tells the story in the third person but he tells it from the view point or one character in the story. In effect the author stands by the side of the character and presents the story through their eyes.
What is the plot
Events of the story beginning to end
What are the two types of conflicts
Internal and external
Describe internal conflict
Man vs man or himself
Describe external conflict
Man against man or groups of people, environment, society, unknown (supernatural)
What are the 5 parts of the plot
Introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, conclusion
What are the 4 purposes of an introduction
1) to arouse reader’s interest
2) to introduce main characters
3) to give an idea of the setting
4) to give clues about about that will take place
What is the rising action
Series of steps that developed the conflict as it builds to a climax, rising action begins with initial incident
What is the climax
1) turning point or moments of direct clash with conflict
2) resolves main conflict
3) (emotional high point for character not reader)
What is the falling action
It’s after the climate, explanation of events which could not be explained before the climax or the suspense would be ruined
What is the conclusion
The ending of the story
