Short Story/ Essay Notes Flashcards
Plot
The pattern of events
Conflict
The struggle between opposing forces.
What are the four types of conflict.
- ) Man vs. society
- ) Man vs. self
- ) Man vs. man
- ) Man vs. nature
Characterization
The presentation of a person in writing
How do authors characterize characters?
Describe their actions. Describe his past. Describe his thoughts. Describe his physical features. Have other characters talk about him. Describe the setting in which he lives.
Setting
The physical and emotional background of a story.
Theme
A point a writer makes about life or people. a theme is not a moral
Foreshadowing
Hinting at something that will happen later in the story.
Allusion
A reference to something well known from the past
Irony
Something that seems one way, but in reality is different.
What are the three types of irony?
Dramatic irony
Verbal irony
Situational irony
Point-of-view.
The vantage point from which the story is viewed.
What are the types of PoV?
First person narrator, second person narrator, third person omniscient narrator, third person limited omniscient narrator, and third person objective narrator (camera).
Why are short stories put in quotes?
Short stories are published /as a part of a larger work/
What are the three stages of an initiation story?
Stage 1: a young person starts out innocent.
Stage 2: the young person encounters something harsh.
Stage 3: the young person experiences an epiphany (a realization about the harshness of the world)
Situational irony
A situation that occurs that neither the reader nor the character expect
Verbal irony
A statement that says the opposite of what is meant
Dramatic irony
A truth the reader knows that the character does not know.
What are the five ways to develop a personal view-point essay?
1) the general real life example
2) personal experience example
3) the historical example
4) the hypothetical example
5) the analogy example
The general real life example
A) it never focuses on a specific person or event
B) because it lacks details, avoid it
Personal experience example
A) describes a specific one time event that happened to you
B) tell it with details
C) avoid
1) an entire season or game. Describe one play
2) an entire school year or class. Describe one incident
The historical example
A) describes how a famous person or event illustrates your thesis.
B) if you can’t supply accurate details, don’t write about it
The hypothetical example
A) describes a one time specific event that has not happened yet
B) make it believable
C) begin with “imagine that you….”
The analogy example
A) describes a situation that is similar to the subject matter of your paper
B) must accurately describe the things being compared
What is the first step of a literary analysis intro paragraph?
Read essay prompt carefully. Underline the information about the topic of the essay and circle key literary terms.
What is the second step of a literary analysis intro paragraph?
Begin into paragraph by stealing as many words from the prompt as possible. a.) steal one sentence at a time. b.) you may have to steal more than one sentence. c.) change the wording around.
What is the third step of a literary analysis intro paragraph?
End introduction with a thesis statement. Dump the training wheels.
Mode of Discourse
A method that a writer uses to have a conversation with the reader
What are the four modes of discourse?
Exposition (writing that explains or informs),
Narrative (writing that tells a story),
Description (writing that appeals to the senses),
Argument/ persuasion (writing that presents an idea to accept)
Thesis statement
The major point of an essay containing a subject and an opinion about the subject. Never a question. Usually the last sentence in the into paragraph
Author’s Purpose
The reason why the author writes an essay
What are the six reasons an author writes an essay?
- ) to entertain/ amuse
- ) to persuade/ motivate/ or argue
- ) to inform
- ) to ridicule/ mock
- ) to question
- ) to elicit an emotional response
essay unity
the state when every sentence in the essay is related to the thesis statement
What are the four ways to organize an essay
- ) Chronological Order (events arranged accordion to how they occur in time)
- ) Order of Importance (put most important idea last, second most important idea first)
- ) Space Order (describes the appearance of a physical place. i.e. left to right, top to bottom)
- ) From One Extreme to Another (general to specific, most familiar to least familiar, smallest to largest)
Rhetorical Strategy
the plan the writer uses while writing
What are the nine rhetorical strategies?
I.) Description II.) Narration III.) Exemplification IV.) Comparison/ Contrast V.) Cause/ Effect VI.) Classification/ Division VII.) Process analysis VIII.) Argumentation IX) Definition
Exemplification
Writing that uses facts, examples, or anecdotes
What are the two methods of comparing and contrasting?
I.) The Block Method: one body paragraph gives all the details about one subject and the second paragraph gives all the details about the second subject.
II.) Point-by-Point: the first body paragraph focuses on one topic and goes back and forth between the items.
Cause
The reason why something happens
Effect
The result
Classification
The grouping of items from specific to general
Division
The grouping of items from general to specific
Process Analysis
When you either explain how to perform a task or explain how something words
What is argumentation and what are the two types of reasoning?
Attempts to explain
i. ) induction (specific to general) uses specific examples to draw conclusions.
ii. ) deduction (general to specific) uses conclusions to draw specific examples
Four kinds of humor
Slap-stick humor
Shared experience
hyperbole
juxtaposition of opposites
Slap stick humor
a physical type of humor that involves the infliction of pain
shared experience
the presentation of a frustrating or annoying experience that people laugh at because they can relate to it
hyperbole
the extreme exaggeration of the defects or unusual qualities of a person or thing.
juxtaposition of opposites
the placement of two things beside one another, creating an absurdity that the audience finds amusing. Usually something serious is juxtaposed to something trivial.
