1. Elements of Short Fiction Study Notes this Weekend Quiz Tuesday!

2. Canon A selection of authors and works that are considered important or “the classics”

3. Author’s Craft The techniques the author chooses to enhance writing- can be divided into 2 categories: A. narrative elements: setting, flashback, point of view, characterization, foreshadowing, stream of consciousness, etc. B. literary devices: metaphor, simile, irony, allusion, alliteration, personification, parallel structure, understatement, hyperbole, etc.

4. “Elements” Listed 1.Setting and Mood 2.Character and Psychology 3.Style and Theme 4.Plot and Narrative Structure 5.Point of View 6.Irony and Tone

5. Setting and Mood 1.Setting: refers to the environment of story, both place and time. 2.Mood: feelings communicated by the setting, usu. established by description; example: dark and foreboding mood established by dark imagery and shadowy descriptions

6. Character and Psychology 1.Types of Characters a.round: psychologically developed, 3D b.flat: psychologically undeveloped, 2D c.dynamic: undergoes a change in the story d.static: does not change in the story e.Stock characters: common “type” characters we recognize; example– “mean stepmother”

7. Character and Psychology Cont’d. 2.Protagonist: main character; not necessarily the hero/heroine in modern fiction 3.Antagonist: opposes the main character 4.Direct characterization: writer describes the character through direct description 5.Indirect characterization: writer describes the character through the character’s thoughts, actions, or reactions from other characters

8. Style and Theme 1.Style: refers to artistic decisions in language and narrative techniques; verbal qualities a.Formal or informal b.Ornamented styles: can be formal/informal and depend on special techniques: Use of metaphor and/or simile Use of imagery (rich description that appeal to any of the 5 senses) Repetition: either phrases or action (parallel structure) “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”

9. Style and Theme Cont’d. 2. Theme: story’s subject matter or overall message; most stories have several, and often an author discovers other themes after he/she has written her story.

10. Plot and Narrative Structure 1.Plot: sequence of actions or events; ending should provide a sense of finality; types include: a.chronological: follows linear time b.flashback: present is interrupted by past c.nonlinear: time is fragmented; reader is responsible for piecing things together d.“in medias res”: “in the middle of things”

11. Plot and Narrative Structure cont’d. 2.Elements of Plot: a.Exposition b.Rising action c.Climax d.Denouement or resolution 3. Foreshadowing 4. Frame Story: a story in which another story is enclosed or embedded

12. Point of View 1.First-Person Narrator: told from pt. of view of “I”; may be part of action or observer; reader shares all limitations of the narrator; sharp focus; reader feels like part of story 2.Second-Person Narrator: speaks directly to reader; “you”; rare type; not as effective b/c artificial 3.Third-Person Narrator: most popular; “he/she” a.limited: limited to one character’s pt. of view b.Omniscient: all-knowing narrator; accepts authority

13. Irony and Tone 1.Verbal Irony: author says one thing but means another; sarcasm 2.Situational irony: occurrence is opposite of our expectations 3.Dramatic irony: reader/audience knows something a character doesn’t know 4.Comic irony or tragic irony 5.Tone: author’s attitude toward subject/characters; sympathetic or judgmental