1. Short Story Unit: Plot & Structure
AP English Literature

2. August 27 Agenda
Wrap up “The Child by Tiger” discussion: Dick’s plan and motivation
Review “Plot & Structure” instructional unit
Background on Graham Greene, London Blitz, & Christopher Wren
Discuss Graham Greene’s “The Destructors”
Homework: Read Harold Bloom’s “Preface & Prelude” & “Elegy for the Canon” and write an MLA format annotated bibliography entries for each

3. “The Child by Tiger” What is Dick’s plan? Textual evidence
What Dick says
What Dick does
What others say & do
Allusions: Psalms
What is Dick’s motivation?
Dick’s words & actions
Cultural context
Narrator’s reflection

4. Plot & Structure Plot = sequence of events
Structure = arrangement of plot elements
Conflict = protagonist vs. antagonist
Suspense
Commercial: what will happen next?
Literary: why did s/he behave that way?

5. Story Endings Surprise ending judged by Unhappy ending
Fairness by which achieved
Purpose it serves
Literary fiction: furnishes meaningful illumination, not just reversal of expectation
Unhappy ending
Situations in real life have unpleasant outcomes
Forces reader to ponder complexities of life
Indeterminate ending
Conflict unresolved (although story must conclude)
Judgment of endings
Logical within story’s terms
Affords full, believable resolution

6. Artistic Unity Nothing is irrelevant (Poe’s single affect)
Arranged logically
Avoids plot manipulation
Chance or coincidence to resolve story
Objectionable in proportion to improbability, importance to the story, nearness to ending
Deus ex machina
Form follows function – understand the relationship of each incident to the larger meaning of the work

7. Graham Greene http://www. biblio
Born Henry Graham Greene 1904, died 1991
Novelist, playwright, short story writer, critic
“works explore the ambiguities of modern man and ambivalent moral or political issues in a contemporary setting”
Attended Berkhamsted School where his father was a headmaster
Bullied and unhappy – several suicide attempts
Converted to Catholicism to marry – later became critic of Catholic church
Journalist after college; became full-time novelist in 1929 after success of The Man Within, although continues freelance journalism.
Fiction fits two genres: thrillers and literary works, although later in career they overlap
Characters often “troubled by self-doubt and living in seedy or rootless circumstances”
Worked as a spy for Britain in Sierra Leone during WWII, critic of American imperialism and materialism: supported Fidel Castros and Sandinistas against America, extensive travel in Cuba & Haiti

8. Contextual Information, “The Destructors”
Boy against ruined background:
Image of St. Paul’s Cathedral during Blitz:
People sleeping in subway stations during Blitz:
Winston Churchill image: chill.html
Sir Christopher Wren ( ) Astronomy professor, became Britain’s main architect to rebuild after 1666 Great Fire in London: supervised all work on palaces and rebuilt 51 churches often using the old foundations to save $ (
St. Paul’s Cathedral:

9. Homework
Read Harold Bloom’s “Preface & Prelude” & “Elegy for the Canon”
Write an MLA format annotated bibliography entries for each
MLA format includes headers, citation style, and formatting specifications
Annotations should be concise summaries of the major arguments and supporting details in each chapter. No fluff. Make this useful to yourself later.