ENG 255 Short Story Terms

Theme The central idea or universal truth that the story examines

Theme statement is a single sentence that attempts to explain the story's truth (what the story worries about). Such a sentence follows these criteria:

Is a generalization about life or human nature using universal terms
Accounts for all the details of the story (doesn't look at only one part)
Avoids clichés or plot summaries
May recognize the significance of the story's title or special symbols

Plot - A series of actions; the plan or groundwork of the story

ELEMENTS OF PLOT:

Exposition - The work’s introduction in which background information is given for the plot development
Complication - The point at which major conflicts or problems are presented; the rising action of a drama
Crisis is the moment of highest tension in a story, the turning point when a decision has to be made that will determine the story’s outcome
Climax is the action or decision that determines the story’s outcome. Sometimes the crisis and climax are the same moment
Dénouement or Resolution - The final stage or unraveling of the plot; usually very brief. Here the tension is over, and unanswered questions may be explained.

Conflict: the opposition between forces in a story

Protagonist - the central character; may be an individual or group

Antagonist - whatever opposing force the protagonist struggles with, such as another character, environment, or something within the protagonist .

Character - A reasonable facsimile of a human being; the inner self that determines thought, speech, behavior. Characters are considered round if they are fully developed and believable and dynamic if they show capacity to change. They are called flat if they appear one-dimensional and have no depth, and static if they do not change.

Epiphany - "a showing forth" or sudden revelation of the truth about a character or situation. The awareness comes through a specific event that causes the reader to see the character or situation anew. Stories remind us that we are often not ready for life's epiphanies; they come to us with a raw power that transforms an ordinary moment.

Foil - Usually a minor character who highlights the major character. The foil may present contrasting characteristics or behavior. Examples:

Mrs. Peters ~ "A Jury of Her Peers" t>
Aminadab ~ "The Birthmark"
Parker Adderson and the General
Marjorie ~ " Bernice Bobs Her Hair"
The Student in "The Sky Is Gray"

Setting - The environment of the story, including objects. Think of how the objects help us understand character and theme. Do they "speak" to the characters?

Metaphor - a figurative (as opposed to literal) use of language that compares two unlike things. Unlike simile, the metaphor uses no connecting word (like or as) so that the metaphor makes more of an equation than a comparison. This figure of speech may create a whole range of additional meaning. The word's root suggests its function: meta=beyond or transformation + pherein=carry or bear.

Irony involves incongruity between what is expected and what happens.

VERBAL: saying the opposite of what is intended
SITUATIONAL: an outcome which is opposite of what is expected

DRAMATIC: a situation in a literary work when the reader understands more than one or more characters; the characters are in a state of ignorance.

Symbol - A specific word, idea, or object that may stand for ideas, values, persons, or ways of life. Examples: the birthmark, the yellow wallpaper.

Satire - A literary work which attacks human follies or vices, such as Thurber's “The Greatest Man in the World,” Fitzgerald's "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," and Twain's "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.

Allegory - A narrative that presents an abstract idea through concrete means; the plots and characters of the allegory have a surface-level meaning as well as a deeper level of meaning which may be political, religious, or moral. We may look at allegories as extended metaphors. Examples are Ursula LeGuin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" and Hawthorne's "The Birthmark." Gary Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury is a political allegory.