SHORT STORY ELEMENTS短故事元素.ppt

SHORT STORY ELEMENTS With special reference to Roald Dahl’s works in The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories MAIN ELEMENTS Setting – the time and location in which a story takes place Plot – the sequence of events in a story or play Conflict – the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move Character – the person and his characteristics in a work of fiction Point of View – the angle from which the story is told Theme – the central idea or belief SETTING The time and location in which a story takes place is called the setting. For some stories the setting is very important, while for others it is not. There are several aspects of a story’s setting to consider when examining how setting contributes to a story. Some, or all, may be present. ASPECTS IN SETTING Place – Where is the story taking place? Time – When is the story taking place? Weather conditions – Is it rainy, sunny…? Social conditions – What is the daily life of the characters like? Does the story contain local colour? Mood or atmosphere – What feeling is created at the beginning of the story? Setting in Roald Dahl To what extent is setting important in the following stories The Landlady The Umbrella Man Parson’s Pleasure The Butler Neck PLOT The plot is how the author arranges events to develop his basic idea; it is the sequence of events. The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle and end. The short story usually has one plot so it can be read in one sitting. Five essential parts of plot Introduction – the beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed Rising Action – This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed Climax – This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story. Plot cont. Falling Action – The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The reader knows what has happened next and if t