short story(mills)

escape literature

takes us away from the real world; it enables us to forget our troubles

plot

the sequence of incidents or events of which a story is composed

interpretive literature

takes us through the imagination deeper into the real world; it enables us to understand our troubles

conflict

a clash of actions, ideas, desires or wills

3 types of conflict

man vs. man, man vs. environment, man vs. himself

protagonist

the central character in the conflict

antagonist

the forces arrayed against the protagonist

suspense

the quality in a story which makes the reader ask “What’s going to happen next?”

2 common devices for suspense

mystery, dilemma

surprise

when the story departs radically from our expectation

types of characters

flat, round, stock, static developing

flat character

can be summed up in a sentence

round character

complex and many sided

stock

the stereotypical character

static character

the same sort of person at the end of the story as he was at the beginning

developing character

undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of his character

theme

the controlling idea or its central insight(purpose of the story)

3 types of point of views

omniscient point of view, limited omniscient, first person

omniscient point of view

the story is told by the author using the third person and can go wherever he wishes

limited omniscient

the author tells the story in third person but he tells it from the viewpoint of one character

first person

the author disappears into one of the characters and tells the story in the first person

symbol

something that means more than it is

irony

when the opposite of what you’d expect to happen, happens

irony of situation

the discrepancy is between what is and what would seem appropriate

3 types of short story endings

surprise/shock ending, unfinished ending, natural ending

the opening…

sets the scene, presents the situation to the reader, arouses the interest of the reader, and introduces the main characters

complication

the introduction of a problem

climax

the highest point of tension; it resolves the conflict