Short Stories

Short Stories

Characteristics:

1. Concise
2. Short
3. Most readers need a prior understanding
4. Foreshadowing-gives the reader a glimpse into the future, or a sense of what is going to happen
5. Repetition- helps to drive the main ideas home
6. Dramatic- may not always be resolved during the climax
7. Suspense-draws a reader into the idea of the story
8. Setting- includes mood and atmosphere
9. Theme- is the total meaning of the story and doesn’t have to be just one moral, could encompass more than one life lesson
10. First person, second person and third person
11. Plot, setting, characters and theme are possibly the most important parts of a short story
12. Dialogue
13. Make the climax clear and strong
14. Can usually be read in one sitting

 Truth and Bright Water by Thomas King is concise and short. There isn’t much time between events in the story, so everything happens rather quickly.  The plot is not very complex  however the plot is very clear. Setting enhances the plot, and in this case the lake by creating problems in the families dynamics. The climax is usually the big ‘boom’ of the story, but in this short story the climax was very unapparent and there is obvious conflict between the mother and the father. The characters that develop the most throughout the story are the mother and the son. The sons thoughts are very clear to the reader as it is a third person narrative. This means that the reader knows everything about everyone, and all of their thoughts. Foreshadowing is also used when the father talks about work before they leave on their holiday to the lake. Seeing as  this is only an excerpt of a novel, we don’t get the full value, but what we did read stays true to most of the characteristics of a short story.

The theme of the short story Truth and Bright Water is not very clear but it was discovered to be crossing boundaries. While reading this excerpt, it applies to the lake they visited, Waterton Lake. The US and Canadian border runs directly through the lake and the son in the story is able to go across it. The border is a figurative boundary, but in actuality it is a border as well. The parents are not getting along, and his father has to cross his ‘own boundary’ and leave the family. The son learns a lesson from the lake, a very valuable one, sometimes to get where you want to go you must cross boundaries, even though you may have to leave someone behind that you love.

• Situational Irony- when the exact opposite of what is intended happens
• Dramatic Irony- when irony is seen by the audience but it is not fully grasped by the actors
• Verbal Irony- when the exact opposite of what is said is meant

All three ironies are used in the short story The Wall by Gilles Vigneault. Situational irony applies to the fact that the man in the story is repairing his prison cell, meaning that he could break out only if he wanted to. Verbal irony is the second and is applied what the prisoner says to the people around him, the guards and the man that walks by. The dramatic irony is near the end when the mason, without disturbing a soul, leaves the prison.