SHORT STORY
In this unit students will read short stories from various authors and look at literary devices employed in each story. The short story is the most compact prose form and therefore the best to look at as an introduction to literature. The devices the students discover in this unit will reappear throughout the semester when we discuss The Novel, DRAMA and POETRY. The ultimate goal for students to acquire the basic understanding of the working of literary at a root and elementary level. Students will be required to read and take quizzes on each story and at the end of the unit take a unit test and present a Short Story Project orally to class.
Unit Learning goal: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the structure of fiction by breaking down the essential building blocks (literary elements) of short stories by plot, character development, figurative language (metaphor, symbolism, irony), point of view, connecting these blocks to the overall meaning (or theme) of the text, and final writing their own short story using these structures.
Scale/Rubric
relating to learning goal:
4 – The student can analyze the elements of a short story
come up with a valid theme (or themes) of a text and relate this theme to other
texts and/or movies and real world situations.
The student is able to write a short story using these elements to
create a text with complex themes.
3 – The student can analyze elements of a short story and
come up with a valid theme for a text.
The student is able to write a short story using these elements to
create a text with a valid and justifiable theme.
2 – With some direction/help from the teacher the student
can analyze the elements of a short story and come up with a theme for a
text. With some direction/help from the
teacher the student is able to write a short story using these elements to
create a text with a theme.
1 – Even with help from the teacher the student is unable
to analyze elements of a short story and come up with a theme for a text. Even with help from the teacher the student
in unable to write a short story using elements covered during this unit.
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this unit students will be able to
1) Define tone, blues, metaphor, irony, foreshadow, dialect, conflict, character, plot, mood, theme, symbol, imagery, protagonist, antagonist, static character, dynamic character, round character, flat character, allusion
2) Given a story be able to list its theme, plot, conflict, irony, point of view
3) Given a story be able to discuss which characters are round and which are flat
4) Given a story be able to pick out the protagonist and the antagonist
5) Given a story be able to pick out the static characters and the dynamic characters and briefly in a paragraph discuss why.
6) Given a story pick out examples of foreshadow and allusion
7) List the three elements of characterization
8) List the three conditions for believable change in a character
9) Given a series of images discuss what they mean in relation to a story or a character in a story
10) Given a story identify the characters with descriptions—physical and emotional descriptions as well as whether the character fits as either an antagonist, protagonist, dynamic or static character
11) Given a story be able to describe the symbols used in the story and what they mean in relation to the characters and theme.
12) Given a story discuss in a paragraph or two what the story’s plot reveals about the main character
13) Recognize whether a story is told from a 1st person, 2nd person or 3rd person limited, 3rd person omniscient point of view.
14) In a paragraph be able to summarize the events of a story.
15) In an essay of a page or more (at least two paragraphs of five sentences each) compare and contrast how two authors use imagery, metaphor, and dialect to develop their characters.
16) Define various vocabulary words from each short story (these words will be given on Monday or Tuesday of the week)
17) Demonstrate an understanding of a story by developing a project
18) Given a story identify the different events that fall into different parts of the plot. Example: Be able to describe the exposition or climax of a story.
19) Write a script and act out a story or the sequel to a story keeping true to the characters and the plot
20) Incorporating devices of setting, character, plot, conflict, point of view, and believable characterization and change for the protagonist, write a short story of at least three pages.
20) Write various journal entries that correspond to the stories and various elements in those stories
STORIES TO BE READ INCLUDE:
- “The Cask of Amontillado” by Poe
- “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell
- “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote
- “Where Have You Gone Charming Billy” by Tim O’Brien
- “Blues Ain’t No Mockin’ Bird” by Toni Cade Bambara
- “The Lady or the Tiger?” by Frank Stockton
- “The Split-Cherry Tree” by Jesse Stuart
- “The Gift of the Magi” by O’Henry
- One story of the student's choice
ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS:
What are the different types of conflicts found within stories; What is an unreliable narrator and what does an unreliable narrator do for a text; What is an allusion? Why does an author use allusions? How is a complex character created? Why does an author use imagery? What does dialect do for a story? What is irony and what is the effect of irony when it is used in a story? Can you find irony in the real world? What happens when part of the plot is left out of a story? What is figurative language and how does an author effectively use it in a story?
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