Short Story Characteristics Essay - 623 Words

Short Story Characteristics The short story is a concise form of narrative prose that is usually simpler and more direct compared to longer works of fiction such as novels. Therefore, because of their short length, short stories rely on many forms of literary devices to convey the idea of a uniform theme seen throughout the script. This theme is illustrated by using characteristics that are developed throughout the story such as, plot, setting and characters. The three main components are developed throughout the story in order to guide the reader to the underlying theme, which is necessary as a short story lacking a theme also lacks meaning or purpose. The short story â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† by James Baldwin uses characterization to†¦show more content†¦The combination of the protagonist’s insanity and the setting of the nursery with yellow wallpaper identify a theme of imprisonment of females in a domestic world. The anonymous wife is taken by her husband to a country mansion to recover from a state of hysteria. The narrator then takes it upon herself to actively study and decode the wallpaper, and through her downward spiral into insanity she untangles its confused pattern to reveal a woman trapped in the depths of the chaotic outlines. As time passes the narrator begins to relate to this encaged woman and believes that she too is trapped within the wallpaper. During the last few nights the narrator tears down the wallpaper in an attempt to escape from her cage. The use of the yellow wallpaper as a symbolic gesture to the entrapment of women shows how setting can directly relate to the theme of a short story. Plot can also be used as a direct representation of the theme in a short story. Plot is the combination of setting, characters, and the series of events that allow the story to progress. The idea of a unifying event that forces a child into the adult world is identified, by analysis of the plot, as the theme of Alice Munro’s â€Å"Royal Beatings†. The story progresses by a series of flashbacks through Rose, the protagonist’s, life developing theShow MoreRelatedThe Characteristics Of Annie Johnsons Short Story809 Words   |  4 Pagesare determination, diligent work, and courageousness. These attributes are shown by the characters Annie Johnson, Ernesto Galarza, and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, all through their stories. Determination, individuals like Annie Johnson have determination and never abandon their objectives, and diligently pursue them. In the short story â€Å"New Directions† it discusses about a woman named Annie Johnson, who is big-boned, and it is her goal to work to support her two infant boys. 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