Freshman Literature: Short Stories



Lit./Comp. I: Short Stories

Short Stories: Final Project

Throughout our Short Story Unit, we have studied the five elements that make up a good short story: plot, character, point of view, setting, and theme. We have read a host of different short stories and discussed how the author of each story made use of the five elements. Now, it is your turn to put all of that together and demonstrate your understanding of how an author uses these five elements in a story.

Choose one of the stories from the list below that we have read so far this semester:

-“The Most Dangerous Game” -“The Scarlet Ibis”

-“The Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” -“The Cask of Amontillado”

-“The Necklace” -“Gift of the Magi”

-“The Sniper” -“The Moustache”

Now, you are going to examine how the author of that story developed a plot, character, point of view, setting, and theme. To do that, you must complete each of the following assignments. After you have completed each assignment, check it off.

_______1. Create a Plot Diagram 15 pts.

Draw a diagram and label the seven parts. Fill in the diagram with events from the story you read. Make sure your diagram is as complete as possible. The following must be included:

___Exposition--What is the setting of the story, which characters are involved, what problems are they facing

___Rising Action--List all major events that occur between the exposition and the climax (there must be more than one)

___Conflicts--List all conflicts and label them as either external or internal

___Complication--You only need to indicate one complication (remember a complication occurs when a character

tries to resolve a problem and ends up with more problems)

___Climax--Indicate which moment in this story is the key scene involving the highest amount of suspense

___Falling Action--List all major events that occur between the climax and the resolution. Depending on when the

climax takes place, you may have one event or several events in this section.

___Resolution--How does the story end?

➢ If you have done this section already, do another diagram making it even more complete.

________2. Examine one of the characters in the story. 20 pts.

Remember, authors have five methods of developing a character: Appearance, Speech, Thoughts, How other characters feel, and Actions. Find at least one example of each for the character that you chose to focus on.

➢ Create a chart with three columns. Label the first column “Method of Characterization”. Label the second column “Example from the story”. Label the third column “What this reveals about the character”.

➢ Your examples of each of the five methods must be direct quotes that you found in the story. Use quotation marks to indicate what was copied from the story and include the page # in parenthesis.

_______3. Determine which point of view the author is using. 10 pts.

In two paragraphs, describe the point of view of this story and explain why it is important to the story.

➢ In the first paragraph, mention the title and author of the story and identify which point of view the story is written from. In a few sentences, explain how you know that the author wrote the story using this point of view and how this particular point of view affects the story (does it determine what information the reader knows, does it help you to identify with any one of the characters?)

➢ In the second paragraph, discuss what the story would be like if it were written from each of the other two points of view.

________4. Create a written and visual description of the setting of this story. 10 pts.

____Written description--May be in chart form or paragraph form. Include all of the things that make up a

setting: weather, time period, time of day, location, and culture.

____Visual description--Draw a picture that depicts the setting in any scene in the story. If you can’t

draw you may cut out a picture from a magazine or find a picture online.

________5. Create a collage that depicts the theme of this story. 10 pts.

Remember that the theme is the central idea of a work. Theme reveals a truth about human behavior and is sometimes the moral of a story. The theme must always be expressed in at least one sentence.

On a piece of paper, write a statement of the theme of the story that you read. Then, turn that paper into a collage that illustrates what the story is about (you can draw pictures or cut out pictures and words from old magazines). There should be very little blank space on your finished collage!

________6. Write your response to the story. 15 pts.

Now is your chance to tell me what you thought of this story. What did you like (or dislike) about this story? Were the characters and their problems believable? Your response should be at least one paragraph.

Open your paragraph with a sentence that states your honest response to the story. Follow this up with details from the story which explain and support your response.

* For help with this part of the assignment, see pp. 199-200 of the Elements of Literature book.

________7. Create a cover for your “book” 5 pts.

When you have completed all six parts of this assignment, you are going to organize your work into a "book" complete with a cover.

On your cover, include:

___the name of the story (in quotation marks)

___the name of the author (spelled correctly)

___your name

___date

___class period

Neatness/construction of “book” 5 pts.

Writing follows standard conventions of English 10 pts.

(Proper spelling and grammar)

Some guidelines for this project:

1. Make each part of the assignment as neat and complete as possible. Be creative and colorful!

2. Make sure you follow the directions for all parts of this assignment. Don't leave anything out!

I will be grading this project based on the following criteria:

- Completion of each section

- Creativity

- Demonstrating your understanding of the story

- Ability to follow directions

This Short Story Project is due:____________!

This will count as a test grade.

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