Literary Elements Of Literary Analysis Of A Short Story

The stories “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket”, “The Leap”, and “The Trip” all explore aspects that are drastic for the characters and are thrilling to the audience to read. Common elements can be found in each story. Even though each story is similar, each story has a unique way of hooking the reader that stays true to the theme and plot.

Short Stories often contain literary elements that pull the story together. Examples of this is in the short stories “The Possibility of Evil” and “The Lottery” both by the author Shirley Jackson. These two short stories use literary elements that can be compared and contrasted throughout their plots. In these short stories, Shirley Jackson uses irony, characters, and mood.

In a world labeled with "dos" and "don'ts,” many people think society will accept anything morally wrong as long as society does not know about the sin at face value. If people do not realize what is going on, how can they accept or reject it? Many also have a tendency to stereotype people for what they see and not for what they do. Further, they may either ignore the truth or refuse to come to terms with the reality of a situation. These sentiments are reflected in "No One's a Mystery" by Elizabeth Tallent and "Can-Can" by Arturo Vivante—both essays dealing with men having affairs. The

Short stories can be bland and boring. As you read some of them, you can feel emotion or just read a boring story about how something changed their life, but these three stories are interesting because they develop horror. These short stories use different elements to create horror. “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “A Rose for Emily,”, and “The Lottery” develop horror/gothic elements.

Similarities and differences are used in stories to often help support the plot. They help to move the story along. In the short stories; The Pedestrian by Ray Bradberry, Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket by Jack Finney, and The Trip by Laila Lalami there are similar settings, themes, conflicts, and characters that the authors use to help develop the plot. The stories may have different concepts and meanings which help bring forth the plot. These similarities and differences are used to help support how the reader feels and how the story is developed.

Have you ever thought that three completely different stories might have something in common? It might seem unlikely, but now you can change what you previously thought! The short stories Contents of a Dead Man’s Pockets by Jack Finney, The Leap by Louise Erdrich, and The Trip by Laila Lalami, all have their similarities and differences on several aspects. This can be demonstrated through the topics of setting, conflict, characters, and theme. These topics help make up the plot of each story. No story is the same, but they can have similar messages or themes meant for the audience. Some can argue that these three short stories are completely different, but other individuals differ. These main elements from each story can be both, depending on one’s point of view.

Source: CAPPELEN DAMM AS, Oslo 2008 – ''Access to English literature, VG3''. Anthony, Burgess, Mikkelsen & Sørhus. Chapter 1, page 23-24.

The story of what Lizzie Borden could have possibly done to her stepmother and father is widely known, every aspect has been sensationalized, and every detail has been scrutinized beyond belief. Creators choose what they want to include, disregard, and draw attention towards to create their own possible outcome. But what Mary E. Wilkins did in her fictional interpretation, “The Long Arm”, was unique because she chose to let the story unfold in a completely different way. The story is set in a small town, like Fall River, where Sarah Fairbanks and her father Martin lived. Martin was murdered after a quarrel about a business deal with Rufus Bennett, but Rufus and his wife left town the morning of the murder. While the police only searched for a few days before they gave up, Sarah took matters into her own hands to prove to everyone that it was not her boyfriend, Henry Ellis, who Martin just happened not to like. A quiet seamstress named Phoebe who lived across the street from Sarah, the victim’s daughter, was the actual assassin. Phoebe’s dynamic with her roommate, Maria, takes on the “double” theme, where there are two characters, who are based off one person or idea, but one obeys the rules and succeeds while the other character rebels and therefore pays the societal consequences, in this case. Phoebe and Maria’s characters portray two versions of Lizzie Borden that were both played up during her trial. Maria embodies the innocent, feminine, and weak version of Lizzie that

The most important element of a short story is Characterization as it drives the story as a whole. Characters involved in a story are responsible for creating different types of conflicts, struggles and tensions which in turn affects resolutions. Characterization is the core element that emphasizes the rest of the four elements as everything else eventually streams from character: plot, setting, theme and the point of view. There are no Conflicts without characters. A story only has meaning as the interaction among develops.

What is the point of any piece of great literature? Or rather, what is great literature? Some would say that accomplished literature is a way of exceptionally telling a story. However, what is the point of storytelling? In many cases, stories are told for entertainment. However, most stories have a moral or theme conveying an important message about life or how to live it. This is the point of great literature, to convey this message beautifully. Some pieces of great literature are The Story-Teller, by Saki, Geraldine Moore the Poet, by Toni Cade Bambara, and Enemy Territory, by William Melvin Kelley. To understand the themes of great literature, you must also understand how to analyze it. The content

When first reading Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour," one may not typically be surprised at its ending, write it off as one of those creepy "back from the dead" horror stories and forget about it. There is more to this story than simply horror. The author is making a very strong, however subtle, statement towards humanity and women's rights. Through subtle symbolism, Kate Chopin shows how marriage is more like a confining role of servitude rather than a loving partnership.

Literary terms are incredibly vital to short stories. Literary Terms such as symbolism, setting and conflict give the reader a better understanding of the text. In two short stories, “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry and “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury, literary terms are used to develop each of the short stories’ central ideas.

The stories “The Leap”, “The Trip”, and “The Contents of the Deadman’s Pocket” are all compared through literary elements. The literary elements used are characters, conflicts, setting, and theme. The authors use different elements throughout the texts to reveal different things about the main characters. Through these literary elements the characters have something revealed about th em or they are taught a lesson.

There are many components involved when analyzing a short story such as, main characters, point of view, plot, theme, and setting. Sometimes the answer is in black and white and other times it takes critical thinking to come up with a response. Some short stories have an important real life lesson while others are simply easy to relate to. Symbolism also plays a role in short stories by giving an event, object, or words being said a deeper meaning than the surface that brings importance to the story. “The Fat Girl” by Andre Dubus, “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich, and “An Ounce of Cure” by Alice Munro are stories that contain most of the components of analyzing short stories.

Short stories can share themes, motifs, symbols, consequences, and plot lines, even if there is never any intention to share a common element between the stories. The stories can be written close together or in different decades and still be linked to the one another. They can also be worlds apart with different meanings in the end, but that does not stop them from having similar ideas expressed within them. The following three stories, “Lagoon” by Joseph Conrad, “The Rocking Horse Winner” by DH Lawrence, and “The Lady in the Looking Glass” by Virginia Woolf, are three totally different stories that share common threads that make them the stories that they are.