Big Idea Overview and Resources

Part 1: Encountering the Unexpected
Part 2: Making Choices
Part 3: Life Transitions

Part 1: Encountering the Unexpected

Overview
In the short stories in Part I, many characters encounter unexpected people and events that dramatically change their perspective or understanding of the world. These unexpected moments and experiences invite opportunities for characters to grow and revise old habits and ways of thinking. While the reader experiences surprising twists and turns alongside the characters, the author has planned them out within the structure of the short story.

Authors often create suspense and surprise by giving readers clues that hint at events that might happen. In the exposition, or the beginning of a short story, the author might introduce the story’s characters and establishes the setting. The setting is the time and place of the story. In addition, the setting also informs the reader about the customs, beliefs, and values of that particular place in time. From the exposition, the reader comes to have certain expectations about the characters and plot, or the sequence of events in the story. The author can then create moments of surprise or suspense by moving away from what readers expect and providing readers with the unexpected.

Web Resources
Elements of the Short Story
http://staff.fcps.net/tcarr/shortstory/plot1.htm
This website gives a brief outline of the elements the short story that also includes on-line creative writing activities and exercises for beginner writers.

Paul Clifford
http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/clifford.htm
This website directs students to the first chapter of Paul Clifford, a 19th century book by Baron Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Although many people consider him to be a second-rate novelist, he still gives examples of creating suspense through setting description.

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Part 2: Making Choices

Overview
In the short stories in Part 2, the choices that the characters make reveal to the reader something about who they are or who they desire to be. Sometimes difficult circumstances lead characters to make hard choices in which they must make great sacrifices for the benefit of others. Other times, selfish motives compel characters to make bad choices that result in dangerous or tragic situations. Whether influenced by circumstance, personal desire, or both, the choices that characters make also have the power to change them. One way in which authors develop their main characters is to show how they learn important life lessons from their mistakes.

Readers can trace a character’s development by following the different kinds of choices that he or she makes throughout the story. Despite opportunities to make better choices, static characters typically do not learn from their mistakes and, therefore, do not change. In contrast, dynamic characters usually experience growth, renewal, and change in the course of a story. Understanding character development contributes to the readers' understanding of the story’s theme, or the main message about life.

Web Resources
Character and Characterization
http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/LTCharacter.html
This website provides information about creating characters in short stories.

Elements of the Short Story
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1983/3/83.03.09.x.html
This Web site contains information about the elements of short stories.

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Part 3: Life Transitions

Overview
The transition from childhood to adulthood is a difficult and often emotionally intense period in a person’s life. There are many changes that he or she must cope with in a short period of time. In addition, there is also the challenge of taking up new roles and responsibilities within one's family and community. Sometimes the sudden pressure to behave more like an adult produces feelings of nostalgia for bygone days of youth and innocence.

In the short stories in Part 3, the characters struggle to deal with the changes that take place within themselves and in their environment. In some cases, the short story might be told from a first-person point of view in which the narrator is a character in the story. In other cases, the story might be told from a third-person omniscient point of view in which the narrator knows everything about the characters and events. Depending upon the author's tone, or attitude about the subject matter, the stories can portray a nostalgic or cynical outlook on the initiation into the stage of adulthood or into another stage of maturity.

Web Resources
What Makes a Good Short Story?
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/literature/index.html
This Web site highlights the elements of short story.

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