Short+Stories-+Sabrina,+Lauren,+Wyatt+H,+Jeff

**Short Stories!!!**


Lauren, Sabrina, Wyatt H, Jeff, Amy

1. tell each other what you are reading and why
 * Jeff: //Civil War Stories//, by Ambrose Bierce
 * the civil war was one of america's most famous events and i wanted to know more about it
 * Wyatt: //A Treasury of World War II Stories//, by (editor) Bill Pronzini and Martin H. Greenberg)
 * World war 2 is very interesting to me
 * Sabrina: //Shelf Life//, by Gary Paulsen
 * i like the author, so i was curious of what short stories he would compile
 * Lauren: //The Oxford Book of Animal Stories,// by Dennis Pepper
 * i used to like stories from a long time ago by people from different areas and how they explained the creation of animals and why they are what they are
 * Amy: Facts of Life by Gary Soto
 * i like short stories and this looked interesting because i like books that make you reflect on your own life

2. go through your notes and review what you learned about this genre
 * Master Techniques:
 * characterization, plot structure, imagery, foreshadowing, theme, conflict, effective introduction and conclusion, POV

3. come up with some questions/topics that you want to know more about the genre
 * are there different ways to end (conclusion) a short story than what we learned?
 * what are the most famous short stories of all time
 * do people like short stories that end unresolved or resolved
 * were there any similarities of master techniques between our collections of short stories
 * I hoped to pick a genre where i can dive into the history of the civil war. ( Jeff)

4. How do authors write the beginning of this genre? 5. Answer something you all wanted to know? 6. Identify and discuss two master techniques that you seen in all of your works. Give examples. Why would all authors of this genre use the MT's? 7. Identify and share one master technique from each individual work.
 * First Discussion Day**
 * Introductory chapter by the compiler ( Gary Paulsen) talking about the chosen short stories in the book.
 * Immediately hook and throw you into the conflict
 * Foreshadowing
 * Jeff is realizing that the civil war was more then just a conflict between people, but a conflict between right and wrong. He sees that the short stories in his book are all bloody, and almost unnecessary.
 * In the first short story I read, the conclusion came as a surpise to me as it turned out the whole story he was told by his peer, was made up. The conclusion in this story was one of revenge, and jumped out at me because it was a complete twist. (Sabrina)
 * Imagery
 * //"The men were idling about the embers of their bivouac fires" (Civil War Stories).//
 * //" It was hard to see the car in the red air of the dusk against the black of the cliff, and with the cold wind pouring against my eyes" ( A Treasury of World War II Stories)//
 * //"When snow drifted deep in the fields and frost cracked among the tree tops" (The Oxford Book of Animal Stories)//
 * //"Her body made a sharp spin of surveillance." (Shelf Life)//
 * Characterization
 * //"This guy looks like a German. He even talks like a German" (A Treasury of World War II Stories).//
 * //"The man's eyes were small in his large face, but that was the only thing small about him: He was barrel-chested, with muscle-packed shoulders and huge arms and legs. He stood just a few inches taller than Mickey but much mightier" (Facts of Life).//
 * //"Jerome Searing, a private soldier of General Sherman's army...." (Civil War Stories).//
 * //"And now his skinny, overgrown boys form curled into the wind in a question mark." (Shelf Life)//
 * Because there is such a small amount of information, authors of this genre tend to use characterization and imagery to elaborate on the characters in a small window of time.
 * Foreshadowing
 * Cool Vivid Words
 * Effective conclusions (twists)

1. Answer/research 1 thing you wanted to know about your genre 2. How does the middle of this genre work?
 * Second Discussion Day**
 * do people prefer unresolved or resolved endings in short stories?
 * __19 (50%) resolved__
 * 5 (13%) unresolved
 * 13 (34%) don't have a preference
 * By the middle of the short story, the story picks up the pace (rising action). We all agree that for the most part, the climax is near or at the very end.

3. What master techniques are becoming most important and why? Make sure you have examples.
 * imagery: authors need you to see to show what their "world" is like. It is important so you can tell each short story apart and to make each one unique.
 * foreshadowing: you can get glimpses of what is coming in the story which keeps them moving and you reading. Since short stories are only a few pages, foreshadowing has to be used to keep the readers interest and to keep it moving.
 * cool vivid words: to keep the readers interest and make the stories descriptive and have better imagery to make it more interesting and exciting
 * effective intro/conclusion: if the introduction lacks a hook, then the readers will not bother to read it. if the conclusion is weak, then the readers will not like the story or remember it

1. How do authors end this genre? 2. Research/answer another question. 3. What are the MOST important master techniques? what are examples of these? 4. What are the key differences within the genre as seen between the different works you each read?
 * Third Discussion Day**
 * Unresolved or resolved conclusions (more often resolved)
 * can be the climax for an unresolved story
 * Do characters in short stories show any development, or is it too short for this type of thing to occur?
 * yes in //animal stories//: main characters learn things by the end of the story. The point of each of my stories is to introduce an issue and then talk about what a character does to solve the issue or learn from it. (tortoise and the hare, )
 * Amy says yes...
 * plot structure (effective intro and conclusion), conflict, theme??
 * resolved endings in most of our stories to leave the reader with an answer or conclusion to an event.
 * climax usually near the end
 * theme is overarching topic/idea of each story, usually collected together in one book except for Sabrina's //Shelf Life//
 * Conflict
 * WWII stories: many people vs many people
 * Civil War Stories: people vs people or person vs society
 * Facts of Life: person vs self
 * Shelf Life: a bunch of different conflicts, so all of them
 * Animal Stories: person vs person (except they are animals...) person vs society, person vs nature
 * topic (theme/conflict)
 * resolved or unresolved
 * the # of stories within each book
 * length of the stories
 * if the stories relate to each other in each book (civil war stories and WWII stories and animal stories are all related, but no Shelf Life)

Back to Home