Notes on blackboard No biographical stuff about authors on midterm possible extra credit though Multiple choice and short answer Notes from Class 1 What is flash fiction a A short story that is 1000 words or less b A subcategory of short story c Example Continuity of Parks by Julio Cortazar 2 What is a short story a A complete story by itself b Does not exceed 15000 words 3 Edgar Allen Poe said that a short story should be something that can be read in one sitting 4 Does Poe think that short stories are better or worse than novels a Better He thinks short stories are the best type of fiction b Because with a novel you pick it up and put it down the process of reading is interrupted 5 Circular stories a An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge i Majority of story is in his hanged ii He is about to be hanged and then he is hanged b Continuity of Parks i Harder to argue because it is more spiral c Start and end in the same spot 6 Freytag s Pyramid a Exposition b Rising action c Climax d Falling action e Denouement 7 Fall of the House of Usher a Interpreted in two ways i That the actual house falls ii The character Roderick s mind also falls iii The end of the family lineage b Something you notice on the house i The fissure or crack 1 2 Important because at the end of the story the house splits down on the crack If you associate the house with Roderick when the house splits maybe his mind splits also because he dies at the end c Example of a Gothic story i Roderick buries his twin sister Madeline while she is alive but it is unknown at the time whether she is dead or alive 8 Characteristics of the Gothic a Mood of decay b Obsession with darkness c Obsession with death d Obsession with defining the line between life and death e Ancient setting over decorated setting f Supernatural occurrences 9 Unreliable narrator a A narrator who we have a reason to be skeptical about b A narrator who has done something for us to doubt or not trust them c Contradictory information d Narrator might not give you all the information when you know as a reader there i Clearly mentally unstable ii Using drugs or something to alter state of mind is more information e Narrator is unreliable f Examples i Yellow Wallpaper they are ii Mark on the Wall 1 Narrator is being prescribed drugs but we do not know what drugs 1 Narrator continuously says I think cannot perfectly remember the events that happened iii The Fall of the House of Usher 1 We have no clue who the Narrator actually is 2 All these supernatural events occur but we do not know if they are actually true 3 Reference to opium 10 First Modern Detective Story a The Murders in the Rue Morgue 11 Nightfall a The religious group The Cultists i Their holy text The Book of Revelations b When the story begins there is a huge eclipse c Defamiliarization i The planet Lagash has always had light because they have 6 suns therefore there is never darkness except for when the eclipse occurs ii Darkness is a huge deal for them because they have never experienced it before and it really scares the people on the planet i When a familiar object is described in a way that makes it unfamiliar ii Technique associated with Modernism iii A familiar object no longer seems like an object that is familiar iv In Nightfall an example of this is darkness 1 The people of this planet are not familiar with darkness but we are very familiar with it 12 Continuity of Parks a Can be circular or spiral structure b What the title means i What is real and what is fictional ii Continuity can mean that what is real and what is fictional come together iii The park could be the big woods that surrounds the estate and the cabin iv Another way is if you interpret the story with the spiral structure continuity can mean that the story just continues to happen with no clear resolution 13 The Bloody Chamber a What is it that the narrator finds in the room that she is not supposed to enter i A room full of women that the Marquis has murdered which are his old wives ii There is fresh blood on the floor iii Torture devices an iron maiden b Narrator s punishment that she is supposed to receive i She is supposed to be beheaded for going into the room 1 Her mother comes in and saves the day c The Marquis is somewhat defeated i He is not really a flat character ii He seems like a stereotypical flat character but then he feels sadness that 14 Flat Character vs Round Character his wife has chosen to disobey him a Flat character one dimensional unchanging simple most common in fairytales i A villain is just a villain a hero is just a hero b Round character complex likely going to develop in someway throughout the story seems like a real human being i More or less the opposite of a flat character a Magical abnormal things happen and the characters interpret the events as being 15 Magical Realism normal b Has a realistic setting going to take place is realistic c Examples i The Prophet s Hair 1 Takes places in reality based off a true story making it even more realistic ii Continuity of Parks iii The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World easiest most famous example 16 Sonny s Blues a Sonny is addicted to heroin i He says he needs heroin to play music ii Ironically staying out of jail because of his heroin use which originally got him into jail because now he is using it to play music b What happens at the end of the story i Narrator goes to the jazz concert with his brother Sonny and he finally understands Sonny s interests and begins to accept him ii Maybe it isn t actually a happy ending because narrator gives Sonny alcohol which is addictive 1 He might be introducing yet another possible drug addiction iii Ending is actually just a stepping stone not a complete resolution 17 The Mark on the Wall a What movement would best characterize this story i Modernism b What technique does this story use i Stream of Consciousness technique c How is this technique defined i Non linear ii Represents human thought on a page iii Jumping from one thing to another to another etc d What does the mark on the wall end up being i A snail e Who figures out that the mark is a snail i A male character 18 The Lady with a Dog a What kind of story is this In terms of movement i Realism 1 This could happen in reality very easily b What is the significance of the color grey i …