Hey everybody my name is Kelsey and this is introduction to short stories
what would you do if someone showed up at your door with a magical trinket that could grant you
three wishes? would you accept the token or turn it away? or what if you borrowed something really
expensive from a friend of yours and then you lost it would you tell them the truth or replace
the item and simply hope they don't notice? would you rather spend the rest of your life watching
the person you love be with somebody else or never see them again? these are just some of
the dilemmas the characters in our stories will be facing in this first unit of study we'll be
reading short stories that force us to confront some of life's most difficult questions like what
does justice truly look like? and is it ever okay to seek revenge when somebody has wronged you?
how can you tell if a person is trustworthy? and when is it okay to betray someone's trust?
what should you eat for breakfast in the morning? okay maybe not that last one but you get the point
in this video we'll learn more about the authors stories and skills that we'll be
engaging with in this unit as well as going over the fundamentals of a short story so let's dive in
what is a short story? a short story can be defined as any piece of prose fiction that can be
read in just one sitting typically short stories focus only on one incident or a series of events
that are very closely linked you're probably already familiar with many types and examples
of short stories such as legends like the story of king arthur and his knights of the round table
myths like the stories of the greek gods and goddesses folk tales such as jack
and the beanstalk i'm pretty sure there's a very important life lesson about vegetables in that one
fairy tales like aladdin and fables which are basically moral stories in which all of the
characters are animals throughout history short stories have been used for ideological purposes to
explain how something came to be for entertainment purposes and for moral purposes to teach a lesson
short stories in their more modern form gained traction in the mid-19th century
with the growth of print magazines and journals a strong demand emerged for short fiction to publish
in order to entertain the public although short stories have changed drastically over
the course of their history there are certain common elements that all short stories share
all short stories have a plot or a series of main events that make up the story
in addition they all have a setting a time period and location in which they take place
and they all have characters lastly all short stories need conflict in order to entertain
the reader and develop the action of the story these four elements typically are
used by authors to develop a theme or central lesson that can be learned from their story
a theme can range from a really simple moral like telling the truth is best in the long run to more
complex messages about the world or society like sometimes we are faced with impossible decisions
in addition to those common story elements authors choose to incorporate other literary devices into
their stories as well such as figurative language sensory details diction irony foreshadowing
flashbacks and point of view these devices can be used to engage or entertain the reader,
to create a certain mood for the reader or just to build tension and excitement in the story
this unit includes short stories from some of the earliest and most famous practitioners of
the short story like edgar allan poe and guy de maupassant it also includes authors famous
for their trick endings and plot twists such as ambrose bierce and saki authors known for
their cliffhangers endings that will leave you guessing such as frank r stockton and W.W. jacobs
and even an author that served as a pioneer of her time susan glaspell one of the first
modern feminist writers we'll read two stories by edgar allan poe the telltale heart and the
cask of amontillado both stories of murder that will leave you wondering is the narrator a madman
or a genius? in the monkey's paw by W.W. jacobs a family is gifted a magical token that will
grant them three wishes but when they make their first wish it comes at a terrible price
in frank r stockton's the lady or the tiger a barbaric king implements a
justice system in which all those accused of a crime must choose between two doors
behind door number one is a lady awaiting marriage but behind the other is a tiger waiting to pounce
and in susan glaspells a jury of her peers two women take justice
into their own hands after finding out the truth behind a deadly crime
these stories are just a few of many that we'll explore over the course of this unit
as we focus on skills like close reading analyzing an author's theme composing a strong paragraph and
using context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words you'll even get a chance to try your
hand at narrative writing as you create your own alternate ending to one of our stories we'll also
practice comma usage because it really wouldn't be an english class without somebody correcting
your grammar right the stories we'll read in this unit are stacked with important details
clues and messages about what will happen next so pay close attention so you don't miss a available