Submitted by: Submitted by nyakhonethwin
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Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 10/03/2013 04:37 AM
English 101/Seward
Short Story Theory
Theme Theme controlling idea or central insight Moral general term applicable to most of mankind concerning right/wrong behavior 1. These terms are not interchangeable. They both explain human existence and behavior. 2. All interpretive fiction has a theme. 3. Theme exists when the a. author seriously attempts to record life accurately to reveal some truth about it b. author mechanically introduces some concept of life as a unifying element which the story illustrates (weak themes) 4. Explicitly stated theme direct presentation of them 5. Theme must be a declarative statement, not a question or sentence fragment. It must account for all major details in a selection. Avoid trite or cliché expressions since these tend to be vague. 6. Implicitly stated theme: the reader must phrase the theme for himself using the meaning of the story a. Theme may be stated in several ways. b. Several themes may be identifiable in a good story. This indicates depth of the story. c. Pick out what you believe is the main insight, the one that seems to cover most of the events in the story. d. We cannot reject a theme because we do not agree with it. It is still a view of life which we can store in memory to measure our own view of life. e. Moral hinting tends to oversimplify the story and makes a distinct judgement, which may not reflect current morality. f. When stating theme, never use character names or references to the literature; state theme as a generalization, using words such as a person, we, society, people, which can be softened by sometimes, often, most. g. Never use superlatives or terms which do not allow latitude. e.g. all, we must, never, always, etc.
Symbol Arbitrary Symbol: something that has one meaning e.g. numbers, chemical symbols, highway signs etc. Literary Symbol: an object, person, situation or action in a story that ...