Authors do a variety of things to make their stories more interesting to read, and in order to fully appreciate some of these techniques, we’ll need to
- read a few stories.
- start noticing and analyzing the techniques they use.
Some of the techniques we’ll be examining:
- Description: (of both settings AND characters)
- Action: Is it chronological? How does the author move from one scene to another? Are there gaps in time and/or flashbacks?
- Dialogue: How does the author use it to build characters’ personalities?
- Other methods of characterization, like character reflection
For each topic below, you’ll be asked to analyze a story. You’ll have to identify the techniques above and explain why (or why not) the author used the technique(s) well. Be ready to do some reading and some thinking as we explore how short stories (narratives) are built!