Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story

Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story







Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story
Sheena Stackhouse
ENG125
Professor Mills
November 25, 2013











Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story
In chapter 7 the theme of the short story is the most important element and writer depend on to express the meaning of a story .A theme is an idea associated with lies behind literary work, in a story it’s a representation of ideas behind the story. Themes are clearly expressed directly but writers may prefer to use an indirect approach and choose if they want to include hints about its meaning throughout the story. Themes need to be deducing information or conclude information. Some hints are in the title or even in the names of characters. Sometimes when I look at the plot I want to know how other elements contribute to the theme. Other elements include tone, character, point of view, and symbolism. Themes are brought to life by a good story through character and actions.
Short story I chose to do was "used to live here once" by Jean Rhys. The first element I chose to do was plot. The plot let you know about this woman who is taken a walk that she has done before but now things have changed from the last time she was there. Example of plot the author uses is "the road was much wider than it used to be but the work had been done carelessly, or the felled trees had not been cleared away and the brushes looked trampled." (Clugston, 2010) As she kept walking she found the house she once lived in and noticed it changed as well. The summer house she called mock no longer existed and the house had a car in the front yard. Looking at this car was strange to her because this let me know, when she was living there were no cars around. As she approaches the yard she sees two young children a girl and boy playing. She tells them hello to her surprise the children didn't say anything back. So, she decided to walk a little closer and...