What are the most important aspects of short story writing? What makes a short story special to read is the way a short story is written. Short story writing has important aspects to it, the most important I believe are: using literary techniques, such as imagery or heightened language, the universal level to the story, and a quote by Edgar Allen Poe that says, “...[a short story] must strive to achieve a single effect.” To prove these aspects are important, I will be using these stories in close reference: The Ant-Lion by Judith Wright, The Monkey 's Paw by W.W Jacobs, The Sitting by H.E Francis, and lastly The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. A short story writer must think of how the story is to be told, what effect it must have on
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Imagery, is a literary technique that creates an image for the reader by using figurative language. In The Ant Lion by Judith Wright, a story about two kids watching on as ants battle to their death, Wright shows us the setting of the story, “The hot shadows of the tree above moved across and across; the cicadas filled the afternoon with their monotonous shrill.” Imagery, here, describes how time passes and the sun sets slowly in the summer afternoon. Also she uses “monotonous shrill” to describe the sound of cicadas’ chirps ringing through the afternoon air. Another literary technique used in short story writing, heightening, is used when the story gets intense. Heightened language consists of short sentences that quickly follow after each other, allowing the reader to read quicker and faster, resulting in built up suspension. In The Monkey’s Paw by W.W Jacobs, a story of a magic monkey paw that supposedly can grant wishes was given to the White family by a sergeant. At this point in the story, after a wish …show more content…
The universal level is what the story and author is trying to tell us about, or in some cases the moral or theme; this is one of the important aspects. In each short story studied, there is a hidden or not hidden meaning to it. One story that is a great example is The Sitting by H.E Francis, a story of a man and woman sitting on the front door steps of a man’s house and didn’t move. In this story many different theories can be discussed, of how or what the author is trying to get to us, one for example is: the man and woman were sitting there in protest, they strongly believed in something and they wouldn’t stand down for it. After they continued to stay strong, even when the city threatened to take them down, soon people could see what was actually happening, and that’s why in the end of the story people followed the man and woman and sat in their own protest. Francis has left the story open-ended, meaning that he never clearly tells us the true meaning of the story. The story is telling us a tale of something that happened, and it depends on the reader to what they believe the story portrays. Lastly, a quote by Edgar Allen Poe that sums up short story writing in
Imagery, is a literary technique that creates an image for the reader by using figurative language. In The Ant Lion by Judith Wright, a story about two kids watching on as ants battle to their death, Wright shows us the setting of the story, “The hot shadows of the tree above moved across and across; the cicadas filled the afternoon with their monotonous shrill.” Imagery, here, describes how time passes and the sun sets slowly in the summer afternoon. Also she uses “monotonous shrill” to describe the sound of cicadas’ chirps ringing through the afternoon air. Another literary technique used in short story writing, heightening, is used when the story gets intense. Heightened language consists of short sentences that quickly follow after each other, allowing the reader to read quicker and faster, resulting in built up suspension. In The Monkey’s Paw by W.W Jacobs, a story of a magic monkey paw that supposedly can grant wishes was given to the White family by a sergeant. At this point in the story, after a wish …show more content…
The universal level is what the story and author is trying to tell us about, or in some cases the moral or theme; this is one of the important aspects. In each short story studied, there is a hidden or not hidden meaning to it. One story that is a great example is The Sitting by H.E Francis, a story of a man and woman sitting on the front door steps of a man’s house and didn’t move. In this story many different theories can be discussed, of how or what the author is trying to get to us, one for example is: the man and woman were sitting there in protest, they strongly believed in something and they wouldn’t stand down for it. After they continued to stay strong, even when the city threatened to take them down, soon people could see what was actually happening, and that’s why in the end of the story people followed the man and woman and sat in their own protest. Francis has left the story open-ended, meaning that he never clearly tells us the true meaning of the story. The story is telling us a tale of something that happened, and it depends on the reader to what they believe the story portrays. Lastly, a quote by Edgar Allen Poe that sums up short story writing in