ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Literary Topics Videos 221 videos
Dr. Seuss was a failure to start, but he soon learned to follow his heart. He wrote books about things that he knew, and soon enough, his book sale...
Sure, Edgar Allan Poe was dark and moody and filled with teenage angst, but what else does he have in common with the Twilight series?
Emily Dickinson was a New England poet/hermit with a fascination with death and immortality. She wrote over 1000 poems in her lifetime, most of the...
How to Read Short Stories 2254 Views
Share It!
Description:
Short stories are really the best of both worlds: short enough to hold your attention but long enough to be meaningful—but only if you read them well. This video explains how to read a short story, pointing out key elements to look for like characters, allusions, and point of view.
Transcript
- 00:00
Thank you We sneak How to read short stories allah
- 00:06
shmoop one thing to remember about chart stories is that
- 00:09
they're short Hey come on we're guessing it won't take
- 00:13
much for that fact that stick in your mind Give
- 00:15
me a hand here What's cool about the shortness of
Full Transcript
- 00:18
short stories is that usually we have time to read
- 00:20
them more than once So if we're cramming right before
- 00:26
class we skip our favorite step in short story reading
- 00:28
process which is reading for pleasure Yes reading doesn't have
- 00:33
to be painful Don't make me could you So believe
- 00:36
it or not most short stories were assigned to read
- 00:39
Are pretty awesome So we let the story flow over
- 00:43
us enjoying whatever it's parked in our minds after the
- 00:47
initial read we jot down our overall impressions we ask
- 00:51
ourselves stuff like what moments where most poignant in our
- 00:53
brain what characters did we love or hate And why
- 00:58
after we've sketched our general impressions it's time to dive
- 01:01
back in when we read this story for a second
- 01:04
time we dig into the details this time we take
- 01:07
notes as we go along making sure to write down
- 01:09
the page numbers but what are we taking notes on
- 01:12
exactly you know the major elements of literature and junk
- 01:15
like that Well first there are characters or the people
- 01:18
in the story One important thing to note who is
- 01:22
the protagonist or main character in the story Well there's
- 01:26
usually easy to figure out because the author shines the
- 01:28
spotlight on this person the whole time Another important thing
- 01:31
to note is the setting for the time and place
- 01:34
in which the story occurs Time and place could definitely
- 01:37
make a big difference in terms of context if a
- 01:40
character walks into his yard in a pair of short
- 01:42
shorts these days Nobody would freak out about it at
- 01:45
all looking good bob but if he did the same
- 01:48
thing in uber conservative victorian england well people would flip
- 01:51
out so type of language the author uses is also
- 01:56
a big is the text loaded with flowery figurative like
- 02:00
similes and metaphors Is there a ton of imagery to
- 02:04
titillate our senses Are there allusions references to other literary
- 02:08
works Point of view is also a major element in
- 02:11
any story from which characters perspective rehearing things Is that
- 02:15
the protagonists or somebody else's whose head are we inside
- 02:19
or isn't told from another point of view lycan on
- 02:21
mission voice through which we can see into every character
- 02:24
brain after we're done with our second read we like
- 02:27
to write down the big themes that stuck out to
- 02:29
us We ask ourselves what universal statements does the story
- 02:34
get across love conquers all Love is doomed to fail
- 02:39
Love is love in the end it's up to us
- 02:42
to look through our notes research one other critics have
- 02:44
said about this story it's okay good and then form
- 02:48
some ideas of our own and even on the so
- 02:51
so days well we've had a chance to really get
- 02:53
to know a cool story which is nothing to sneeze 00:02:55.068 --> [endTime] at Good Don't make me cut you
Related Videos
When you're about to marry the love of your life, not many things could stop you. However, finding out that your future hubby is keeping his crazy...
Here at Shmoop, we work for kids, not just the bottom line. Founded by David Siminoff and his wife Ellen Siminoff, Shmoop was originally conceived...
ACT Math: Elementary Algebra Drill 4, Problem 5. What is the solution to the problem shown?
AP® English Literature and Composition Passage Drill 1, Problem 1. Which literary device is used in lines 31 to 37?
AP® English Literature and Composition Passage Drill 2, Problem 1. What claim does Bacon make that contradicts the maxim "Whatsoever is delig...