Suspense Short Story Unit

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Suspense Short Story Unit

• Characteristics

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Literary Elements

• Literary Elements such as irony, foreshadowing,
  symbolism, imagery, and even poetic elements such
  as simile, metaphor, and personification are
  often used in short stories.

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What is IRONY?

• Definition in your book the contrast between
  appearance and actuality

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There are different types of IRONY

• Dramatic Irony
• Readers know more about a situation or a
  character in a story than the characters do.

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• Situational Irony
• A contrast between what is expected to happen and
  what actually does happen.

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• Verbal Irony
• Occurs when someone states one thing and means
  another.

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Short Story Techniques

• Foreshadowing
• A writers use of hints or clues to indicate
  events that will occur in a story.

• Symbolism
• Something or someone that has a concrete meaning
  in itself but stands for something beyond itself,
  such as an idea or feeling.

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• Flashback
• A scene that interrupts the action of a story to
  describe events that took place at an earlier
  time.

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Short Story Techniques

• Imagery
• Words or phrases that appeal to any combination
  of the senses.

• Suspense
• The excitement or tension that readers feel as
  they become involved in a story and eagerly await
  the outcome.

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Poetic Devices Used in Short Stories

• Simile
• A figure of speech that makes a comparison
  between two objects using like or as

• Metaphor
• A figure of speech that compares two things that
  have something in common.
• -Does not use like or as

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What are these statements examples of?

• My love is like a red rose.
• My love is a red rose.
• Mr. Harris has thin hair like a bald eagle.
• He is as dumb as a rock.
• Famous quote by Jesus I am the bread of life
• I am the King of Pop

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Poetic Devices Used in Short Stories

• Personification
• A figure of speech in which an object, animal, or
  idea, is given human characteristics.

• Sometimes, other poetic devices might be used in
  short stories such as
• Onomatopoeia
• Repetition
• Etc

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Examples

• The wind whispered in my ear
• The dish ran away with the spoon
• Personification used to add suspense
• Fear danced upon my chest

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Other things to consider

• When reading suspense short stories, one should
  also pay special attention to the use of setting
  and characterization. Suspense writers often use
  setting and the way a character is described to
  add suspense to a story.

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Setting A House (Use of suspense comparison)

• The house on Elm Street had a few broken
  windows and an old door. There was no electricity
  in it so with my fear of the dark, I was weary to
  enter it.

• The moldering manor on Elm Street had jagged
  windows that could stare a hole through you. It
  was so dark and dreary that my heart sat in my
  throat as I walked through the creaky old door.