Theory

Fiction - literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describes imaginary events
and people. It may be based on a true story or situation. Types of literature in the fiction
genre include the novel, short story, and novella.

Short story - a story with a fully developed theme but significantly shorter and less
elaborate than a novel. The definition of a short story is a piece of fiction that has a limited
number of words, only a few characters, and one theme.

Novel - An invented prose narrative of considerable length and a certain complexity that
deals imaginatively with human experience, usually through a connected sequence of events
involving a group of persons in a specific setting.

Oral narrative - An oral narrative is a spoken story. Oral narratives are the stories people
tell. When you read these stories they sound like someone is speaking. They sound like
storytellers. Some oral narratives are changed when they are written down. There are
different categories of oral narratives, for example; Myths, Legends, Ogre or monster stories,
Trickster stories, Etiological Narratives, Dilemmas stories, Fables, Spirit tales, Allegory.

Tale - A tale is a comparatively simple narrative, either fictitious or true, written or recounted
orally in prose. A tale often recounts a strange event, focusing on something or someone
exotic, marvelous, or even supernatural. Tales may be attributed to a particular author,
whether known or anonymous, or may simply be part of the lore of a given culture. Whatever
their origin, tales tend to be relatively shorter narratives. The tale places more emphasis on
actions and results than on character.

Fable - Fables are fictional stories with specific moral lessons that are imparted to the
reader. Fables can be either prose or poetry as long as they teach a lesson. Most of the
time, fables use animals as characters, and sometimes objects like household items that
come to life and/or parts of nature can be used as characters as well. Regardless of what
kinds of things are used as main characters, they are given anthropomorphic qualities to
make them think and act like humans, and lessons are revealed at the end aiming to teach
readers something about life.

Climax - The point at which the highest level of interest and emotional response is achieved.
In the structure of a play the climax, or crisis, is the decisive moment, or turning point, at
which the rising action of the play is reversed to falling action

Flashback - In fiction, a flashback is a scene that takes place before a story begins.
Flashbacks interrupt the chronological order of the main narrative to take a reader back in
time to the past events in a character's life. Flashbacks in literature are all about discovering
a character's past to help build the story.

Incident - The inciting incident of a story is the event that sets the main character or
characters on the journey that will occupy them throughout the narrative. Typically, this
incident will upset the balance within the main character's world. The inciting incident is an
episode, plot point, or event that hooks the reader into the story. This particular moment is
when an event thrusts the protagonist into the main action of the story.

Plot - The plot describes the events and their significance as the story unfolds. There are
five different parts to the plot: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
The plot is the sequence of events where each affects the next one through the principle of
cause-and-effect. The causal events of a plot can be thought of as a series of events linked.

Character - A character is a person, or other being in a narrative. Writers use characters to

perform the actions and speak dialogue, moving the story along a plotline. The character
may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person.

Crisis - Crisis means decision or dilemma. In a story, it's the do-or-die moment, that last
chance where the protagonist must gather all their strength, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and
courage in one final effort to defeat the opposing forces guarding the prize. Refers to the
single point at which the protagonist's fortunes change decisively for the better or the worse.

Turning point - A turning point is a moment in a story when a major narrative shift takes
place and the rest of the story will be different.

Setting - The location and time frame in which the action of a narrative takes place. Usually
introduced during the exposition (beginning) of the story, along with the characters. The
setting may also include the environment of the story, which can be made up of the physical
location, climate, weather, or social and cultural surroundings.

Theme - A literary theme is the main idea or underlying meaning a writer explores in a novel,
short story, or other literary work. The theme of a story can be conveyed using characters,
setting, dialogue, plot, or a combination of all of these elements. The term theme can be
defined as the underlying meaning of a story. It is the message the writer is trying to convey
through the story. Often the theme of a story is a broad message about life.

The Six Swans

1. Tell the plot of the tale. Focus on the exposition, climax, and resolution.
2. What makes “The six swans” a tale?
3. Do you find any similarities between this tale and “Snow White”?

1. The plot: While the king is hunting, he gets lost. He asks a woman for directions and
she had one condition to tell him his way back home. He has to marry her daughter.
The old woman turns out to be a witch. The king had nothing to do but to accept her
offer.

He had children from a previous marriage but keeps them secret from his new wife.
They are sent to live somewhere else and he goes to visit them often. His wife finds
out the truth makes some enchanted shirts and goes to their castle. When she goes
there, the six sons of the king run toward her thinking it was his father. She throws
the shirts on them and they are transformed into swans. The little daughter didn’t go
out and she remains in her human form.

She leaves the castle and somewhere in the forest, she falls asleep. The little
princess is awakened by the sound of six swans. They tell their sister the story and
how to break the spell and turn to human again permanently, as currently, they could
take human form for a couple of minutes per day.

She has to break the spell sewing six shirts and never talk or laugh for six years.
After some time another king finds her in the forest and takes her to his castle. He
tries to communicate with the princess, but she remains mute. He marries her and
makes her his queen, having together three children.

His wicked mother distrusts the young queen and slanders that she killed her
children. The king refused to believe, but after the third child is lost, he had no other
choice but to put her at the stake.

She continues to sew the shirts until the last moment. When she is being carried to
the stake, the six swans fly towards her and take their shirts. They all take human
form again, except the youngest one who keeps one wing because his shirt has one
sleeve missing.

The magic was broken and she was able to talk again and explain herself. They
found the children hidden by the old queen and she was punished. The king, the
young queen ad her six brothers lived happily forever and after.

The exposition: A king was lost in the forest and agrees to marry the daughter of a
witch after she promised to tell him the way back under this condition. The king
doesn’t tell his new queen about his previous marriage having also six sons and a
daughter. When she finds out the secret, she uses magic spells to turn the six
princes into swans and the princess to never talk nor laugh for six years, unless she
breaks the spell. The only way to save her brothers is by sewing six shirts for them
before the time runs out.

The climax: When the princess is almost burned and punished to death because
she was accused to kill her own children. She manages to finish the shirts in time to
free her brothers and breaks the spell. The princess now can talk, explain and protect
herself from the slanders. (She couldn’t finish in time the last sleeve of the shirt for
her youngest brother, so he was left with a swan wing.)

The resolution: After the magic spell is broken, the queen explains herself and tells
the king everything. The children were found at the place the king’s wicked mother
tried to hide them, and she is punished. The king, the princess, and her six brothers
live in happiness.
2. A tale is a short story that has wonderful events without detailed character-drawing. It
is distinguished by the presence of supernatural events. The six swans tale has the
same specifics, and starts with, ‘Once upon a time.’

3. Yes, I find similarities between these two tales. In the Snow White tale, it is also a
spell to be broken, as the Snow White eats the cursed apple and if the true love
didn’t find her before the time is over, she will die. We also find similarities with seven
dwarfs - six swans, and Snow White - little princess. In the two tales, we have the
presence of the witch, magic spells, kingdom, etc.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

1. Interpret the meaning of the idiom “to cry wolf.”

2. The moral in this fable is stated clearly. Say it and discuss it.
3. Discuss other fables you know and try to identify the moral in them.

1. To call for help when it’s not needed, with the effect that the person is not believed
when really does need help.

2. The moral of the story is, 'If you tell lies, people won't believe you when you tell the
truth.”

3. Choose one of these three fables, not all of them.

The lion and the mouse. A lion catches a mouse, who begs to be let go. The mouse
promises to repay the lion in exchange for his life. The lion agrees and lets the
mouse go. A few days later, the mouse comes upon the lion trapped in a hunter’s
net, and, remembering the lion’s mercy, gnaws on the rope until the lion is free. The
moral of the story is: “A kindness is never wasted.”

The tortoise and the hare. The tortoise and the hare enter a footrace. The hare
jeers at the tortoise, remarking how naturally he is so much faster than the slow
tortoise. During the race, the hare takes several long breaks and wastes time
relaxing between quick sprints. Meanwhile, the tortoise chugs steadily along. In the
end, the tortoise wins. The moral of the story is: “Slow and steady wins the race.”

The fox and the crow. A hungry fox comes upon a crow up in a tree with a bit of
cheese in its mouth. The fox begins to talk to the crow, telling her she is so beautiful
and must have a beautiful voice to match. At first, the crow stays silent, holding on to
her cheese. But at last, after much flattery, she opens her mouth to crow. The cheese
falls into the fox’s mouth. The moral of the story is: “The flatterer lives at the expense
of those who will listen to him.”
 The Tell-Tale Heart

1. Discuss the point of view used in this short story. Can it be the most appropriate point
of view a writer could use in the case of this short story? Why? Could any other point
of view be more effective?
2. Is the narrator a mad man or a criminal? Make the difference and support your
answer by referring to different passages in the short story. Focus on its first
paragraph. Note the times he uses the word mad. Is his consciousness calling him?
3. Elaborate on the title of the story. Why has Edgar Allen Poe chosen such a title for
this short story?
4. Even though the story is told retrospectively, there is tension in the end, the
protagonist is anxious and it seems like everything is happening at the present. Why
is it effective in this case?

1. The point of view used in this short story is in the first-person perspective. I think this
is the appropriate point of view the writer could use in this type of short story because
it gives readers an intimate view of the characters and a front-row seat to the action.
It makes the reader feel what is happening and experience step by step each detail.

2. Here you can give your own opinion whether he is a mad man or a criminal. Since
the first sentence he says, “why will you say that I am mad?” He is trying to ‘protect’
himself from the judgment of the reader and to object in advance if the reader has
such an opinion about him. Here you can give your own opinion whether is his
consciousness calling him or not.

3. The title refers to the beating of the old man’s heart, so his heart tells the tale and the
truth. But the title can look deeper and refer to the narrator’s heart because it was
him who revealed everything, it was his heart that revealed the truth.

4. There is tension in the end by using elements of madness, fear to be discovered, fear
to be named mad, etc. The first-person perspective also builds tension, as much as
the narrator believes that the heart of the person he killed is haunting him and is
making noises.

An Angel In Disguise

1. Analyze the characters in this story. Focus on the protagonist of this short story,
Maggie. Is she the Angel in disguise?
2. Is the title of the short story symbolic?
3. What is the main theme of this short story?
4. Give the meaning of the following metaphors in the story: white face, vice, and
intemperance had done their work; her voice struck a chord that quivered in a low
 strain of music; pity took the place of anger; sad eyes and patient face touched many
hearts; soft feeling crept into her heart. What is the metaphor used for?
5. Identify the exposition, climax, and resolution in “An Angel in Disguise.”

1. Yes, Maggie is an Angel in disguise. She was sick, miserable and after Joe
Thompson took her to his home as an angel in disguise, she filled the life of Joe and
Jane with love and was an angel in disguise for their family.
2. Yes, the title of the story is symbolic. When the girl was unattended after her mother’s
death and was in a sad state, Joe Thompson reached out to her as an angel in
disguise, took her to his home, and gave her a completely new life.
3. The main theme of the story is that people can change and can get emotionally
attached to others. It depicts love, kindness, and human feelings.
4. These metaphors can be explained in your own opinion and what you think best fits
them.
5. The exposition, In a small village a terrible woman dies from intoxication right in
front of her three children. Even though everyone hated her, they felt pity. Her two
children were adopted the next day. Her third child, Maggie was sick for a long time
and nobody wanted her. The climax is when the villagers started to argue. They all
got up to leave, but Mr. Thompson stayed to take Maggie with him. The resolution is
the last part when Mr. Thompson's wife finally gave into not having Maggie around
and finally started to take care of her.