British and American Literature

Huỳnh Thanh Quang

Ht.quang@hutech.edu.vn
 Google
Classroom

m6ylrbc
 Course Outline

Week Lesson

Course introduction
1a
– Elements of fiction

1b Figurative language

Presentation 1
2a
Poem 1: When I was one and twenty
Presentation 2 (Games + Review)
2b
Classwork
Presentation 3
3a
Short story 1: Flight
Presentation 4 (Games + Review)
3b
Classwork

4a REVISION

4b Midterm test 1
 Course Outline

Week Lesson
Presentation 5
5a
Poem 2: The road not taken
Presentation 6 (Games + Review)
5b
Classwork
Presentation 7
6a
Short story 2: The story of an hour
Presentation 8 (Games + Review)
6b
Classwork
7a Revision

7b Midterm 2

8a Review
 Course Assessment

Score Type of assessment Weight

Attendance check
1 10%
(7:05 a.m OR 9:35 a.m)

Group presentation
2 20%
(20 minutes)

Scores 3a, 3b 2 Midterm tests 35%

4 Bonuses <In class + GG Classroom> -

Final score
Fictions

WHAT
IS
FICTION?
 Fiction
 Fiction can have

Fiction = some true facts,
events, or people
“make believe” though
or
“not true”
stories
~Five characteristics~
1. Imaginary

2. Non-
5. Prose
dramatic

4. 3.
Descriptive Narrative
~ Types of Fiction ~
(length-based)
1. NOVEL
2. NOVELLA
3. SHORT STORIES
 ~ Short Story ~

Fairy Tales & Fantasy Fables

 ~ Short Story ~

Folklore Myths & Legends

Short stories
 A short fictional narrative which aims
to achieve a single effect.

 A short story should:

 Short enough to be read at one sitting

 2-3 pages long

 15 minutes
 ~ Fictions terms ~
 Setting
 Characters
 Plot
1.Exposition
2. Conflict
3. Climax
4. Resolution
Theme
 1. Setting
The
TIME
and
PLACE
of the story
(The “When” & “Where” of the Story)
 1. Setting
Long Ago Today In the Future

 Stories don’t always directly tell us their time period

 Sometimes we must figure it out from “clues” / descriptions
in the story such as the style of clothing worn, the
activities done, or the technology used by the characters.
Setting is also the “place” of the story
Stories can have more than one setting
 2. Characters
The
PEOPLE,
ANIMALS,
OR
THINGS
the story is about (The “Who” of the Story)
 2a. Characters (Personality, Attitude
, & Thoughts)

1. Flat character
(Static): simple,
unchanged
2. Round character
(Dynamic) :
complex,
changing
“The Buddha”
 2b. Characters (Ideology)

1. Protagonist
2. Antagonist

“Cám”
An author can make “make believe”
characters seem believable by . . .

1. DESCRIBING THEM WELL

2. LETTING THE READER “HEAR” THE

CHARACTERS SPEAK TO EACH OTHER WITH
DIALOGUE
3. “SHOWING” CHARACTERS’ ACTIONS IN
WAYS READERS CAN RELATE TO OR THAT
MAKE SENSE FOR THE SITUATION
4. LETTING THE READER KNOW THE
CHARACTERS’ THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS
Plot
 The storyline
or series of
events that make
up the story
The
“What Happened?”
of the Story
Plot – Closed / Open
 The plot of a story
is where the
reader learns what
is happening and in

what order:
 First . . .
 Then . . .
 Next . . .
 Finally . . .
 Exposition

Events or
actions that
establish the
conflicts
 Conflict

A problem or
struggle
the character
must face in
the story
 There are 2 types of
Conflict

Internal: External:
Inside the Character Outside the Character
 Internal Conflict

Internal Conflict

Internal conflicts are thoughts or feelings the

characters struggle with like thinking they are going
to lose a game or feeling worried.
 External Conflict

Conditions or people that are causing problems for the

main character are called
external conflicts.
These problems are happening “outside” of the character.
Do you think this character is having thoughts and feelings right about now?

Conflict
Sometimes there can be
both internal and external
conflict as characters
react with thoughts and
feelings to the problems
occurring “outside” of
themselves.
 Climax

The most
exciting part of
the story –
where the plot was
leading.
Climax
 Climax

The climax suggests how the conflict or

problem in the story will be resolved.
 Resolution

By the
resolution,
or ending of the
story,
we learn how the
conflict is
solved . . . one
way or another.
 Resolution

Resolution =
The end
The End
of
the story
We’re NOT done with our work though . . .
 Theme

The central concept of the

story – a generalization.
(E.g. love, revenge, courage)
 Theme

- NO ONE WAY OF
STATING THE THEME
 Now,
let’s try it
together!

In the story
“Goldilocks and the Three
Bears” . . .
WHAT IS THE
SETTING ?

Time & Place

WHO ARE THE
CHARACTERS ?

Main Characters
 THINK BACK OVER
THE STORY:

WHAT IS THE
PLOT ?

Storyline
Plot
Plot
WHAT IS THE
CONFLICT ?

Problem to Overcome
 ARE THESE
INTERNAL OR
EXTERNAL
CONFLICTS ?

“Inside” the character or “outside”?

WHAT IS THE
RESOLUTION ?

How does the story end?

 THE
RESOLUTION
of our story
and of this presentation !
The End