Short Story Literary Terms
Fill in the blanks . Include a quote or an example from the story inside the box.
Journey By Night
The Sniper
Literary Term
Point of View
Character –
Round or Flat AND
Static or Dynamic
Limited Omniscient – The
author writes in third person
using “he” and “the sniper”.
The author writes about the
character's emotions, feeling,
and thoughts. The author only
writes and knows about the
feelings of the main character.
Round – The character has
many different traits. He is
described as ascetic, self
disciplined, curios, smart,
cognizant of the effects of
war.
Static – The character does
not change. He does show
frustration at the point when
he throws his gun on the
ground and is cursing but he
does not change. At the end of
the story he is still a Sniper
Penny in the Dust
First Person – The writing is
from Peter's perspective. The
flashback is in Peter's head
but he is recalling it as a first
person account.
The father is a good example
of a Round character. He is
described as strong,
dependable, but also
inarticulate, awkward, and hard
to get close to.
The father can be described
as Static. Although he does
not overtly tell Peter that he
loves him, his actions show
that he does consistently
throughout the story.
Peter is also Round. He is
fanciful, imaginative, and
crazy.
Theme
The theme of this story is
War. War reduces humans to
mere objects. War has no
boundaries. The sniper kills a
defensless old woman. The
sniper kills his own brother.
Conflict
Human vs Human – The fight is
a sniper against another
sniper.
Human vs Self – The sniper is
wrestling with his own
thoughts about War.
Human vs Society – The sniper
is confronted with the reality
of war. He is battling the
concepts and ideas that this
society of war represent.
Setting
Civil War in Dublin in 1922.
The city is beseiged with gun
fire. It takes place on top of a
building in an intersection.
The theme of this story is
parent/child bonding. The
story shows us that bonding
can come in unexpected ways.
Misunderstanding or
embarrasment can lead to
bigger problems.
The conflict in this story is
human vs human. Even though
the father and peter are not
fighting, there is a problem
between them which must be
resolved.
The story is set in the 30's at
the latest. We know this
because in the story the penny
holds a high value. The story is
It is gloomy and dark night.
Ending
Surprise/Unhappy – the ending
is a surprise when the Sniper
turns over the dead body of
his brother. It is unhappy
because of the shock and
realization that he just killed
his family.
Other
foreshadowing,
irony, imagery
Short Story Literary Terms
Fill in the blanks . Include a quote or an example from the story inside the box.
taking place at a funeral home
in the evening. Peter's
memories are flashing back to
his life on a small country
farm.
The ending is happy. The
conflict between the father
and son is resolved. The Father
is finally able to express his
love to Peter by leaving the
penny in his pocket as a kind of
hint to Peter.
There is a lot of imagery in
this story including the
authors description of the
sunny afternoon which
resembled a kitten curling up
on your shoulder.
The penny is a symbol of Peter
and his fathers relationship. It
is also a symbol of a single
happy memory of bonding
which the father wanted to
hold on to for as long as he
lived.
Literary Term
The Veldt
Barney
Point of View
Objective- we only know their
thoughts through their
dialogue and actions
Omniscient – Scientist and
Barney(for the last entry)
Character –
Round or Flat AND
Prot- Flat- ignorant, lazy, nice
Static- worried
Antagonist-round- spoiled, evil,
smart,
Static- always evil
Does the character GROW in
the story
Evolved technology can ruin
lives
Kids are amoral
Don’t spoil your kids
Scientist – Flat and Static
Barney – Flat and Static
This is not a character driven
story. There is very little
change in the characters
Static or Dynamic
Theme
Conflict
human vs. human- parents vs.
kids
human vs. society
 Little things can be
superior to bigger
things
 Do not underestimate
the power of small
things or beings
 Scientific testing can go
wrong
 Humans are egotistical
Human vs Environment (Barney
is the environment)
Just Lather…
Setting
Future America
Happylife House
The Veldt in the Nursery
It is a deserted island. We
dont know the time period.
It is a testing facility and
there are top secret tests
going on.
Ending
Surprise- children kill the
parents
Unhappy-
Surprise ending: We do not
expect the rat to be a
murderer!
Other
foreshadowing,
irony, imagery
Foreshadowing- Peter
threatens, chewed up wallet
and scarf, screams
Imagery- vivid descriptions of
Africa
The irony of the story is that
we do expect the rat to be a
murderer. We are the humans,
the boss and the dominant
species. We expect the rat to
be submissive, vulnerable and
weak. The scientist has made
the rat so smart (in the name
of science) that the rat wins
against the humans.
There is foreshadowing of the
scientists death as well
including him talking about his
“final descent”, “bringing the
journal up to date”, and “he is
prepared to be down there for
a long time”