1) The elements of fiction include:_____________________________________________________
“He had changed little since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a
rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over
his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate
swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body—he seemed to fill those glistening
boots until he strained the top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder
moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel body.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald,
The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1
2) Example of ___________________________
3) Do you underline or quote the title?
“My wife wants a dog. She already has a baby. The baby’s almost two. My wife says that the baby wants the
dog.
My wife has been wanting a dog for a long time. I have had to be the one to tell her that she couldn’t have
it. but now the baby wants a dog, my wife says. This may be true. The baby is very close to my wife. They
go around together all the time, clutching each other tightly. I ask the baby, who is a girl, “Whose girl are
you? Are you Daddy’s girl?” The baby says, “Momma,” and she doesn’t just say it once, she says it
repeatedly, “Momma momma momma.” I don’t see why I should buy a hundred-dollar dog for that damn
baby.”
4) That was the opening of the story called Chablis by Donald Barthelme from 40 Stories (Do you underline
or quote that?) and describe the main character. Who is the protagonist? Who is the antagonist? Afterwards,
we will compare it to the MTV promo we will watch. Was your first impression of the main character correct?
“I lay there in the grass and cool shade thinking about things and feeling rested and ruther comfortable and
satisfied. I could see the sun out at one or two holes, but mostly it was big trees all about, and gloomy in
there amongst them. There was freckled places on the ground where the light sifted down through the
leaves, and the freckled places swapped about a little, showing there was a little breeze up there. A couple
of squirrels set on a limb and jabbered at me very friendly.”—Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn, Chapter VIII
5) Example of ___________________
6) Explain your answer using an example.
“I unwound his long scarf and helped him out of his coat. As I got him settled in his desk, Mother arrived
with my other brown shoe. I jammed my foot into it with all the children watching.”—Jean Little, Stars Come
out Within
7) Example of ________________
8) What can you infer about the information above? What does it reveal without directly coming out and
stating it?
“Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain's Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true
expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave "civilized" society and revert back to nature.”
9) Example of _____________________________
“It was the first good kiss of my life. her lips tasted like chocolate. When it was over she reached into her hip
pocket and handed me a folded candy-bar wrapper. On the inside she had written her name and telephone
number. She had drawn apig’s face, and from the pig’s mouth, a dialogue buble with the words Don’t forget
about me!
“I won’t,” I said, and I wanted to say more but I was sixteen and dumb, and Maureen got onto her bicycle
and pedaled away.
I drove back to New Jersey with the tape deck silent. I didn’t want to listen to Joe and Mick if Maureen
wasn’t accompanying them on backing vocals. The whole ride to Mahlus was miserable. I wanted it to rain, I
wanted the weather to match my mood, but the sun kept shining and I thought, some day, California.”
10)Example of _____________________ (list 3 elements)
11)In each paragraph below, make annotations and notice that almost every paragraph/section is a
different example of the elements of fiction:
“Alison walked slowly through the park near school. Usually she went to Laura’s house after school let out
but on Fridays Laura had a Girl Scout meeting. She passed a few older boys playing basketball, two women
pushing baby strollers. Bells from the distant clock tower rang out across the park: five o’clock, still too early
to go home.
A leaf fell noiselessly to the path in front of her. the sun broke through the dark edge of the clouds and
illuminated a spiderweb on one of the trees, making it shine like a gate of jewels. A spotted dog, loping
alone down the path, looked and grinned at her as if urging her on. She followed after it.
An old man sat on a bench ahead of her, his eyes closed and his face turned toward the sun.
As Alison walked by the man she saw that his face and hands were pale, almost transparent. At that
moment he opened his eyes and said, “I wonder—could you please tell me the time?”
He had a slight accent, like her parents. She imagined he must be a spy. “Five o’clock,” she said.
“Ah. And the year?” This was too weird; the man had to be crazy. Alison glanced around, acting casual but
at the same time looking for someone to run to if things got out of hand. You weren’t supposed to talk to
strangers, she knew that. her mother told her so all the time.
“It’s 1967,” she said.
She tried to study him without being obvious. She’d been right about his accent; it sounded German, like her
parents’. he had a narrow face and high forehead, with thinning black hair brushed back fro his face. he
wore glasses with John Lennon wire frames—very cool, Alison thought. But other than the glasses, which
he’d probably had forever, there wasn’t anything fashionable about him. He had on a thin black tie, and his
coat was nearly worn through in places.
He pushed back his sleeves. Nothing up my sleeves, Alison thought. Then she saw the numbers tattooed on
his arm, and she looked away. Her parents had numbers like that.”—Lisa Goldstein from the story Alfred in
the short story collection called Traveler’s in magic (Do you underline or quote that?)
12)What do the numbers represent?
13)What is an example of an allusion near the end?
2 paragraphs from essay #1: Why is Setting in fiction writing Important?
by Joyce Henderson
Setting gives framework for the hero and heroine to interact. In a romance, there is the adage: "get em
alone and keep em alone." Setting lets you do that and keep them there. The setting doesn't have to be
romantic. It can be frightening, dangerous, threatening, or new to the characters. And, it doesn't have to
involve physical isolation, but could, for example, include a project on which they must work together, or a
backstory in which both lost their parents at an early age. Setting can provide or add to goal, motivation and
conflict.
Setting creates mood and influences behavior. The setting may be friendly or hostile. The environment may
be empathetic and give us clues to the emotions of the characters. For example, the sky is gray or rain is
falling reflecting the character’s depression. It may even act as irony if the character is being dumped by his
girlfriend but the day is bright and sunny, full of Spring and warmth.
Essay #2: Getting into the Mood of Poe and London
The importance of setting is the psychological time or place in a story. Setting plays an important role in the
success of stories. Three examples of this importance can be explained through “To Build a Fire” by Jack
London and “The Cask of the Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe. The settings used in these stories set the
reader’s mood. A good writer’s depiction of setting puts the reader right into the story.
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London takes place on a trail in the Yukon. This setting is vital to the story because
nature, the cold and the snow become the main character’s worst enemy. Nature is flatly indifferent to
mankind’s survival. The cold will not change because of man nor does it care about human existence. The
temperature in this story is set at a frigid seventy-five degrees below zero. The main character is a man who
is walking a trail by himself trying to make it to a camp near Henderson Creek where other men are staying.
He was warned not to go out into the cold, especially alone, if it is fifty degrees below zero or more. The
man is ignorant to reality. His only companion is a dog who is almost smarter than the man. The dog knows
what he must do to survive and is the only one who succeeds. The man has to build a fire in order to dry his
boot that had gotten wet. At one point in the story, the man wants to gut the dog and put his hands inside
the carcass for warmth. The last fire that the man builds is what kills him. The fire is put out by snow that
has fallen down from a pine tree branch. The man freezes to death. He dies with dignity. Setting is very
important to this story, without it, the reader would not learn of the common ignorant human behavior when
it comes to survival in an indifferent environment. The setting of this story does not regard the man as
important and is unconcerned with his suffering and death. Mankind cannot control nature and our survival
in it. We can heed warnings though and not chance our survival in horrible natural weather conditions.
Setting in “The Cask of the Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe plays an important role with the development of
horror and tension necessary for readers to feel. This story is perfectly set in catacombs with the walls lined
with human remains. The cavern walls are also described to have “white web-work”. Told through firstperson narration by our main character, Montresor, it is a story about revengeful murder. Montresor
deviously leads his “friend” Fortunato through the vaults down the long and winding staircase to the “damp
grounds” of the catacombs of the Montresors. A bottle of wine is opened and Fortunato drinks to “the buried
that repose around us” as the scheming Montresor drinks to his friend’s “long life”. The intense description of
setting in this story is very suspenseful and eerie. Poe describes the men passing “long walls of piled
skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs.” Montresor
buries his friend inside the wall of the catacomb and finally finishes his work around midnight. The last line
of the story is “In pace requiescat” which means “may he rest in peace”. The setting is absolutely necessary
to base this story on. The catacombs of death provide an appropriate setting for the story’s suspense and
inevitable ending. There is situational irony in the fact that the crime takes place during a celebration that
Fortunato’s name means good luck, and that Fortunato is dressed like a jester. What is about to happen is
just the opposite of what you would expect. Just about everything Montresor says is ironic. He says just the
opposite of what he means. He keeps inquiring about Fortunato’s health and says he will not die of a cold.
The greatest use of irony is when Montresor says he is a member of the masons. Fortunato thinks he means
he is of a fellow member of a society when what he really means is that he is a bricklayer about to brick him
in for all eternity. This conversation also provides foreshadowing in the story. This is the first clue the reader
gets about how Montresor will kill Fortunato. The overall mood of the story is one of impending evil. The
ending of the story is filled with suspense. You see Montresor carefully construct each row of stone. At this
point Montresor is fully committed to finishing his horrifying deed even at the desperate pleas from
Fortunato. When the last brick is set in place, we know Fortunato’s fate has been sealed.
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London and “The Cask of the Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe are two good
examples of how setting plays an important role in a story. The setting of a story helps to outline the general
theme. It may even be an important symbol or help develop symbolism. Setting may also able a reader to
relate to hardships or situations. This helps the story to become more powerful. The settings used in the
three stories above were the foundations of success in these works.
14) Every year I pull a paper from the Internet on a topic similar to the requirements. The above two essays
are both Internet buy-it-now papers. They are not “A” papers. Why? What is missing? What would I mark?
15) What is wrong or missing from the conclusion of paper #2?
16)”Sonny and Jane” on pg 594 (RG) is an excellent example of a c&c literary paper done by a student.
17) See pg 144 (RG) for a list of transitions and Ch 20 for sentence variation (RG).
To introduce a list of examples or explanations: after all, as, especially, even, for example,
for instance, for one thing, in fact, in particular, including, indeed, like, notably, of course, one
can see this because , particularly, specifically, such as, the evidence for ... is , the following
example, the reason(s) for ... is (are) , this is supported by, to illustrate
Adding other examples/Similarity: accompanying that, actually, additionally, again, along
with, alternatively, and, and then, as a matter of fact, as well (as this), besides (this), by the
same token, either (neither), equally, equally important, finally, first (second, further,
furthermore, in a like manner, in addition, in fact, in the same vein, in the same way, indeed,
lastly, let alone, likewise, moreover, much less, next, nor, not only (this) but also (that) as well,
not to mention (this), on the other hand, similarly, then too, to say nothing of, too, what's more
List items: after (this), afterward, again, also, and, and so forth, and then, as a final point, at
first, at last, at this point, at this time, before (this), besides, concurrently, eventually, finally,
first, first of all, first...second...third , following this, for a start, furthermore, in the end, initially,
last, last but not least, lastly, moreover, next, now, previously, secondly, simultaneously, soon,
still, subsequently, then, therefore, thus, to begin with, to conclude (with), to start with, too
Contrast: still, yet, above all, admittedly, after all, albeit, all the same, although, although it is
true that, anyway, at any rate, balanced against, be that as it may, besides, but, but even so, by
comparison, by contrast, by way of contrast, compared to, conversely, despite (this), ,either way,
even more, even though, granted that, however, I admit that, in any case, in any event, in
contrast, in either case, in either event, in reality, in spite of (this), indeed, instead, it may
appear that, meanwhile, more importantly, naturally, nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding
(this), of course, on the contrary, on the one hand...on the other hand, once in a while,
regardless (of this), Still, though, up against, vis a vis, whatever happens, when in fact, where,
whereas, whichever happens, while, yet, Paradoxically
Causality: Accordingly, after all, as, As a consequence of x, as a result (of this), because (of the
fact), being that, by this means, consequently, due to (the fact that), Factoring in that x, for, for
the (simple) reason that, for this purpose, for this reason, forasmuch as, Given that x, hence, if
not, if so, in consequence, in many cases, in that, in this way, in view of (the fact), inasmuch as,
It follows from x, knowing this, naturally, of course, otherwise, owing to (the fact), seeing that,
Since [x], so, so much (so) that, so that, Taking into account x, that being the case, then,
therefore, thereupon, thus, to be sure, to this end, under those circumstances, We can see from
x, we can see that y... , with this end, with this in mind, with this object
Conclusion: altogether, as a result, as has been mentioned, as has been noted, as I have said,
as mentioned earlier, as was previously stated, as we have seen, briefly, consequently, given
these points, hence, overall, therefore, thus
Reference: speaking about (this), as for (this), considering (this), concerning (this), regarding
(this), on the subject of (this), with regards to (this), the fact that
Purpose: so, so as to, so that, in order to, in order that, with this in mind, with this intention, in
the hope that, for the purpose of, to the end that, to this end, for fear that, lest
Condition: as/so long as, even if, given that, granted (that), granting (that), if, in case, in the
event , that, on (the) condition (that), only if, provided that, providing that, unless
Time: after a bit, after a few days, after a few hours, after a while, afterward, and then, as long
as, as soon as, at last, at length, at that time, before, earlier, finally, first (second, third, &.),
formerly, immediately, in the meantime, in the past, lately, later, meanwhile, next, now, now,
presently, previously, shortly, simultaneously, since, so far, soon, then, thereafter, until, when