Thematic Focus:
The search for identity
Today we are learning about American
short stories thematic connections
Thematic connections
How do short stories connect thematically?
Characterization, theme, stream of consciousness,
culture
 There are seven major components or elements in
most short stories:
 plot
 Character
 setting
 Theme
 mood
 Tone
 narrative viewpoint
 the distinguishing character or personality of an
individual
 the relation established by psychological
identification
 Is “identity” a state of mind?
 Gender
 Societal
 Nationality
 Cultural
 Familial
 ???
 By our actions—”Actions speak louder than words.”
 By our speech—colloquialism & dialects
 By how we affect others—optimism vs. pessimism
 By our reactions—fear, revenge, forgiveness
 By what people say—gossip is as gossip does
 By examining motives—why did I do that?
 By descriptions—tall, dark and handsome
 By our psychology—past experiences and attitude
 Clubs
 Pastimes
 identifiers
 By our actions
 By our speech
 By how we affect others
 By our reactions
 By what we say
 By motives
 By descriptions
 By our psychology
 Describe yourself using
at least one example
from each of the 8
descriptors.
 By our actions
 Something you do—a
habit
 By our speech
 By how we affect others
 By our reactions
 By what we say
 Something you say that
others smile about or know
it’s you! How you say it too
 By motives
 By descriptions
 By our psychology
 I constantly leave cabinet doors open
 I have a refined southern accent
 I inspire others toward greatness
 I frequently have panic attacks when I’m too
stressed about something
 I say “absolutely” a lot.
 I am inspired by my faith
 I am tall, average weight, have blonde hair,
green eyes, and glasses
 My parents are still together, but my extended
family tends to be a little crazy—thus affecting
my behaviors/emotions.
 Flat characters are the stereotypes; people aren’t
stereotypes!!!
 Round characters are much more developed and
realistic—people are round; they may appear to be in a
stereotype, but people are rarely what the appear to be
and never fit into just one characterization
 The problem with unsuccessful stories is usually
simple: they are boring, a consequence of the failure of
imagination. To vividly imagine and to vividly render
extraordinary human events, or sequences of events, is
the hard-lifting, heavy-duty, day-by-day, unending
labor of a fiction writer.
The authors…
 Tim O’Brien
 William Faulkner (extra credit)
 Kate Chopin
 Julia Alvarez
 Maxine Hong Kingston
Different time periods
Similar message
Tim O’Brien
 Contemporary/Postmodern Writer
 Explores the psychological and moral effects of war on
soldiers (similar to Hemmingway)
 Did a tour of duty in Vietnam from 1969-1970
 Survived and returned to attend Harvard University
 Became a journalist before turning to fiction writing
 The Things They Carried
William Faulkner
 Based Yoknapatawpha County (setting of nearly all of his stories)
on this town.
 Recall Louise Erdrich—“Little Spirit Sun”—greatly admired and
imitated Faulkner’s style
 Yoknapatawpha novels featured themes including the decay of
traditional values as small communities became swept up in the
changes of the modern age.
 Uses stream-of-consciousness narration (creates the




impression that the reader is eavesdropping on the flow of
conscious experience in the character’s
mind,
gaining intimate
*Extra Credit
Opportunity!!!*
access to their private “thoughts”).
-Read “A Rose for Emily” by William
Faulkner page
862 questions
1-5,pattern
11-14
Uses jumbled time sequences—doesn’t
follow
traditional
on the poop sheet. Turn in by next
Famous for page-long sentences,
and other difficult techniques
Wednesday
to 40 points
to show what he called “the human heartfor
inup
conflict
withextra
itself.”
credit! This is your final chance for extra
Uses southern dialect
credit!!!!
“A Rose for Emily”—Necrophilia
Kate Chopin
 Expresses the local color of Louisiana (setting) during
realistism time period
 Explores women’s roles in a time when ‘all MEN were
created equal’
 the nature of marriage
 racial prejudice
 women’s desire for social, economic, and political
equality.
 “The artist must possess the courageous soul that
dares and defies.”
 The Awakening realistic portrayal caused heated
debate
Julia Alvarez
 Born in NYC
 Raised in Dominican Republic until the age of 10—fled
as political refugees
 Used writing as a way to find her cultural identity
being uprooted so young
Maxine Hong Kingston
 Born in America
 Chinese was her first language
 Began English writing at age 10
 Chinese name of “Ting Ting”
 Native to California
What makes up one’s identity?
Explain your response; turn your response
in as you leave.