YESTERDAY IN CLASS
1) Make sure you know/understand the terms in bold in Ch. 2 (Plot and Structure). We looked at the limitations of "rising action / climax / falling action" as descriptors for the components of story structure. Consider the alternates we discussed from other high school and college texts:
- Exposition / Conflict / Complications / Climax / Resolution
- Exposition / Complication (Narrative Hook) / Rising Action / Climax / Conclusion (Resolution, Denoument)
- Exposition / Inciting Incident / Development / Climax / Resolution / Denoument
The real point of this is that though we do need language to discuss parts in order to say something useful about their ordering, there is no universally "set" terms for this. The goal is to think about what authors do with structure (an artistic, creative construct) that is a different thing from simply "plot" (what happens). And so that's why we are still trying to figure out the structure of Munro's "How I Met My Husband" vs. more traditionally-structured stories such as "The Chyrsanthemums" or "Miss Brill."
FOR TOMORROW
1) Read the first paragraph of James Joyce's "Araby" (434). Stop there.
2) IN YOUR NOTES, write up a brief analysis of the paragraph. Note what it "does"--what's the element of fiction mostly featured? What's the structural component it exemplifies? What do you notice about the language/literary devices within the three short sentences? Do have any sense of how this paragraph might suggest a tone or tones for the story to come?
3) Now read the whole story (434-439).
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