Metamorphosis Unit Objectives:
- Through the study of various fictional works and literary criticism, students read literary and informational texts to understand the style and characteristics of “magical realism” and the connections of texts over time and space.
- Students express their understanding by examining how authors transform source material and how literature can reveal “real human truth” and be used as a vehicle for social commentary.
- Click the video to play and pause.
- Follow instructions in this video for when to pause it and answer the questions in the handout.
Question: How do magic and fantasy help you arrive at realism?
Salman Rushdie: The question is: "What does truth mean in fiction?" Because of course the first premise of fiction is that it’s not true, that the story does not record events that took place. These people didn’t exist. These things did not happen. And that’s the going in point of a novel. So the novel tells you flat out at the beginning that it’s untruthful. But then so what do we mean then by "truth in literature?" And clearly what we mean is human truth, not photographic, journalistic, recorded truth, but the truth we recognize as human beings. About how we are with each other, how we deal with each other, what are our strengths and our weaknesses, how we interact and what is the meaning of our lives? I mean this is what we look at. We don’t need to know that Anna Karenina really existed. We need to know who she is, and what moves her, and what her story tells us about our own lives and about ourselves and that is the kind of truth that as readers we look for in literature. And now once you accept that stories are not true, once you start from that position, then you understand that a flying carpet and "Madam Bovary" are untrue in the same way, and as a result both of them are ways of arriving at the truth by the road of untruth, and so then they can both do it the same way. I mean this is the first novel in which I have actually managed finally to include a flying carpet. I really I've been wanting to do it for a long time and the immediate thing that I thought. The moment you decide you’re going to have a rug that flies through the air is you must immediately ask yourself realistic questions about it. What would that be like if you were standing on a carpet and it levitated? Would it be difficult to keep your balance? Would the carpet be rigid or would the movement of the air under the carpet make the carpet undulate? If you flew very high, wouldn’t it get very cold? How do you keep warm on a flying carpet? And I think the moment you start asking yourself those kind of practical, real-world questions the flying carpet becomes believable. It becomes a thing that might exist and if existed, it would function like this. But in the end what you’re looking for in this book, a fairy tale, a fable, an allegory, a fantasy is the same thing you’re looking for in kind of kitchen-sink realism. You’re looking for people that you can believe in behaving in ways that you can recognize, and which tell you something. Those behaviors tell you something about your own behavior and your own nature and about the life of the person next door to you as well, so human truth is what you’re looking for and you can get to that by many different roads.
Recorded November 12, 2010
Interviewed by Max Miller
Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler
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The Myth of Arachne by Iseult Gillespie-Youtube video by TedEd.
"The Art of Making a Tapestry" by the Getty Museum
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"Turkish Woman Weaving"--Youtube Clip
Watch the two clips about weaving, so you can understand how the two characters would have created their tapestries with intricate images and skill. The Youtube video of the Turkish woman weaving is more representative of the old-world method of weaving fabrics/textiles, while "The Art of Making a Tapestry" video shows the process for creating images out of tapestry, like Arachne and Pallas would have done for their own pieces.
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| the_metamorphosis__5_.docx |
ules-of-Notice.doc Rules of Notice for Fiction (fill out for every text)
LiteraryAnalysisGuide.pdf (awesome and thorough guide on how to write a literary analysis)
irony.doc (here is the irony handout for class)
rubric_literary_terms_booklet.pdf (here is the Literary Elements Book rubric)
While making your booklet, you can use PowerPoint. Also, go on the Bing search engine and type in literarydevices.com--it has a definition and example--Thanks, Tammy)
writing and performance tasks.docx (here are the assessments at the end of the 1st 9-weeks-200 points each)
Writing_Expectations.docx (here is a rubric for the literary analysis and all other writing assignments this year)
The Art of the Short Story
The short story is a narrative, presenting characters in a struggle or complication which has an outcome.
Characteristics of a Short Story
- It deals with a single event, a single character, a single emotion or a series of emotions caused by a single situation. It centers, usually, on one incident, situation or character.
- Usually, it can be read in one sitting, from fifteen to thirty minutes in length, but brevity is not an essential feature of the story. The average length is between 3 000 to 40 000 words.
- It concerns itself mainly with one impression or effect.
- It has a few characters and a single pre-eminent character.
- It has no unnecessary details. The author selects only those incidents, people and character traits that are necessary for development of plot or for the creation of the dominant idea, impression or emotional effect.
- It has a conflict situation, a struggle between two opposing forces.
- The climax evolves from the basic situation
- Complication and struggle lead to suspense and the short story appeals to the reader’s emotions.
- It has an outcome which seems plausible to the reader. The short story, then, is said to have verisimilitude.
The Four Basic Types of Short Stories
- Character concentration on presenting character. The character’s speech and action
dominate the story.
- Plot concentration on what is happening or what is going to happen.
Character meets a test, resulting in a struggle. Emphasis is upon complication (conflict).
- Setting concentration on the surrounds or the place where the story occurs.
Setting makes the plot possible; it determines the kind of characters; it
dictates the action and personalities of the characters.
- Theme concentration on the illustration of an idea or a truth of human life. The
idea behind the story is more important than the characters, the setting or
the plot. These elements are used to develop the theme.
Common Literary Terms
The following are a list of commonly used terms in short stories/novels to help in understanding the character, plot and/or theme of the text.
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Allusion |
indirect or passing reference to some person, place, event. can be biblical, literary, artistic, etc. The nature of the reference is not explained because the writer depends on the reader’s familiarity with it. |
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Analogy |
illustration of an idea by means of example that is similar or parallel to it in some significant features. |
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Anecdote |
a brief story of an interesting incident. |
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Cliché |
a phrase that is so common the novelty has worn off. |
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Colloquial |
informal, suitable for everyday speech but not for formal writing |
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Connotation |
the implied meaning of a word |
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Denotation |
the direct (dictionary) meaning of a word |
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Epilogue |
the final address to the audience, often delivered by a character in the drama |
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Imagery |
language that evokes sensory impression. Vivid details that draws on the reader’s touch, sight, sound, taste and hearing. |
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Interior Monologue |
conversation-like thoughts of a character |
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Irony |
Situational – the difference between what is expected and what actually happens Verbal – like sarcasm; the difference between what is said and what is intended Dramatic – the audience is aware of events/situations that the characters are unaware of. |
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Jargon |
special vocabulary of a particular group or activity |
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Juxtaposition |
the deliberate contrast of characters, setting or situations for effect. The effect may b4 a demonstration of character or heightening of mood |
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Mood |
the atmosphere of the story. Developed through setting, action and characters. Also through a character’s state of mind. |
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Motif |
a recurring theme, situation, incident, idea, image or character type that is found in literature. |
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Paradox |
an apparently self-contradictory statement that is in fact true (it was the best of times, it was the worst of times) |
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Parallelism |
the arrangement of similarly constructed clauses, verses or sentences, suggesting some correspondence between them |
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Pun |
a humourous expression depends on a double meaning, either between different senses of the same word or between two similar sounding words. |
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Rhetorical Question |
a question for which a reply is not required or even wanted |
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Satire |
a form of writing that exposes the failings of individuals, institutions or socieit4es to ridicule or scorn in order to correct or expose some evil or wrongdoing. |
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Tone |
a particular way of speaking or writing. Describes the general feeling of a piece of work. It demonstrates the writer’s attitude toward characters, settings, conflicts and so forth. Chatty, formal, tragic, silly, pity, fear, horror, humour, etc. |
Common Symbols
A symbol is something concrete that represents something abstract. Symbols may be universal and may be symbolic in one situation or one piece of literature, but not in another. Many symbols have more than one meaning. Colours are often symbolic in literature. Below are some of the more common symbols and their meanings.
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Symbol |
Meaning |
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Water |
fertility, life-giving purification, redemption |
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Polluted Water |
evil, corruption |
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Fire |
destruction, purification, passion, death |
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Air/Wind |
spirits, freedom, inspiration |
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Sun |
wisdom & vision, power, regeneration |
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Sunrise |
birth, rebirth, joy, hope |
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Sunset |
death |
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Mountains |
obstacles, achievement, aspirations, glory |
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Storms |
death, evil, inner turmoil |
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Roads, Ships, Trains, Etc. |
journeys |
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Fork in the Road |
choices, decision, life path |
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Doors, Gates, Arches |
escape, opportunities, utopia, fantasy world, freedom |
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Bridges |
transitions, crossing over |
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Walls, Fences, Hedges |
barriers, dividing lines, prisons |
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Windows |
freedom, longing, imprisonment |
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Mirrors |
illusion, unreality, passages to other worlds, view into self |
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Birds, Sky |
freedom |
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Circle |
wholeness, unity |
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Gardens |
paradise, innocence, fertility |
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Desert |
death, hopelessness, sterility |
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Spring |
new beginning, hope, new life |
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Summer |
love, peace, the prime of life |
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Autumn |
maturity, the beginning of the decline of life |
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Winter |
coldness, misery, death |
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White |
innocence, good, redemption |
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Red |
war, anger, vengeance, love, passion |
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Black |
evil, death, despair |
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Green |
growth, renewal, life, envy, greed |
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Yellow |
sun, happiness, cowardice, betrayal |
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Blue |
peace, calm, stability, security, loyalty |
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Gold |
royalty, heaven, wealth |
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Purple |
royalty, spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mysterious, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance |