Theory

Fiction - literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describes imaginary events and
people. It may be based on a true story or situation. Types of literature in the fiction genre include
the novel, short story, and novella.

Short story - a story with a fully developed theme but significantly shorter and less elaborate than a
novel. The definition of a short story is a piece of fiction that has a limited number of words, only a
few characters, and one theme.

Novel - An invented prose narrative of considerable length and a certain complexity that deals
imaginatively with human experience, usually through a connected sequence of events involving a
group of persons in a specific setting.

Oral narrative - An oral narrative is a spoken story. Oral narratives are the stories people tell. When
you read these stories they sound like someone is speaking. They sound like storytellers. Some oral
narratives are changed when they are written down. There are different categories of oral
narratives, for example; Myths, Legends, Ogre or monster stories, Trickster stories, Etiological
Narratives, Dilemmas stories, Fables, Spirit tales, Allegory.

Tale - A tale is a comparatively simple narrative, either fictitious or true, written or recounted orally
in prose. A tale often recounts a strange event, focusing on something or someone exotic,
marvelous, or even supernatural. Tales may be attributed to a particular author, whether known or
anonymous, or may simply be part of the lore of a given culture. Whatever their origin, tales tend to
be relatively shorter narratives. The tale places more emphasis on actions and results than on
character.

Fable - Fables are fictional stories with specific moral lessons that are imparted to the reader. Fables
can be either prose or poetry as long as they teach a lesson. Most of the time, fables use animals as
characters, and sometimes objects like household items that come to life and/or parts of nature can
be used as characters as well. Regardless of what kinds of things are used as main characters, they
are given anthropomorphic qualities to make them think and act like humans, and lessons are
revealed at the end aiming to teach readers something about life.

Climax - The point at which the highest level of interest and emotional response is achieved. In the
structure of a play the climax, or crisis, is the decisive moment, or turning point, at which the rising
action of the play is reversed to falling action

Flashback - In fiction, a flashback is a scene that takes place before a story begins. Flashbacks
interrupt the chronological order of the main narrative to take a reader back in time to the past
events in a character's life. Flashbacks in literature are all about discovering a character's past to
help build the story.

Incident - The inciting incident of a story is the event that sets the main character or characters on
the journey that will occupy them throughout the narrative. Typically, this incident will upset the
balance within the main character's world.
The inciting incident is an episode, plot point, or event that hooks the reader into the story. This
particular moment is when an event thrusts the protagonist into the main action of the story.
Plot - The plot describes the events and their significance as the story unfolds. There are five
different parts to the plot: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The plot is
the sequence of events where each affects the next one through the principle of cause-and-effect.
The causal events of a plot can be thought of as a series of events linked.

Character - A character is a person, or other being in a narrative. Writers use characters to perform
the actions and speak dialogue, moving the story along a plotline. The character may be entirely
fictional or based on a real-life person.

Crisis - Crisis means decision or dilemma. In a story, it's the do-or-die moment, that last chance
where the protagonist must gather all their strength, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and courage in one
final effort to defeat the opposing forces guarding the prize. Refers to the single point at which the
protagonist's fortunes change decisively for the better or the worse.

Turning point - A turning point is a moment in a story when a major narrative shift takes place and
the rest of the story will be different.

Setting - The location and time frame in which the action of a narrative takes place. Usually
introduced during the exposition (beginning) of the story, along with the characters. The setting may
also include the environment of the story, which can be made up of the physical location, climate,
weather, or social and cultural surroundings.

Theme - A literary theme is the main idea or underlying meaning a writer explores in a novel, short
story, or other literary work. The theme of a story can be conveyed using characters, setting,
dialogue, plot, or a combination of all of these elements. The term theme can be defined as the
underlying meaning of a story. It is the message the writer is trying to convey through the story.
Often the theme of a story is a broad message about life.

The Six Swans

1. Tell the plot of the tale. Focus on the exposition, climax, and resolution.
2. What makes “The six swans” a tale?
3. Do you find any similarities between this tale and “Snow White”?

1. The plot: While the king is hunting, he gets lost. He asks a woman for directions and she had one
condition to tell him his way back home. He has to marry her daughter. The old woman turns out to
be a witch. The king had nothing to do but to accept her offer.
He had children from a previous marriage but keeps them secret from his new wife. They are sent to
live somewhere else and he goes to visit them often. His wife finds out the truth makes some
enchanted shirts and goes to their castle.
When she goes there, the six sons of the king run toward her thinking it was his father. She throws
the shirts on them and they are transformed into swans. The little daughter didn’t go out and she
remains in her human form.
She leaves the castle and somewhere in the forest, she falls asleep. The little princess is awakened
by the sound of six swans. They tell their sister the story and how to break the spell and turn to
human again permanently, as currently, they could take human form for a couple of minutes per
day.
She has to break the spell sewing six shirts and never talk or laugh for six years. After some time
another king finds her in the forest and takes her to his castle. He tries to communicate with the
princess, but she remains mute. He marries her and makes her his queen, having together three
children.
His wicked mother distrusts the young queen and slanders that she killed her children. The king
refused to believe, but after the third child is lost, he had no other choice but to put her at the stake.
She continues to sew the shirts until the last moment. When she is being carried to the stake, the six
swans fly towards her and take their shirts. They all take human form again, except the youngest one
who keeps one wing because his shirt has one sleeve missing.
The magic was broken and she was able to talk again and explain herself. They found the children
hidden by the old queen and she was punished. The king, the young queen ad her six brothers lived
happily forever and after.

The exposition: A king was lost in the forest and agrees to marry the daughter of a witch after she
promised to tell him the way back under this condition. The king doesn’t tell his new queen about
his previous marriage having also six sons and a daughter. When she finds out the secret, she uses
magic spells to turn the six princes into swans and the princess to never talk nor laugh for six years,
unless she breaks the spell. The only way to save her brothers is by sewing six shirts for them before
the time runs out.
The climax: When the princess is almost burned and punished to death because she was accused to
kill her own children. She manages to finish the shirts in time to free her brothers and breaks the
spell. The princess now can talk, explain and protect herself from the slanders. (She couldn’t finish in
time the last sleeve of the shirt for her youngest brother, so he was left with a swan wing.)
The resolution: After the magic spell is broken, the queen explains herself and tells the king
everything. The children were found at the place the king’s wicked mother tried to hide them, and
she is punished. The king, the princess, and her six brothers live in happiness.

2. A tale is a short story that has wonderful events without detailed character-drawing. It is
distinguished by the presence of supernatural events. The six swans tale has the same specifics, and
starts with, ‘Once upon a time.’

3. Yes, I find similarities between these two tales. In the Snow White tale, it is also a spell to be
broken, as the Snow White eats the cursed apple and if the true love didn’t find her before the time
is over, she will die. We also find similarities with seven dwarfs - six swans, and Snow White - little
princess. In the two tales, we have the presence of the witch, magic spells, kingdom, etc.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

1. Interpret the meaning of the idiom “to cry wolf.”
2. The moral in this fable is stated clearly. Say it and discuss it.
3. Discuss other fables you know and try to identify the moral in them.

1. To call for help when it’s not needed, with the effect that the person is not believed when
really does need help. The phrase 'Cry Wolf' is used to indicate that someone is exaggerating
or raising a false alarm. Example of Use: “Don't pay attention to Peter; he's only crying wolf.”

2. The moral of the story is, 'If you tell lies, people won't believe you when you tell the truth.”
 3. Choose one of these three fables, not all of them.

The lion and the mouse. A lion catches a mouse, who begs to be let go. The mouse promises to
repay the lion in exchange for his life. The lion agrees and lets the mouse go. A few days later, the
mouse comes upon the lion trapped in a hunter’s net, and, remembering the lion’s mercy, gnaws on
the rope until the lion is free. The moral of the story is: “A kindness is never wasted.”
The tortoise and the hare. The tortoise and the hare enter a footrace. The hare jeers at the tortoise,
remarking how naturally he is so much faster than the slow tortoise. During the race, the hare takes
several long breaks and wastes time relaxing between quick sprints. Meanwhile, the tortoise chugs
steadily along. In the end, the tortoise wins. The moral of the story is: “Slow and steady wins the
race.”
The fox and the crow. A hungry fox comes upon a crow up in a tree with a bit of cheese in its mouth.
The fox begins to talk to the crow, telling her she is so beautiful and must have a beautiful voice to
match. At first, the crow stays silent, holding on to her cheese. But at last, after much flattery, she
opens her mouth to crow. The cheese falls into the fox’s mouth. The moral of the story is: “The
flatterer lives at the expense of those who will listen to him.”

The Tell-Tale Heart

1. Discuss the point of view used in this short story. Can it be the most appropriate point of view a
writer could use in the case of this short story? Why? Could any other point of view be more
effective?
2. Is the narrator a mad man or a criminal? Make the difference and support your answer by
referring to different passages in the short story. Focus on its first paragraph. Note the times he uses
the word mad. Is his consciousness calling him?
3. Elaborate on the title of the story. Why has Edgar Allen Poe chosen such a title for this short
story?
4. Even though the story is told retrospectively, there is tension in the end, the protagonist is anxious
and it seems like everything is happening at the present. Why is it effective in this case?

1. The point of view used in this short story is in the first-person perspective. I think this is the
appropriate point of view the writer could use in this type of short story because it gives
readers an intimate view of the characters and a front-row seat to the action. It makes the
reader feel what is happening and experience step by step each detail.
2. An unnamed narrator opens the story by addressing the reader and claiming that he is
nervous but not mad. He says that he is going to tell a story in which he will defend his sanity
yet confess to having killed an old man. His motivation was neither passion nor desire for
money, but rather a fear of the man’s pale blue eye. Again, he insists that he is not crazy
because his cool and measured actions, though criminal, are not those of a madman. Every
night, he went to the old man’s apartment and secretly observed the man sleeping. In the
morning, he would behave as if everything were normal. After a week of this activity, the
narrator decides, somewhat randomly, that the time is right actually to kill the old man. 
(Here you can give your own opinion whether he is a mad man or a criminal). Since the first
sentence he says, “why will you say that I am mad?” He is trying to ‘protect’ himself from
the judgment of the reader and to object in advance if the reader has such an opinion about
him. (Here you can give your own opinion whether is his consciousness calling him or not.)
Guilt: “The Tell-Tale Heart” is conventionally read as a moralizing story about guilt and
innocence. Critics have interpreted the sound of the beating heart as the narrator's guilty
conscious reminding him of his deed. So is his consciousness calling him for what he has done.
 2. The title refers to the beating of the old man’s heart, so his heart tells the tale and the truth.
But the title can look deeper and refer to the narrator’s heart because it was him who
revealed everything, it was his heart that revealed the truth.

3. There is tension in the end by using elements of madness, fear to be discovered, fear to be
named mad, etc. The first-person perspective also builds tension, as much as the narrator
believes that the heart of the person he killed is haunting him and is making noises.

An Angel In Disguise

1. Analyze the characters in this story. Focus on the protagonist of this short story, Maggie. Is she the
Angel in disguise?
2. Is the title of the short story symbolic?
3. What is the main theme of this short story?
4. Give the meaning of the following metaphors in the story: white face, vice, and
intemperance had done their work; her voice struck a chord that quivered in a low strain of music;
pity took the place of anger; sad eyes and patient face touched many
hearts; soft feeling crept into her heart. What is the metaphor used for? 5. Identify the exposition,
climax, and resolution in “An Angel in Disguise.”

1. Yes, Maggie is an Angel in disguise. She was sick, miserable and after Joe Thompson took her
to his home as an angel in disguise, she filled the life of Joe and Jane with love and was an
angel in disguise for their family.

2. Yes, the title of the story is symbolic. When the girl was unattended after her mother’s death
and was in a sad state, Joe Thompson reached out to her as an angel in disguise, took her to
his home, and gave her a completely new life.
The title of the story “An Angel in Disguise” is symbolic. Maggie is an angel in
disguise. She has some problem with her health but she makes the life of other
people more interesting, happier and fills of sense. She gives a speck of
happiness for Mr. and Mrs. Thompson. She is as a honey to Mrs. Thompson’s
soul. She is a little girl with a pure, clear and light soul. Maggie was the angel who
came into their house. She came disguised as a sick, helpless, and miserable
child, and filled all its dreary chambers with the sunshine of love. The author says
she is disguised because her true self of love and beauty was hidden from the
eyes of everyone and only when the Thompsons selflessly cared and loved her
did the angel shower them with happiness in their lives.

3. The main theme of the story is that people can change and can get emotionally attached to
others. It depicts love, kindness, and human feelings.
 4. These metaphors can be explained in your own opinion and what you think best fits them.

1. ‘Though rough in exterior, Joe Thompson.’

(The writer uses it to make the description of Joe brighter, to show that
he has a kind heart).
2. ‘White face’
(The writer uses it to show Maggie’s inner condition, to show her
paleness).
3. ‘Pity took the place of anger’
(The writer has used it to show the feelings of people to these children
more vividly).
4. ‘he wrapped her with the gentleness almost of a woman.’
(It is used to describe a real feeling of Mr. Thompson, with which love
and tender he refers to this girl, as a woman is).
5. ‘Her voice struck a chord that quivered in a low strain of music.’
(It is used to show how a little girl was afraid).

5. The exposition, In a small village a terrible woman dies from intoxication right in front of her three
children. Even though everyone hated her, they felt pity. Her two children were adopted the next
day. Her third child, Maggie was sick for a long time and nobody wanted her. The climax is when the
villagers started to argue. They all got up to leave, but Mr. Thompson stayed to take Maggie with
him. The resolution is the last part when Mr. Thompson's wife finally gave into not having Maggie
around and finally started to take care of her.