Download Short Story Study Guide

Short Story Study Guide
Name: ____________________ Date: __________ Block: ____
You can find all of the following short stories on the internet through Google Search or on my faculty
page, under FILE MANAGER >>> 8TH GRADE.
“The Landlady” by Roald Dahl
“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
Please complete the following plot chart with the appropriate parts for any story. Describe the function of each
part in a short story.
c
b
d
a
e
Plot Element
Definition
Exposition
The highest most intense part of the story
TYPES OF CONFLICTS:
TYPE
Internal
External
DEFINITION / EXPLANANTION
EXAMPLE
The Setting of “The Landlady”:
Time:
Place:
Billy Weaver:
The 2 main characters
of “The Landlady.”
Describe them.
(at least 3
characteristics each)
The Landlady:
Define
“foreshadowing.”
1.
3 Examples of
Foreshadowing in “The
Landlady.”
2.
3.
Theme of ‘The
Landlady.”
The Setting of “The Monkey’s Paw”
TIME:
PLACE:
Major Morris:
How does each character
individually / specifically
react to the idea of a
monkey’s paw being
“magical” and granting
wishes?
Mr. White:
Mrs. White:
Herbert:
1.
What are Mr. White’s 3
wishes?
2. For his son to be alive again
3.
1. When the stranger first
comes to the door of the
White residence, Mrs. White
thinks he is there for what?
1.
2.
2. What is he actually there
for?
Why did the fakir put a spell
on the monkey’s paw? (the
reason is in the story: find it
and use text evidence)
What is the theme of The
Monkey’s Paw?
The Setting of “The Tell-Tale Heart”:
TIME:
PLACE:
Point of View / Narrator of
“The Tell-Tale Heart”
How does the narrator change
throughout the course of the story?
How do his emotions change? What
happens to him in the end? (all about
the narrator)
List 4 adjectives the narrator
uses to describe himself. What
does this reveal / show about
the narrator?
1.
Edgar Allan Poe uses
repetition in his story to get a
point across.
1. Define repetition (look
at literary term notes).
2. Give 3 examples of
repetition from the
story.
1.
2.
a. “I moved it slowly—very, very slowly, so I might not disturb the old man’s
sleep” (47).
b.
c.
Define symbolism.
1.
2. Choose one example of
symbolism in the story to
describe and explain.
2.
OTHER INFORMATION TO KNOW FOR YOUR SHORT STORY TEST



Points of View for each story (1st, 2nd, or 3rd ) (reliable or unreliable)
Explain / Analyze an internal and external conflict from each story
Climax of each story