Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story

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Theme and Narrative Elements in the short story Sandra Rosario June 16, 2014 When one reads a short story the author uses literary elements. These elements helps us as readers to be attracted to a story. Point of view, character and setting are the elements that at least get me interested in reading a story and wanting to know more about the development of the story. The story I chose was “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty. This story interested me clearly because of the elements mentioned above. The narrator’s point of view pulled me in with details of the setting, which made me feel as if though I was part of many moments. And, the descriptions of Phoenix the main character, had me seeing and feeling what she was seeing and feeling. Having a clear understanding of what literary elements affect a story will help you as reader connect with the story. Point of view The point of view refers to who tells the story—how the action is presented to the reader. In the story “A Worn Path” the point of view is not told by any character in the story but it is told from the outside. Which this point of view is called third-person omniscient point of view. Third–person point of view occurs when the speaker is not a participant in the story. An external narrator who knows and relates thoughts and feelings of the characters is using an omniscient (all–knowing) point of view (Clugston, 2010, Sec. 5.2). An example of this point of view is in (Sec.6.3 par. 15) narrator indicates “So she left that tree, and had to go through a barbed-wire fence”. If point of view did not exist then a story would be just word on a paper. A reader would not be able to connect with any character or feel part of the story. "Every story would be another story, and unrecognized … if it took up its characters and plot and happened somewhere else." --Eudora Welty Character

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