The Storyteller by Saki

The Storyteller By Saki

(H. H. Munro)

Cheron Mims

Ms. J. Woods

Period 2

AP Eng IV

March 25, 2013

Identifying Literary Elements

Understand why he author wrote the story a certain way.

*Conflict: The aunt cannot manage to keep her children under control. The bachelor directly challenges her and states that he can do a better job entertaining them

Symbolism

Bertha:

• Demonstrates the benefits of virtue
• Benefits can lead to serious consequences that would not otherwise befall a less-good person.
• Her actions and thoughts are very generic
• Ideals do not have personalities

Garden:

• Represent the rewards of virtue
• Not an traditional Eden
• place of interest rather than pleasure

Wolf:

• Represents misfortune
• Role in the story is to upset the fundamental understanding of moral justice by devouring the good girl

Pigs:

• Represent the ideal of moderation

This idea of an exclusive reward for goodness is an idea possessed by the children on the train and, therefore, by society as a whole.

Brainstorming

Each character stands as a symbol for an ideal that opposes commonplace perception.

Bertha’s Medals

symbolize narcissism which leads to her downfall.

Children:

• Represent society as a whole
• Their views are intended to be synonymous with society's moral ideals.
• Expect exceptional virtue to be rewarded exceptionally
• Symbolic prediction of how an audience will respond to the short story

Conveying a Literary Analysis

Because something exceptional caught his attention, those that were moderate were spared.

Overview

Thesis

• The reputation of British writer H. H. Munro (Saki) rest primarily on his short stories conveying whimsical humor, fascination with the odd and eerie, and world disillusionment with the hypocrisy and banality.
• Saki sought to undermine the basic view of the world.

The Story Teller by Saki is a short story that challenges the views of society.

Saki (H.H. Munro)

As it relates to the story, some believe that the bachelor in The Storyteller was much like Saki. Majority of his short stories are based on events from his childhood.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Hector_Hugh_Munro_aka_Saki,_by_E_O_Hoppe,_1913.jpg/220px-Hector_Hugh_Munro_aka_Saki,_by_E_O_Hoppe,_1913.jpg

Works Cited

Gale. Overview of H(ector) H(ugh) Munro. 2003.

Harris , Ro<http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=Relevance&prodId=DC&tabID=T001&subjectParam=Locale%2528en%252C%252C%2529%253AFQE%253D%2528su%252CNone%252C11%2529H.%2BH.%2BMunro%2524&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R1&displaySubject>.bert A. Virtual Salt: A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices. 22 November 2011. 14 January 2013 <http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm>.

Harris, Robert . Virtual Salt: A Glossary of Literary Terms. 25 February 2012. 14 January 2013 <http://virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm>.

Kittmer, Lucas. The Symbols Found in "The Storyteller" by Saki. 1993-2013. 12 January 2013 <http://www.ehow.com/info_8414289_symbols-found-storyteller-saki.html>.

Nancy, Roberts-Garrity. "The Story-Teller." Roberts-Garrity, Nancy. Classic Middle School Literature: Adventure. Parsippany, NJ: Good Year Books , 2003. 65-67.

Sarcasm Society Corporation . Satire - Examples of Satire. 2013. 14 January 2013 <http://www.sarcasmsociety.com/satire.html>.

Sarcasm Society Corporation. Irony: Verbal, Soctratic, Tragic & Situational Irony. 2013. 14 January 2013 <http://www.sarcasmsociety.com/irony.html>.

Smith, Katie. "Being Bad can be Good." 8 October 2001. Writers Net . 12 January 2013 <http://www.writers.net/writers/books/15888>.

Sparknotes. "SPARKCHARTS-CP English 10." n.d. 12 January 2013 <http://cp10eng.wikispaces.com/file/view/Sample+SparkChart.pdf>.

Townsend Press. n.d. 12 January 2013.

Results

The Story Teller by Saki is a short story that challenges the views of society. This is proven through his use of symbolism and literary elements.

Background

Year Written :1914

Point of view: Third Person Omniscient

Realization

Plot Overview

The Aunt tries to tell a story to three children encouraging them to be good.

The children dislike the story and become restless.

Bachelor challenges Aunt and tells a story about Bertha who is "Horribly Good".

Horribly Good is an Oxymoron