Reading Reflection

Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story Rachel Pollard Eng. 125 Prof. Peter Kunze

Theme and Narrative Elements The theme of a story tells the reader what the story is about. Literary elements play a major role in short stories to add to a narrative theme. An example of this is the narrative short story “How I Met My Husband” by Alice Munro. Throughout this paper, the writer will demonstrate the significance of how the application of point of view and the character, plays a major role contributing to the theme of a story. “How I Met My Husband” by Alice Munro is narrated from a first -person point of view. Munro depiction of the main character is so vividly expressed that a reader could visualize being present at the scene of events. The reader experiences a personal feeling of compassion when the main character acknowledged working for Dr. and Mrs. Pebbles. “This was my first job-working for Dr. and Mrs. Pebbles, who had bought an old house out on the fifth line about five miles out of town.”(Clugston, R. 2010) From the depiction expressed throughout the narration, one could sense that this short story was created from the personal experiences of Munro herself. The reader speculates that the writer has a personal history and “How I Met My Husband” is her way of conveying the events that led to meeting her husband. It cultivates the reader’s mind beyond reality into an imaginary world during the events. Another literary element that plays a role in contributing the theme of a story is the character. In Chpt. 6, (Clugston, R. 2010) refers to character as “the imaginary person in a story”. In “How I Met My Husband”, Edie a fifteen year old is the main character in this story. For example, “I was fifteen and away from home for the first time”. “My parents had made the effort and sent me to high school for a year but I didn’t like it”, “I was shy of strangers and the work was hard, they didn’t make it nice for you or explain the way they do now.”(Clugston, R. 2010) Edie is the main character describing her life experiencing high school for the first time through her eyes. She is the narrator of the story because the events are personal for her she is telling the reader the events she went through, to get to the point of meeting her husband. The literary elements affect the narrative theme because they are some of the most important elements that lay the foundation for the theme. The point of view is about personal experiences or opinions coming from the author. The author is personally narrating events through their world. The character comes from the main person in the story. You have the main character which is the (protagonist) and an opposing character, which is the (antagonist). But in this short story, there is the main character and opposing characters so the story is easily understood. It can go beyond the other literary elements in a short story. The character sets the stage for the rest of the literary elements that make the narrative theme.

References Clugston, R. (2010). Journey into Literature. San Diego, CA; Bridgepoint Education, INC.

References: Clugston, R. (2010). Journey into Literature. San Diego, CA; Bridgepoint Education, INC.