The characters in ' Visitor ' are normal yet unauthodox yet methodically they worked. The roles have been reveresed. With the robbers being civil and the police being unprofessional. There is no real main character and all of the characters are only briefly described. The universal figure in ' Visitor ', Mrs Morrison is somebody we as the audience find little about. Also with it being a short story there is not much time to envolve that many characters in it so there are only very few.
The timescale of a short story is only very short and this can create tension aswell as drama. It is very irregular as it referes to being robbed a while before. " reached for a cup and helped himself to a scone" this just describing how it is just normal for this to happen. The trick to the short timescale is that the reader is awaiting a climax yet in ' Visitor ' there never is one. It is just the hidious normality of being robbed.
Language used in a short story is most of the time formal, persuasive and in ' Visitors ' case professional.
A typical setting of the short story genre is that there is only 1 and there is no real setting description. In ' Visitor ' the setting is just an ordinary, typical house which is home of Mrs Morrison who happens to be the universal character in the story.
The ending in ' Visitor ' is a very confusing one. The whole story itself is quite sureal so it is no surprise that the ending is hard to work out. It ios reversed expectations of what you think is going to happen. " Look you've done a very good job, and you've a right to be proud of it " this is confusing to the reader as the robbers are being praised for there attempts at the robbery. Even more confusing at the end of the story is that the police turn up and are described as " dirty, unkempt and hardly into their teens " this a characteristic of a typical stereotype robber. The story ends on " Police, Mrs Morrison. Understand you've been robbed ", this is the shock that the description of the teenagers in the " modle panel van " were infact the police.
Another short story is ' The Adventure of The Speckled Band '. This is another misleading title as a " Speckled Band " could be anything. It makes the title ambiguous as it could mean more than one thing. It is an unusual title as ' Speckled ' is a rare word which has many meanings and ' Band ' could be anything from a hairband to an elastic band. The title also excites the audience with the word ' Adventure '. The reader knows that an adventure is something exciting and something which will be fun.
The opening is an exciting one which encourages the reader to read on. It is very descriptive and has many unanswered questions. The words " fantastic " and "unusual" are used in the opening which link in with some sentences. " untimely death ", this is unnatural of a story with such a title as ' The Adventure of The Speckled Band '.
The characters in this short story widely known and are famous. Sherlock Holmes was a big comic during the time of this story therefore there was no need for the author to waste time introducing him. With there being less characters this helps the author to work inside his/hers limits and make the story more intense. Helen Stoner , the character who is most described in the story is all in black and showing signs of strain. She is also heavily veiled this information may be brief yet it is important information for the reader. The other universal character in the story is Grimesby Roylott who is the grim, aggressive, threatening and abusive character who the author has named carefully. Grimesby this suggesting that he is a grim man. " what has she been saying to you?", Roylott is also a very aggressive man who is obviously worried about what Helen Stoner might have said. Being the father of Helen Stoner, Roylott is unusually quite aggressive and abusive towards her. Grimesby Roylott tries to come across as a big person who you shouldn't mess with. " I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott of Stoke Moran " and " Holmes the busybody " these showing how Roylott likes to act as though he is in control. " I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! " and " Don't you dare meddle with my affairs" this suggesting that the man is very aggressive and threatening.
The timescale in ' The Adventure Of The Speckled Band ' is short but the story is kept at good pace which increases the intensity of the story. It keeps the audience moving with compressed intensity. " It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned " this is describing how time is very short and everything happens within the space of hours rather than days.
The setting of the story is described as an old haunted house which consiquently reflects on its owner ( Grimesby Roylott ). Its the old cliche of a picture of ruin. The clues to the mystery are linked in with the 5 senses. All of the rooms look out onto the lawn. " while the roof was partly covered in, a picture of ruin ", the house was somewhere which would be associated with somebody like Roylott.
The ending reveils the title. This adds a twist to the story with it being unexpected and shocking, almost ironic. The irony of the story is that in the end the murderer is ultimately killed by the murder weapon ( The Speckled Band ). The preditor becomes the prey. But the biggest shock of the story is that Holmes is connected with the death of Roylott. " I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. Roylott's death ". The Speckled Band is reveiled as being a snake which of course is a common reptile but the title mislead the reader into believing that it was something much different. Ambiguous title.
The two stories are typical to that of a short story genre because they have ambiguous titles and have are intensified due to the fact they are so short and have very few characters. Also there is very rarely more than one setting.
