What is the difference between a monologue and a short story
Instead, it seemed to me to go by faster each day, eager to get away from this place. But yes, it did blow its whistle before it charged by at full speed. It must have felt the need to holler out loud to shake off the fear that clung to it as it drove through this lonely place.
Well, like I told you, the train was always punctual. It never ran fast or slow. Because of that, its going by was never any novelty. It had turned into something monotonous, an unnoticed event. The train came on quickly. But as soon as it hit that spot, the earth shook. They heard the thunder in town.
The noise rippled out across the openness that stretches away from here, beyond the blue hills and out of sight. I was right here where I am now, very still. I saw how the wheels threw out sparks as the brakes locked and the wheels scraped along the rails. They were stars in full daylight, lighting up the landscape. My eyes caught the moment when the engine halted up ahead.
The cars being dragged by the engine went rushing by. They buckled up and spilled off to the sides. Bodies went flying out of them, as if they had wings. Some of them fell in the dirt patch, others fell in the weeds, and still others, on this side, fell along the rocks. I was here, sitting down. Shouts of pain and fear. In that instant the world turned into chaos. Yes, sir, it turned into a hell. The train derailed in front of me and changed the face of the earth.
It broke the calm that had always been here. The cause of the derailment was never really discovered. Nobody could find it out. Not even me, in spite of my always being in this spot. The railroad officials said that someone moved the switch on the tracks. Since the other rails were just a short length of track and the conductor knew that, he got frenzied and hit the brakes to see if he could stop the line of cars before the train hit the end of the track.
Nobody moved anything. It was all a matter of hurry. The train was going by too fast. For us, that was the important thing. So, when people from the village got here, no one lent a hand to the injured. No one would comfort them in their pain or help them bury their dead. They just stood there, with eyes wide open to take in the disaster in all its glory. They stood there that way, looking on as if some of the passengers were leaving this world without getting to say good-bye to anyone. In the middle of the day, just at the time when the train should come by again, as it had always done, another one showed up with a lot of people.
It just appeared on the vast plains. As it came on in silence, it seemed stunned by what had happened the day before. The people on the train looked surprised, but they must have known of the derailment, since the noise went everywhere.
They must have come to help the people on the wrecked train. They unloaded a ton of things in a hurry. Not even in our dreams could we have been able to see all those things at once.
There were small beds we would never have imagined. From a distance they looked smooth, like the feathers on a soft hen. It made you want to go to sleep, to enjoy them. The people who had just arrived also unpacked medicines.
The air was full of strange smells. Someone took out a sack of rags, white as lime, really clean, with not a stain on them. Things brightened up like they do in the light of a full moon. Some men unloaded picks and shovels, enough to provide everyone in our town with the tools to build a reservoir in the desert and quench the thirst of this land.
We were confused by the scene. We saw the railroad officials moving along from one place to another shaking their heads. That was the cause of the accident. Later the people buried all the dead in one big grave, which they dug in a hurry. There was a big heap of earth left over in the dirt patch. That and nothing more. Maybe it was just a short while, but it could have been several days. When the sun was going down, they all went away. The only thing we had left out of the tragedy was the surprise.
That was all. Only in that short while did Fronteras ever change. Afterwards everything went back to being the same as before: dirt patch, plains, blue hills, and sky. No sign of the wreck stayed around. It seems as if nothing like that ever happened here. But it did happen. Translated by John D. Reprinted by permission of the author. John D.
Nesbitt is the author of more than 40 books of fiction , as well as a few books about writing. Shaping the Story is a guide to writing fiction. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.
Enter your email address to subscribe to John D. Nesbitt and receive notifications of new posts by email. Email Address. Search for:. Understanding the Monologue Story The monologue story is a distinct kind of first-person narration. Writing the Monologue Story Writing a monologue story can be an enjoyable undertaking. A Sample Monologue Story To illustrate the potential of monologue stories a little further, I present a sample story to complement the three classic stories discussed earlier.
When the tragedy hit, this all changed quickly. All of a sudden it was unrecognizable. For example, in comedy, oftentimes a character is pictured giving themselves a lengthy, uplifting speech in the mirror…while a friend is secretly watching them and laughing. The soliloquy is one of the most fundamental dramatic devices used by Shakespeare in his dramas.
A speech that is given directly to the audience or another character. It can be formal or informal, funny or serious; but it is almost always significant in both length and purpose. In fact, in TV, theater ,and film, all speeches given by a single character—to an audience, the audience, or even just one character—are dramatic monologues.
Monologues give the audience and other characters access to what a particular character is thinking, either through a speech or the vocalization of their thoughts.
While the purpose of a speech is obvious, the latter is particularly useful for characterization : it aids the audience in developing an idea about what the character is really thinking, which in turn helps or can later help explain their previous or future actions and behavior. Below is selection of arguably the most famous monologue in literature— soliloquy , specifically—from Act III Scene I of the tragedy Hamlet.
This scene reveals to the audience that Hamlet is contemplating suicide. His words express an internal thought process that we would normally not be able to witness. The only reason that Shakespeare has Hamlet speak these words out loud is so that the audience—not anyone else in the play—can hear them. Below is a small piece of the story:.
But still he was lucky, uncommon lucky; he most always come out winner. Oftentimes, a conversation occurs between characters and then shifts to one character giving a significant speech.
This is a popular way of inserting a monologue into a scene. We do what we need to do, and then we get to live. No matter what we find in D. This is how we survive: We tell ourselves that we are the walking dead. Now he alone is speaking to the group—he is giving a dramatic monologue. In one of the most popular Christmas movies to date, A Christmas Story , the protagonist Ralphie is also the narrator. The mental debate he has about who taught him the curse word and what to tell his mother is an internal monologue : we can hear his thoughts; thus the situation is funnier and more thought provoking.
Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Arts How do you write a short monologue? Ben Davis March 16, How do you write a short monologue? How do you make a monologue? How do you write a drama monologue?
What is the main characteristics of dramatic monologue? What is the difference between dramatic monologue and soliloquy? What is the difference between a narrative and a monologue? How does a monologue look like?