Question

Select the correct answer. What is the main reason you should know the meaning of every word in a short story as opposed to a novel? A. The vocabulary tends to be more challlenging in a short story than in a novel. B. The language in short stories is denser than the language in a novel. C. Short stories include more symbolic messages than novels do. D. Teachers are more apt to test you on a short story than a novel.

Answer 1

The correct answer is C.

One characteristic of short stories is the great amount of symbolism that can be found in them.

Since novels do not have a word limit, the author can spend paragraphs or even full chapters describing settings and characters' personalities, looks and pasts. These may include a variety of words that we may not actually know but can infer from context.

While novels may have a symbolic meaning, it is much more difficult to analyse them in such a long story.

On the other hand, the briefness of short stories allow them to include a great amount of symbolism that can be much more easily analysed.

But to understand them, it is necessary to understand the meaning of each word, since they may be key to figure out a symbol within the story.