Department of Education

Division of San Jose del Monte City

Sapang Palay National High School
Area E. Fatima V Sapang Palay, CSJDM, Bulacan

Learning Activity Sheets (LAS)

Name of Learner/Pangalan: _______________________________________

Grade Level/Lebel: _____ Section/Seksiyon: ____________ Date/Petsa: ____________

Background Information for Learners/Panimula (Susing Konsepto)

A short story is a short work of fiction. Fiction, as you know, is prose writing about
imagined events and characters. Prose writing differs from poetry in that it does not
depend on verses, meters or rhymes for its organization and presentation.
Novels are another example of fictional prose and are much longer than short
stories. Some short stories, however, can be quite long. If a a short story is a long one, say
fifty to one hundred pages, we call it a novella.
American literature contains some of the world's best examples of the short story.
Readers around the world enjoy the finely crafted stories of American writers such as O.
Henry, Stephen Crane, Jack London, Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe.
What makes these authors such remarkable short story writers? They are true
masters at combining the five key elements that go into every great short
story: character, setting, conflict, plot and theme.

A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in the action of
a short story or other literary work.
While there are many different character types (and archetypes!), these two are
absolutely the ones you need to know: the protagonist and the antagonist.

 The protagonist of a work is its main character. The plot circles around this
person or object, and they are central to solving the conflict of the story.
Protagonists are often heroic, but they don't have to be many stories focus on the
struggles of average people, too. For the most part, protagonists are the characters
that you remember long after the book is over, like Katniss Everdeen, David
Copperfield, Sherlock Holmes, and Hester Prynne.

 Antagonists, on the other hand, are the characters that oppose the protagonist
in some way. (This opposition is what causes the conflict of the story!) There can be
multiple antagonists in a story, though usually there is one major character, animal,
or object that continues to impede the protagonist's progress. If you ever forget
 what an antagonist is, just think of your favorite Disney villains. They are some of
the best bad guys out there.

The setting of a short story is the time and place in which it happens. Authors often
use descriptions of landscape, scenery, buildings, seasons, or weather to provide a strong
sense of setting.
 Have you ever pictured yourself in living in the Gryffindor dormitories at Hogwarts?
Or maybe you have wished you could attend the Mad Hatter's tea party in
Wonderland. These are examples of how settings—especially vivid ones—capture
readers' imaginations and help a literary world come to life.

A plot is a series of events and character actions that relate to the central conflict.
All literature has a plot of some kind. Most long-form literature, like a novel or a
play, follows a typical plot structure, also known as a plot arc. This type of plot has six
elements:

 Beginning/Exposition: This is the very beginning of a story. During the exposition,

authors usually introduce the major characters and settings to the reader.
 Conflict: Just like in real life, the conflict of a story is the problem that the main
characters must tackle. There are two types of conflict that you will see in a plot.
The major conflict is the overarching problem that characters face. Minor
conflicts, on the other hands, are the smaller obstacles characters must overcome to
resolve the major conflict.
 Rising Action: Rising action is literally everything that happens in a story that leads
up to the climax of the plot. Usually this involves facing and conquering minor
conflicts, which is what keeps the plot moving forward. More importantly, writers
use rising action to build tension that comes to a head during the plot's climax.
 Climax: The climax of the plot is the part of the story where the characters finally
must face and solve the major conflict. This is the "peak" of the plot where all the
tension of the rising action finally comes to a head. You can usually identify the
climax by figuring out which part of the story is the moment where the hero will
either succeed or totally fail.
 Falling Action: Falling action is everything that happens after the book's climax but
before the resolution. This is where writers tie up any loose ends and start bringing
the book's action to a close.
 Resolution/Denouement: This is the conclusion of a story. But just because it is
called a "resolution" doesn't mean every single issue is resolved happily—or even
satisfactorily. For example, the resolution in Romeo and Juliet involves (spoiler
alert!) the death of both main characters. This might not be the kind of ending you
want, but it is an ending, which is why it's called the resolution!
  If you have ever read a Shakespearean play, then you have seen the plot we outlined
above at work. But even more contemporary novels, like The Hunger Games, also use
this structure. You can think of a plot arc like a story's skeleton.

The conflict is a struggle between two people or things in a short story. The main
character is usually on one side of the central conflict.

On the other side, the main character may struggle against another important
character, against the forces of nature, against society, or even against something inside
himself or herself (feelings, emotions, illness).

All literary works have themes, or central messages, that authors are trying to
convey. Sometimes theme is described as the main idea of a work...but more
accurately, themes are any ideas that appear repeatedly throughout a text. That
means that most works have multiple themes.
All literature has themes because a major purpose of literature is to share, explore,
and advocate for ideas. Even the shortest poems have themes. Check out this two-line
poem, "My life has been the poem I would have writ," from Henry David Thoreau:
“My life has been the poem I would have writ 
But I could not both live and utter it.”
 When looking for a theme, ask yourself what an author is trying to teach us or
show us through their writing. In this case, Thoreau is saying we must live in the
moment, and living is what provides the material for writing.

Literary elements help to uncover the meaning of a text. They are present in
every piece of literature; they are a good place to start when it comes to developing
your analytical toolbox. 

Learning Competency with code/Kasanayang Pampagkatuto at koda

Make connections between texts to particular social issues, concerns, or dispositions in real life.
U- Identifying the Distinguished Features/Elements of a Short Story

Directions/ Instructions / Panuto

Pre-reading Task

Have you ever been tempted to pretend that you were someone else? Do you think people
will respect you more if they think you are rich? Can you judge people by their appearance?
In this classic short story by O. Henry, a young man and woman meet in a public park and
instantly fall for one another ... but neither of them is what they seem. Read the text below
and accomplish the activities that follow:

While the Auto Waits

by O. Henry
Promptly at the beginning of twilight, came again to that quiet corner of that quiet, small park the
girl in gray. She sat upon a bench and read a book, for there was yet to come a half hour in which
print could be accomplished.
To repeat: Her dress was gray, and plain enough to mask its impeccancy of style and fit. A large-
meshed veil imprisoned her turban hat and a face that shone through it with a calm and
unconscious beauty. She had come there at the same hour on the day previous, and on the day
before that; and there was one who knew it.
The young man who knew it hovered near, relying upon burnt sacrifices to the great joss, Luck. His
piety was rewarded, for, in turning a page, her book slipped from her fingers and bounded from the
bench a full yard away.
The young man pounced upon it with instant avidity, returning it to its owner with that air that
seems to flourish in parks and public places - a compound of gallantry and hope, tempered with
respect for the policeman on the beat. In a pleasant voice, be risked an inconsequent remark upon
the weather that introductory topic responsible for so much of the world's unhappiness-and stood
poised for a moment, awaiting his fate.
The girl looked him over leisurely; at his ordinary, neat dress and his features distinguished by
nothing particular in the way of expression.
"You may sit down, if you like," she said, in a full, deliberate contralto. "Really, I would like to have
you do so. The light is too bad for reading. I would prefer to talk."
The vassal of Luck slid upon the seat by her side with complaisance.
"Do you know," he said, speaking the formula with which park chairmen open their meetings, "that
you are quite the stunningest girl I have seen in a long time? I had my eye on you yesterday. Didn't
know somebody was bowled over by those pretty lamps of yours, did you, honeysuckle?"
"Whoever you are," said the girl, in icy tones, "you must remember that I am a lady. I will excuse the
remark you have just made because the mistake was, doubtless, not an unnatural one -- in your
circle. I asked you to sit down; if the invitation must constitute me your honeysuckle, consider it
with- drawn."
"I earnestly beg your pardon," pleaded the young ran. His expression of satisfaction had changed to
one of penitence and humility. It was my fault, you know -I mean, there are girls in parks, you know
- that is, of course, you don't know, but -- "
"Abandon the subject if you please. Of course, I know. Now, tell me about these people passing and
crowding, each way, along these paths. Where are they going? Why do they hurry so? Are they
happy?"
The young man had promptly abandoned his air of coquetry. His cue was now for a waiting part; he
could not guess the role be would be expected to play.
"It is interesting to watch them," he replied, postulating her mood. "It is the wonderful drama of life.
Some are going to supper and some to -- er -- other places. One wonders what their histories are."
"I do not," said the girl; "I am not so inquisitive. I come here to sit because here, only, can I be
tearing the great, common, throbbing heart of humanity. My part in life is cast where its beats are
never felt. Can you surmise why I spoke to you, Mr. --?"
"Parkenstacker," supplied the young man. Then he looked eager and hopeful.
"No," said the girl, holding up a slender finger, and smiling slightly. "You would recognize it
immediately. It is impossible to keep one's name out of print. Or even one's portrait. This veil and
this hat of my maid furnish me with an incog. You should have seen the chauffeur stare at it when
he thought I did not see. Candidly, there are five or six names that belong in the holy of holies, and
mine, by the accident of birth, is one of them. I spoke to you, Mr. Stackenpot -- "
"Parkenstacker," corrected the young man, modestly.
" -- Mr. Parkenstacker, because I wanted to talk, for once, with a natural man -- one unspoiled by the
despicable gloss of wealth and supposed social superiority. Oh! you do not know how weary I am of
it -- money, money, money! And of the men who surround me, dancing like little marionettes all cut
by the same pattern. I am sick of pleasure, of jewels, of travel, of society, of luxuries of all kinds."
"I always had an idea," ventured the young man, hesitatingly, "that money must be a pretty good
thing."
"A competence is to be desired. But when you leave so many millions that --!" She concluded the
sentence with a gesture of despair. "It is the monotony of it" she continued, "that palls. Drives,
dinners, theatres, balls, suppers, with the gilding of superfluous wealth over it all. Sometimes the
very tinkle of the ice in my champagne glass nearly drives me mad."
Mr. Parkenstacker looked ingenuously interested.
"I have always liked," he said, "to read and hear about the ways of wealthy and fashionable folks. I
suppose I am a bit of a snob. But I like to have my information accurate. Now, I had formed the
opinion that champagne is cooled in the bottle and not by placing ice in the glass."
The girl gave a musical laugh of genuine amusement.
"You should know," she explained, in an indulgent tone, "that we of the non-useful class depend for
our amusement upon departure from precedent. Just now it is a fad to put ice in champagne. The
idea was originated by a visiting Prince of Tartary while dining at the Waldorf. It will soon give way
to some other whim. Just as at a dinner party this week on Madison Avenue a green kid glove was
laid by the plate of each guest to be put on and used while eating olives."
"I see," admitted the young man, humbly.
"These special diversions of the inner circle do not become familiar to the common public."
"Sometimes," continued the girl, acknowledging his confession of error by a slight bow, "I have
thought that if I ever should love a man it would be one of lowly station. One who is a worker and
not a drone. But, doubtless, the claims of caste and wealth will prove stronger than my inclination.
Just now I am besieged by two. One is a Grand Duke of a German principality. I think he has, or has
bad, a wife, somewhere, driven mad by his intemperance and cruelty. The other is an English
Marquis, so cold and mercenary that I even prefer the diabolism of the Duke. What is it that impels
me to tell you these things, Mr. Packenstacker?
"Parkenstacker," breathed the young man. "In- deed, you cannot know how much I appreciate your
confidences."
The girl contemplated him with the calm, impersonal regard that befitted the difference in their
stations.
"What is your line of business, Mr. Parken- stacker?" she asked.
"A very humble one. But I hope to rise in the world. Were you really in earnest when you said that
you could love a man of lowly position?"
"Indeed, I was. But I said 'might.' There is the Grand Duke and the Marquis, you know. Yes, no
calling could be too humble were the man what I would wish him to be."
"I work," declared Mr. Parkenstacker, "in a restaurant."
The girl shrank slightly.
"Not as a waiter?" she said, a little imploringly. "Labor is noble, but personal attendance, you know
-- valets and -- "
"I am not a waiter. I am cashier in" -- on the street they faced that bounded the opposite side of the
park was the brilliant electric sign "RESTAU- RANT" -- "I am cashier in that restaurant you are
there."
The girl consulted a tiny watch set in a bracelet of rich design upon her left wrist, and rose,
hurriedly. She thrust her book into a glittering reticule sus- pended from her waist, for which,
however, the book was too large.
"Why are you not at work?" she asked.
"I am on the night turn," said the young man; it is yet an hour before my period begins. May I not
hope to see you again?"
"I do not know. Perhaps - but the whim may not seize me again. I must go quickly now. There is a
dinner, and a box at the play -- and, oh! the same old round. Perhaps you noticed an automobile at
the upper corner of the park as you came. One with a white body
"And red running gear?" asked the young man, knitting his brows reflectively.
"Yes. I always come in that. Pierre waits for me there. He supposes me to be shopping in the
department store across the square. Conceive of the bondage of the life wherein we must deceive
even our chauffeurs. Good-night."
"But it is dark now," said Mr. Parkenstacker, "and the park is full of rude men. May I not walk -- "
"If you have the slightest regard for my wishes," said the girl, firmly, "you will remain at this bench
for ten minutes after I have left. I do not mean to accuse you, but you are probably aware that autos
generally bear the monogram of their owner. Again, good-night"
Swift and stately she moved away through the dusk. The young man watched her graceful form as
she reached the pavement at the park's edge and turned up along it toward the corner where stood
the automobile. Then he treacherously and unhesitatingly began to dodge and skim among the park
trees and shrubbery in a course parallel to her route, keeping her well in sight
When she reached the corner, she turned her head to glance at the motor car, and then passed it,
continuing on across the street. Sheltered behind a convenient standing cab, the young man
followed her movements closely with his eyes. Passing down the sidewalk of the street opposite the
park, she entered the restaurant with the blazing sign. The place was one of those frankly glaring
establishments, all white, paint and glass, where one may dine cheaply and conspicuously. The girl
penetrated the restaurant to some retreat at its rear, whence she quickly emerged without her bat
and veil.
The cashier's desk was well to the front. A red- head girl and the stool climbed down, glancing
pointedly at the clock as she did so. The girl in gray mounted in her place.
The young man thrust his hands into his pockets and walked slowly back along the sidewalk. At the
corner his foot struck a small, paper-covered volume lying there, sending it sliding to the edge of
the turf. By its picturesque cover he recognized it as the book the girl had been reading. He picked it
up carelessly, and saw that its title was "New Arabian Nights," the author being of the name of
Stevenson. He dropped it again upon the grass, and lounged, irresolute, for a minute. Then he
stepped into the automobile, reclined upon the cushions, and said two words to the chauffeur:
"Club, Henri."

Process Questions:
1. Who met at the park? Describe how the characters reacted on their first meeting.
2. What do you think are the intentions of the characters for not revealing their true status in life?
3. Would you consider the situations of the characters a “white lie?” Why or why not?
4. What does the last sentence of the story tell us about the young man?

Prose in Process
Activity 1. Story Grammar

Complete the story grammar below by writing the details about the play, “While the Auto Waits”

While the Auto Waits

Characters Plot Setting Conflict

Who Time…when… Episodes 1. _______________

_________________
a. _______________ a. _______________ 2. _______________
______
b. _______________ Location…where… b. _______________ 3. _______________

c. _______________ c. _______________ 4. _______________

_________________

Activity 2. Character Analysis

A. Fill out the character analysis sketch to give characterization to the characters of the
play, “While the Auto Waits”.
Part of the play where
Character 1 1. Trait it was revealed

Evidence
 Part of the play where
Character 2 2. Trait it was revealed

Evidence
B. Describing a Character

Which words and expressions best describe the girl in gray?

Write three words that describe the lady in simple, proud,

gray. honest, liar,
gloomy, good-
1. _______________
natured, dishonest,
2. _______________ cheerful, with a
good sense of
3. _______________ humor

Activity 3. THINK IT OVER

What can you say about the play, While the Auto Waits? Did you find information that helped you
understand it? The following activities will help you deepen your understanding.

The plot diagram shows how the main events in the play are organized into a plot. Come up with
a plot diagram as to the presentation of the character’s thoughts, feelings and actions.

Rubric for Scoring Plot Diagram

Poor (2pts.) Fair (5pts.) Good (8pts.) Great (10pts.)

 Student missed 3 or Student missed 2 Student missed 1 Student included all
more of the elements elements in their plot element in their plot of the necessary
Elements of a plot diagram. diagram. diagram. elements of a plot
diagram.

Student does not Many elements lack Student explains Student fully explains
explain each explanation. The each element. The each of the elements.
Explanation element. The explanations are student did the bare Sentences are well
explanations are weak and often minimum. Very little written. A deep
weak. No extra effort incorrect effort was taken. understanding is
was taken. evident.

Reflection/Pangwakas

Answer the questions.

1. What do you think is the implication of the story to human lives?

2. If you were the author, how would you end the story?

References/ Sanggunian

https://blog.prepscholar.com/literary-elements-list-examples
https://americanliterature.com/author/o-henry/short-story/while-the-auto-waits
http://www.depednegor.net/uploads/8/3/5/2/8352879/english_9_lm_draft.pdf

Answer Key/Susi sa Pagwawasto

Process Questions

Answers may vary

Activity I

Answers may vary

Activity 2

Answers may vary

Activity 2

Answers may vary

Prepared by /Inihanda ni:

MARY GRACE L. MAROLLANO

Teacher II/English