I have an outdoor medium directional TV antenna that someone gave me who didn't want it; The VHF "terminals" or "rods"... whatever you call them, can be made to stick straight out, OR in an arrow shape.
My question is, which way will give me better signal? Does either way affect distance?
Thanks.

You should fully open up so elements are parallel, if this is the VHF section you are talking about. Some antennas that have UHF as well will use a Yagi with a corner reflector at the front, when opened up, it looks like a backwards arrow.
The smaller elements are the UHF.
The higher the frequency, the shorter the element.

Yes I'm talking about VHF. Thanks

I would fold all the way out.
Try these 2 resources for channels available in your area:

AntennaWeb

http://www.tvfool.com/

Just enter zipcode to see what's around your area.