Short story definition

• Brief work of fiction

Elements of A Short Story

• Character

• Plot

• Point of View

• Setting • Theme

Plot

The sequence of events in a literary work.

Plot elements

Plot is built on five main parts:

- Exposition

– Rising Action

– Climax

– Falling Action

– Resolution (Denouement)

Plot Line

Exposition

Complications

(Rising Action)

Climax

Falling Action

Resolution

Plot

• Exposition – introduces setting, characters, basic situation; introduction

• Rising Action- inciting incident; central conflict introduced; leads to climax

• Climax – high point of interest or suspense; turning point; light bulb moment

Plot

• Falling Action - Conflict begins to resolve; story tapers off; leads to resolution

• Resolution – Denouement; end of story; conflicts resolved

Character

Person, animal, natural force or object in a story or play.

Characterization

Author’s way of revealing the personality of a character

Characterization

• Direct Characterization - Writer directly states character’s traits; tells reader what kind of person the character is.

• Indirect Characterization – Author provides clues; reader must use own judgment to identify personality traits of a character

Character Indirect Characterization

Five methods for revealing character: - Actions (what he does) *

– Appearance (what he looks like)

- Other characters’ reactions

– Speech (how he speaks & what he says) *

– Thoughts (what he thinks)

* Most effective techniques

Characterization

• Static character does NOT change during story

• Dynamic character develops and grows during story

Characterization

• Flat character: Shows only one personality trait; cartoon character

• Round character– Many different personality traits (virtues & vices)

Characterization

• Protagonist – Main character; often changes; may NOT be the good guy

• Antagonist – Character or force in conflict with protagonist;

may NOT be the bad guy

Conflict

Struggle between opposing forces

Internal: character struggles with self

e.g. fear vs. duty/ duty vs. pride/ training vs. instinct

External: character struggles against outside forces

External Conflict

• Man vs. man

• Man vs. nature

• Man vs. society

• Man vs. fate/destiny

Character: Dialogue

• Conversation between characters

• May reveal traits & advance action

• Indicated by quotation marks

• New paragraph = change of speaker

Character: Motivation

• Reasons character thinks, feels, acts, or behaves in certain way

• Result of personality & situation

Narrator

• Speaker/character who tells story

• NOT always the author!

• Choice of narrator determines POV

Point of View: POV

Vantage point from which

the author tells the story

Controls info (type & amount)

the author reveals

First Person POV

One of characters tells story, using pronoun “I”

May be reliable narrator

May be unreliable narrator

Third Person POV

• Voice outside story narrates story using 3rd person pronouns,

e.g. he, she, they

Two types:

Limited: one character

Omniscient: all characters

Third Person Limited POV

Narrator sees the world through one character’s eyes

Reveals only that one character’s thoughts.

Third Person Omniscient POV

“All Knowing”

Narrator outside the story tells readers what all

characters think and feel.

Setting

Time and place of action in a story or play

Time: historical period, year, season, climate, time of day

Place: geographic, social, economic, cultural

Setting can provide/reveal:

Atmosphere: mood or feeling created in reader

Background: place for characters to live & act

Character: how he lives where he lives

Conflict: something against which character must fight

Setting

• One of oldest story plots in the world:

a person fights against something in the physical world

drought, horde of ants, heat of the desert, storm, shipwreck, etc.

Theme

Central idea or message or insight into life contained in the story

Subject/topic

+ answer to question:

“What about it?”

THEME

Theme

• A theme reveals something about a subject

• Subject of story is NOT theme of story • Subject = topic of story

e.g. love, war, greed, journey

• “Love” is a subject, NOT a theme. Ask yourself. . . What about “love”?

Theme

Stated: author directly reveals message, e.g. moral at end of folk/fairy tale

Implied: author indirectly suggests his belief about people or life;

reader must figure it out.

Finding a Theme

• Does the title signify something important about the story?

• Does the main character change during the story? Does he realize something he didn’t know before?

• Are there any important statements about life or people made in the story - by the words/actions of the narrator or characters?

Other Terms to Know

• Allusion: reference in a story that refers to Bible, history, or work of literature/art

• Dialect: way a character speaks

(directly related to setting &

time period)

Other Terms to Know

Feelings/ attitudes:

• Mood – (atmosphere) Feeling created in reader by story details

• Tone – writer’s attitude toward audience or subject

e.g. formal or informal, serious or playful, bitter or ironic

Other Terms to Know

• Flashback: info/material that occurred earlier than present time of narrative

• Foreshadowing: clues suggest events yet to occur in story; creates suspense

• Frame story: story within a story,

e.g. Arabian Nights

Irony is a contrast or difference between:

•Between expectation and reality

(between what is expected to happen and what really happens)

• Between what is said and what is

really meant

Between appearance and reality

(between what appears to be true vs.

what is really true)

Types of Irony • Verbal - writer or speaker says one thing

but means another

• Situational - what we expect to happen is different than what actually happens

• Dramatic - Audience or reader knows what is happening but the characters do not.

(Audience knows; characters don’t)

Other Terms to Know

• Suspense - The uncertain feeling about what is going to happen next in a story.

Other Terms to Know

• Symbol - Anything that stands for or represents another person, object, or abstract idea

e.g. Red rose = ?

American flag = ?

storm = ?

Symbol

• Conventional: universal representations, e.g. flags

• Personal: created by author through emphasis or repetition

e.g. scarlet ibis