Elements of a Short Story

Elements of a Short Story

• Genre- A type or category (of literature, film, etc.) Examples: novel, musical, drama….

Definition of Short Story

• “A brief fictional narrative, written in prose.”

• Fictional: Untrue• Narrative: A Story• Prose: Written in full sentences,

paragraph style (as opposed to poetry)

History of the Short Story

• 1. The origin of man-oral tradition

Bible- parables: stories with morals/lessons

Greek/Roman PeriodIncidents/Epics

Middle Ages

KnightsFables

1800’s

• Short Stories

Edgar Allen Poe

Washington Irving

The Short Story

1. Plot

2. Characters

3. Setting

4. Theme

5. Author’s Style

Plot

The series of events(action) that takesplace in a story. Rising Action-climax-denouement.

Plot DiagramDraw this on the bottom of your

hand out

Exposition

Rising Action

Climax

Falling Action

Resolution

Exposition

• The beginning of the story when we meet the characters and discover the conflict

• Setting; characters; conflict

Narrative Hook

• Catches the readers attention and makes the reader want to keep reading

• Maybe an introduction of the problem

Rising Action

• Events of the story that move the story along

• PLOT

Climax

• Turning point of the story.

• High point of interest

Falling Action

• The final events of the story that bring the story to a close

Resolution

• End of the story when readers figure out the theme and the solution to the conflict

Theme

• The author’s purpose for writing the story--the“message” that the readerreceives.

Setting

Time, place, historical background (other things going on in the time period, for example, the Civil War.

Setting

Suspense

• Feeling of curiosity or uncertainty about the outcome of events in a story

Foreshadowing

• Events in the story that are used to suggests things that have yet to happen.

• Used to create suspense

Characterization

• Direct---author states character’s traits directly

• Indirect---author shows character’s personality through their actions, words, feelings, etc…

Characters

•We learn about a character throughDADI

•Interaction with other characters

.

•Description of the character•Actions of the character•Dialogue of the character

Characters

• Round

• Flat

• Static

• Dynamic

Characters can be either static or dynamic.

Static characters never change

Dynamic Characters change (psychological)

Characters can also be Round or Flat

• Shows many traits and/or flaws

• Only shows a single trait or flaw

Characters may be theprotagonist (hero or…)

An antagonist(villain)

Point of View

• 1st Person-Told by a character in the story.

Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks: “My mama

always said life was like a box of

chocolates. You never know what

you're gonna get.”)

Point of View

3rd person limited- Told by an outside narrator-focus on one character

3rd person omniscient-narrator is all knowing of other characters thought and motivations

Conflict

•Problem to be solved• Five types:

Person vs. self Person vs. Person

Person vs. Nature

Person vs. Society

Person vs. Higher Power

Complications

• Events that stand in the way of the conflict being resolved.

Imagery

• Use of words that appeal to the senses

– Smell---the rancid odor of decaying flesh

– Sight---the brilliant colors of the twilight sky

– Taste---the flavor was that of dirty mud covered in moss

Symbolism

• Author uses something that represents more than what it is.

• Something stands for something else

• IE: The flag represents freedom, liberty, etc.

Allegory

• Story told that has more than one level of meaning

• Literal level---an eagle is a bird

• Symbolic level---the eagle represents freedom

Irony• When the

opposite happens from what you think would happen (situational)

Types of Irony

• Verbal---using words

• Situational---events

• Dramatic---audience knows something character doesn’t

Flashback

• Tell something that happened earlier

Inference

• Using information to draw conclusions about a character or situation

Author’s Stylepast current

Word Choice

• Vocabulary• Sentence Structure

• Use of special devices(foreshadowing, flashback,personification)

•Surprise ending

Author’s Style

Mood

MoodMood

For example:peaceful, threatening, scary

Parable

• Simple, brief narrative that teaches a lesson by using characters and events to stand for abstract ideas

• Watch this parable

Allusion

• Reference to something historical, societal, artistic, or otherwise famous/well-known