Elements of a Short Elements of a Short Story Story

Elements of a Short Elements of a Short Story Story

Ms. Hungerford Ms. Hungerford

Freshman EnglishFreshman English

The long and short of the Short Story..

•Brief (fictional) work which generally tells a sequence of events within a certain time and place.

•Told in less detail than a novel.

Plot: What makes a good story?

• The sequence of events, the “why” for the things that happen in the story.

Plot Development

• The plot draws the reader into the character's lives and helps the reader understand the choices that the character makes

Plot

• Every story follows a sequence of events (aka: plot)

• The 5 stages of plot are:

1. Exposition (introduction)2. Rising Action3. Climax4. Falling Action5. Resolution

Plot Diagram:

Five Stages of Plot1. Exposition: Introduction to characters,

setting, conflict and the problem2. Rising Action: The building of

suspense to the climax3. Climax: The point of highest

tension/the turning point of the story4. Falling Action: tells what happens to

the characters after the turning point5. Resolution: The ending of

the story (can be open or closed)

Exposition:Definition: Introduction to the characters, setting, conflict

and the problemIn the exposition:• Characters• Setting• Conflict (problem)

Exposition: Character

Definition: A person/actor represented in the plot of a story, drama, etc.

• Protagonist: main character • Antagonist: a character or force

(feeling, situation) which acts against the protagonist

• Foil: Character who provides a contrast to the protagonist.

Exposition: Dynamic Characters

Definition: Characters who encounter conflict and are changed by it are called round, or dynamic.

- Dynamic characters tend to be more fully developed and described (Round Characters)

-they probably seem as real to you as people you know in real life. This is a good sign that they are round characters.

Exposition: Static Characters

• Definition: character who does not undergo substantial change or growth (during a story).

*flat characters tend to have less detail said about them and are less known to the reader than round or dynamic characters. Flat characters tend to be static, but they don’t always have to be.

Characters: You can learn about them in many ways

Stories need plot, setting, & characters

but that is WHO the characters are. That is not WHAT a character is all about.

Exposition: Characterization

• Characterization: How the writer reveals the personality of a character

Two types of characterization: - Direct Characterization- Indirect Characterization

Author’s reveal character traits…

• Directly: When the author tells the reader what the character is like

Direct Example:

– Example: “The patient boy and quiet girl were both well mannered and did not disobey their mother.”

– Explanation: The author is directly telling the audience the personality of these two children. The boy is “patient” and the girl is “quiet.”

Author’s reveal character traits

• Indirectly: shows things that reveal the personality of a character.

Shows through the following:

– Speech– Thoughts– Effect on others– Actions– Looks

Indirect Explanation • Speech: (words) What does the character

say? How does the character speak? • Thoughts: What is revealed through the

character’s private thoughts and feelings? • Effect on others toward the character: What is

revealed through the character’s effect on other people? How do other characters feel or behave in reaction to the character?

• Actions: What does the character do? How does the character behave?

• Looks: What does the character look like? How does the character dress?

Exposition: Setting

Definition: The time, place and social environment in which a story takes place.

-initiates the mood

Writers describe the world they know. Sights, sounds, colors, and textures are all vividly painted in words as an artist paints images on canvas

Exposition: Mood/Tone•Mood: the overall feeling of a

story (an extension of the setting)

– Ex: Mystery

•Tone: clues, revealed through choice of words or details, that suggest the writer’s attitude toward things.

– EX: Pessimism, optimism, seriousness, bitterness, joyful, humorous, etc.

Exposition: Conflict

Definition: The problem in any piece of literature

Two types of conflict:

1. Internal Conflict: Struggle between two opposing forces within a person

2. External Conflict: Struggle between two opposing forces

Rising Action

Definition: suspenseful events following the exposition and leading to the climax

- The rising action's purpose is usually to build suspense all the way up to the climax.

Climax

Definition: the moment of the highest interest and greatest emotion—the turning point of the story—this is when things can’t go back to the way they were before for anyone involved in the story.

Falling Action

Definition: The events after the climax which lead to the close of the story.

Resolution

Definition: The end of the story. It rounds out and concludes the action.

Point of View (P.O.V.)Point of view is the narrator (storyteller) of

the storyFirst person: Participates in the

story (“I did, When I woke up..”)

Third person: An outsider who can report only what he or she sees and hears. This person can tell us what is happening, but not the thoughts of the characters.

(“He was, She started to..”)

Point of View (P.O.V.)

Omniscient: The narrator is an all-knowing outsider who can enter the minds of more than one of the characters.

Third-Person Limited: The narrator is an outsider who sees into the mind of one of the characters.

Theme Definition: The main idea or

underlying meaning of a story (the lesson you can learn from

reading the story)Subject: the topic on which an author has chosen to write. Theme: makes some statement about or expresses some opinion on

that topic.

Examples:The subject of a story might be war while the

theme might be the idea that war is useless.Little Red Riding Hood : "Don't talk to strangers."

Theme

•Themes may be major or minor. •A major theme is an idea the

author returns to time and again. It becomes one of the most important ideas in the story.

•Minor themes are ideas that may appear from time to time.

Irony

• Definition: thinking one event will happen but another (completely different event) happens and it still makes sense.

Verbal IronySituational IronyDramatic Irony

Irony: VerbalDefinition: when someone says one

thing, means the opposite, and everyone understands she means the opposite.

Example:After working non-stop, eighteen hours a day for a solid year, the publisher and his staff saw their magazine finally gain profit. At a party to celebrate, the publisher told his staff how they really ought to be working harder and they laughed.

Irony: SituationDefinition: The opposite of what

is expected to happen, happens. But it still makes sense.

Examples: The firehouse burned downThe police station was robbed

Irony: Dramatic

Definition: when the audience or reader knows more than the characters know.

Example:The day after the assassination, someone

saw Mary Todd Lincoln and asked her how she enjoyed the play the night before. (We know and Mary knows that Abraham Lincoln was shot at the theater the night before, but the person did not.)

SymbolismDefinition: an object that represents

a very complex idea.– A symbol does not represent an object

it represents an idea.

Example: • I could ask fifty different people

what the American flag represented and get fifty different ideas that the flag represents.

Done...for now.