Introduction to the Short Story

Definition: What is a short story? A short story is a work of fiction that focuses on one important event in the lives of a small number of central characters and that can usually be read in one sitting.

Definition: What is a short story? A short story is a work of fiction that focuses on one important event in the lives of a small number of central characters and that can usually be read in one sitting.

Types of Short Story Story of Setting Story of Character Quality Fantasy Realistic Biographical Commercial Interpretive Escapist Historical Story of Plot

A short story has six basic elements: Plot Setting & Mood Conflict Character Point of View Theme

Plot = the framework of a story Plot is the arrangement of related events that makes the story hang together. Plot can also be referred to as the structure of a short story. Structure concerns how the story is told.

The plot or structure of a short story has five basic parts: Exposition: introduces the characters, setting, and background situation of the story. Exposition can also be called the Basic Situation of the story.

The plot or structure of a short story has five basic parts: Initial Incident: introduces complications and obstacles that increase the tension of the story conflict.

The plot or structure of a short story has five basic parts: Rising Action: these events show conflict between the protagonist and antagonist. They usually escalate becoming more and more intense from the initial incident to the climax.

The plot or structure of a short story has five basic parts: Climax: that moment in the story when tension rises to its highest point and the conflict comes to a head.

The plot or structure of a short story has five basic parts: Resolution: describes how the conflict is finally resolved and the story comes to an end. Resolution of conflict is also called the denouement of a story.

A Plot Diagram Suspense Falling Action Setting –time, place and conditions Characters: protagonist and antagonist

Setting & Mood Setting – time, place, and concrete situation of the story (narrative), details of setting usually introduced in the exposition of the plot and added little by little.

Setting & Mood Mood – sometimes known as the “atmosphere” of the story, it’s the overall feeling an author gives to a story. The mood the reader is put into when reading the story.

Conflict: the “story problem” that must be resolved. also called the “overall conflict” or the “central conflict”

4 Kinds of Conflict Man vs. Man Man vs. Self Man vs. Nature Man vs. Society

2 Types of Conflict External Internal External = a character struggles with a force outside himself or herself. Internal = a character struggles within his or her own mind with emotions, decisions, etc.

Characters “In the best stories, characters come alive. We care about their dreams, fears, and frustrations, just as if they were real people in our lives.”

Characters Protagonist - ? Protagonist – main character / clearly central to the story with all major events having some importance to him or her.

Characters Antagonist - ? Antagonist – any character who opposes or struggles against the protagonist. Question: Does the antagonist always have to be a character (a person) in the story?

Characters Main Major Minor Dynamic Static Flat Round Stock Narrator

Characterization: the process by which authors communicate their characters to the readers Direct characterization Indirect characterization

Point of View – the perspective from which a story is told First Person Point of View – Third Person Omniscient Point of View Third Person Limited Point of View Third Person Objective Point of View

First Person PoV Reader Narrator

Third Person Omniscient PoV Narrator Reader

Third Person Limited PoV Narrator Reader

Third Person Objective PoV Narrator Reader

Theme – the message the author intends to communicate by telling the story Can there be more than one theme found in a short story? A story’s themes are often universal truth’s, which are suggested by the specifics of a story.

Literary Elements used in short stories Foreshadowing – ? Foreshadowing – the use of clues that tell the reader what is going to happen as the story unfolds. Foreshadowing is often used as a device by which the writer uses to arouse the reader’s interest and increase suspense.

Suspense Suspense - ? Suspense – the uncertainty or anxiety that a reader feels about what is going to happen next in a story.

Suspense – a question? Why do writers use suspense in short stories? Answer: to hold the reader’s interest