 Short (duh): can be read in one sitting  Concise: information offered is relevant to the story being told (novels can diverge, short stories should not)  Single Impression: usually built around one character, place, idea, or action

 The action that takes place in the story  Stages:  Exposition: introduction of characters, setting  Conflict: initial problem or situation  Rising Action: circumstances the heighten anticipation  Climax: highest point of anticipation  Falling Action/Resolution (denouement): ending

 Background against which the incidents of the story take place  Includes the place where, the time when, and the social conditions under which the story moves along  Can also include atmosphere, or tone/feeling

 Must be living beings in the story that think or act to keep the story going, or they must seem like living and feeling individuals  Four Methods of Presentation:  Actions or thoughts  Conversations the characters engages in  Conversations about the main character  Author’s own opinion (overt or implied)

 Third person  Author omniscient: writer is all knowing, all seeing  Author as observer: writer has no sight into the character’s actions/thoughts; objective  Multiple storytellers: different characters narrate  First person  Author participant: author may be main character, secondary character, or take on a role

 The total meaning of the story  Does not have to be tied up in simple morals  Many times, the stories let readers see the outcomes of certain behaviors  Stated or implied, traditional or against the norm  Without, the story will lack meaning or purpose