A short story is a brief work of prose fiction.

Every story shares certain elements that work together to create an effect.

The exposition comes at the beginning of the story and introduces the reader to the setting and the characters.

TIME+PLACE

protagonist: A story’s main character (the person with the problem) antagonist: The character in conflict with the protagonist round character: A fully developed character, often prone to change flat character: A one-dimensional character, typically not central to the story characterization: The process by which an author presents and develops a fictional character

1.What the character says 2.What the character does 3.What the character thinks 4.What other characters say about him/her 5.What the narrator tells you directly

Charlie Gordon is mentally disabled. “Miss Kinnian says maybe they can make me smart. I want to be smart. My name is Charlie Gordon. I am 37 years old and 2 weeks ago was my brithday. I have nuthing more to rite now so I will close for today.”

Miss Luella Jones is unafraid, and stands up for herself. “The large woman simply turned around and kicked him right square in his blue-jeaned sitter. Then she reached down, picked the boy up by his shirt front, and shook him until his teeth rattled.”

Big brother is ashamed of his younger, disabled brother. “I thought it was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow.”

Ivan is a huge man who cannot hear or speak and is not particularly smart. “Ivan is an incredibly strong fellow,” remarked the general, “but he has the misfortune to be deaf and dumb. A simple fellow, but, I’m afraid, like all his race, a bit of a savage.”

Miss Jones is a heavy-set woman and carries a large purse. “She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and nails. It had a long strap and she carried it slung across her shoulder.”

Activity A series of events that make up a story. Plot diagram Plot diagram

SomeoneWanted/BecauseButSo Laurie Scho attention from his parents and his teacher he misbehaved at home and in school he invented “Charles”

The basic problem or challenge in a story.

Conflict can be

Or conflict can be

is the relationship of the narrator to the story. The narrator may be a character in the story, or he may be an outsider.

“As I placed the carefully wrapped package on the park bench, I looked up and saw Molly walking across the street. I hoped that she hadn’t seen me.”

George, a character in the story, is the narrator Uses “I” or first person Tells us his own thoughts Cannot tell us the thoughts of other characters Can tell us only what he sees other characters doing or what is told to him

In third person point of view, the narrator is not a character in the story, but is an outsider, or third person.

“As George placed the carefully wrapped package on the park bench, he looked up and saw Molly walking across the street.”

Narrator is not a character in the story. Cannot tell us the thoughts of any of the characters. Like a news reporter, this narrator can give only the facts as they occur. Story uses third person pronouns (“he, “him,” “his,” etc.)

“George, anxiously hoping that no one was watching him, placed a carefully wrapped package on an empty park bench. But when he looked around, he saw Molly watching him from across the street.”

Narrator is not a character in the story Narrator sees into the mind of only one character - George Narrator cannot tell the thoughts or feelings of any of the other characters Story uses third person pronouns (“he,” “she,” “her” “his” etc.)

“George, anxiously hoping that no one was watching him, placed a carefully wrapped package on an empty park bench. But Molly, who was walking home, saw him and couldn’t help thinking that he was acting strangely.

Narrator is not a character in the story Narrator has the ability to see into the minds of all the characters Like a superhuman being, the narrator is omniscient (all-knowing) Story uses third person pronouns (“he,” “him,” “his,” etc.)

Ms. Bolden looked at Darrell sternly. She simply didn’t know what to do with this boy. Darrell had been in Ms. Bolden’s office twice earlier this week. Now here he was again, and this time he was charged with something much more serious. Ms. Bolden shook her head. There really was no doubt in her mind. Darrell was guilty. She looked at the police officer standing next to Darrell. No question whatsoever--Darrell had done it.

I can’t believe what is happening to me. I know that I’ll never convince Ms. Arrington and the cop that I had nothing to do with this. Man! I didn’t do it. Why won’t anyone believe me? I’ve been in trouble before, but I’ve never done anything like this! I’ve got to convince them, or I might as well kiss my life good-bye.

Officer Perry looked at Edric and scratched his head. All the evidence pointed to Edric’s guilt, but the officer just couldn’t be sure. Mrs. Jackson, on the other hand, knew that Edric was guilty as sin. His numerous brushes with authority in the past left no question in his mind at all. Edric hung his head, knowing that this time he would not be able to talk his way out of trouble.

What the author is telling us about life through his/her story. A universal truth.

The new 9 th -grade English teacher was mean – really, really mean. She wouldn’t accept any assignments done in pencil. She went berserk when someone tried to turn in a paper torn from a notebook. She called your parent every time you missed an assignment. All the kids hated her. But when the test results came in, every kid in the class scored in the 99 th percentile.

A town in Hawaii was located near a small, deep quarry surrounded by high rocks where kids went to swim in the summer. Recently, a group of friends had been swimming in the quarry and diving into the water from the rocks, when one of the 12-year-olds dove into the water, hit his head on a submerged rock, and drowned.

Now, on a hot and sunny afternoon, Andre and his buddies went to the quarry to swim and cool off. Andre’s friends decided to dive from the sharp, dangerous rocks. One by one, they climbed up the slippery side, and one by one, they held their noses and plunged into the icy water below.

As he crept up the rock, all Andre could think of was the poor, dead boy who had foolishly jumped to his death. When he reached the top, he inched his way to the edge of the cliff, his toes tightly curled around the jagged rocks. Looking down to the water, Andre felt dizzy and slightly sick to his stomach. Far below, Andre’s friends shouted, “Come on, chicken! Cluck, cluck, cluck. Jump, chicken! Jump”

Andre took a deep breath, closed his eyes, turned around, and slowly made his way back down the rock. Behind him, his friends were laughing raucously and yelling insults at Andre. As he made his way home, Andre felt a sense of peace and a sense of power.