Tone / Mood This is the overall feeling created at the beginning of the story. This is a VERY important part of the Short Story, because it sets up the entire piece of writing. Mood could be scary, happy, suspenseful…whatever the writer wants to create.

–It was a dark and stormy night. –suspenseful

The morning of June 27 th was clear and sunny with flowers blooming everywhere you looked. happy

Oliver Twist was born in a poor house where his mother died. sad

The trouble with being a big brother is you’ve got to drag your younger brother everywhere you go. Frustration, annoyed

Point of View

The point of view means how the story is being told. Whose “ voice” are you hearing? There are three main types of POV in short stories. Each of them can change the story entirely.

1. In the first-person point of view, the person telling the story is also a character in the story, and uses words such as I, me and my to tell what he/she observes and experiences.

2. In the third-person limited point of view, we see the events from the viewpoint of just one of the characters. This character is referred to in the third person. (ie: he, she)

In the all-knowing, or omniscient point of view, the narrator knows what everyone in the story is feeling, thinking and doing.

Identify the Point of View: 1. I groped my way down the tree and fell with a thud into the mud. Then I heard the guard dogs barking furiously as they bounded toward me. My heart began to pound.

First person

2. She saw that her father was laughing hysterically, but she had no idea why. Was he reading that silly book again?

Third-person limited

3. In the school cafeteria, Jon felt lonely and out of place, so he gobbled his lunch as fast as he could. On the other side of the table, Jeanne was wondering if she would ever get used to this noisy, crowded school. As for Liddy, she was a depressed as ever.

All-knowing

4. “Wow, am I ever happy to be home!” said Diamond to himself. He lay on his back and put his feet up in the air. “That’s the last time I ever run away,” he thought. Now he wondered when his people were going to serve his dinner. If only they knew how absolutely starved an adventurous dog could get!

Third-person limited

5. Cassy was a pioneer at heart. It ran in the family. Her father and grandfathers had climbed the Alps. And years from now, Cassy would have a daughter who followed in the family footsteps.

All-knowing

6. “Get out of my way!” Tina screamed at me. I had always been afraid of her temper, so I stepped aside quickly.

First-person

“ TV Land” 1. How does Kenny feel when he’s limited to one hour of TV? 2. How does Kenny feel on Tuesday? Why does he feel that way? 3. What do Mr. and Mrs. Foster think at first when they can’t find Kenny? 4. What is Mrs. Foster’s first reaction to seeing Kenny on TV? How does she finally handle the situation?

Assignment: Re-write the story from Kenny’s point of view.

Character A character is a person or other figure that is part of a story. We usually like a book, a story, a movie or a t.v. show because we can relate to an interesting character in it. Interesting characters with strong motivation create action – and get other characters moving and reacting.

There are two main types of character in short story. The main character is called the protagonist. All the action in the story revolves around him/her. You can usually identify the protagonist by asking, “To which character has a very significant change occurred?”

The character that creates a conflict for the protagonist is called the antagonist. This could be a person, could be society, a force or even an aspect of the protagonist’s self.

A foil is a character that is closely related to the main character (protagonist). The foil has characteristics that are in direct contrast to the main character in an effort to amplify them.

Minor characters are not the main focus, but they add to the total story.

Authors tell us about characters in several ways: Character’s speech (what does he/she say?) Character’s appearance (what does he/she look like?) Character’s private thoughts (what does he/she think or feel?) Character’s actions (what does he/she do?) How other characters within the story interact with him/her (how do others feel about and how do they react to him/her?)