1. Elements of Short Stories
Part 1: The Players
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2. Characters The personified, thinking, feeling elements of a literary work.
Round Characters are convincing and realistic. They have many different personality traits. They are usually dynamic – they go through changes because of something that happens to them.
Flat Characters are stereotyped, shallow, and often symbolic. Have only one or two personality traits. They tend to be static – they do not change in the course of the story.

3. Characters
Protagonist: The main character in a literary work (for example, Ponyboy in “The Outsiders” or Cinderella in the fairytale named for her).
Antagonist: The character who opposes the protagonist (for example, Bob, Randy, and the Socs in “The Outsiders” or the wicked stepmother in “Cinderella”).

4. Methods of Characterization
Direct Characterization: The personality of a character is revealed by direct statements.
“Jack had been in basic training in Florida and Dottie was there on vacation with her parents. They’d met on the beach and struck up a conversation. Dottie was the talker, the outgoing one – the extrovert. Jack was too shy around girls to say much at all.”
“Furlough – 1944” by Harry Mazer

5. Methods of Characterization
Indirect Characterization: Revealing a character’s personality through:
The character’s own thoughts, words, and actions
The comments of other characters
The character’s physical appearance

6. Indirect Characterization through Thoughts
“Moonbeam closed his eyes and pretended to sleep the rest of the way to Bamfield. He couldn’t believe what he had gotten himself into. How had this happened? He’d never held a gun in his life, much less gone hunting for animals.”
“Moonbeam Dawson and the Killer Bear”
by Jean Okimoto

7. Indirect Characterization through Words
It was Kenny Griffen, smiling complacently. “Miss Bird sent me after you ‘cause you been gone six years. You’re in trouble… yer constipated!” Kenny chortled gleefully. “Wait’ll I tell Caaathy!”
“Here There Be Tygers” by Stephen King

8. Indirect Characterization through Actions
“The boy held his breath; he wondered whether his father would hear his heart beating… Through a crack in the counter he could see his father where he stood, one hand held to his high stiff collar…”
“I Spy” by Graham Greene

9. Indirect Characterization through Appearance
“Miss Kinney was young and blonde and bouncy and had a boyfriend who picked her up after school in a blue Camaro.”
“Here There Be Tygers” by Stephen King

10. Elements of Short Stories
Part 2: The Stage
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11. Plot
The plot is a planned, logical sequence with a beginning, middle, and end.

12. Plot Components
Exposition: The introduction to the story. Here, the details of the story are given before the action starts.
Rising Action: The series of conflicts and incidents that lead to the climax. This is the longest part of the plot.
Climax: Also called the “Turning Point,” it is the most intense moment of a story where readers wonder what will happen next – will the conflict be resolved or not?
Falling Action: Also called the denouement, it is is the series of events that follow the climax where the complications get resolved.
Resolution: The conclusion where we see the results of the falling action.

13. Conflict Conflict is the struggle between two forces in a story.
Often, the primary conflict is between the protagonist and the antagonist.
Without at least one source of conflict, there can be no plot!

14. Types of Conflict External Conflict comes in many forms:
Internal Conflict is also called Human vs. Self.
Human vs. Human
Human vs. Technology
Human vs. Society
Human vs. Nature
Human vs. Supernatural

16. “If she had only proceeded more slowly
“If she had only proceeded more slowly. If she had only taken the Southerly route, avoiding the icebergs. If only the watch had had a pair of binoculars.” (news story about the Titanic)

19. “And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming, And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor…” -“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

21. Setting
The setting is when & where the story takes place. Setting includes the following:
The location
For example: London, Halifax, outer space
The time period
For example: WWII, the French Revolution, yesterday
The economic conditions of the location
For example: the suburbs, a wealthy kingdom
Specific buildings, rooms, etc.
For example: a log cabin, a school, a military base
Weather conditions
For example: before sunrise, during a blizzard

22. Setting A setting can be used to set the mood of the story:
“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country.”
“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe

23. Setting Sometimes setting can be used to tell us about characters:
That evening T.J. smelled the air, his nostrils dilating with the odor of the earth under his feet. “It’s spring,” he said, and there was gladness rising in his voice that filled us all with the same feeling.
“It’s mighty late for it, but it’s
spring.” We were all sniffing at the air, too, trying to smell it the way that T.J. did, and I can still remember the sweet odor of the earth under our feet. It was the first time in my life that spring and spring earth had meant anything to me.
“Antaeus” by Borden Deal

24. Elements of Short Stories
Part 3: Finding Meaning
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25. The perspective from which the story is told
Point of View (PoV)
The perspective from which the story is told
Who is telling the story?
For example, is it a player on the home team, or someone watching the game?
How do we know what is happening?
For example, are we being told this by a participating character, or by a reporter?

26. First Person PoV
Told from the viewpoint of one of the characters, using the first person pronouns “I,” “my,” and “me.”
“It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.”
- “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

27. Third Person PoV
The story is told using a narrator who is located outside of the action and describes the action using third person pronouns such as “he,” “she,” or “they.”
“As they edged nearer, Harry almost slipped - there was a large puddle of water on the floor; Ron and Hermione grabbed him, and they inched toward the message, eyes fixed on a dark shadow beneath it. All three of them realized what it was at once, and leapt backward with a splash.”
- “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” by JK Rowling

28. Second Person PoV
The main character in the story is referred to using the second person pronoun “you” and “your.”
“You hear the sound of hooves, and a strange clanking noise. Someone is coming! You duck behind a tree as two men on horseback ride toward you. They are wearing shining metal armor. One of them carries a white banner with a golden lion on it. They must be knights! You watch as they rein in their horses and dismount just a few yards away.”
- “Choose Your Own Adventure : The Forbidden Castle” by Edward Packard

29. Theme
The theme is the message of the story. It’s something the author has to say about the human condition – telling something about humans and life.
There can be multiple themes in one story!
Themes can be stated directly, or it can be implied by events and actions in the story.

30. Theme, continued
Since themes are universal, you would not use plot details or character names when stating them.
For example, you wouldn’t say the theme of Cinderella is “Have a fairy godmother;” you may say it is “Follow your dreams” or “Love always wins in the end.”