1. Elements of Short Stories
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2. Setting
The setting is the place where the story takes place. Setting includes the following:
The geographical location
For example: London, Chicago, Mars, Montana
The time period
For example: 1865, during WWII, today
The socio-economic characteristics of the location
For example: wealthy suburbs, on a farm
The specific building, room etc.
For example: a prep school, a log cabin, a bus, a military base

3. Setting Can be used to tell readers about the characters:
Larry's apartment was less of a living space than a glorified closet. The
bathroom was just big enough to sit on the toilet without having his knees
touch the sink, and the window was more like a ship's porthole. The bed was
so small his feet hung over the edge, and there was really not much to do but
watch static on the television.
The place did not have a kitchen, so he bought a camping hotplate to make
his single-serving meals. He ate the same thing every night, but like a house
cat, he did not seem to mind the monotony of his repeated dinner of rice,
wilted spinach, and baked beans.
Nothing hung on the walls of Larry’s place, but old framed photos of
family members he no longer spoke to cluttered his small desk. An old dusty
typewriter and a stack of blank paper took up the rest of the space there.
He hadn’t written a word in years.

4. Setting Can be used to set the atmosphere for 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, though a singularly dreary tract of country.”
“The Fall of the House of Usher”
by Edgar Allan Poe

5. Characters The people (or animals, things, etc
Characters The people (or animals, things, etc. presented as people) appearing in a literary work.
Dynamic Characters undergo some type of change or development in story, often because of something that happens to them
Round Characters are convincing, true to life. Have many different traits, but do not go through major changes in the story.
Flat Characters are stereotyped, shallow, and often symbolic. Have only one or two personality traits
Static Characters do not change in the course of the story

6. Examples of Characters
Dynamic:
Han Solo, Ebenezer Scrooge, Prof. Snape
Round
Dumbledore, How I Met Your Mother cast
Flat
Barney from “The Simpsons”, Shredder
Static
Alfred the Butler, Bella’s Dad

7. Characters
Protagonist: The main character in a literary work for instance: Cinderella, Snow White, Harry Potter and Spider-Man
Antagonist: The character who opposes the protagonist. For instance: Evil Step Mother, Evil Queen, Voldemort, The Green Goblin

8. Methods of Characterization
Direct Characterization: The author develops the personality of a character 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

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

10. 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

11. 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

12. Plot
Plot is how the author arranges events to develop his/her basic idea. It is the sequence of events in a story or play. The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle and end.

13. Plot Components
Introduction: The start of the story, the situation before the action starts
Rising Action: The series of conflicts and crisis in the story that lead to the climax
Climax / Turning Point: The most intense moment – either mentally or in action – the reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
Falling Action: The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. (The events between the climax and the resolution)
Resolution: The conclusion, the untangling of events in the story

14. Plot: Conflict
Conflict is the dramatic struggle between two forces in a story. Without conflict there is no plot.

15. Plot: Types of Conflict
External Conflict
Human vs. Human
Human vs. Nature
Human vs. Society
Internal Conflict
Human vs. Self

16. The angle or perspective from which the story is told
Point of View
The angle or perspective from which the story is told
Who is telling the story?
For instance, is it a player on the home team or someone watching the game?
How do we know what is happening?
For instance, does a character tell us?

17. First Person Point of View
Told from the viewpoint of one of the characters, using the first person pronoun “I”.
“The thousands of injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I give utterance to a threat.”
“The Cask of Amontillado”
by Edgar Allan Poe

18. Innocent Eye: The story is told through the eyes of a child (his/her judgment being different from that of an adult).
Stream of Consciousness: The story is told so that the reader feels as if they are inside the head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions.

19. Second Person Point of View
The main character in the story is referred to using the second person pronoun “you”.
“Rubbing your aching head, you take in the scene around you. Nearby you see a narrow dirt road, and beyond it a fast-running brook. The road disappears into dense woods on either side of the field.
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

20. Third Person Point of View
The story is told using a narrator who is located outside of the action of the story and uses third person pronouns such as “he”, “she”, “his”, “her”, “they” etc.
Third Person Point of View can be broken up into three different types:
Omniscient
Limited Omniscient
Objective

21. Omniscient Point of View
The narrator has the power to show the reader what is happening though a number of characters’ eyes.
“Myop carried a short knobby stick. She struck out at random at chickens she liked, and worked out the beat of a song on the fence around the pigpen. She felt light and good in the warm sun. She was ten, and nothing existed for her but her son, the stick she clutched in her dark brown hand, and the tat-de-ta-ta-ta of accompaniment.”
“The Flowers” by Alice Walker

22. Limited Omniscient Point of View
Third person, told from the viewpoint of a character in the story.
“They all laughed, and while they were laughing, the quiet boy moved his bare foot on the sidewalk and merely touched, brushed against a number of red ants that were scurrying about on the sidewalk. Secretly his eyes shining, while his parents chatted with the old man, he saw the ants hesitate, quiver, and lie still on the cement. He sensed they were cold now.”
“Fever Dream” by Ray Bradbury

23. Objective Point of View
Third person, told as if from a camera that follows the characters. Only what is said and done is recorded.
“Jennifer stirred in bed. The cotton sheet clung to her body as she rolled to face the nightstand. With eyes half open, she reached over to switch the alarm clock off when the man in the shadows reached out and grabbed her arm. Her scream pierced the quiet night and died abruptly as she was forced violently back into the dark oblivion.”
“Objective Point of View” writesville.com

24. Theme
Theme is the central idea or central message of the story. It usually contains some insight into the human condition – telling something about humans and life.
The theme can be stated directly or implied by the events and actions in the story.
Examples of Themes/Lessons
Don’t judge a book by its cover, Believe in yourself, People often fear what they do not understand.

25. Types of Irony
Verbal Irony:  This is the contrast between what is said and what is meant. In other words: sarcasm.
Dramatic Irony:  This is the contrast between what the character thinks to be true and what we (the reader) know to be true.  Sometimes as we read we are placed in the position of knowing more than what one character knows.  An example of this is watching a horror movie where we as the viewer know where the killer is hiding but the characters do not.
Situational Irony:  This is the most common in literature.  It is the contrast between what happens and what was expected (or what would seem appropriate). Examples include Prof. Snape secretly protecting Harry all along, or you spend an entire year working hard and saving up for an iPhone – and then someone gets it for you for Christmas.

26. Symbolism A symbol represents an idea, quality, or concept larger than itself.
A journey can symbolize life
Water may represent cleanliness
and renewal
A lion can be
a symbol of courage.
A red rose
can
represent
love.

27. Flashback
This is a writers’ technique in which the author interrupts the plot of the story to recreate an incident of an earlier time (goes back in time; like giving the reader a memory).  This device is often used to provide additional information to the reader.

28. Foreshadowing
This is a writers’ technique in which the author provides clues or hints as to what is going to happen later in the story.  It’s like the music in a scary movie when we know that something bad is about to happen.