1. Rayat Shikshan Sanstha’s S. M. Joshi College Hadapsar, Pune-28
Department of English
Topic- Short Stories
Presented By- Prof. Ajit D. Bhosale

2. Six Elements
Plot
Setting
Characterization
Point of View
Theme
Irony

3. First Element---Plot

4. Plot---Exposition Includes three basic elements…
Characters
Setting
Main conflict is revealed
Usually lasts for the several paragraphs in a short story…
Hooks you into a story, book, or a movie

5. Second Element--- Rising Action
Characters try to resolve main conflict only to be met with more conflicts
Types of conflict…
Internal Conflict---a conflict that occurs within a character’s own self…usually a decision the person is trying to make
Examples: man vs. self
External Conflict---a conflict between a character and anything or anyone else
Examples: man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. machine, man vs. society, man vs. supernatural

6. Third Element---Climax
Highest point in the story
Most exciting point in the story
Shortest part of the story

7. Fourth Element---Resolution
Ties up all loose ends of the story
Is shorter than the other parts of the story

8. Resolution (Denouement)
This is added to a mystery
Reveals the outcome of the mystery

9. Setting Where and when a story takes place
Created by using images…words that appeal to your fives senses

10. Setting
Provides the story with background…a place for the characters to live and act in
A good setting makes the story real and believable
Reveals a lot about the characters themselves
A good setting lets you know what kind of characters you have
Supplies atmosphere or mood (which affects our feelings)
Midnight in a lonely house vs. noon in a crowded house changes how we feel about a story

11. Characterization---Direct
Two types of characterization…
Direct characterization---the author tells the reader exactly what a character is like
“He was a tall man past middle age, for his hair was a vivid white; but his thick eyebrows and pointed military moustache were as black as the night from which Rainsford had come. His eyes, too, were black and very bright. He had high cheekbones, a sharp-cut nose, a spare, dark face, the face of a man used to giving orders, the face of an aristocrat.”

12. Characterization---Indirect
Indirect Characterization---author shows us what a character is like and allows us to interpret for ourselves the kind of person we are meeting
Authors use five ways to indirectly characterize

13. Characterization---Indirect
1. Character’s own speech
2. Character’s appearance
3. Character’s private thoughts
4. Character’s actions
5. How others feel about them

14. Point of View The person the author has chosen to tell the story
Narrator is NOT the author
Three types of Point of View
Very important in how a story is told

15. Point of View---Omniscient POV
an “all knowing” narrator
is able to tell us everything about every character in the story
narrator is NOT a character in the story
will refer to characters in the story as “he” and “she”

16. Point of View---Third Person Limited
is able to tell us everything about ONE character in the story
narrator is NOT a character in the story
will refer to characters in the story as “he” and “she”

17. Point of View--- First Person
Is only able to tell us what he or she sees or hears about events in the story
narrator is a character in the story
will refer to him or herself as “I”

18. Theme Theme…the central idea of the story
Subject…simply the topic of the story (can be stated in one or two words)
Examples…love, war, growing up

19. Five Things to Know about THEME…
1. It usually REVEALS A TRUTH about human nature.
2. It is usually NOT DIRECTLY STATED in the story.
3. It is NOT a MORAL.
4. It shows INSIGHT INTO HUMAN BEHAVIOR.
5. It must be stated in at least ONE COMPLETE SENTENCE.

20. Three Ways to Find a Theme…etc.
Check the TITLE…Does it hold a special meaning for the story?
Does the main character CHANGE from the beginning to the end of the story?
Are any IMPORTANT STATEMENTS made about LIFE within the story?
And then…TEST YOUR STATEMENT and be sure it applies to the ENTIRE story and not just PARTS of it.

21. Irony Irony is surprise
The difference between what we expect to happen and what actually happens
There are three types of irony in literature.
Verbal
Situational
Dramatic

22. Verbal Irony Say one thing and mean something else
Doing it with a bitter tone---sarcasm

23. Situational Irony
A situation that we expect to happen actually happens oppositely
Example: a preacher is supposed to be a good guy but turns out to be a murder
Example: Movie and play Arsenic and Old Lace

24. Dramatic Irony
The audience knows something that the characters on stage or in the book/story do not know