1. Short Stories
Literature Unit 1

2. Objectives List the elements of the plot.
Identify the elements of the plot in a short story
Create a plot diagram for a short story
Define setting in a short story
Examine the effect of the setting on the short story
Identify the point of view of a story
Evaluate the author’s use of POV on the overall story
Describe the conflict in a short story
Differentiate between external and internal conflicts
Argue the importance of the type of conflict on the impact/meaning of the short story
Compare/Contrast indirect and direct characterization
Discuss possible themes in short stories
Defend the chosen theme with examples from the short story
Write a short story

3. What is a short story?
A Short story is a concentrated dose of short fiction; it is a small, well-polished stone is a vast quarry of fiction.
At the foundation of the short story, as with most fiction, is a set of the short story devices
Plot
Setting
Character
Theme
Point of view

4. Plot
Plot is the sequence of events in a story; it is the sequential/causal backbone of the story.
Basically what happens
But plot is as much about
WHY AS WHAT.
Why do those things happen in the order they happen

5. Some Plot Types: Linear/Cause & Effect Plot
One thing causes another or
Things happen in chronological order (most stories)
Episodic Plot
Related, but not necessarily interconnected episodes (The House on Mango Street, Don Quixote)
Quest Plot
Characters striving or questing for something (The Lord of the Rings)
Argument/___________________ Plot
Often a direct address to audience (Notes from the Underground)

6. PLOT
TO UNDERSTAND THE PLOT, YOU WILL HAVE TO CAREFULLY FOLLOW WHAT IS HAPPENING, EVENT BY EVENT.
THIS IS CALLED SEQUENCING.

7. TALK IT OUT!!!
While the music plays, discuss plots with a partner. Tell your partner the plot of your favorite movie? Not just what happens – why does that happen

8. Conflict
An important part of the plot is its conflict: the struggle between two or more forces that must be resolved by the end of the narrative.
The conflict is also called the Narrative Hook

9. Types of Conflict
External Conflict - Conflict that occurs against an outside force
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Society
Internal Conflict – Conflict that occurs within the character
Man vs. Himself

10. Discuss
When the music starts list with a partner and example of each type of conflict. You need one example for Man vs. Man, one example for Man vs. Society, one example for Man vs. Nature, and one example for Man vs. Himself.

11. Setting Setting is the story’s time and place.
Ex: location, the weather, the time of year.
Mood: Setting can contribute to the mood, or emotional quality, of a literary work.
EX: a story set in the wild, stormy forest might have a tense or frightening mood.

12. Describe the setting, including the where, when, and mood of this picture:

13. Characters
Characters are the people, animals, and other individuals in a story.
In some cases a character can be a thing (The Ring)
Authors reveal the personality of each character through two types of characterization.

14. Characterization
Indirect Characterization – finding out about characters through other people’s thoughts or the character’s actions, thoughts or words
Direct Characterization – the author describing the character’s physical, appearance, thoughts, spoken words, and actions.

15. Round Vs. Flat
Round or Dynamic Character- The character: The character evolves and changes throughout the story.
Flat or Static Character_- The character does not change.

16. DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHARACTERS
MINOR CHARACTERS THESE ARE CHARACTERS ARE NOT TOO IMPORTANT TO THE STORY.
THEY MAY BE MENTIONED ONLY A FEW TIMES.

17. __________ The theme is the central message of a literary work.
What is the author’s opinion on the subject matter of the story
Usually not overtly stated, but implied

18. __________of view
A narrator is the person who tells a story. The relationship of the narrator to the story is called the point of view.
In a story with first person point of view, the narrator, a character in the story, is referred to as “I” or “we.”
In a story with second person point of view, the narrator addresses the reader,_________, as “_____.”
In a story with third person point of view, the narrator is outside of the story and uses “he” or “she” to tell the story.

19. WRITE!!!
Write three sentences, in three different POVs, about a character walking down the road.

20. Third Person Continued
Omniscient
Narrator is all-knowing, knows the thoughts, words, and actions of all characters
Limited
Narrator’s knowledge is limited to knowledge of the thoughts, words, and actions of one character or a few characters

21. Language
Voice is the distinctive use of language that conveys the author’s personality to the reader.
Could also be a CHARACTERS voice
Voice is determined by diction, an author’s choice of words and the arrangement of those words, and tone, an author’s attitude toward his or her subject matter or audience.

22. Back to Plot
Most plots follow time sequence, but an author can use complex plot devices, such as flash-forwards, flashbacks, subplots, or parallel plots to add interest of excitement.
Most, NOT all, plots develop in 5 stages: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

23. 5 stage plot
Exposition: introduces the story’s characters, setting and conflict.
Rising Action: occurs as complications, twists, or intensifications of conflict occur.
Climax: the story’s most dramatic moment.
Falling Action: the logical result of the climax.
Resolution: presents the final outcome of the story.
Narrative Hook: the actual conflict of the story which draws us in.

24. THE PLOT PROCESS CLIMAX OF STORY RISING ACTION FALLING ACTION
INCITING INCIDENT- The Conflict
INTRODUCTION (Narrative Hook)
RESOLUTION/DENOUEMENT

25. Analyze this short film.
Connected – Short Film
Analyze this short film.
Write down
Setting/Mood
Characters – direct characterization/indirect characterization
Type of Plot
Exposition/Rising Action/Climax/Falling Action/Resolution
Conflict/Narrative Hook
Theme