1. Elements of a Short Story Genre- A type or category (of literature, film, etc.) Examples: novel, musical, drama….

2. Definition of Short Story “A brief fictional narrative, written in prose.” Fictional: Untrue Narrative: A Story Prose: Written in full sentences, paragraph style (as opposed to poetry )

3. History of the Short Story 1. The origin of man-oral tradition

4. Bible- parables: stories with morals/lessons

5. Greek/Roman Period Incidents/Epics

6. Middle Ages Knights Fables

7. 1800’s Short Stories Edgar Allen Poe Washington Irving

8. The Short Story 1. Plot 2. Characters 3. Setting 4. Theme 5. Author’s Style

9. Plot The series of events (action) that takes place in a story. Rising Action- climax-denouement.

10. Plot Diagram Draw this on the bottom of your hand out Exposition Rising Action Climax Falling Action Resolution

11. Exposition The beginning of the story when we meet the characters and discover the conflict Setting; characters; conflict

12. Narrative Hook Catches the readers attention and makes the reader want to keep reading Maybe an introduction of the problem

13. Rising Action Events of the story that move the story along PLOT

14. Climax Turning point of the story. High point of interest

15. Falling Action The final events of the story that bring the story to a close

16. Resolution End of the story when readers figure out the theme and the solution to the conflict

17. Theme The author’s purpose for writing the story--the “message” that the reader receives.

18. Setting Time, place, historical background (other things going on in the time period, for example, the Civil War. Setting

19. Suspense Feeling of curiosity or uncertainty about the outcome of events in a story

20. Foreshadowing Events in the story that are used to suggests things that have yet to happen. Used to create suspense

21. Characterization Direct---author states character’s traits directly Indirect---author shows character’s personality through their actions, words, feelings, etc…

22. Characters We learn about a character through DADI Interaction with other characters. Description of the character Actions of the character Dialogue of the character

23. Characters Round Flat Static Dynamic

24. Characters can be either static or dynamic.

25. Static characters never change

26. Dynamic Characters change (psychological)

27. Characters can also be Round or Flat Shows many traits and/or flaws Only shows a single trait or flaw

28. Characters may be the protagonist (hero or…) An antagonist (villain)

29. Point of View 1st Person-Told by a character in the story. Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks: “My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.”)

30. Point of View 3rd person limited- Told by an outside narrator-focus on one character 3 rd person omniscient-narrator is all knowing of other characters thought and motivations

31. Conflict Problem to be solved Five types:

32. Person vs. self Person vs. Person

33. Person vs. Nature Person vs. Society

34. Person vs. Higher Power

35. Complications Events that stand in the way of the conflict being resolved.

36. Imagery Use of words that appeal to the senses –Smell---the rancid odor of decaying flesh –Sight---the brilliant colors of the twilight sky –Taste---the flavor was that of dirty mud covered in moss

37. Symbolism Author uses something that represents more than what it is. Something stands for something else IE: The flag represents freedom, liberty, etc.

38. Allegory Story told that has more than one level of meaning Literal level---an eagle is a bird Symbolic level---the eagle represents freedom

39. Irony When the opposite happens from what you think would happen (situational)

40. Types of Irony Verbal---using words Situational---events Dramatic---audience knows something character doesn’t

41. Flashback Tell something that happened earlier

42. Inference Using information to draw conclusions about a character or situation

43. Author’s Style past current

44. Word Choice Vocabulary Sentence Structure Use of special devices (foreshadowing, flashback, personification)

45. Surprise ending Author’s Style

46. Mood For example: peaceful, threatening, scary

47. Parable Simple, brief narrative that teaches a lesson by using characters and events to stand for abstract ideas Watch this parable

48. Allusion Reference to something historical, societal, artistic, or otherwise famous/well-known