History of the Short Story

It comes from various sources all over the world, so its quite difficult to determine where it originally came from. In the United States, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe took the form seriously and help create its success. In France Guy de Maupassant In Russia Anton Chekhov

What is the Short Story?

The short story is a story the can be read in one sitting. It is usually concerned with a single effect conveyed in a single significant episode or scene and involving a limited number of characters, sometimes only one.

The Elements of the Short Story

*Structure* *Plot * *Characters * *Setting* * Point-of-View * * Style, Tone and Theme*

The Structure of the Short Story

Exposition Introduction of setting and characters Rising Action Introduction of the problem (conflict) within the story Climax The highest point of conflict within the story. This is the turning point within the story, where the characters will make their decisions.

Falling Action/Resolution/Denouement The loose ends within the story are being resolved, which means the characters absorbs the consequences of the decisions made during the climax. deus ex machina - Latin for a god from a machine An intervention of some force or agent previously not included within the story. For example, a sudden inheritance, the appearance of a long-lost relative. Conclusion/End This rounds off the action, underlining the storys point.

Conflict

The struggle between opposing forces in the story. External Conflict Internal Conflict

External Conflict

Man vs. Man Man vs. Nature Man vs. Society

The character is struggling against outside forces.

Internal Conflict

Man vs. Himself

Unable to make a decision Challenging himself to complete a task The character is struggling with himself.

The PLOT

The sequence of actions and events in a story

Kinds of Plot

Man in a Hole The story focuses on how the main character or the characters within the story are able to overcome the problem presented within the story.

Example: The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15 : 11-24)

Kinds of Plot

Man on a Road The story focuses on a single character, whom we watch walking through various stages on the road of life. More often found in epic dramas and novels than in short stories.

For example, Homers Odyssey

Kinds of Plot

Man in a Tub This is a straightforward, unstructured, usually commonplace event, involving a flash of realization.

For example, Oedipus Rex by Sophocles

PLOT - Order and Sequence

Chronological - Each event in the story is presented in the sequence in which it actually took place. Flashback - A literary technique that involves interruption of the chronological sequence of events by interjection of events or scenes of earlier occurrence , often in the form of reminiscence.

PLOT - Order and Sequence

Foreshadowing - The organization and presentation of events and scenes in a work of fiction or drama that would prepare the reader or observer to some degree for what occurs later in the work.

PLOT - Order and Sequence

In medias res - Latin for in the midst of things The story starts with a key event and then it goes back in time to explain events preceding it.

CHARACTERS

The fictional representation of a person.

CHARACTERIZATION

The way writers develop characters and reveal those characters traits to readers. Through the actions of the character Through the reactions of the character to certain situations and towards other characters Through the physical appearance of the character Through the speech of the character Through the gestures and expressions of the character Through the name of the character

CHARACTER CLASSIFICATION

ROUND / DYNAMIC CHARACTER A character who grows and changes in the course of the story. Her/his view of the world changes at the end of the story, and as a result her/his position in the world will change too.

CHARACTER CLASSIFICATION

FLAT / STATIC CHARACTER A character who doesnt change or grow in the course of the story.

For example: Cinderella

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

PROTAGONIST The main character in a story, more often than not, the hero in the story. ANTAGONIST A character who is presented in opposition against the protagonist. This is usually the villain in the story.

MINOR CHARACTERS

FOIL A supporting character whose role in the story is to highlight a major character by presenting a contrast with him or her. STOCK CHARACTER An easily identifiable character who behave consistently. For example: the kind old priest, the bully or the reckless adventurer.

SETTING

The locale and period in which a story occurs.

IMPORTANCE OF THE SETTING

It gives credibility to the story If the setting is recognizably plausible and credible, the actions that take place in it absorb this credibility. It can set the atmosphere in a story The setting can establish the emotional tone or mood of the story. It was a dark autumn night. (Anton Chekhovs The Bet) It can contribute to the overall meaning of a story The setting can enter directly into the overall message of a story. For example: William Faulkners A Rose for Emily

IMPORTANCE OF THE SETTING

It was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emilys house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps an eyesore among eyesores. A Rose for Emily William Faulkner

POINT-OF-VIEW

The angle or vantage point from which events are presented.

POINT-OF-VIEW

FIRST-PERSON NARRATOR

A limited point-of-view often a major character who tells her or his own story, and is the focus of the story. A minor character could also be the firstperson narrator by acting like an observer of events. The use of I or We First-person narrators can sometimes be unreliable narrators : narrators who are selfserving, mistaken, confused, emotionally unstable or even mad.

POINT-OF-VIEW

THIRD-PERSON NARRATOR

This narrator is not one of the characters in the story.

OMNISCIENT
This narrator moves from one characters mind to another. This narrator is also able to present a complete overview of events and characters.

STYLE

This refers to the way in which a writer selects and arranges words in order to say what she or he wants to say. This encompasses word choice, imagery and figures of speech

TONE

The attitude of the narrator or author of a work toward the subject matter, characters, or audience.

THEME

The central message of the story.