ELEMENTS of a SHORT STORY

1. ELEMENTS of a SHORT STORY Presented by Jill Bamber Jefferson Junior High School

2. SHORT STORY • It usually has a single idea and can be read in one sitting • It focuses on one or two main characters • The characters deal with a problem or conflict

3. FICTION • When an author writes from the imagination • Realistic fiction: contains believable happenings and characters • Historical fiction: contains historical elements and information • Science Fiction: fantasy based on technological and scientific developments

4. THEME • The “main message” about life that the author is trying to reveal through telling the story • Often called the “moral” of the story

5. CHARACTERS • The people or animals participating in the story

6. CHARACTERS • Static characters: characters who change little, if at all • Dynamic characters: characters who change significantly

7. Protagonist • The character the story is about • Usually the “good guy” or “hero”

8. Antagonist • The character creating problems for the protagonist • Usually the “bad guy” or “villain”

9. SETTING • Time, • Place, and • Mood of the story

10. POINT of VIEW • The person telling the story, the voice of the storyteller

11. POINT of VIEW • The person telling the story, the voice of the storyteller • First Person: told by a character in the story (“I”) • Third Person Omniscient: told by the author, not a character in the story, as if he had God-like power to know what the characters are thinking (dialog and thoughts) • Third Person Limited: told by the author, not a character in the story, but only as an observer of what the characters do or say, not think or feel (dialog only)

12. CONFLICT • When two ideas, people, or a struggle occurs in a story • The problem which must be resolved

13. 4 Types of Conflict • Man against self • Man against others (society) • Man against nature • Man against the supernatural

14. FORESHADOWING • “A shadow before” • Clues or hints as to what will happen later in the story • These are the things that make you think you know what’s going to happen

15. IRONY • When something occurs in a story that is opposite of what the reader would expect • (A policeman arrested for robbery would be ironic.)

16. SYMBOLISM • When something or someone stands for or means something else • (The color white symbolizes innocence and purity.)

17. PLOT • What happens in the story • Events that make up the structure of the story told in one or two sentences

18. Exposition • The starting point • Sets the stage of a story • Characters and setting are described • The conflict begins to unfold

19. Rising Action • The events that build up to the high point of the story

20. Climax • The turning point or suspenseful moment in a story • The high point of the story

21. Denouement • The events that occur after the high point of the story • A “cliffhanger” has no denouement

22. Plot Line • The line drawn to show the elements of the plot of that story. • The roller coaster ride through the story.

25. Resolution • Usually at the end of the story when a conflict is resolved

26. …and they lived happily ever after.

27. THEEND