WELCOME TO …
ELEMENTS OF A SHORT
STORY
GET READY TO WRITE!!!
THEME
 THEME:
the central
thought or idea upon
which a story is
based; usually a
comment about life or
human nature.
CHARACTERIZATION
a
portrayal of character
through what they
say and do and
through what other
characters say about
them in a story.
 CHARACTERIZATION:
CHARACTERIZATION
• DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION: when
the author tells you what characters are
like through description.
• INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION:
when the author shows you what
characters are like through their
thoughts, their speech, their actions,
and the reactions of other characters
around them.
CHARACTER
 CHARACTER:
a fictional
person in the story.
• PROTAGONIST: the character
with a problem in the story. The
main character or force in a story or
play.
• ANTAGONIST: the person or
thing fighting against the protagonist
of a story or play.
PLOT
 PLOT:
THE
SEQUENCE OF
EVENTS OR
ACTIONS IN A
STORY, NOVEL, OR
NARRATIVE POEM.
PLOT LINE
PLOT LINE - shows
the actions or events in a
story.
 THE
Plot Line
EXPOSITION

EXPOSITION In fiction, a part
of a story (usually the beginning)
where the author tells the
background material which the
reader must know about the
characters and events in order to
understand the problem to be
solved.
EXPOSITION
SETTING
 SETTING:
the time
and place in which
the action of a short
story, novel, play or
narrative poem is
presented.
COMPLICATIONS
 COMPLICATIONS
(also
called Rising Action): point
of the story when various
problems happen.
Complications
CLIMAX
 CLIMAX:
sometimes the
highest point of
excitement/interest, or
the turning point of the
story. Climax
DENOUEMENT

FALLING ACTION: the part of the
story which follows the climax or
turning point: it contains the
action or dialogue necessary to
lead the story to a resolution or
ending.
Falling action
DENOUEMENT
 RESOLUTION:
THE
FINAL OUTCOME OF
THE CONFLICT.
Resolution
CONFLICT
 CONFLICT:
a problem or
struggle between
opposing forces, ideas, or
significant characters
that forms the basis of
the plot of a story or play.
 There are two (2) types of
conflict
TYPES OF CONFLICT

EXTERNAL CONFLICT: A
struggle with a force OUTSIDE
of oneself.
Kinds: man vs. man, man vs. nature &
man vs. society

INTERNAL CONFLICT: A
struggle WITHIN a character.
Kind: Man vs. himself/herself
KINDS OF CONFLICT
External Conflict
 External
Conflict:
•Man vs. Man: the
leading character
struggles with his/her
physical strength
against other
men/women.
KINDS OF CONFLICT
External Conflict
•Man vs. Society: The
leading character
struggles against
ideas, practices, or
customs of other
people.
KINDS OF CONFLICT
External Conflict
•Man vs. Nature: the
leading character
struggles against fate,
or the circumstances of
life facing him/her.
(ex. floods, hurricanes,
etc.)
KINDS OF CONFLICT
Internal Conflict
•Man vs. Himself/Herself:
the leading character
struggles with his/her
own soul, ideas of right
or wrong, physical
limitations, choices, etc.
POINT OF VIEW
POINT
OF VIEW:
the outlook or
position from which
a story is told.
KINDS OF P.O.V.
 First
Person POV: the
narrator is a character
in the story and uses
first person pronouns
such as I, me, we, us.
KINDS OF P.O.V.
 Third
Person POV: the
narrator is not a
character; he or she
uses third-person
pronouns such as
he, she, it , they, and
them.
KINDS OF P.O.V.
 Third
Person
Omniscient (allknowing) POV: allows
the narrator to relate
the thoughts and
feelings of several, if
not all, the story’s
characters.
KINDS OF P.O.V.
 Third
Person Limited
POV: narrator tells
the reader the
thoughts,
observations, and
feelings of ONE of
the story’s
characters.
The End!!
HELPFUL HINT:
STUDY THIS INFORMATION!
YOU WILL NEED IT TO
SURVIVE THE LITERATURE
SECTIONS IN 7TH GRADE
ENGLISH!!