ELEMENTS
OF
SHORT
STORIES
Every author makes choices about how they want to write,
what they want to write, and why they want to write…
evil
Oh my gawd I love him sooooo much….
movies
miasma
My grandfather was a nice man.
famine, war, poverty
My life
short
growing up
Short simple sentences with no flowery words
What does my dog think?
Zombies!
FEAR
We had a huge fight last night
ALL STORIES HAVE:
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Plot
Character
Setting
Conflict
Point of View
Theme
Mnemonic Device
* a memory trick for remembering complex information
• Please, can she copy this important paper?
• (plot, conflict, setting, character, theme, irony, point of view)
• Parasites Chew Sour Candy Tamales
• (plot character setting conflict theme)
• 1T 2C 2P S3 F3
• (1= theme, 2= character, conflict, 2= plot, point of view, 3=
setting, symbolism, style, 3= foreshadowing, flashback, foil)
• Anything with a narrative format will use these elements
(story, novel, play, etc.) so memorize, know, apply, and
use all these terms.
SOME AUTHORS MAY USE:
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•
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Irony
Satire
Flashback
Foreshadowing
Dialogue
Suspense
Imagery
Allusion
Symbolism
“Seasoning
on the meal”
• Or other literary devices that
develop their style of writing
PLOT
• Plot is WHAT happens.
• Plot is the basic series
of events in any story,
novel, movie, etc.
• Stories are simplified,
focus on one main
idea, and don’t use
under-plots or
complicated structures
THE
BASIC
PLOT
DIAGRAM
DIFFERENT
TYPES OF
STORIES WILL
HAVE
DIFFERENT
PLOT
DIAGRAMS:
the amount of
action,
suspense,
exposition, and
conflict will
change the way
the plot diagram
looks
Flashback
• A pause in the action
so a scene can be
added from the past.
• The way back
machine.
• Fills in context,
details, background
information necessary
for the story.
Foreshadowing
• Hints about
what will
happen next
• A technique
used to build
suspense, keep
the reader
interested, and
move the plot
forward.
Conflict
• Conflict is the
struggle which must
be overcome in the
course of the story.
• Conflict moves the
plot.
• Conflict can add
excitement and
suspense.
• All stories need
friction and
opposition to move
events- that’s
conflict.
• Conflict can be
external or internal
and comes in many
forms.
Character vs. him / herself
• A type of internal conflict;
the dark night of the soul.
• Characters can struggle
with themselves regarding
morals, psychology,
motivation, reactions,
maturity, or any aspect of
their personality.
• Growing up stories are
typically about internal
conflict.
• Joe is failing math.
Character vs. Character
• The wants or needs of
two characters are in
opposition;
• can be physical fights,
arguments, differences
of opinions, jealousy,
car accidents, divorce,
parenting, etc.
• Joe wants candy. Sam
has candy. Joe steals
Sam’s candy. Sam hits
Joe.
Character vs. environment
• Can be a struggle
against anything
outside of the
protagonist;
• Includes: nature,
technology, society,
machines, animals,
weather, destiny,
etc.
• Joe is hiking when a
storm forces him to
hide in a cave, and
then he sees the
bear!
What types of conflict are shown?
CHARACTERS
• Characters are
WHO does the
acting in a story.
• There is usually one
main character in a
short story called a
protagonist.
• Authors can use a wide
range of different
types of characters to
serves their purposes.
Characterization
• How an author builds
character
• Physical description
• appearance
• Name analysis
• Relationships
• Dialogue
• Thoughts & feelings
(internal monologue)
• Reactions with others
• Challenges / conflict
• Characterization can be
direct or indirect
Protagonist
• This is the main
character.
• This can be the hero of
the story or it can be a
horrible nasty person.
• The protagonist can be
unreliable and
deceptive.
• The antagonist is the
character who works
against the protagonist.
Character Foil
• Authors use sharp
contrast to show us
differences between
the protagonist and
another character.
• These can be
physical or personality
traits.
• Sometimes the
antagonist is the foil.
Flat / Round characters
• Characters who are flat, or
undeveloped, have little
description, usually when
they are minor characters.
• Characters who are
round, or developed, have
more realistic description
and feel like real people,
usually because they are
the protagonist or
antagonist.
Static / Dynamic character
• Static characters do not
charge during the course
of the story. This is usually
the minor or stock
character.
• Dynamic characters
change during the course
of the story. This is
usually the protagonist or
antagonist.
Stock or stereotypical characters
• These are
character types
we see often in
literature,
movies, and
novels.
• These are
short-hand
quick formula
characters that
usually have a
minor role in
the story.
Stock characters are flat and undeveloped.
Dialogue
• Characters speaking to each other.
• The words that are spoken aloud are inside
quotation marks, on distinct lines, and often include
the “he said” or some variation.
• Dialogue is one of the main ways authors create
characterization.
“John, I was thinking that we need to talk,” Mary
mumbled quietly.
“Naw,” John replied, “we don’t need to talk at all.”
Setting
• Setting is the time and
place of a story or
novel.
• This can be the
historical era, century,
or continent, house,
room, or town.
• Settings can change in
the course of a story.
• Settings can enhance
the mood and
atmosphere.
• Settings are
imaginative and
descriptive.
Consider these two rooms- both have seating, but have a
very different feel to them and we can imagine
different kinds of people living there.
Point of View
• P.O.V. is the
perspective from which
the narrator tells the
story.
• The narrator is the
character who tells the
story.The author make
a deliberate choice
about who tells the
story and how.
• The “innocent eye” is
a story told from a
child’s point of view.
Think about how
children see the world
differently than
adults.
• A “stream of
consciousness” style
of writing puts you in
the action as it’s
happening as though
you were the main
character.
A worm eye view and a
bird’s eye view show us
different perspectives on
people and make people
look different.
Types of Point of View
• Omniscient:the all- knowing,
all-seeing narrator who lets
us look inside the brains of
more than one character.
Objective: the narrator simply
records events; we never get to
look inside the character’s brains
or hearts.
First person point of view
is when a character
tells his / her own story
using the pronoun “I”
Second person is the
narrator telling us what
we do using the pronoun
“you”
Third person is the
narrator telling what
one character does,
thinks, or feels.
I was on my way to the
store, when I hurt my
foot. I felt like a fool.
You were just walking to
the store when you hurt
your foot. You felt like a
fool.
He was just walking to
the store when he hurt
his foot. He felt like a
fool.
Irony
• An unusual twist.
• The opposite of
what is expected.
• When characters in
a story or play
don’t all have the
same information.
• Verbal irony
(tone contradicts meaning).
• Sarcasm is an angry form
of irony.
• Dramatic or situational
irony (reversal of fortunes)
• Shows the foibles of
people, lack of insight.
Satire
• Ridiculing a subject,
idea, or institution
by using irony,
humor, exaggeration
(hyperbole) with a
mock serious tone.
• Making fun by making
it more serious or
foolish.
• Using a familiar
subject and making it
seem ridiculous.
• Parody- keeps the
form but changes the
content (SNL).
• The ultimate goal of
satire is to change
ideas and beliefs.
Symbolism
• A concrete, tangible
object that represents
something else in
literature, usually an
emotion, character
association, abstract
idea or quality.
• Symbols draw on our
collective memories
and cultural
awareness.
• Can be private
symbols use din only
one work of
literature or public
symbols that we all
commonly
understand (a dove
with an olive branch
representing peace).
What might these symbols mean?
Theme
• Theme is the central
insight, main idea,
or truth about
human nature that is
revealed in the
story.
• Theme involves
universal human
truths about big
ideas.
• Titles hint at
themes.
• Theme can be stated in a
full sentence.
• Theme CAN NOT be
phrased as a cliché, trite
saying, or generalization.
(although it can help as a
starting point).
• Everything in the story
must prove the themeno contradictions.
Theme
• Any opposing issue
makes for a good conflict.
• The author’s opinion on
the conflict will be the
theme.
• Chaos vs. order, good vs.
evil, faith vs. doubt, or
peace vs. war.
• EXAMPLE: change vs.
tradition as the conflict
could be “Most people do
not handle change well”
as a theme.
Some themes common in literature:
Growing up is about building character
and learning responsibility.
The loss of innocence is the first sign of
maturity.
Good will always triumph over evil.
We must face the inevitability of death.
Families can be both a blessing and
curse.
Humans are horrible to each other.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
People must balance their individuality
with the common good of society.
Patriotism is a complicated moral
position.
Technology has a way of taking over our
lives.
War always ends in tragedy and triumph.
Once you peel
through the
layers of plot,
character,
conflict, and
setting, the
theme is the
point the
author is
trying to
make to you
about people
and life.
Theme can be one of the most
difficult elements of literature to
identify because it it open to
interpretation but based in the
facts of the story.
Elements of Short Stories & Literary Terms
•
•
•
•
•
•
plot
character
setting
conflict
theme
point of view
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
satire
irony
symbolism
irony
dialogue
flashback
foreshadowing
Literary Analysis
• Identify each term in
any story you read.
• Use the terms in your
written answers.
• Be able to explain
why the “term” is
important.
• Put everything in
context and make
sure you can explain
how it relates to
THEME.
• It’s always about
theme or character
(but character is
really about them)