Short Story FAQ Sheet
from A Handbook to Literature, William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1999. 480-1.
1. Evidence of story-telling can be traced as far back as 4000 B.C. in Egypt.
2. Although story-telling is evident all over the world, the specific genre of the SHORT
STORY with its distinctive narrative features is considered an American art form.
3. Edgar Allan Poe was the person who articulated the “definite structure and technique
for the short story” in his review, written in 1842, of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Twice-Told
Tales.
4. Short story is defined as a “brief fictional narrative in prose” with a “definite formal
structure” and a “firmness in construction.” I would add that it also possesses unity.
5. Elements of the short story where unity is found include plot, theme, character, mood,
style, tone––and I would include setting and point of view.
6. A distinguishing feature between the short story and novel is the way character is
handled: while short story “reveal[s] character through actions, the purpose of the story
being accomplished when the reader comes to know what the true nature of the
character is, . . . the novel tends . . . to show character developing as a result of actions.”