Terms for Short Stories
Setting: The time and locations of the story. A story can have lots of locations and can
occur over a short or long period of time. The setting includes: time, place, atmospherethe overall tone of the story.
Point of View:
1st Person- The person narrating the story is part of the story.
Advantages: It is easy to get drawn into the story if you connect with the protagonist.
Disadvantages: The narrator is biased and you are unaware of events and thoughts that do
not include the protagonist
3rd Person Narrative/dramatic/objective:
Another common type of narrative is the third narrative (the narrator seems to be
someone standing outside the story who refers to all the characters by name or as he, she,
they, and so on.) When the narrator reports speech and action, but never comments on the
thoughts of other characters, it is the dramatic/objective/narrative point of view. The
narrator does not know any of the character’s inner thoughts and feelings. The narrator is
removed completed from the story.
3rd Person Omniscient:
A narrator who knows everything that needs to be known about the agents and events in
the story, and is free to move at will in time and place, and who has privileged access to a
character’s thoughts, feelings, and motives. It is an all knowing narrator.
3rd person Limited: The narrator knows some of the thoughts and feelings of a few
characters or one single character.
Advantages: You can form your own opinions about the characters because there is no
bias narrator telling the story.
Disadvantages: If there are too many descriptions of too many characters, it is difficult to
connect with a character in the story.
Characters: The people in the story
A) Protagonist: the major character around whom the plot revolves.
B) Antagonist: The character who provides the major conflict for the protagonist. The
antagonist could be nature.
C) Hero: This is a protagonist, either male or female, who has qualities that we choose to
identify with.
D) Antihero: This is a character who has qualities that we choose not to identify
ourselves with.
Conflict: A problem which needs to be resolved. There are five types of conflict.
A) Person vs. Person: two people arguing
b) Person vs. Nature: people lost in a snow storm
C) Person vs. Self: when the character experiences a moral conflict. Ex:
teenagers decided whether or not to steal
D) Person vs. Technology: usually in Science Fiction stories
E) Person vs. Society: Someone on trial in court – When one person is up against
a group of people. Example – bullying.
Theme: The overall message of the story. What the author wants you to learn. A theme
cannot be a word. Ex: Loneliness. It must state something about loneliness.
It is not a commandment, it is not a cliché, or a word.
Characterization
Characterization is the process by which an author reveals a character’s personality. A
writer can reveal character in the following ways.
1. By describing their appearance- a reader can learn clues regarding the socieconomic circumstances of the character for example
2. By recording what the character says- a reader can learn about prejudices,
attitudes, level of education and motivations
3. By revealing the character’s thoughts and feeling a reader can learn about
attitudes and motivations that may not match what he or she admits to or reveals
publicly.
4. By showing the character’s action a reader can discern not only the physical state
of the character but also become introspective regarding the character’s strategies
and treatment of others and the world.
5. By showing how other characters act towards the character a reader can interpret
how the character is seen and thought of by others and can assess whether the
character himself or herself is aware of their perspectives.
6. By telling us directly what the character is like; kind, untrustworthy, and so on, a
reader may choose to take this at face value, or perhaps should question the
reliability of the narrator who in some cases may want to misdirect and
manipulate a reader.
Appearance+dialogue+thoughts+actions+reputation+direct statements from the author =
character
Plot Graph:
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Introduction: Setting, Characters
Inciting Event: The event that kick starts the story.
without this event, the story would never take place.
Rising action: The major events of the story that lead up to the
Climax. When identifying the rising actions in a story, choose four
of the major events.
Climax: The most exciting point of the story and is the turning
point.
Falling action: the events that occur after the climax that wrap up loose ends.
Conclusion: often leaves the story set up for a sequel, or wraps up the last
final detail.
Practice questions: Read the story, Just Lather, That’s All, from your text book.
1. Identify the overall theme of the Just Lather, That’s All, and support that
theme with examples from the story
2. Identify the major conflict- be sure to support with examples from the text
3. Identify all elements of the setting and support with examples from the text
ANSWERS USING RACE FORMAT
The overall theme in Just Later, That’s All, is that everyone has a particular role in the
world. The barber was torn between staying true to himself as a barber by providing his
enemy with the shave he asked for and fulfilling a moral responsibility to his rebel from
who died at the Captain’s hands. Despite the fact that the barber goes back and forth
contemplating both option, in the end he decides that he must remain true to himself as a
barber. This is demonstrated when the barber thinks “You are an executioner and I am
only a barber. Each person has his own place in the scheme of things”. Through deciding
to remain true to himself, he clearly demonstrates that everyone has a particular role in
the world.
The conflict of the story is person vs. self because the barber is trying to make a moral
decision between killing the Captain and just providing a shave. This is demonstrated
when argues with himself “And how easy it would be to kill him. And he deserves it.
Does he? No!” The barber’s moral conflict makes it a person vs. self conflict.
The story takes place at a barber shop in the early afternoon. It is most likely in a South
American country due to the name Captain Torres as well as the author, Hernado Tellez
who is from Colombia. The overall atmosphere is tense as the barber is uncomfortable
that the Captain who has been killing rebels enter his shop, as he is an unknown rebel
himself. This is clear when his hands “started trembling” and he explains “ I was secretly
a rebel”. This highlights how the barber is uncomfortable the setting is tense.