Elements of a Story
Short Stories And
Their Authors
Name:
Period:
“The Storyteller” - Saki
Hector Hugh Munro (pseudonym Saki) 1870-1916
- British
- Raised by his grandmother and two strict aunts
- Was a police officer in Burma, foreign news correspondent, soldier
in the British army during WWI
- Pseudonym came from the Kipling poem “The Rubaiyat” by Omar
Khayyam
Born – Akyab, Burma
German sniper
Died – Beaumont-Hamel, France by a
Plot
What is plot?
Sequence of events in a story;
the what happens part
Parts of a Plot
1. Exposition – (introduction) introduces characters; setting;
basic situation; beginning of
the story
1a. Inciting Incident – event that causes the conflict or
action
2. Rising Action – events that build from the conflict (I.I.) and
make the story;
end with the climax
(complications)
3. Climax - the turning point; (greatest interest); opposing force
meet; outcome becomes
clear
4. Falling Action – wrapping up of the story; how the characters
were affected or changed
5. Resolution (Denouement – unknotting) – final outcome; “happily
ever after”; explains or
unravels the mystery
Plot Term
Foreshadowing – hints or clues as to what might happen; can be
very subtle; builds
suspense; prepares the reader for what is to come
Flashback – a passage that interrupts the story to tell about
something that happened
before the story started; gives information to help
explain
Suspense – tension, nervousness, curiosity about what is to come
Surprise ending – an unexpected ending
Irony – a contrast between what is expected or appears to be true
and what actually is
Verbal – between what is said and what is meant – sarcasm;
says one thing and
means another
Situational – when what happens is the opposite of what is
intended or expected
Dramatic – when the reader/audience knows more than the
characters
Plot Diagram
Climax
Rising Action
Falling Action
Introduction
Inciting Incident
“The Sniper” – Liam O’Flaherty
1896-1984
- Ninth of ten children
- Wrote his first story at seven
Resolution
- Attended college at 12 for the priesthood
- Joined the army and fought in WWI; was wounded and shell shocked
and suffered two nervous breakdowns
- “The Sniper” was published in 1923 – 1st published work
Born: Gort na gCapall, Inishmore, Ireland – Aug. 28, 1896
Died : Dublin, Ireland Sept. 7, 1984 (aged 88)
What is conflict?
Struggle between opposing forces; the problem to be resolved;
must have conflict to have a story
Types of Conflict
Internal – main character vs. him/herself
 main character vs. himself; thoughts, emotions,
goals, dreams, etc.
External – main character vs. outside forces
 character vs. character
 character vs. nature
 character vs. society
Most stories will have more than one conflict and elements of
both types
Complications –
the events that move the plot along
Characterization
What is characterization?
Methods the author uses to give information about the
characters in a story
Types of Characterization
Direct – description from the narrator; tells you physical
and personality traits
Indirect – what the character says and how he behaves;
actions
opinions and reactions of the other characters
Character’s thoughts, feelings, dreams, etc.
What is character?
Persons in a work of fiction
Types of Characters
Main characters – most important characters; can be more
than one
Minor characters – less important characters
Protagonist – main character in a story; story centers
around; sometimes more
than one
Antagonist – character or forces that works against the
protagonist
Round character – 3D; good and bad qualities; balanced;
learns and grows
Dynamic – grows or changes as a result of what happens
to them
Flat character – 2D; only one or two qualities; usually all
good or bad; lack depth
Static – doesn’t change
Stereotype –a flat character of a familiar type or
collection of traits shared by a
group of people; all boys like sports; polo is
too dangerous for girls
Setting
What is setting?
The time AND place of a story; the where AND when
General – overall
the Civil War
time and place – United States during
Specific – more exact location and time – in a farmhouse at
midnight
Atmosphere/mood – the feeling of a story; author uses details
and descriptions to give
you a feeling; authors choice of words sets the
mood.
A haunted mansion at midnight or a beautiful garden
in the afternoon
Theme
What is theme?
The main/central idea of a story; the insight or statement
about life that is learned from a story; a truth about life;
not all stories have one
Types of Theme
Stated – the author tells you what the message is in the story
Implied – the author gives hints for you to discover the
message
Point of View
What is point of view?
How the author chooses to tell the story
Types of Point of View
First person – narrator is a character in the story; shows
only their own thoughts and feelings; uses the pronoun I, me,
my/mine
Third person (objective) – narrator is an outsider who can
report only what he sees and hears; no thoughts
Third person (limited) – narrator is an outsider who sees into
the mind of one of the characters
Third person (omniscient) – narrator is an all-knowing
outsider who can enter the minds of more than one of the
characters
Third person point of view uses pronouns he, she, they, them
Charles – Jackson
(December 14, 1916, San Francisco, California - August 8, 1965,
Bennington, Vermont)




author of “The Lottery” and “The Haunting of Hill House”
obsessed with snails
didn’t give interviews or talk much about herself
wrote horror and many funny “housewife” stories about
raising her four children
 died in her sleep at age 48 of heart failure
Perspective –
how you look at the story; from what angle (what person)
the story is being told
Zoo – Hoch
(February 22, 1930 – January 17, 2008)
 wrote over 900 short stories and several novels; master of the
classic detective story
 published a story every month since 1973 in Ellery Queen's Mystery
Magazine
 pseudonyms - "Stephen Dentinger", "R. L. Stevens", "Pat McMahon",
"Anthony Circus", "Irwin Booth", "R. E. Porter", "Mr. X" and the
House Name "Ellery Queen”
Born: Rochester, New York
attack at 77
Died: Rochester, New York of a heart
Other Literary Terms
Personification – human qualities are given to a non-human
subject;
leaves danced; hours crawled; tree groaned
Tone – author’s attitude toward a subject; shown through words
and details; can be
humorous , serious, mysterious, etc.
Simile – a figure
direct comparison
unlike
heavy as a
of speech that uses “like” or “as” to make a
of two
things; sly as a fox; quiet as a mouse;
horse
Metaphor – a direct comparison of two unlike things (not using
“like” or “as”)
he is a rock; his open mouth was a gaping cave
Imagery - concrete details that appeal to the senses (smell,
sight, hearing touch,
taste); word pictures; ex. Juicy, cool, delicious,
red apple