5 Key Elements of a Short Story:
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Character
Setting
Plot
Conflict
Theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6I24S72Jps
Characters:
Major character: Characters most important to the
development and resolution of the conflict. The story
revolves around these characters.
Minor character: Characters have small roles, but help
move the plot events forward.
Protagonist: The leading character, hero, or heroine of a
text.
Antagonist: A person who is opposed to, struggles
against, or competes with another
Point of View: The perspective from
which a story or narrative is told.
First Person: From the head and eyes of the
person in the story. The narrator's voice is the
main character's voice (I, we, me, us).
Third Person Limited: Reader knows the
thoughts, feelings and emotions of one
character in a novel (he, she).
Third Person Omniscient: Reader is all
knowing. They know the thoughts, feelings
and dialogue of many characters in a novel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb36YLptgQc
How to reveal a character:
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Through physical description
Through what he/she says or thinks
Through what other characters say or think
How he/she thinks or says these things
By his/her actions and reactions to situations
Setting
• Setting is used to identify and establish the
time, place and mood of the events of the
story.
• Ex. It was dark and stormy at midnight on
Crescent Avenue.
• Use Description!!!
Plot
• The events that make up a story.
• These events relate to each other in a
pattern or a sequence.
• The structure of a story depends on the
organization of events in the plot of the
story.
6 Plot Points
What order do they go in?
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Resolution
Initial Incident
Climax
Exposition
Falling Action
Rising Action
6 Main Plot Points
1. Exposition (Introduction)
2. Initial Incident
3. Rising Action
4. Climax
5. Falling Action
6. Resolution
Conflict
• A conflict is a literary element that involves a
struggle between two opposing forces.
• Conflict is usually between the protagonist
and the antagonist.
Types of Conflict
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Man vs. Man
Man vs. Himself
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Society
Man vs. The Supernatural
Theme
• Theme is defined as a main idea or an
underlying meaning of a story that may be
stated directly or indirectly.
• Ex. The battle between fate and free will in
The Alchemist.
Key Definitions
• Irony: words are used in such a way that their
meaning is different from the actual meaning
of the words. Ex. The massive dog’s name
was Tiny.
• Foreshadowing: The author uses words to
hint at what is to come later in the story.
• Simile: Comparing two things that are not
alike by using “like” or “as.”
Ex. The water was as smooth as glass.
• Metaphor: Comparing two things that are not
alike without using “like” or “as.”
Ex. He is a lion in battle.
• Imagery: Use words to represent setting,
objects, and actions in such a way that it
appeals to our physical senses.
Ex. The fresh and juicy oranges are cold and
sweet.
Now you try!