A short story is briefly a fictional prose narrative which may very
widely in length. As in a novel the elements of plot, characters, theme
and setting are interweaver. However, unions the novel which may well
ramble on for hundred of pages, mixing plots, introducing and eliminating
characters, developing several themes and roaming from one setting to
another, the short story does not have the space for doing so.
Most of the terms for analyzing the component elements,
the types, and the various narrative techniques of the
are
as well.
Short stories existed from pre-historic times until the
present but from different from what we describe as the
"short story".
History of Short Story
In the very beginning, short stories emerged as oral story telling
traditions. In other words, oral story telling tradition was the
previous form of short stories that we are reading in our modern
world. Oral stories were told to youngsters by elders of the tribal in
a rhyming poetic format in order others to remember the stories in
the future. These story telling ceremonies aimed to give lessons and
moral about life to the younger members of the tribe.
It is believed that the earliest form of story telling traditions are the
folk tales, proverbs and the legends fables.
Fables are the short stories featuring animals and plants which are
given human qualities. They show how foolish or wise people can be.
While making us laugh, their main purpose is to teach particular
lesson to the people.
The other ancient form of short story is anecdotes. This short story
form was famous during the years of Roman Empire. These forms
function as a sort of parable in which the narration is brief and
realistic.
In the early 14th Century the oral story telling tradition began to leave its
place to its written form in Europe. Geoffrey Chaucer’s "Canterbury Tales" and
Giovanni Boccaccio’s “Decameron” can be considered as the first examples of
written short story forms. In 17th Century the development of short story was
refined in France with a new name "nouvelle".
In 19th Century with the growth of printed magazines and journals,
modern short stories started to be widely seen in the market. In 20th
Century a number of high-profile magazines were publishing short stories
in their each issue.
Types of Short Stories
Short stories can be categorized into several different ways. It is possible that one
short story may fit into several other categories.
The plot short story
It is a narration telling of series of event that has a traditional pattern of structure. A conflict is
identified at the beginning, the action bundles until it reaches a climax, and then the story either
ends or gradually tapers off to the end.
The action story
A type of plot story, the action story is dependent primarily upon what the characters do, not
upon deep development of characters or theme. Most of the actions are physical.
The plotless short story
In this type, there apparently is no action or very little action. The story appears to be mostly the
description of a character or the creation of a mood while this may seem like a useless type of
short story. In fact the author wanted not to come to a firm conclusion.
The episodic story
The type of story also referred to as the “slice of life” type. It consists of one main incident. What
has happened may be told, hinted at, or not told at all. What happens after incident is left up to
the reader, although the author makes that clean.
The character story
This type of short story has, as its main purpose, the revealing of something about one main
character; for that reason there may be very little plot. The character may be involved in only one
episode, and he may be the only character in the tale. At the end of the story, the reader usually
knows a good deal about the character.
The thematic story
In this type, the author’s main purpose is to develop one particular theme; one type of theme
may attempt to reveal a great truth about life such as “humanity is corrupted” or a simple
statement about life such as “mothers are always worrying about their children.”
The psychological short stories
Typically any action in the story takes place within the character-changes the feelings, states of
mind, beliefs, desires, and attitudes. One leaves such a story knowing a great deal about what the
character is like internally.
Elements of a Short Story
Plot, in a very common definition, is a linked chain of events. In other words, plot
can also be defined as the sequence of events or incidents of which the story is
composed.
It is a customary to say that a narrative- a story whether a short story or a novel
has an introduction, a complication and a resolution.
In other words it gets under way, some difficulty or problem or complexity (usually a
conflict of opposed forces) arises and there is some of settling down.
A plot is a story containing a strong sense of causality (cause and effect relation).
Some fiction has a good deal of physical action, wonderings, births and deaths.
Nevertheless, there is also fiction in which little seems to happen. Usually those
plotless stories involve a mental action which is the plot. The sense of causality is
mostly rooted in character. Things happen in most good fictions, at least partly
because the people have certain personalities or character traits (moral,
intellectual). What they look like or their names may help to understand them what
they say and do are important.
A good plot is consisted of five phases. These are initial balance (exposition), rising
action, climax, falling action and denouement (resolution). All these phases can be
shown in Freytag’s Pyramid.
 Exposition: In exposition the setting, characters and the plot are introduced. In
other words the background information that is necessary to understand the story is
provided. Exposition ends with the motion in the story starts and this motion leads
to rising action.

Rising Action: In rising action the conflict is developed and intensified. Conflict is
a clash of actions, ideas, desires or wills. The protagonist meets with some obstacles
that frustrate him to reach his goal.

Conflict: Conflict is the tension or the struggle between characters or opposing
forces in a plot. It is the conflict which provides the elements of interest in a play or
a novel or a short story. There are four types of conflicts that may become an
obstacle for the protagonist.
Person against Person: an internal conflict of feelings. Conflict with some element
in his/her own nature. This may be physical, mental, emotional or moral.
Person against Person: this is a typical protagonist verses antagonist scenario.
The good guy and the bad guy have some kind of battle in this type of conflict.
Person against Society: The protagonist battles against the larger organizations
of the society, or a system of beliefs held by the society.
Person against Nature: The protagonist is threatened by a component of nature.
Climax: climax is the highest dramatic tension of the story that the reader can find.
In other words, climax is the turning point in the story which shows nothing will be
same again.
Falling Action: In falling action the tension the tension subsides and the plot
moves towards its conclusion. Namely, the conflict between the protagonist and the
antagonist resolves with the protagonist’s victory or defeat against the antagonist.
The falling action, then, is made up of the events that follow the climax and lead to
the resolution.
Denouement (resolution): It is the final outcome of the story. The main event or
the conflict unravels. In resolution loose ends are tied up, the fate and the perhaps,
the future of the characters is revealed.
On the other hand, there are three types of plot structure other than the
triangular plot structure mentioned within the illustration of Freytag’s pyramid.
These are:
a. Linear Plot Structure: There is no climax in this type of plot structure. It has
an anti-climax in which the turning point does not take place and the protagonist
relieves all the tension.
b. Circular Plot Structure: In this type the action finishes where it is started.
The same setting (place) and the same characters is the key word for a circular plot
structure. Time is also important in this type. At the end of the story we should find
ourselves in the same place where the action started.
c. Open-Ended Structure: This type of plot structure does not offer a complete
resolution and ends with a climax. This time we do not have falling action or
resolution. The reader is left to imagine the fate of the characters.
Point of view
It is the camera eye of the story.
The point of view informs us how the story is told and how we know about
what happens in a story. The narrator of a story shapes the reader's
perception of reality in the story. The narrator may be a character in the story
or some unknown voice outside of the plot.
Narrative voice falls into two categories:
 third person voice (he or she) or
 first person voice (I, we).
Sometimes, the author intrudes, speaking directly to the reader, outside
of the plot narration.
To determine the point of view of a story we ask, “who tells the story?”
and “how much is s/he allowed to know?” and, especially, “to what extent
does the author look insight his/her characters and report their thoughts and
feelings?”
Stories are told from the point of view of a narrator and the narrator as a
participant may appear in a major or minor character. When the story is
narrated by using the first person “I”, it is clear that the narrator is there as a
major character, protagonist, or one of the minor characters in the story.
I.
Participant
A. As a major character
B. As a minor character
First Person: First person narrators embody the first person autobiographical
(the character in the story tells the story, often about his or her own life,
sometimes in a confessional tone); first person observer (the character in the
story tells story, but this time s/he tells about the other characters. In other
words the narrator is a reflector of the action); first person interior monologue
(narrator speaks to us either in non-linear or stream-of-consciousness style or
in a linear, focused or edited monologue). In the first person voice, the
character refers to himself or herself as "I" in the story and
addresses the reader as "you," either explicitly or by implication.
In the stories sometimes the narrator is a voice from outside; the narrator is
not a participant.
II. Non-Participant
1. Omniscient (talks about all the characters)
2. Selective Omniscient ( talks about some of his characters)
3. Objective (does not enter into the minds but objectively reports what he hears or sees.)
When the narrator is non participant, he or she does not appear in the story as a
character. Rather the narrator is the viewer. When the narrator refers to
characters as “he”, “she” or “they”, it is clear that the narrator is non participant,
then it is true to say that the story’s point of view is third person.
Third person: It is the voice outside the action tells the story. Third person
narrator includes:
The omniscient: In this type the narrator is all-knowing and is able to tell us what
each character is thinking. The narrator in such a circumstance can direct the
reader's attention to the inner thoughts of any of the characters and controls the
sources of information.
Limited omniscient: In this type, what the narrator knows and sees is restricted
to what one central character can know and see. There are two types of limited
omniscient which is referred to as the third person observer and the third person
limited. The third person observer is limited to one person's point of view, but not
allowing the character to speak in his or her own voice while the third person limited
is also limited to one person's point of view but allowing the character to speak in
his or her own voice.
Objective: This is the most "drastic" third person point of view, the story is told
simply by no one. The narrator disappears, and there is no way of entering the
minds of the characters. The reader is permitted to view the work only
externally, from the outside. Because its technique resembles drama, this point of
view is often referred to as "dramatic."
Characters
Character refers to a person or an animal in fables who has a part in the story and has
motivation to talk and act and do something. Characters in a short story interact with each
other, often revealing their personality in the process.
However, characters in a short story often have symbolic names and attributes since the
short story is economical in both language and length. Therefore, this process is not a
process of a sequence of events but a process of gradually revealed symbolism.
Reading for character is more difficult than reading for plot, for character is
much more complex, variable, and ambiguous.
Anyone can tell what a person has done in a story, nevertheless; one may need to have
considerable skill to analyze what type of character is the person in the story. In order to
identify what a person is one should first have an idea about the character types.
Character Types
Flat character: It is the character type that does not change in the course of a story or
a play. It is known by one or two traits- one dimensional, stock, stereotype.
Round character: It is the character type who is many sided, complex, has multiple
qualities and unique.
Stock character: (A stereotype character) a stock character is a familiar figure who
appears regularly in certain literary forms. Among the most familiar stock character of
contemporary fiction and cinema are the tough (often insensitive) realistic and cynical
detective and the absent minded professor.
Static character: This character type remains the same from beginning of the plot to the
end.
Dynamic character (developing): The character undergoes a permanent change,
changes and develops in the story. The character grows as a person, learns a vital lesson,
or becomes something else.
Protagonist: The most important character in a story, play or other literary work. The
terms “principal character” and “central character” are often used synonymously. It is the
central character, sympathetic or unsympathetic or a hero and is considered dynamic.
Antagonist: The rival of a protagonist, the major character in opposition to the central
one.
Confidant: (female- Confidante) Someone to whom the secrets, especially love affairs are
confided.
A foil: It is the character who serves to bring out the qualities of another. A foil makes
character seem better, more prominent or different in an important way.
Erkan ERCOŞKUN / ELT
Setting and Atmosphere
Setting is the locale in which the readers find the characters. Description of setting is a
way to establish the atmosphere, mood or tone of the story. Through setting writer can in
some sense create an emotional state for the reader to be in while reading the story.
The setting of the environment, not mere geography, provides an atmosphere, an air
that the character breathes, and a world in which they move. Narrowly speaking, the
setting is the physical surroundings, the furniture, the architecture, the
landscape, the climate, and there are characters who are associated with them.
Setting in a story means the time and place the events of the story occur. As
mentioned above it can mirror the mood of the story, but it can also be used ironically.
Setting can mold or shape the character. It also helps the reader escape to imaginary or
historical places and times.
Place:
Dramatic Place: Where exactly the story takes place. E.g. in a living room, only in a
house, in a bar
Geographical Place: In which country, which city, which town, etc the story takes place.
Time:
Dramatic Time: How long the story takes place. Maybe in two hours, may be a year.
Historical Time: The real time, or the exact time. E.g. in 1986, in April, in summer etc.
Tone and Style
Style in a story refers to the language codes used to build the story. To create a style a
fiction writer can conduct diction, sentence structure, phrasing, dialogue, and other
aspects of language. Author’s style can create a communicative effect with the readers,
and this effect can be named as the story’s voice. In order to identify the story’s voice, the
readers should ask themselves, "What kind of person does the narrator sound like?"
A story's voice may be serious and straightforward, richly comic, or dramatically tense.
A story's style and voice contribute to its tone. Tone refers to the attitude that the
story creates toward its subject matter. Tone in writing is the attitude that the writer
conveys to the reader. It's designed to create a specific response or emotion in the reader.
Tone creates a personality that can either engage or repel users. For example, a story may
convey an earnest and sincere tone toward its characters and events, signaling to the
reader that the material is to be taken in a serious, dramatic way. On the other hand, an
attitude of humor or sarcasm may be created through subtle language and content
manipulation.
Theme
Theme of a work is its central or dominating idea. In other words it is the idea that
holds the story together, such as a comment about society, human nature, or the
human condition. It is the controlling idea of the story. It is a generalization about
life arising from details or specifies of the work itself. Theme can be;
• a revelation of human character
• may be stated briefly or at great length
• a theme is not the “moral” of the story
Symbols
Symbolism in short story deals with the abstract layer of meaning. More specifically, a
symbol is something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship,
association, convention, or accidental resemblance.
In literature, symbols are often used deliberately to suggest and reinforce meaning, to
help to organize and unify the whole work. In short story symbols are more often used
since a short story should be economical in language. Some symbols have associations
shared universally (for example, water with fertility).
Irony
This term always includes some elements of saying or implying the reverse of, or more
than, the literal meaning of the words used. There are three types of ironies in literary
works.
Verbal irony: In this type of irony one meaning is stated and a different meaning is
intended.
Situational irony: Inconsistency between appearance and reality, or between
expectation and fulfillment, or between what is and what would seem appropriate.
Dramatic irony: depends on the structure of a literary work more than on the actual
words of the characters.