Elements of Short Stories

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Elements of Short Stories

• Mary Ellen Hunt
• 7th Grade Language Arts
• E.J. Hayes Middle School

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What is a short story?

• A short story is a made up story (fiction) that
  tells a story about something or someone. It is
  not as long as a book, and can be as short as a
  few pages. It can be read in one sitting.

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Setting

• The setting is the time and place of a story.
• In Seventh Grade, the setting isFresno, CA in a
  middle school in the early 1980s.

4
Plot

• The plot of a short story is simply the sequence
  of events or what happens in the story.
• We use a plot line to show how the plot comes
  along in a short story.
• In Seventh Grade, the plot is.Victor takes a
  huge risk by pretending to know French to impress
  a girl.

5
Character

• A character in a story is a person or animal that
  takes part in the action.
• Kinds of characters
• Flatone sided or stereotypical (Michael)
• Roundhas several traits (Victor)
• Dynamicchanges over the story (Edmund from LWW)
• Staticdoesnt change over the story (The White
  Witch from LWW)

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Point of View

• Point of view is the perspective from which a
  story is told.
• 3 types of POV
• First persontold by a character who uses I
• Third person omniscient (all-knowing)the
  narrator knows and tells about what all the
  characters are thinking and doing
• Third person limitedthe narrator tells the
  story, but gives you most of what one character
  thinks and feels. In SG, Victor is the limited
  point of view.

7
Theme

• The theme of a story is the central message,
  concern, or purpose of a story.
• In SG, the theme is that not being yourself can
  lead to difficult situations

8
Conflict

• Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces
  in a short story.
• Internal conflict occurs when a character
  struggles to decide what to do or say. In Seventh
  Grade, Victor struggles with trying to decide
  what to say to Teresa.
• External conflict occurs when a character
  struggles with another person or some outside
  force. In Seventh Grade, Victor struggles with
  Mr. Bueller when he pretends to know French.