Elements of a Short Story

1
Elements of a Short Story
2
OBJECTIVES

• Identify elements of a short story
• Define elements of a short story
• Demonstrate mastery of short story elements

3
OVERVIEW

• Short stories often contain structural and
  character elements that should be familiar to
  you.
• These elements can be used as guides to help you
  think about the actions, themes, and contexts of
  the story.

4
Elements of a Short Story

• Plot
• - exposition statement
• - rising action
• - conflict
• - climax
• - falling action
• - resolution

• Theme
• Setting
• Characters
• Point of view
• Characterization

5
THEME

• The main idea of a literary work, usually
  expressed as a generalization and in sentence
  form.
• Example Forgiveness is the key to true
  happiness.

SETTING

• The time and place in which the story is set.

6
CHARACTERS
Characters in the plot connect us with the
vastness of our secret life, which is endlessly
explorable. Eudora Welty

• The point of writing stories telling us what
  human beings are like.
• Characters allow readers to see life from
  different perspectives and to meet new (or
  familiar) people.

7

• Protagonist- The main character in the story,
  usually the good guy.
• Antagonist- The character who works against the
  protagonist in the story.

8
Character Types

• A Static Character is one who does not change or
  grow in the story.
• Scar, from The Lion King, was evil and
  self-serving in the beginning, and he kept those
  traits until he died.
• A Dynamic Character changes as a result of the
  storys events.
• Ebenezer Scrooge, in A Christmas Carol by
  Dickens, was very stingy with his money. He
  worked his employees very very hard for little
  pay. After his experiences with the ghosts that
  visited him, he changed his ways, paying his
  employees a more than fair wage, providing days
  off work and actually giving gifts.

9
CHARACTERIZATION

• The description of the personalities of the
  characters in the story and the ways in which
  authors indirectly reveal their personality
  traits
• Speech
• Thoughts
• Effect on other characters
• Action
• Looks

10
PLOT

• The sequence or order of events in a story, each
  event connected to the next like a chain. Each
  event in a plot hooks our curiosity and pulls
  us forward to the next event.
• Suspense builds as the series of related events
  hook our curiosity.
• The plot includes the following (4) parts

11
CHRONOLOGICAL PLOT DIAGRAM
Climax
Rising Action
Conflict
Falling Action
Exposition
Resolution
12
1. Basic Situation/Exposition

• Exposition This is the part of the plot that
  tells how the story begins. The characters,
  conflict, and setting are usually introduced.
• Example Cinderella
• The basic situation shows us Cinderella, a
  beautiful and good heroine, in a conflict with
  her evil stepmother and nasty stepsisters.

13
2. Rising Action/Complication

• The part of the story in which the main character
  takes some action to resolve the conflict and
  meets with problems or complications danger,
  fear, hostility, etc.
• Example Cinderella
• Cinderella wants to go to the ball. Her
  stepmother says No, but a Fairy Godmother
  promises to get her to the ball if she obeys one
  rule Be home by midnight. Cinderella goes to
  the ball, the Prince falls in love with her, she
  flees at midnight, and she loses one of her glass
  slippers.

14
3. Climax

• Climax the KEY scene of the story
• That tense or exciting moment when we realize
  what the outcome of the conflict is going to be.
• Example Cinderella
• The Prince makes a house-to-house search for the
  foot that fits the slipper and finds that foot on
  Cinderella.

15
4. Falling Action(s)

• All of the action which follows the climax
• Example Cinderella
• Cinderella and the prince make preparations for
  their wedding.

16
5. Resolution/Denouement

• The final part of the story. (The French word,
  denouement, means unraveling the knot).
• All the loose ends are tied up.
• Example Cinderella
• Cinderella marries the Prince and they live
  happily ever after. In the original Girmm story,
  you also learn that ravens peck out the eyes of
  the evil stepmother.

17
Conflict Struggle
18
Conflict

• External Conflict
• Conflict between a character and another person
  OR a character and something non-human.
• - Man vs. Man
• - Man vs. Society
• - Man vs. Nature

19
Conflict

• Internal Conflict
• Conflict takes place inside a characters mind
• Man vs. Himself (fears, self-doubts, etc.)

20
CONCLUSION

• Now that we have identified and defined the
  elements of a short story, let us use the
  elements to analyze a short story. You may use
  your notes from the PowerPoint presentation.

21
Bibliography

• Dinneen, K. Elements of the Short Story.
  Retrieved Jun. 19, 2003, from
  Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute
• http//www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/
  units/1983/3/83.03.09.x.html

Five Elements of a Story. Retrieved Jun. 19,
2003, http//www.teachervision.com/lesson
-plans/lesson-2277.html
Guevin, D. Short Story Elements. Retrieved Jun.
19, 2003, http//www.uvm.edu/dguevi
n/Elements.html
Anderson, Robert, Et. al. Elements of Literature.
Austin Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1989.