Short Story Elements

Mrs. De Masi

SIX major elements 

Setting

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Conflict

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Point of View

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Plot

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Character

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Theme

Setting   

The time and location in which a story takes place For some stories

– the setting is very important – for others it is not

Several aspects to consider how setting contributes to a story

– (some, or all, may be present

in a story):

    

Place Time Weather conditions Social conditions Mood or atmosphere

Plot  How the author arranges events to develop his basic idea – The sequence of events in a story or play – A planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle, and end – Short stories usually have one plot so it can be read in one sitting – There are five essential parts of plot

PLOT LINE 

1 - Intro

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2 - Rising Action

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3 - Climax

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4 - Falling Action

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5 - Resolution

Conflict     Essential to the plot Without conflict there is no plot It is the opposition of forces – ties one incident to another – makes the plot move Is not merely limited to open arguments – It is any form of opposition that faces the main character – Within a short story   there may be only one central struggle there may be one dominant struggle with many minor ones.

Types of Conflict  There are two types of conflict: 1) External - A struggle with a force outside one's self.   2) Internal - A struggle within one's self; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist an urge, etc.

Kinds of Conflict  There are four kinds of conflict:  Man vs. Man (physical) – leading character struggles with  his physical strength against other men   forces of nature animals.  2) Man vs. Circumstances (classical) – leading character struggles  against fate  circumstances of life facing him/her.

  3) Man vs. Society (social) – leading character struggles against    ideas, practices, or customs of other people. 4) Man vs. Himself/Herself (psychological) – – leading character struggles with himself/herself     with his/her own soul ideas of right or wrong physical limitations choices, etc.

Character  

Persons in a work of fiction Antagonist and Protagonist

–Short stories use few characters –One character is clearly central to the story –  all major events have some importance to this character

  Character

The Characteristics of a Person –

– In order for a story to seem real to the reader

its characters must seem real

– Characterization is the information the author

gives the reader about the characters

– The author may reveal a character in several

ways:



his/her physical appearance

   

what he/she says, thinks, feels and dreams what he/she does or does not do what others say about him/her how others react to him/her Characters are convincing if they are:

– consistent, motivated, and life-like (resemble

real people)

Character’s are….

  

Individual

– round, many sided and complex personalities

Developing

– dynamic, many sided personalities that change, for better or worse, by the end of the story.

Static

– Stereotype – have one or two characteristics that never change and are emphasized  brilliant detective    Drunk Scrooge cruel stepmother

Point of View   

Innocent Eye

– story told through the eyes of a child (his/her judgment being different from that of an adult)

Stream of Consciousness

– story told so that the reader feels as if they are inside the head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions.

First Person

– story told by the protagonist or one of the characters who interacts closely with the protagonist or other characters  using pronouns I, me, we, etc  reader sees the story through this person's eyes as he/she experiences it and only knows what he/she knows or feels.

  Omniscient P.O.V.

Omniscient

– author can narrate the story using the omniscient point of view  moves from character to character, event to event, having free access to the thoughts, feelings and motivations of his characters and introduces information where and when he chooses  There are two main types of omniscient point of view: –

Omniscient Limited

 author tells story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it, etc).

  We know only what the character knows and what the author allows him/her to tell us.

We can see the thoughts and feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us. – Omniscient Objective  author tells story in the third person      It appears as though a camera is following the characters, going anywhere, and recording only what is seen and heard There is no comment on the characters or their thoughts No interpretations are offered The reader is placed in the position of spectator without the author there to explain The reader has to interpret events on his own.

Theme      is the controlling idea or central insight is the author's underlying meaning or main idea that he is trying to convey may be the author's thoughts about a topic or view of human nature title of the short story usually points to what the writer is saying author may use various figures of speech to emphasize his theme, – Symbol Allusion – Simile – Hyperbole Metaphor irony

Examples of Theme  Some simple examples of common themes from literature, TV, and film – things are not always as they appear to be – Love is blind – Believe in yourself – People are afraid of change – Don't judge a book by its cover

Allegory:

A story in which the characters represent abstract qualities or ideas. For example, in westerns, the sheriff represents the good, and the outlaw represents evil.

Alliteration:

The repetition of first consonants in a group of words as in “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers.”

Allusion:

A reference to something or someone often literary. For instance, if you were trying to instill confidence in a friend and said, “Use the force,” that would be an allusion to Stars Wars. The verb form of allusion is to allude.

Anecdote

A little story, often amusing, inserted in an essay or a speech to help reinforce the thesis.

Antagonist:

A major character who opposes the protagonist in a story or play.

Antithesis

Placement of contrasting or opposing words, phrases, clauses, or sentences side by side. For example, I am tall; you are short.

Archetype:

A character who represents a certain type of person. For example, Daniel Boone is an archetype of the early American frontiersman.

Assonance:

The repetition of vowel sounds as in “Days wane away.”

Atmosphere:

The overall feeling of a work, which is related to tone and mood.

Blank verse:

Unrhymed lines of poetry usually in iambic pentameter. Plenty of modern poetry is written in blank verse.

Catastrophe

The scene in a tragedy which includes the death or moral destruction of the protagonist.

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Connotation and Denotation

The denotation of a word is its dictionary definition. The word wall, therefore, denotes an upright structure which encloses something or serves as a boundary. The connotation of a word is its emotional content. In this sense, the word wall can also mean an attitude or actions which prevent becoming emotionally close to a person.

Contrast:

To explain how two things differ. To compare and contrast is to explain how two things are alike and how they are different.

Couplets:

A pair of rhyming lines in a poem often set off from the rest of the poem. Shakespeare’s sonnets all end in couplets.

Dialect

An author’s use of speech patterns (i.e. vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and expression) that fit a character’s background. It gives hints about a character’s regional, educational, social, economic, and historical background. Dialect helps to make a character and setting appear realistic.

Dramatic Monologue:

A poem with a fictional narrator addressed to someone who identity the audience knows, but who does not say anything.

Elegy:

A poem mourning the dead.

End rhyme:

Rhyming words that are at the ends of their respective lines—what we typically think of as normal rhyme.

Epic:

A long poem narrating the adventures of a heroic figure—for example, Homer’s

The Odyssey

.

Epithet

In literature, a word or phrase preceding or following a name which serves to describe the character. For example, Alexander the Great , Richard the Lionhearted, and Joan of Arc.

Euphemism

A mild word or phrase which substitutes for another which would be undesirable because it is too direct, unpleasant, or offensive.

Fable:

A story that illustrates a moral often using animals as the character—for example,

The Tortoise and the Hare

.

Farce

A type of comedy based on a humorous situation such as a bank robber who mistakenly wanders into a police station to hide. It is the situation here which provides the humour, not the cleverness of plot or lines, nor the absurdities of the character, as in situational comedy.

Figurative Language:

Language that does not mean exactly what it says. For example, you can call someone who is very angry “steaming.” Unless steam was actually coming out of your ears, you were using figurative language.

Free Verse:

Poetry with no set meter (rhythm) or rhyme scheme.

Genre:

A kind of style usually art or literature. Some literary genres are mysteries, westerns, and romances.

Hyperbole:

A huge exaggeration. For example, “Dan’s the funniest guy on the planet!” or “That baseball card is worth a zillion dollars!”

Iambic pentameter:

Ten-syllable lines in which every other syllable is stressed. For example: “With eyes like stars upon the brave night air.”

Imagery:

The use of description that helps the reader imagine how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, or taste. Most of the time, it refers to appearance. For example, “The young bird’s white, feathered wings flutter as he made his way across the nighttime sky.”

Internal rhyme:

A rhyme that occurs within one line such as “He’s King of the Swing.”

Irony:

Language that conveys a certain ideas by saying just he opposite.

Literal Language:

Language that means exactly what it says.

Lyric:

A type of poetry that expresses the poet’s emotions. It often tells some sort of brief story, engaging the reading in the experience.

Memoir

Type of autobiography in which the writer focuses primarily on the people (often famous personages) with whom he or she came into contact.

Mood

The atmosphere or feeling created by a literary work, partly by a description of the objects or by the style of the descriptions. A work may contain a mood of horror, mystery, holiness, or childlike simplicity, to name a few, depending on the author's treatment of the work.

Metaphor:

A comparison that doesn’t use “like” or “as”—such as “He’s a rock” or “I am an island.”

Meter:

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in the lines of a poem.

Monologue:

A long speech by one character in a play or story.

Motif:

A theme or pattern that recurs in a work.

Myth:

A legend that embodies the beliefs of people and offers some explanation for natural and social phenomena.

Onomatopoeia:

The use of words that sound like what they mean such as “buzz.”

Oxymoron

A combination of contradictory terms.

Paradox:

A seeming contradiction. For example, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”

Parody:

A humorous, exaggerated imitation of another work.

Personification:

Giving inanimate object human characteristics. For example, “The flames reached for the child hovering in the corner.”

Prose:

Writing organized into sentences and paragraphs. In other words, normal writing— not poetry.

Protagonist:

The main character of a novel, play, or story.

Pun:

The use of a word in a way that plays on its different meanings. For example, “Noticing the bunch of bananas, the hungry gorilla went ape.

Quatrain:

A four-line stanza.

Rhetorical Question:

A question not meant to be answered such as “Why can’t we just get along?”

Sarcasm:

Language that conveys a certain idea by saying just he opposite such as if it’s raining outside and you say, “My what a beautiful day.”

Satire:

A work that makes fun of something or someone.

Sensory imagery:

Imagery that has to do with something you can see, hear, taste, smell, or feel. For example, “The stinging, salty air drenched his face.”

Simile:

A comparison that uses “like” or “as” For example, “I’m as hungry as a wolf,” or “My love is like a rose.”

Soliloquy:

A monologue in which a character expresses his or her thoughts to the audience and does not intend the other characters to hear them.

Sonnet:

A fourteen-line poem written iambic pentameter. Different kinds of sonnets have different rhyme schemes.

Stanza:

A section of poetry separated from the sections before and after it; a verse “paragraph.”

Stream of Consciousness

A narrative mode that seeks to portray an individual's point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character's thought processes, either in a loose interior monologue , or in connection to his or her actions.

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Suspense

Suspense in fiction results primarily from two factors: the reader's identification with and concern for the welfare of a convincing and sympathetic character, and an anticipation of violence.

Subplot:

A line of action secondary to the main story.

Symbolism:

The use of one things to represent another. For example, a dove is a symbol of peace.

Tone:

The author’s attitude toward his or her subject. For example, a tone could be pessimistic, optimistic, or angry.

Understatement

A statement which lessens or minimizes the importance of what is meant.

Voice:

The narrative point of view whether it’s in the first, second, or third person.

Questions….