Elements of a Short Story

• Plot is the sequence of events or incidents that make up a story
• Exposition is designed to arouse the reader's interest and provide background
• Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces, such as protagonist vs. antagonist
• Types of conflicts:

  • Person vs. Person: external struggle between two or more individuals
  • Person vs. Themselves: internal struggle concerning emotion and decision
  • Person vs. Nature: external struggle between a person and an element of nature or the environment
• Rising action is the complication or development of the conflict
• Climax is the turning point of the story, the point of most intense interest
• Falling action (denouement) includes events that lead to resolution
• Resolution is the outcome of the conflict
• Character is generally the central or focal element in a story
• Four types of characterization techniques:

  • Physical description
  • Speech and actions of the character
  • Direct comment from the narrator
  • Speech and other actions of other characters
• Four types of characters:

  • Round: complex or presented in detail
  • Dynamic: developing and learning in the course of the story
  • Flat: characterized by one or two traits
  • Static: unchanged from the story’s beginning to end
• Themes of literature / Analyzing characters
• Motivation is the cause of or reason for actions
• Behavior refers to the actions of the character
• Consequences are the results of actions
• Responsibility includes moral, legal, or mental accountability
• Expectations are what the reader expects
• Mood
• Setting includes the time and place in which the story is taking place, including factors such as weather and social customs
• Atmosphere is the mood or feeling which pervades the story
• Point of view
• Omniscient point of view: the author tells the story using the third person and knows all of what is done, said, felt, and thought by the characters
• Limited omniscient point of view: the author tells the story from the third person but limits observations of thoughts and feelings to one character
• First person point of view: one character tells the story in the first person, and the reader sees and knows only as much as the narrator
• Objective point of view: the author is like a movie camera that moves around freely recording objects without offering comments on the characters or their actions
• Figurative language
• Simile is a comparison using "like" or "as"
• Metaphor is a comparison using "is" or a form of "is"

  • Implied metaphor
  • Extended metaphor
• Personification is attributing humanlike qualities to inanimate things