Reading Short Story

• Internal Narrator (First-person Narrator)


  The narrator is a character in the story, often, but not necessarily, the protagonist. This narrative point of view allows for a very personal touch in the story telling.
• Omniscient Narrator


  The narrator is not a character in the story but knows everything about the story. The omniscient narrator can show the thoughts and experiences of any character in the story. It permits the writer the broadest scope.
• Limited Narrator (External Subjective Narrator)


  The narrator is not a character in the story but looks at things only through the eyes of a single character. This type of narrative permits the narrator to quickly build a close bond between the protagonist and the reader, without being confined by the protagonist's educational or language restrictions.
• Integral Setting


  The setting is fully described in both time and place, usually found in historical fiction.
• Backdrop Setting


  The setting is vague and general, which helps to convey a universal, timeless tale. This type of setting is often found in folktales and simply sets the stage and the mood.
• Linear Plot


  The plot is constructed logically and not by coincidence. There are three major parts: beginning, middle, and end.
• Episodic Plot


  One incident or short episode is linked to another by common characters or a unified theme.
• Protagonist (hero)


  The central figure with whom we usually sympathize or identify.
• Antagonist (villain)


  The figure who opposes the protagonist and creates the conflict.
• Flat Characters


  They have no depth and no change; we only see one side or aspect of them.
• Round Characters


  They have more fully developed personalities. We expect the protagonists and antagonists to be rounded individuals who express a range of emotion and change throughout the narrative, usually toward greater maturity.
• Thematic Concept


  What readers "think the work is about".
• Thematic Statement


  What the work says about the subject.
• Critical questions for reading the short story: Who is the main character? What pattern or structure is there to the development of the plot? What is the setting? Describe the atmosphere of the story if it is important. Who narrates the story? Is the narrator reliable? What is the theme of the story? How is this theme carried out?
• Theme

  It is the central topic a text treats. Themes can be divided into two (2) categories: a work's thematic concept is what readers "think the work is about" and its thematic statement being "what the work says about the subject.