The Short Story

1. The Short Story

2. What is a Short Story? • A short fictional narrative; the plots are generally brief and uncomplicated.

3. What is the Plot? • Plot: Series of related events that make up a story (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution)

4. Characterization • The creation and development of a character(s); often the reader learns about the character through description, dialogue, actions, or reactions

5. Characterization • Direct Characterization • The author directly tells/stateswhat the character’s personality is like or what the character looks like. Example: cruel, kind • Indirect Characterization • The author showsa character’s personality through his/her actions, thoughts, feelings, words, appearance or other character’s observations or reactions

6. Character • Character – a person in a story, poem, or play • Main Character- the most important character in a story, often called the protagonist • Minor Character- the other characters in a story who interact with the main character and help move the story along

7. Character • Types of Characters: • Round- a character who is fully developed, has many different character traits (dynamic) • Flat- a character who is often stereotyped, one-dimensional, few traits (static) • Static – a character who does not change (flat) • Dynamic– a character who changes as a result of the story's events (round)

8. Character • Types of Characters (continued): • Stock- a type of flat character who falls into an immediate recognizable category or type (absent-minded professor, dumb blonde) • Secondary- a supporting character; while not prominent the character is important to the events in the story • Tragic- a character who posses a flaw or commits an error in judgment which leads to his or her downfall or reversal of fortune

9. Protagonist • The hero or main character of the story; he or she will often go through a change- death is not a change • the most important character • changes and grows because of experiences in the story

10. Antagonist • A major character who opposes the protagonist • the antagonist does not change • Types of antagonists: • people • nature • society

11. Exposition • Section of a story which introduces the characters, the setting, and the conflict(s)

12. Conflict • A struggle between two opposing forces. It produces tension and drives the action of the plot • Types • Internal – takes place within a character • Man vs. Him(Her)self • External – a character struggles against an outside force • Man vs. Man • Man vs. Nature • Man vs. technology, progress • Man vs. Society • Man vs. Supernatural

13. Setting • When and where a story takes place

14. Rising Action • A series of complications which reveals the problem or conflict in a story • These occur when the main characters take action to resolve their problems and are met with further problems: • Fear • Hostility • Threatening situation

15. Climax • The turning point in the story: the high point of interest and/or suspense Climax Rising Action or Complications Falling Action

16. Falling Action • All events following the climax or turning point in the story. These events are a result of the action taken at the climax.

17. Resolution • The end of the central conflict: it shows how the situation turns out and ties up loose ends • Also called the Denoument

18. Point of View • Vantage point from which a story is told • First person- Told by a narrator who is a character in the story and uses the pronoun “I” • First person unreliable- a narrator who is biased and doesn’t give an accurate picture of the events due to youth, madness, or inexperience • Second person- Rarely used, the story is told using the pronoun “you,” which casts the reader as a character in the story

19. Point of View • Third person limited- Told by the narrator who uses third person pronouns (he, she, it). This narrator usually is privy to the thoughts and actions of one character • Third person omniscient- told by the narrator using third person pronouns. This narrator is privy to the thoughts and actions of all the characters • Objective narrator- a narrator/character who recounts only what characters say and do offering no insight to their thinking or analysis of events

20. Theme • The central idea or lesson about life that an author conveys in a piece of literature; sometimes the them is obvious, in most stories the them is not directly stated. It is conveyed through the character’s thoughts, actions, or sequence of events.

21. Flashback • A scene in a narrative that is set in the present but is interrupted to a previous time. Allows the reader to see actions that occurred in the past that may or may not have effected a character’s behavior.

22. Foreshadowing • A plot device in which future events are hinted at • The writer puts clues in the story to give the reader a hint of what is to come

23. Symbol • An object, person, or event that functions as itself, but also stands for something more than itself • Example: A scales function is to weigh things, but they are also a symbol of our justice system

24. Figurative Language • Involves some imaginative comparison between two unlike things: • Simile – comparing two unlike things using like or as • “I wandered lonely as a cloud” • Metaphor – comparing two unlike things (not using like or as) • Life is a roller coaster, it has lots of ups and downs

25. Figurative Language • Personification – Giving human qualities to non-human things • “The wind howled”

26. Irony • A contrast between appearances and reality- usually one in which reality is the opposite of what is expected; to say one thing but mean another

27. Irony • Verbal Irony – occurs when a speaker says one thing but means something else; sarcasm • Situational Irony – A contradiction between what we expect to happen and what really does happen in a story • Dramatic Irony – occurs when the reader knows something important that the characters in the story do not know

28. Allusion • A reference in a story or poem to another work of literature, art, history, current event, famous person, or place.

29. Suspense • A literary device that uses tension to make the plot more exciting; uncertainty or anxiety the reader feels about what is going to happen next in a story

30. Imagery • Language that appeals to the senses, a mental picture • Touch • Taste • Sight • Sound • Smell