21STCL ♡ Elements of a Short Story

Elements of a Short Story

• Character

• Setting

• Plot

• Conflict

• Theme

• Point of View

Character

• a person/an animal

• takes part in the action of the story or other literary work

Protagonist

• main character or the most important of all the characters

• character who learns something or undergoes some changes throughout the course of the story

Antagonist

• character that challenges the main character

• no concern for the well-being of the main character

• may be a person, nature, society, or any intangible matter

• contends with or creates a problem for the protagonist

Setting

• place (locale) and time (period) when the story happens

• may be based on real place and real time

• may also be based on the author’s imagination

Plot

• the actual story

• what the story is all about

• series of events and characters’ actions that lead to the highest point of interest in a short story

Parts of a Story’s Structure

• Exposition

• Rising Action

• Climax

• Falling Action

• Resolution

Exposition

• beginning of the story

• introduces the characters

• identifies where the story is happening

• establishes the main conflict

Rising Action

• occurs as you begin to move throughout the story

• where conflicts start to build

Climax

• most exciting part of a short story

• when important decisions are made or things are discovered

Falling Action

• occurs after the climax as the problems in the story start to work themselves out

• excitement becomes less and less as the conflict is resolved

Resolution

• solution to the problem in a story

• may not be what you hoped for but as long as it fits the

  story in tone and theme

  • the conflict has been resolved

Conflict

• every story needs to have a problem

• this problem is called _____

The Four Types of Conflict

• man versus man

• man versus nature

• man versus himself

• man versus society

Theme

• central idea in a short story and a general truth

• author’s message to the readers

Point of View

• way the story is told or narrated

• vantage point that a writer uses to narrate the story

Types of Point of View

• First Person

• Limited Third Person

• Omniscient Third Person

First Person

• narrator participates in

• tells the story using the pronoun ‘I’

Limited Third Person

• narrator is not in the story

• using the pronouns ‘she’ or ‘he’

• unable to see into the minds of the characters

Omniscient Third Person

• narrator is not in the story

• tells the story using the pronouns ‘she’ or ‘he’

• can tell the thoughts of the characters as he can see into their minds