The Short Story
A short story is a piece of writing which usually revolves around a single episode in a person’s life. The short story is designed to produce a single effect – conflict, setting, characterization, etc.
Conflict – The struggle of opposing forces.
- It reaches its highest point during the climax of the story.
- Suspense does not know whether a character will be able to resolve his/her conflicts.
There are three forms of conflict:
External Conflict – is the simplest form of conflict as it involves a character’s struggle against something in the outside world.
(ii) Internal Conflict – is the character’s struggle with his/her own thoughts and /or feelings.
(iii) Interpersonal Conflict – is the character’s struggle with another person.
Characterization – The way an author creates a person (character) in a play, poem, novel or a short story.
- Main character directly affects the plot of the story.
- Minor (secondary) characters are more a part of the setting or atmosphere.
- Three – dimensional (well-rounded) characters have their appearance, background, feeling and thoughts described in detail.
- Flat (two –dimensional) characters are created by an author when the plot or message is more important than the atmosphere or mood.
Setting – Is the immediate context in which a story takes place. It includes the time, place and circumstances. It is important for creating mood and atmosphere.
Mood – (a) Deals with the feelings and emotions of the author as they come through in the writing.
(b) Also the feelings the writing produces in the reader. It depends on setting, atmosphere, imagery and description.
Atmosphere – Is the overall impression the reader gets from words, images and the setting of the text as well as the pace of the plot.
Plot – Is the plan, action or main story of the short story, novel, play, poem, etc. It is the guiding principle for both the order and sequence of the incidents in a story and the framework within which these incidents inter-relate.
Point of View – Is the vision through which a narrative is presented; the person through whom the reader sees the action of the story.
(a) Omniscient (all knowing) author’s point of view:
(i) The author or narrator can supply any information about motivation, characters, theme, etc.
(ii) The author can move from one place or time in an action to another.
(iii) The author can reveal the thoughts of any character.
* This is third –person point of view*
(b) Third – person limited point of view
(i) the story is told in the third person (he, she, it), but is limited to what the person would be able to observe.
(c) First –person point of view:
(i) the first person (“I”) is the narrator.
(ii) The narrator may be a character in the story.
(iii) The narrator may be a detached observer or recorder of the action.
(iv) What he/she tells is limited to what he/she is able to observe.
Elements of a short story
(a) Exposition
(i) Introduces the characters.
(ii) Introduces the setting.
(iii) Gives background information on the characters.
(iv) Gives a hint or clue as to what the conflict is going to be.
(v) It includes the first few paragraphs of the short story.
(b) Rising Action
- The section of the story following the exposition in which the conflict is developed. It is the longest part of the story.
(c) Conflict
– a struggle of some kind between opposing forces. It can be Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, Man vs himself.
(d) Climax
- This is the point of greatest emotional impact in a short story. It is the “turning point” because it leads up to a “fixed up” of the conflict. It is the part of the story that leads to the resolution. It is where the conflict comes to a head or breaking point.
(e) Resolution
- This is the action of the story that follows the climax. It is the outcome of the plot. It presents the solutions to the problems raised. It resolves the conflict in the story. It usually occurs in the last paragraph of the story.
A short story is a piece of writing which usually revolves around a single episode in a person’s life. The short story is designed to produce a single effect – conflict, setting, characterization, etc.
Conflict – The struggle of opposing forces.
- It reaches its highest point during the climax of the story.
- Suspense does not know whether a character will be able to resolve his/her conflicts.
There are three forms of conflict:
External Conflict – is the simplest form of conflict as it involves a character’s struggle against something in the outside world.
(ii) Internal Conflict – is the character’s struggle with his/her own thoughts and /or feelings.
(iii) Interpersonal Conflict – is the character’s struggle with another person.
Characterization – The way an author creates a person (character) in a play, poem, novel or a short story.
- Main character directly affects the plot of the story.
- Minor (secondary) characters are more a part of the setting or atmosphere.
- Three – dimensional (well-rounded) characters have their appearance, background, feeling and thoughts described in detail.
- Flat (two –dimensional) characters are created by an author when the plot or message is more important than the atmosphere or mood.
Setting – Is the immediate context in which a story takes place. It includes the time, place and circumstances. It is important for creating mood and atmosphere.
Mood – (a) Deals with the feelings and emotions of the author as they come through in the writing.
(b) Also the feelings the writing produces in the reader. It depends on setting, atmosphere, imagery and description.
Atmosphere – Is the overall impression the reader gets from words, images and the setting of the text as well as the pace of the plot.
Plot – Is the plan, action or main story of the short story, novel, play, poem, etc. It is the guiding principle for both the order and sequence of the incidents in a story and the framework within which these incidents inter-relate.
Point of View – Is the vision through which a narrative is presented; the person through whom the reader sees the action of the story.
(a) Omniscient (all knowing) author’s point of view:
(i) The author or narrator can supply any information about motivation, characters, theme, etc.
(ii) The author can move from one place or time in an action to another.
(iii) The author can reveal the thoughts of any character.
* This is third –person point of view*
(b) Third – person limited point of view
(i) the story is told in the third person (he, she, it), but is limited to what the person would be able to observe.
(c) First –person point of view:
(i) the first person (“I”) is the narrator.
(ii) The narrator may be a character in the story.
(iii) The narrator may be a detached observer or recorder of the action.
(iv) What he/she tells is limited to what he/she is able to observe.
Elements of a short story
(a) Exposition
(i) Introduces the characters.
(ii) Introduces the setting.
(iii) Gives background information on the characters.
(iv) Gives a hint or clue as to what the conflict is going to be.
(v) It includes the first few paragraphs of the short story.
(b) Rising Action
- The section of the story following the exposition in which the conflict is developed. It is the longest part of the story.
(c) Conflict
– a struggle of some kind between opposing forces. It can be Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, Man vs himself.
(d) Climax
- This is the point of greatest emotional impact in a short story. It is the “turning point” because it leads up to a “fixed up” of the conflict. It is the part of the story that leads to the resolution. It is where the conflict comes to a head or breaking point.
(e) Resolution
- This is the action of the story that follows the climax. It is the outcome of the plot. It presents the solutions to the problems raised. It resolves the conflict in the story. It usually occurs in the last paragraph of the story.