Elements of the Short Story

NINTH GRADE ENGLISH Plot Setting Characterization Point of View Theme Irony

Includes three basic elements Characters Setting Main conflict is revealed Usually lasts for the several paragraphs in a short story

Hooks you into a story, book, or a movie Characters try to resolve main conflict only to be met with more conflicts Types of conflict Internal Conflict---a conflict that occurs within a characters own selfusually a decision the person is trying to make

Examples: man vs. self External Conflict---a conflict between a character and anything or anyone else Examples: man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. machine, man vs. society, man vs. supernatural Highest point in the story Most exciting point in the story

Shortest part of the story Ties up all loose ends of the story Is shorter than the other parts of the story This is added to a mystery Reveals the outcome of the mystery

Where and when a story takes place Created by using imageswords that appeal to your fives senses Provides the story with backgrounda place for the characters to live and act in A good setting makes the story real and believable

Reveals a lot about the characters themselves A good setting lets you know what kind of characters you have Supplies atmosphere or mood (which affects our feelings) Midnight in a lonely house vs. noon in a crowded house changes how we feel about a story

Two types of characterization Direct characterization---the author tells the reader exactly what a character is like He was a tall man past middle age, for his hair was a vivid white; but his thick eyebrows and pointed military moustache were as black as the night from which Rainsford had come. His eyes, too, were black and very bright. He had high cheekbones, a sharp-cut nose, a

spare, dark face, the face of a man used to giving orders, the face of an aristocrat. Indirect Characterization---author shows us what a character is like and allows us to interpret for ourselves the kind of person we are meeting Authors use five ways to indirectly characterize

1. Characters own speech 2. Characters appearance

3. Characters private thoughts 4. Characters actions

5. How others feel about them The person the author has chosen to tell the story Narrator is NOT the author Three types of Point of View Very important in how a story is told

an all knowing narrator is able to tell us everything about every character in the story narrator is NOT a character in the story will refer to characters in the story as he and she

is able to tell us everything about ONE character in the story narrator is NOT a character in the story will refer to characters in the story as he and she Is only able to tell us what he or she sees or hears about events in the story

narrator is a character in the story will refer to him or herself as I Themethe central idea of the story Subjectsimply the topic of the story (can be stated in one or two words) Exampleslove, war, growing up

1. It usually REVEALS A TRUTH about human nature. 2. It is usually NOT DIRECTLY STATED in the

story. 3. It is NOT a MORAL. 4.

It shows INSIGHT INTO HUMAN BEHAVIOR. 5. It must be stated in at least ONE COMPLETE SENTENCE. Check the TITLEDoes it hold a special meaning for

the story? Does the main character CHANGE from the beginning to the end of the story? Are any IMPORTANT STATEMENTS made about LIFE within the story? And thenTEST YOUR STATEMENT and be sure it applies to the ENTIRE story and not just PARTS of it.

Irony is surprise The difference between what we expect to happen and what actually happens There are three types of irony in literature. Verbal Situational Dramatic

Say one thing and mean something else Doing it with a bitter tone---sarcasm A situation that we expect to happen actually happens oppositely Example: a preacher is supposed to be a good guy but turns out to be a murder

Example: Movie and play Arsenic and Old Lace The audience knows something that the characters on stage or in the book/story do not know