SHORT STORIES How the story stories are made

SHORT STORIES How the story stories are made.

What is a short story? The short story is a narrative, usually dealing with a single event rather than a chain of events, whose lenght is shorter than a novel. Short stories are closely related to oral (spoken) story-telling traditions and prose anecdotes. They all develop the story very quickly and come to a conclusion quickly too. Many authors today release their short stories together in a book, instead of one at a time. The short stories could be composed by a minimum of 1000 to a maximum of 4000. In contemporary usage, the term short story most often refers to a work of fiction no shorter than 1, 000 and no longer than 20, 000 words.

The making The pit and the pendulum When? During the Spanish Inquisition Where? In a prison of Toledo Protagonist A prisoner Antagonist the place where the torturers have put him Characterization The man talk in first person Plot There’s a conflict between a person and an obstacle, where the man can die because is in a dark room with a deep pit and a swinging pendulum. The most drammatic event is when the protagonist understood what is happening. Then, he try to survive even if he can’t see what is around him. There’s no resolution, because the iron walls are hot and, slowly, they get smaller and smaller until the man is forced to fall in the pit. But, when he fell, a man called Lassalle saved him. Theme the death and the fear of blindness.

The making A descent into the Maelström When? While a group of fishermen is climbing a mountain. Where? The Northern islands. Protagonist the oldest fisherman Antagonist The Maelström Characterization The man talk in first person Plot The man tell to the other fishermen his story. He and his two brothers were caming back from the sea when they bump into a Maelström, a big typhoon. The man survive but the brothers die. The conflict is between the people and the force of nature. This time, the most terrifying moment is the description of the typhoon, followed by the rescue of the protagonist. Theme The death and the force of nature