Short Story Unit Short Story Brief work of

Short Story Unit

Short Story - Brief work of fiction Fiction – not true; based on imaginary people, places, and events

8 Elements of the Short Story • Plot • Character • Setting • Point of View • Theme • Tone • Symbol • Irony

Plot • Sequence of events – Exposition – introduction, beginning – Rising action – events between introduction and climax – Climax – highest point in a selection – Falling action – events between climax and resolution – Resolution – outcome or conclusion (denouement)

Climax Rising Action Exposition Falling Action Plot Diagram Resolution

Plot • Conflict – opposition between forces – External conflict • Man vs. Man • Man vs. Society – Internal conflict • Man vs. Himself • Suspense – uncertainty or anxiety about what’ll happen next • Flashback – interrupts action to tell what happened earlier • Foreshadowing – hints at what’ll occur later in the selection • Dialect – regional variety of language • Dialogue - conversation

Character • Person or animal in a literary work • Characterization – reveals character’s personality and physical traits – Direct Characterization – author directly states a character’s traits – Indirect Characterization – author provides clues about a character but the reader has to draw conclusions • Motivation – reason that explains why a character thinks, feels, acts, or behaves in a certain way

Setting • When and where the story takes place • Atmosphere / Mood = reader’s feelings

Point of View • Angle or perspective from which the story is told • 1 st person point of view – character in the story tells the story (I – Me) • 3 rd person point of view – a voice outside the story narrates (He – she – it – they) – 3 rd person limited – reveals thoughts and feelings of one character – 3 rd person omniscient – all-seeing, all-knowing • Narrator – speaker or character who tells a story

Theme • Central message or main idea • Moral – lesson taught by a literary work, especially a fable

Tone • Author’s attitude

Symbol • Something that stands for or represents something else; has a larger meaning

Irony • Difference between appearance and reality; something unexpected happens • Types of Irony: – Verbal Irony – words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant – Situational Irony – situations turn out opposite from expected – Dramatic Irony – reader knows something that the characters on stage do not know

Short Story Quiz http: //www. quia. com/quiz/270936. html

North Carolina Prentice Hall Literature: Penguin Edition. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. , 2007.