ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY POWERPOINT.ppt

ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY

1. ELEMENTS
OF A
SHORT
STORY

2. Why do we read story?
Ashortstoryisashortworkoffiction.
Fiction,asyouknow,isprosewriting
aboutimaginedeventsandcharacters.
Prosewritingdiffersfrompoetryinthatit
doesnotdependonverses,metersor
rhymesforitsorganizationand
presentation.

3. Novelsareanotherexampleoffictional
proseandaremuchlongerthanshort
stories.Someshortstories,however,can
bequitelong.Ifashortstoryisalongone,
sayfiftytoonehundredpages,wecallita
novella.
Americanliteraturecontainssomeof
theworld'sbestexamplesoftheshort
story.Readersaroundtheworldenjoythe
finelycraftedstoriesofAmericanwriters
suchasO.Henry,StephenCrane,Jack
London,MarkTwainandEdgarAllanPoe.

4. Whatmakestheseauthorssuch
remarkableshortstorywriters?Theyare
truemastersatcombiningthefivekey
elementsthatgointoeverygreatshort
story:character,setting,conflict,
plotandtheme.

5. The Elements of Fiction
Plot and Structure
Characterization
Theme
Setting
Point of View
Style
Symbol, Allegory, and Fantasy
Humor and Irony
Whiletheseelementsarenotallfound
ineverywork,theyarecriticaltothe
understandingofeachpieceyouread.

6. Plot and Structure
PLOT:
Thesequenceofincidentsorevents
throughwhichanauthorconstructsastory.
Theplotisnotmerelytheactionitself,
butthewaytheauthorarrangestheaction
towardaspecificend(structure).

7. Important Elements of Plot:
Conflict-Aclashofactions,ideas,
desires,orwills
TypesofConflict:
1.Personvs.Person,
2.Personvs.Environment,
3.Personvs.Self.
Protagonist-Thecentralcharacterin
aconflict

8. Antagonist-Anyforcearrangedagainstthe
protagonist-whetherpersons,things,conventions
ofsociety,ortheprotagonistsownpersonalitytraits.
Suspense-Thequalityinastorythatmakes
readersask“what’sgoingtohappennext?”.In
moreliteraryformsoffictionthesuspenseinvolves
more“why”than“what”.Usuallyproducedthrough
twodevices;eithermystery(anunusualsetof
circumstancesforwhichthereadercravesan
explanation)ordilemma(apositioninwhicha
charactermustchoosebetweentwocoursesof
action,bothundesirable.)

9. Artisticunity-Essentialforagoodplot.
Theremustbenothinginthestorythatis
irrelevant,thatdoesnotcontributetothe
meaning.Eacheventshouldgrowoutofthe
precedingoneandleadlogicallytothenext.
Theworkshouldhaveaqualityofnatural
inevitability,giventhespecificsetof
charactersandtheinitialsituation.
DeusExMachina-Latinfor“Godfroma
machine”.Thesavingoftheprotagonistfrom
animpossiblesituation.Aformofplot
manipulation.

10. Endings:
•HappyEnding-Everythingendswellforour
protagonist.Moreoftenusedincommercial
fiction.
•UnhappyEnding-Mostinstancesinlifedonot
havepleasantends,soliteraryfictionthattries
toemulatelifeismoreapttohaveanunhappy
conclusion.Theseendingsforcethereaderto
contemplatethecomplexitiesoflife.
•IndeterminateEnding-Nodefinitiveendingis
reached.Thisleavesthereadertoponderthe
manyissuesraisedthroughthestorywithout
beinghandedaneatsolution.

11. Characterization
Acharacterisaperson,orsometimes
evenananimal,whotakespartintheaction
ofashortstoryorotherliterarywork.
oAnalyzingcharacterizationismoredifficult
thandescribingplot;humannatureis
infinitelycomplex,variableandambiguous.
Itismucheasiertodescribewhataperson
hasdoneinsteadofwhoapersonis.

12. oIncommercialfiction,charactersareoften
two-dimensional,andactasvesselsto
carryouttheplot.Theprotagonistmust
beeasilyidentifiedwithandfundamentally
decent,ifhehasvicestheyareofthe
more‘innocent’type,thekindthereader
wouldnotmindhaving.
oInliteraryfiction,theprotagonistsareless
easilylabeled.Becausehumannatureis
oftennotentirelygoodorbadliterary
fictionismadeupofthree-dimensional
characters;‘realpeople’.

13. oCharacters are presented in two different
ways-directly and indirectly.
a.DirectPresentation-Thereaderistold
straightoutwhatthecharacterislike.
b.IndirectPresentation-Theauthorshows
thecharacterthroughtheiractions;the
readerdetermineswhatthecharacteris
likebywhattheysayordo.
Dramatization-Charactersareshown
speakingandbehaving,asinaplay.

14. Types of Characters
•FlatCharacters-Usuallyhaveoneortwo
predominanttraits.Thecharactercanbe
summedupinjustafewlines.
•RoundCharacters-Complexandmany
faceted;havethequalitiesofrealpeople.
•StockCharacters-Atypeofflatcharacter.
Thetypeofcharacterthatappearsso
ofteninfictionthereaderrecognizesthem
rightaway.

15. •Static Character -A character that
remains essentially the same throughout.
•DevelopingCharacter-Acharacterthat
undergoesasignificantchangeduringthe
story.

16. Therearethreeconditionsthatregulate
change:
1.Itmustbeconsistentwiththeindividual’s
characterizationasdramatizedinthe
story.
2.Itmustbesufficientlymotivatedbythe
circumstancesinwhichthecharacteris
placed.
3.Thestorymustoffersufficienttimeforthe
changetotakeplaceandstill be
believable.

17. Theme
Thethemeofapieceoffictionisitscontrolling
ideaoritscentralinsight.Itistheunifying
generalizationaboutlifestatedorimpliedbythe
story.
Notallstorieshavesignificantthemes.Theme
existsonlywhentheauthorhasseriously
attemptedtorecordlifeaccuratelyortoreveal
sometruthaboutit,orwhentheauthorhas
deliberatelyintroducedasaunifyingelement
someconceptortheoryoflifethatthestory
illuminates.

18. Whilethemeiscentraltoastory,itisnotthe
wholepurpose.Thefunctionofaliterarywriter
isnottostateathemebytovivifyit.
Theme does not equal “moral”, “lesson”, or
“message”.
Commercialthemesupholdthingswewouldlike
tobelievearetrue.Literarythemesaremore
truetolife.
Thereisnoprescribedmethodforuncoveringa
theme,however,focusingontheprotagonist,
thecentralconflictandotherpieceswillmake
thetaskeasier.

19. Always keep in mind the following
principals concerning theme:
1.Theme should be expressible in the form
of a statement with a subject and
predicate.
2.The theme should be stated as a
generalization about life.
3.Be careful not to make the generalization
larger than is justified by the terms of the
story. Avoid terms like, every, all,
always, in favor of words such as, some,
sometimes, may.

20. 4.Themeisthecentralandunifyingconcept
ofastory.Thereforeitaccountsforall
themajordetailsofthestory,isnot
contradictedbyanydetailofthestory,
andcannotrelyuponsupposedfacts.
5.Thereisnoonewayofstatingthetheme
ofastory.Aslongastheabove
requirementsaremetthestatementis
valid.
6.Avoidanystatementthatreducesthe
themetoafamiliarsayingthatwehave
heardallourlives.

21. Setting
Thesettingofastoryisitsoverall
context-where,whenandinwhat
circumstancestheactionoccurs.
•SettingasPlace-Thephysicalenvironment
wherethestorytakesplace.Thedescriptionof
theenvironmentoftenpointstowardsits
importance.
•SettingasTime-Includestimeinallofits
dimensions.Todeterminetheimportance,ask,
“whatwasgoingonatthattime?”

22. •SettingasCulturalContext-Settingalso
involvesthesocialcircumstancesofthetimeand
place.Considerhistoricaleventsandsocialand
politicalissuesofthetime.
•EffectsofSetting-Createsatmosphere,gives
insighttocharacters,andprovidesconnections
tootheraspectsofthestory.

23. Point of View
PointofViewissimplywhois
tellingthestory.
TodeterminePOVask,“whoistelling
thestory”,and“howmuchdotheyknow?”
1.OmniscientPOV-Thestoryistoldin
thirdpersonbyanarratorwhohas
unlimitedknowledgeofeventsand
characters.

24. 2.ObjectivePOV-Recordsonlywhatis
seenandheard.Initspurestform,
objectivePOVwouldconsistofonly
dialogue.Forcestheauthortorefrain
frominterpretation.
3.FirstPersonPOV-Theauthordisappears
intooneofthecharacters.Sharesthe
limitationsofthirdpersonlimited.Uses
thepronouns“I”and“we”.

25. 4.SecondPersonPOV-Usesthepronoun
“you”.Infrequentlyused.
5.ThirdPersonLimitedPOV-Thestoryistold
inthirdpersonbutfromtheviewpointofa
characterinthestory.POVislimitedtothe
character’sperceptionsandshowsnodirect
knowledgeofwhatothercharactersare
thinking,feeling,ordoing.
StreamofConsciousness-presentsthe
randomthoughtsgoingthrougha
character’sheadwithinacertainperiodof
time.

26. THANKS!