Short Story Terms: Comm 12

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Short Story Terms Comm 12

• HSS English Department

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What is a Short Story?

• A short story is a brief work of fiction where,
  usually, the main character faces a conflict that
  is worked out in the plot of the story

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What is the Plot?

• Plot Series of related events that introduce
  the conflict of a story and lead to its
  resolution.

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Freytag's Pyramid
Climax
Rising Action Events or Plot Points
Falling Action Denouement and/or Resolution
Complicating Incident
Introduction or exposition
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Introduction or Exposition

• In this part of the story, the situation is
  revealed and the characters are introduced. The
  setting may be made clear, the tensions
  introduced, etc.

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Complicating Incident

• The event or incident that leads to a conflict in
  a story. The incident may be a result of a choice
  a character makes or happenstance, but the story
  rests on this problem being solved.

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Conflict

• A struggle between two opposing forces
• Types
• Internal takes place in a characters own mind
• Person vs. Him(Her)self
• External a character struggles against an
  outside force
• Person vs. Another
• Man vs. Environment (broadly defined)?

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Events, Rising Action or Plot Points

• Consists of a series of complications.
• These occur when the main characters take action
  to resolve their problems and are met with
  further problems
• Fear, hostility or
  threatening situations
• These events move
  the story forward to its final resolution.

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Climax

• The turning point in the story the high point of
  interest and suspense

Climax
Rising Action or Complications
Falling Action
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Falling Action

• All events following the climax or turning point
  in the story. These events are a result of the
  action taken at the climax.

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Resolution

• (Denoument)?
• The end of the central conflict it shows how the
  situation turns out and ties up loose ends

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Character

• Character a person in a story, poem or play.
• Types of Characters
• Round- fully developed, has many different
  character traits
• Flat- stereotyped, one-dimensional, few traits
• OR
• Static Does not change
• Dynamic Changes as a result of the story's
  events

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Protagonist

• Central character of the story
• the most important character
• normally changes and grows because of experiences
  in the story (death is not a change)?

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Antagonist

• A major character or force that opposes the
  protagonist
• the antagonist normally does not change
• Types of antagonists
• people
• nature
• society

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Point of View

• Vantage point from which the writer tells the
  story.
• It answers the question Who is telling the
  story? and How much is that person allowed to
  know.

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1st Person Narration

• The narrator is a character participating in the
  story
• uses the first-person pronoun I
• offers an intimate view of the story, but has
  limited scope

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Example
I slowly pushed open the door. In the gloom,
I could barely make out someone--or
something?--lying on a bed. Brushing aside
cobwebs and watching for spiders, I approached
the bed. Then I saw her for the first time--the
woman of my dreams! She was beautiful--long,
thick red hair, fair skin with a tinge of blush
in her cheeks. But why was she wearing such a
strange dress? Maybe there had been a masquerade
the night before and she had been too tired to
take off the dress. I looked at her for a few
minutes, awed by her beauty and air of innocence.
Then, on a sudden impulse, I leaned over and
kissed her on the lips. Who knows when I would
have that opportunity again? She stirred, her
eyelids fluttered then she opened her blue eyes,
eyes so blue I lost myself in their depths. She
smiled and breathed, "You've come at last."
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I smiled back,
"Yes, I have."And I hoped we wouldn't be leaving
soon. Then that fool of a servant came in and
spoiled everything.
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3rd Person limited omniscient

• The narrrator is not a participant but relates
  the story from outside.
• Tells the story of a single character
• Uses 3rd person narration he or she
• Resembles the way we experience the world, but is
  limited like first person

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Example

• The prince's point of view
• The prince slowly pushed open the door.
  What a filthy room the dust was so thick he was
  even leaving footprints was he ruining his
  shoes? The servants should be punished for their
  laziness maybe beheading one or two would give
  the rest a proper attitude toward their duties.
  He brushed spider webs aside he shuddered at the
  thought of spiders, disgusting little creatures.
  He approached the bed that was one striking
  redhead lying asleep. It was time to stop and
  think about his next move. Was anyone around? No?
  Good. Well, time to act just standing looking at
  her wasn't going to accomplish anything. He bent
  over her and kissed her lips, full. Nice. Maybe
  he could get in a few more kisses. Just then, she
  stirred, her eyelids fluttered she opened her
  blue eyes and smiled at the prince. "You've come
  at last," she said. Come at last? What was she
  talking about? he wondered, as he sat on the bed
  and smiled back ingratiatingly and hopefully. To
  his annoyance, the servant entered the room, and
  disrupted the mood.

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3rd Person omniscient

• The narrator does not participate but relates the
  story from outside.
• Tells the story from many different characters'
  perspective.
• Uses 3rd person narration he and/or she
• Offers a broad view of the story, but can feel
  artificial.

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Example
The prince's servant waited in the hallway,
relieved at not having to take any risks. Despite
his impatience, the prince slowly, very slowly,
pushed the door open. He was a very cautious
prince as a child, he never went out in the rain
without his boots and umbrella. Brushing aside
cobwebs, he grimaced with distaste and approached
the bed. He thought of possible dangers. He
looked, with admiration and a touch of some
other feeling, at a beautiful young woman asleep
he had always found redheads particularly
attractive. He was puzzled by her out-of-fashion
dress, which looked like the dress his great
grandmother was wearing in her state portrait. He
stood by the bed for a few minutes, looking
around to see if anyone was observing him. No, no
one was, he noted with satisfaction. Only then
did he bend over and kiss her full on the lips.
He was also an unworthy prince. Before he could
kiss her again, she stirred, her eyelids
fluttered then she opened her blue eyes and
smiled at the prince. She thought he was the
handsomest prince she had ever seen. She was in
love--again. You must remember that it had been a
long time since she had seen a young man. "You've
come at last," she said warmly, to encourage him.
Curious and bored, the servant entered the room.
The prince was sitting on the side of the bed, as
if he intended to stay awhile.
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3rd Person objective

• The narrator does not participate but relates the
  story from outside.
• Relates only what is seen and heard.
• Uses 3rd person narration he and/or she
• Allows the reader to interpret the story, but the
  characters' thoughts may be misinterpreted.

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Example
The prince slowly pushed open the door his
servant waited in the hall. In the dim light, the
prince saw a form lying on a bed. Brushing aside
cobwebs, he approached the bed he left
footprints in the thick dust. He looked down at
the form, a beautiful young woman she had long
red hair and was wearing on out-of-fashion dress.
He stood looking at her for several minutes then
he bent over and kissed her on the lips. She
stirred, her eyelids fluttered then she opened
her blue eyes and smiled. "You've come at last,"
she said. The servant entered the room, and the
prince smiled and sat on the bed.
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Theme

• The central message or insight into life revealed
  through a literary work.
• The main idea of the story

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Flashback

• The present scene in the story is interrupted to
  flash backward and tell what happened in an
  earlier time.

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Foreshadowing

• Clues the writer puts in the story to give the
  reader a hint of what is to come.

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Symbol

• An object, person, or event that functions as
  itself, but also stands for something more than
  itself.
• Example Scales function is to weigh things,
• but they are also a symbol
• of our justice system.

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Irony

• A contrast between expectation and reality

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Irony

• Verbal Irony saying one thing but meaning
  something completely different.
• Calling a clumsy basketball player Michael
  Jordan
• Situational Irony A contradiction between what
  we expect to happen and what really does happen
• Dramatic Irony occurs when the reader knows
  something important that the characters in the
  story do not know.

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Suspense

• Uncertainty or anxiety the reader feels about
  what is going to happen next in a story.