Elements of Short Stories

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Elements of Short Stories

• November 2010

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Characters

• Are the people or animals who take part in a
  storys action. Characters are directed by
  motivation the reason or reasons that explain
  why characters act as they do.

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Characters

• Antagonist character or a force in conflict
  with a main character, or a protagonist.
• Protagonist is the main character in a literary
  work. Often, the protagonist is the person, but
  sometimes it can be an animal.

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Characterization

• Is the way a writer reveals a characters
  personality and qualities.
• Direct Characterization the writer describes
  the character.
• Indirect Characterization the writer reveals
  the character through speech and actions.

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Theme

• Central message expressed in a story.
• Universal Theme recurring theme that expresses
  a message about life in different cultures and
  time periods.
• Example Hard work always pays off in the end.

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Plot Triangle (Freytags Pyramid)
Climax
Conflict
Falling Action
Rising Action
Exposition
Resolution
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Literary Devices

• Tools writers often use to enhance their writing.
  

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Foreshadowing

• Is the use of clues early in a story to hint at
  events that are going to occur later.

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Flashback

• Is the placement of a scene within a story that
  interrupts the sequence of events to reveal past
  occurences.

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Irony

• Is the general name given to literary techniques
  that involve surprising, interesting, or amusing
  contradictions. When a story includes irony,
  something unexpected happens.

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Dialect

• Is the form of a language spoken by people in a
  particular region or group. The use of dialect
  gives a short story a more authentic feel and
  helps a characters words sound more realistic.

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Ticket out the Door

• 3 New things you learned about short stories
• 2 Things you learned about Flashback and
  Foreshadowing
• 1 thing you learned about irony

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Check Your Understanding

• 1. A deserted beach at dawn
• A. Setting B. Plot
• 2. A student struggles to pass an exam
• A. dialect B. Conflict
• 3. A wisecracking grandmother
• A. character B. Setting
• 4. An unlikely hero saves another person
• A. plot B. Flashback
• 5. An airplane bound for Hawaii
• A. conflict B. setting

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Freytags Pyramid/Plot Triangle
Freytags Pyramid uses a five-part system to
describe a storys plot. This graphic organizer
matches the way stories are constructed The
climax is the high point, and its surrounded by
rising and falling action.
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Plot Plot is the literary element that describes
the structure of a story.
Climax The turning point. The most intense
moment, either mentally or in action.
Rising Action the series of conflicts and crisis
in the story that lead to the climax.
Falling Action all of the action which follows
the Climax.
Exposition The start of the story. The way
things are before the action starts. (characters
and setting)
Resolution The conclusion, the tying together of
all of the threads.
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Plot Conflict

• Conflict is the dramatic struggle
• between two forces in a story. Without conflict,
  there is no plot.

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Plot Types of Conflict
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Plot Character vs. Character Conflict
This type of conflict finds the main character
in conflict with another character, human or not
human.
The new one is the most beautiful of all he is
so young and pretty. And the old swans bowed
their heads before him. Then he felt quite
ashamed, and hid his head under his wing for he
did not know what to do, he was so happy, and yet
not at all proud. He had been persecuted and
despised for his ugliness, and now he heard them
say he was the most beautiful of all the birds.
The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson
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Plot Character vs. Nature Conflict
This type of conflict finds the main character in
conflict with the forces of nature, which serve
as the antagonist.
Its a Truffula Seed. Its the last one of
all! Youre in charge of the last of the Truffula
Seeds. And Truffula Trees are what everyone
needs. Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with
care. Give it clean water. And feed it fresh
air. Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that
hack. Then the Lorax and all of his friends may
come back. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
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Plot Character vs. Society Conflict
This type of conflict has the main character in
conflict with a larger group a community,
society, culture, etc.
Im tired of living in a hole, said
Jenny. Lets fight for freedom! cried Bouncer.
Well be soldiers! Rough-riding Rowdies! Ill
be the general and commander-in-chief! The
Island of the Skog by Steven Kellogg
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Plot Character vs. Self Conflict
In this type of conflict, the main character
experiences some kind of inner conflict.
Finally, Sams father said, Go to bed now. But
before you go to sleep, Sam, tell yourself the
difference between REAL and MOONSHINE. Sam,
Bangs Moonshine by Evaline Ness