Written by: Angelia Greiner

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• Written by Angelia Greiner
• Additional Material by Kelley McConathy

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The Short Story

• History
• Short story versus novel
• Elements
• Famous short stories

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What Is a Short Story?

• Possible Definitions

A form of short fictional prose
Brings a singular illumination to the reader,
sudden and golden like sunlight cracking through
heavy cloud. I went on to say that in my opinion
a real" short-story was closer to poetry than to
the novel. Alex Keegan
Must be able to be read in one sitting
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A Timeline
Oral Storytelling
Fables
Parables
Anecdotes
14th century Chaucers Canterbury Tales
14th century Boccaccios Decameron
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Europe 5 B.C.
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The Novella
1690s The Fairy Tale
Mid-17th Century The Nouvelle
Early 19th Century The Modern Short Story
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History Recap

• Oral storytelling
• Fables
• Anecdotes
• Parables

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Oral Storytelling

• The telling of a story by word of mouth
• Repetition of words or phrases
• Use of nicknames or descriptive phrases for
  characters
• Use of rhyme, assonance, and alliteration
• More entertaining than unified

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Examples

• Fleet-footed Achilles, Cow-eyed Hera,
  Grey-eyed Athena, wine-darkened sea
• Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings,
  leader beloved, and long he ruled in fame with
  all folk
• Thereupon Fergus uttered this oath I swear,
  necks of men I would break from necks of men,
  arms of men from arms of men, scalps of men
  from scalps of men

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Fables

• A brief story illustrating a moral
• Often include talking animals or objects

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The Man and the Serpent
A Countrymans son by accident trod upon a
Serpent's tail, which turned and bit him so that
he died. The father in a rage got his axe, and
pursuing the Serpent, cut off part of its tail.
So the Serpent in revenge began stinging several
of the Farmers cattle and caused him severe
loss. Well, the Farmer thought it best to make
it up with the Serpent, and brought food and
honey to the mouth of its lair, and said to it
Lets forget and forgive perhaps you were
right to punish my son, and take vengeance on
my cattle, but surely I was right in trying to
revenge him now that we are both satisfied why
should not we be friends again? No, no, said
the Serpent take away your gifts you can never
forget the death of your son, nor I the loss of
my tail. Injuries may be forgiven, but not
forgotten.
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Anecdotes

• Short narrative account
• Usually does not exist alone

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Anecdote Example
Sometimes I simply can not speak. Especially
when the topic is one Ive only thought of, but
never verbalized. This most recently happened
when I was trying to explain genetic programming
to a cute girl. Now, you may question my logic,
or even call me a nerdy idiot for bringing up GP
or trying to at least, but the words werent
coming. So severe were some of the pauses that at
times I was aphonic, mute. Id open my mouth,
make gesticulations in the air, but nothing. Feh.
Ive thought about GP a lot. There was even a
period in my life when it was essentially all
that was on my mind. But thoughts form in my
mind, in everyones mind, like a big network, and
sometimes trying to traverse this network without
repeating yourself while hitting every major
point is like some crazy Traveling Salesman
problem. Your stack overflows and you throw some
out-of-memory exception, then thats itverbal
blue-screen.
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Parables

• Short narrative designed to reveal
• Teaches through comparison

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Do You Know These Parables?

• The Prodigal Son
• The Mustard Seed

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Short Story Versus the Novel
Read in one sitting Not able to read in one sitting
One single impression Diverse ideas
Few characters, one plot, and one theme Many characters, plots and subplots, and usually more than one theme
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Quality 1 Short Story

• Most can read story in one sitting

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Quality 2 Short Story

• Story meant to create
• one single impression

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Quality 3 Short Story

• Few characters, one
• plot, and one theme

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Elements of the Short Story

• Character
• Setting
• Plot
• Theme

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Character

• Person in a literary work
• Protagonist
• Antagonist
• Deuteragonist

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Batman
Protagonist
deuteragonist or sidekick
and Robin

• The Riddler
• Mr. Freeze
• (any arch villain)

Antagonist
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Characterization

• Creates connection between reader and character
• Direct
• Indirect

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Direct or Indirect?
Mr. Pan was worried about his mother. He had
been worried about her when she was in China, and
now he was worried about her in New York.
I am not grieving, Lilli said. Of course, you
are, Mrs. Pan retorted. I see you are a true
woman, and women grieve when they are not wed so
that they can have children. You are grieving for
your children.
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Type of Characters

• Flat or Round?
• Static or Dynamic?

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Setting

• Location and time period in which a story takes
  place

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Point of View

• The way a story is told and who tells it
• First Person
• Third Person

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Third Person Narrative

• Objective
• Omniscient
• Limited

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Plot

• Sequence of events in story
• Exposition
• Climax
• Resolution

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Plot

• The plot is what happens in the story

climax
exposition
dénouement
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Conflict

• Person versus society
• Person versus self
• Person versus person
• Person versus nature

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Person versus Society

• Person conflicts with society
• Laws or rules
• Customs or ways
• Place in society

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Person versus Self

• Persons own values or beliefs conflict
• Feels alienated or unsatisfied
• Must make crucial decision in life
• Realizes something about self

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Person versus Person

• Pits the protagonist against someone else
• Struggles physically or emotionally against
  another person

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Person versus Nature

• Protagonist threatened by element of nature
• Connection to the land
• Physical forces of nature

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Theme Definition

• Underlying meaning of story
• Universal truth
• Significant statement about society, human
  nature, or the human condition

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Themes

• Freedom
• Guilt
• Love
• Convictions
• Heroes
• Community
• Social change
• Loss
• Patriotism
• Communication
• Evil
• Family
• Friendship
• Loyalty

• Acceptance
• Hope
• Alienation
• Customs
• Loneliness
• Values
• Money
• Death
• War
• Choices
• Prejudice
• Denial
• Poverty

• Teamwork
• Discrimination
• Pride
• Trust
• Resourcefulness
• Challenges
• Ethical dilemmas
• Nature
• Leadership
• Euthanasia
• Commitment
• Diversity
• Power

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Other Elements

• Dialogue
• Tone
• Irony

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Dialogue

• Lines spoken by a character or characters
• Provides characterization
• Sets mood
• Advances plot

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Dialogue Example

• Come, I said, with decision, we will go
  back your health is precious. You are rich,
  respected, admired, beloved you are happy, as
  once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it
  is no matter. We will go back you will be ill,
  and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is
  Luchesi.
• The Cask of Amontillado
• Edgar Allan Poe

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Tone

• Authors attitude toward his or her subject

My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel,
said a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen
in the meantime you must try and put up with me.
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Irony

• Verbal
• Dramatic
• Situational

You say you bought a diamond necklace to replace
mine? .
Madame Forestier, deeply moved, took her two
hands. Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was
imitation. It was worth at the very most five
hundred francs!...
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Famous Short Stories

• Plot The Most Dangerous Game
• Setting Contents of a Dead Mans Pockets
• Character The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

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Jack Finney
Richard Connell
WashingtonIrving
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Short Stories Go To Hollywood!

• Plot The Fugitive
• Setting Survivor and The Amazing Race
• Character Capt. Jack Sparrow, Rambo, Rocky, and
  Indiana Jones

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The Most Dangerous Game Video
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Other Famous Short Stories

• Tone The Masque of the Red Death
• Irony The Gift of the Magi
• Theme A Visit to Grandmother

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O. Henry Video
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Writers of Note

• Edgar Allan Poe
• O. Henry
• Ray Bradbury
• Anton Chekhov
• Guy de Maupassant

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The Necklace Video
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In Conclusion The Short Storys Importance

• Relevant to our own lives
• Understanding of our own humanity
• Entertaining
• Universal connections

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This presentation is dedicated to one of the
greatest short story writers of all time.
I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around,
and dont let anybody tell you different. Kurt
Vonnegut (1922-2007)
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