Short Stories

What you need to know…

Story Terms

• Plot• Character• Theme• Mood• Point of View

Plot

• The plot is what happens in a story and how it happens.

Parts of a Plot

• Exposition – gives rise to conflict; arouses reader’s interest

• Rising Action – complicate or intensify the central conflict

• Climax – highest point of interest and emotional involvement in the story

• Falling Action – events that lead to resolution

• Resolution – final outcome of story

Conflict

• A clash of opposing forces (protagonist vs. antagonist).

1.Person vs. Person(external)

2.Person vs. Self (internal)

3.Person vs. Nature(external)

Setting

The time and place where the action occurs. Details that describe:

• Scenery• Dialects• Weather• Time of day• Time of year

“The widow she cried over me, and called me a poor lost lamb, and she called me a lot of other names, too, but she never meant no harm by it. She put me in them new clothes again, and I couldn’t do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up.” - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Characters

• Round – complex or presented in detail

• Dynamic – developing during course of story

• Flat – characterized by 1 or 2 traits• Static – unchanged from beg. to end.• Stock - stereotypical

Point of View

• First Person – “I” is the central character

• Third Person– Omniscient: author knows all of what is

done, said, felt, thought by all characters– Limited Omniscient: author only provides

insight into one character– Objective: author provides no comments

on any characters or their actions

Theme

• A central message, concern, or insight into life

• Can be expressed by a one or two sentence statement about human beings or about life

• May be stated directly or implied• Often requires interpretation to

uncover