The Short Story

A short story is a piece of writing which usually revolves around a single episode in a
persons life. The short story is designed to produce a single effect conflict, setting,
characterization, etc.
Conflict The struggle of opposing forces.
- It reaches its highest point during the climax of the story.
- Suspense does not know whether a character will be able to resolve his/her
conflicts.
There are three forms of conflict:
(i) External Conflict is the simplest form of conflict as it involves a characters
struggle against something in the outside world.
(ii) Internal Conflict is the characters struggle with his/her own thoughts and
/or feelings.
(iii) Interpersonal Conflict is the characters struggle with another person.
Characterization The way an author creates a person (character) in a play, poem,
novel or a short story.
- Protagonist - Main character directly affects the plot of the story.
- Antagonist - Minor a person who opposes the main character .
- Round Character - Three dimensional (well-rounded) characters have their
appearance, background, feeling and thoughts described in detail.
- Flat Character - (two dimensional) characters are created by an author when the
plot or message is more important than the atmosphere or mood.
- Static Character - character who undergoes little or no inner change; a
character who does not grow or develop.
- Dynamic Character a character who is constantly changing as they go
throughout the short story.

Setting Is the immediate context in which a story takes place. It includes the time,
place and circumstances. It is important for creating mood and atmosphere.
Mood (a) Deals with the feelings and emotions of the author as they come through in
the writing.
(b) Also the feelings the writing produces in the reader. It depends on setting,
atmosphere, imagery and description.
Atmosphere Is the overall impression the reader gets from words, images and the
setting of the text as well as the pace of the plot.
Plot Is the plan, action or main story of the short story, novel, play, poem, etc. It is the
guiding principle for both the order and sequence of the incidents in a story and the
framework within which these incidents inter-relate.
Point of View Is the vision through which a narrative is presented; the person through
whom the reader sees the action of the story.

(a) Omniscient (all knowing) authors point of view:

(i) The author or narrator can supply any information about motivation,
characters, theme, etc.
(ii) The author can move from one place or time in an action to another.
(iii) The author can reveal the thoughts of any character.
* This is third person point of view*
(b) Third person limited point of view
(i) the story is told in the third person (he, she, it), but is limited to what the
person would be able to observe.
(c) First person point of view:
(i) the first person (I) is the narrator.
(ii) The narrator may be a character in the story.
(iii) The narrator may be a detached observer or recorder of the action.
(iv) What he/she tells is limited to what he/she is able to observe.

Elements of a short story

(a) Exposition
(i) Introduces the characters.
(ii) Introduces the setting.
(iii) Gives background information on the characters.
(iv) Gives a hint or clue as to what the conflict is going to be.
(v) It includes the first few paragraphs of the short story.
(b) Rising Action
- The section of the story following the exposition in which the conflict is
developed. It is the longest part of the story.

(c) Conflict
a struggle of some kind between opposing forces. It can be Man vs. Man,
Man vs. Nature, Man vs himself.
(d) Climax
- This is the point of greatest emotional impact in a short story. It is the
turning point because it leads up to a fixed up of the conflict. It is the
part of the story that leads to the resolution. It is where the conflict comes
to a head or breaking point.
(e) Resolution
- This is the action of the story that follows the climax. It is the outcome of
the plot. It presents the solutions to the problems raised. It resolves the
conflict in the story. It usually occurs in the last paragraph of the story.