Short Stories

Short Stories

Short - Can usually be read in one sitting.

Concise: Information offered in the story is relevant to the tale being told. This is unlike a novel, where the story can diverge from the main plot

Usually tries to leave behind a single impression or effect. Usually, though not always built around one character, place, idea, or act.

The action that takes place in the story. It is a series of connected happenings and their result. In order to have a result, we must have an event, or conflict.

Introduction of characters
The situation: Initial conflict
The generating circumstances
Rising action
Climax
falling action and Conclusion. These two are also known as a denouement.

SETTING

The background against which the incidents of the story take place. Not merely a place, it includes the place where, the time when, and conditions under which the story moves along.

This includes atmosphere , the tone and feeling of a story, i.e. gloomy, cheery, etc.

Usually essential to the story. Often, the relevance of the story is lost in another setting.

CHARACTER

There must be living beings in the story that think or act in order to keep the story going. They must seem like living and feeling individuals in order to gain our sympathies. How? Sometimes we are told about the characters of the story through what they say or think of each other. Other times, the author might say outright their opinion of a character...

THEME

The total meaning of the story. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE TIED UP IN A SIMPLE MORAL. Without it, the story lacks meaning or purpose.

Sometimes the theme is stated, sometimes it is only implied. In other stories, the theme may be a direct refutation of a traditional theme.

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