1. Short Story Literary Elements

2. What is a short story?
A short story is a brief work of fiction.

3. Elements of a Short Story
Plot
Setting
Characterization
Point of View
Theme

4. Plot
The sequence of events in a literary work

5. Plot Structure
Exposition – introduces the setting, the characters and the basic situation
Inciting Incident – introduces the central conflict
Rising Action – events leading up to the climax

6. Climax – high point of interest or suspense
Falling Action – events after the climax that lead to the resolution
Resolution (Denouement) – general insight or change is conveyed

7. Setting
The setting is the time and place of the action.

8. Time
Time can include not only the historical period – past, present, future – but also a specific year, season or time of day.

9. Place
Place may involve not only the geographical place – a region, country, state, or town – but also the social, economic or cultural environment.

10. Characters
A character is a person or animal that takes part in the action of a literary work.

11. Protagonist
The main character, or protagonist, is the most important character in a story.
This character often changes in some important way as a result of the story’s events.

12. Antagonist
An antagonist is the character or force in conflict with the protagonist.

13. Characterization
Characterization is the act of creating and developing a character.

14. Direct Characterization
In direct characterization, the author directly states a character’s traits.

15. Indirect Characterization
In indirect characterization, an author provides clues about a character by describing what a character looks like, does and says, as well as how other characters react to him/her.
It is up to the reader to draw conclusions.

16. Point of View
The writer’s choice of narrator determines the story’s point of view, which directs the type and amount of information the writer reveals.

17. First Person
When a character in the story tells the story, that character is a first person narrator.

18. First Person
This person may be a major character, a minor character, or just a witness.
Readers see only what this character sees.
The first person narrator may or may not be reliable.

19. Third Person
When a voice outside the story narrates, the story has a third person narrator.

20. Third Person Omniscient
An omniscient, or all-knowing third person narrator can tell readers what any character thinks or feels.

21. Third Person Limited
A limited third person narrator sees the world through one character’s eyes and reveals only that character’s thoughts.

22. Theme
The theme is the central message or insight into life revealed in a literary work.

23. More Elements
Conflict
Foreshadowing
Mood
Irony
Symbol

24. Conflict A conflict is a struggle between opposing forces.
Characters in conflict form the basis of short stories, novels, and plays.

25. External Conflict
In an external conflict, the main character struggles against an outside force:
Another character
Societal standards or expectations
Nature

26. Internal Conflict
The character is in conflict with him/herself.

27. Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is the use of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur.
This technique creates suspense, keeping readers wondering what will happen next.

28. Mood
Mood is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage.
The mood is often suggested by descriptive details.

29. Irony
Irony is the general term for literary techniques that portray differences between appearance and reality, or expectation and result.

30. Verbal Irony
Words suggest the opposite of what is meant

31. Dramatic Irony
There is a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience knows to be true.

32. Situational Irony
An event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience.

33. Symbol A symbol is anything that stands for something else.
In addition to having it’s own meaning, a symbol also represents abstract ideas.