1. Dr. P. S. Sontakke ( M.A., M. Phil., Ph.D. )
Asst. Prof. of English
Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Karad,
Dist. Satara (Maharashtra)

2. SHORT STORY
Short Story as a form of literature Development, Elements & Characteristics of short story.
Introduction : Since old age, man likes to listen to stories routed in human civilization. Man being social animal, is always interested in other man's lives this psyche of man created by art of story telling. Ancient oral short telling produced epics like ‘Iliad’ & ‘Odyssey’ by Homer.

3. Oral narratives were told in rhyming or rhythmic verse form they were told at one sitting only. This oral story telling tradition was oldest form of short story.
This anecdote a short story was popular in ancient Roman period. Anecdote is a brief realistic that embodies a point. Anecdotes were popular in Europe in 18th century when fictional anecdotal letters of Sir Roger de Coverley was published.

4. Another form close to short story is fable
Another form close to short story is fable. Fables are concise tales with an explicit moral were, said by Greek historian, Herodotus. They were invented in 6th century BCE by Greek Slave Aesop which is known as Aesop's fables.
In short, short story is a literary genre which presents a signal significant event or a scene involving limited number of characters. Short stories have no length.

5.  Definition -
Edgar Allan Poe in his essay ‘Thomas Le Moineau (Le Molie)’ in 1846 defined it as, “one should be able to read it in one sitting”.
Other definitions place maximum word count at anywhere from 1,000-9,000 words.
Ex - Harris King’s ‘A Solitary Man’ is around 4,000 words.

6. In contemporary usage, the term short story refers to a work of fiction no longer than 20,000 words & no shorter than 10,000 words are sometimes referred to as ‘short stories’ or ‘flash fiction’.
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America define its length for Nebula Awards for science fiction submission guidelines as having a word count of fewer than 7,500 words. A firm definition of a short story is impossible. Each definition emphasizes some aspects & cannot cover all. Some important definitions are as follows -

7. “A fictional prose tale of no specified length, but too short to be published as a volume on its own, as novellas sometimes and novels unusually are. A short story will normally concentrate on a single event with only one or two characters, more economically than a novel’s sustained exploration of social background.”
Chris Baldick: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms.

8. M.H. Abrams, Geoffrey Galt Harpham: A Handbook of Literary Terms.
“A short story is a brief work of prose fiction, & most terms for analyzing the component elements, types & narrative techniques of novel are applicable to short story as well.”
M.H. Abrams, Geoffrey Galt Harpham: A Handbook of Literary Terms.
“A prose narrative “requiring from half an hour to one or two hours in its perusal”
Edgar Allan Poe: Review of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales.

9. DEVELOPMENT -
It is comparatively recent development in English literature. In Europe, in early 14th century short stories were written by Geoffrey Chaucer & Giovanni Boccaccio. Their well-known collections are ‘Canterbury Tales’ & ‘Decameron’ respectively.
At the end of 16th century in Europe Matteo Bandello wrote that darkly tragic ‘Novella’ in mid 17th century in France refined short novel, “nouvelle” was written by Madam de Lafayette.

10. In 1690's traditional fairy tales began to be republished
In 1690's traditional fairy tales began to be republished. Charles Perrault published his famous collections. 18th century European short stories of Voltaire, Diderot & other writers were influenced by Antoine Galland's first modern translation ‘Thousand and One Nights or Arabian Nights’.
Its development is divided into periods as -

11. 1790 –
In UK, first short stories ‘The Poisoner of Montremos’ (1791) were written by Richard Cumberland. Great novelists like Sir Walter Scott & Charles Dickens also wrote some short stories.
Earlier in US, Charles Brockden Brown wrote ‘Somnambulism’ (1805). Washington Irving wrote mysterious tales ‘Rip van Winkle’ (1819) & ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ (1820). Nathaniel Hawthorne published first part of his Twice-Told Tales (1837)

12. Edgar Allan Poe argued that a literary work should be short enough for a reader to finish in one sitting. Poe wrote his tales of mystery an imagination between His classic stories are ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’, ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, ‘The Cask of Amontillado’, ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’, & first detective story, ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’, & ‘The philosophy of Composition’ in 1846.

13. In Germany, in , Henrich von Kleist published first collections of short stories. Brothers Grimm published their first volume of collected fairy tales in E.T.A. Hoffmann followed with his fantasy tales of which ‘The Nutcracker & Mouse King’ (1816) is very popular.
In France Prosper Mérimée wrote Mateo Falcone in 1829.

14. In Russia Alexander Pushkin wrote romantic & mysterious tales, including ‘The Blizzard’ in 1831 and ‘The Queen of Spades’ in Nikolai Gogol's ‘Nevsky Prospekt’ in 1835, ‘The Nose’ in 1836 and ‘The Overcoat’ in 1842 are humorous tales about human misery.

15. 1850 –
In 19th century print magazines & journals created a strong demand for short fiction between ,000-15,000 words. At end of 19th century all branches of literature & arts became self conscious. Rapid Industrialization forced people to read something interesting in a short period in single sitting. There demand was fulfilled by the short story & soon it became a popular genre of Literature.

16. In UK, Thomas Hardy wrote dozens of short stories, including “The Three Stranger's” in (1883), “A Mere Interlude” (1885) & “Barbara the of House of Grebe” (1890). Rudyard Kipling published short story collections like ‘Plain Tales from the Hills’ (1888) for grown-ups as well as ‘The Jungle Book’ (1894) for children. In 1892, Arthur Conan Doyle brought detective story to a new height with ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Homes’.

17. H. G. Wells wrote his first science fiction stories in 1880’s
H. G. Wells wrote his first science fiction stories in 1880’s. One of his best known is “The Country of the Blind” (1904). In US, Herman Melville published his story collection ‘The Piazza Tales’ in “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country” was title story of Mark Twain's first book a year later. In 1884, Brander Matthews, first American professor of dramatic literature, published ‘The Philosophy of the Short-Story’ At the same year, Matthews was first one to name emerging genre “short story”.

18. Another theorist of narrative fiction was Henry James
Another theorist of narrative fiction was Henry James. James wrote a lot of short stories himself, including “The Real Thing” (1892), “Maud-Evelyn” & ‘The Beast in the Jungle’ (1903).
In 1890’s Kate Chopin publishes short stories in several magazines.
The most prolific French author of short stories was Guy de Maupassant. Stories like “Boule de Suif” (“Ball of Fat” 1880) and “L’ Inutile Beaute” (“The Useless Beauty”, 1890) are good examples of French realism.

19. In Russia, Ivan Turgenev gained recognition with his story collection ‘A Sportsman’s Sketches’. Nikolai Leskov created his first short stories in the 1860s.
Late in his life Fyodor Dostoyevski wrote “The Meek One” (1876) and “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (1877), two stories with great psychological & philosophical depth.
Leo Tolstoy handled ethical questions in his short stories, for example in “Ivan the Fool” (1885), “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” (1886) & Alyosha the Pot” (1905). The greatest specialist of Russian short story however was Anton Chekhov.

20. Classic examples of his realistic prose are “The Bet” (1889), “Ward No
Classic examples of his realistic prose are “The Bet” (1889), “Ward No. 6” (1892) & “The Lady with Dog” (1899). Maxim Gorky’s best known short story is “Twenty-six Men and a Girl” (1899).
Most prolific Indian author of short stories was Munshi Premchand, who pioneered genre in Hindi-Urdu language writing a substantial body of short stories & novel in a style characterized by realism & an unsentimental & authentic introspection into complexities of Indian Society.

21. Premchand’s work including his over 200 short stories such as story “Lottery” & his novel ‘Godaan’ remain substantial works. Rabindranath Tagore with his “The Beggar Woman” (1877) in Bengali language introduced genre of short story.
In Poland, Bolesaw Prus was most important author of short stories. In 1888 he wrote “A Legend of Old Egypt”.

22. 1900 – In UK, periodicals like The Strand Magazine, The Sketch Harper’s Magazine & Story-Teller contributed to popularity of short story. Hector Huge Munro ( ), also known by his pen name of Saki, wrote over a hundred short stories, was one of most popular author of his time. P. G. Wodehouse published his first collection of comical stories about Butler Jeeves in Lots of detective stories were written by G. K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie & Dorothy L. Sayers.

23. Short stories by Virginia Woolf are “Kew Gardens” (1919) & “Solid Objects”, about a politician with mental problems.
Graham Greene wrote Twenty-One Stories between 1929 & A specialist was V. S. Pritchett, whose first collection appeared in Arthur C. Clarke published first science fiction story, “Travel by Wire!” (1937).
In Ireland, James Joyce published his short story collection Dubliners in These stories, written in a more accessible style than his later novels, are based on careful observation of inhabitants of his birth city.

24. In first half of 20th century, a no
In first half of 20th century, a no. of high-profile American magazines like The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker Scribner’s, The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, & The Bookman published short stories in each issue.
Demand for quality short stories was so great & money paid for it so well that F. Scott Fitzgerald repeatedly turned to short-story writing to pay his numerous debts. His first collection Flappers & Philosophers appeared in book form 1920.

25. William Faulkner wrote over one hundred short stories
William Faulkner wrote over one hundred short stories. Go Down, Moses, a collection of seven stories, appeared in Ernest Hemingway’s concise writing style was perfectly fit for shorter fiction. Stories like “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” (1926), “Hills Like White Elephants” (1927) & Dorothy Parker’s bittersweet story “Big Blonde” saw the light in A popular science fiction story is “Nightfall” by Isaac Asimov.

26. Katherine Mansfield from New Zealand wrote many of her short stories between 1912 & her death in “The Doll’s House” (1922) treats the topic of social inequity.
Two important authors in the German language were Thomas Mann & Franz Kafka. In 1922 the latter wrote “A Hunger Artist”, about a man who fasts for several days.
Ryunosuke Akutagawa ( ) is called Father of Japanese short story.

27. After 1945: The Post-war Era - Period following World War II saw a great flowering of literary short fiction in the US. The New Yorker continued to publish the works of the form’s leading mid-century practitioners, including Shirley Jackson, whose story, ‘The Lottery’ (1948), elicited strongest response in magazine’s history. Other frequent contributors during last 1940s included John Cheever, John Steinbeck, Jean Stafford & Eudora Welty.

28. J. D. Salinger’s ‘Nine Stories’ (1953) experimented with point of view & voice, while Flannery O’ Connor’s ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ (1955) reinvigorated Southern Gothic style. When Life magazine published, Ernest Hemingway’s long short story (or novella) The Old Man and the Sea in 1952, issue containing this story sold 5,300,000 copies in only two days. Cultural & social identity played a considerable role in much of short fiction of 1960s.

29. Philip Roth & Grace Paley cultivated distinctive Jewish-American voices. Tillie Olsen’s ‘I Stand Here Ironing’ adopted a consciously feminist perspective. James Baldwin’s Going to Meet the Man told stories of African-American life. Frank O’Connor’s ‘The Lonely Voice,’ (1963) a classic exploration of short story, appeared. 1970s saw rise of post-modern short story, in work of Donald Barthelme & John Barth.

30. Same decade witnessed establishment of Pushcart Press, which, under leadership of Bill Henderson, began publishing the best of independent & small presses.
Stephen King, one of bestselling novelists of all time, initiated his career by publishing numerous short stories in men’s magazines of era (1970s) & stated in an interview with Rich Fahle regarding his short story collection Just After Sunset that ‘The novel is a quagmire that a lot of young writers stumble into.

31. I started with short stories & I got comfortable with that format & never wanted to leave it behind.’ Minimalism gained widespread influence in 1980s, most notably in work of Raymond Carver, Ann Beattie & Bobbi Ann Mason. However, traditionalists including John Updike & Joyce Carol Oates maintained significant influence on forum, as did Canadian author Alice Munro. John Gardner’s seminal reference text, ‘The Art of Fiction’, appeared in 1983.

32. Many of American short stories of 1990s feature magical realism
Many of American short stories of 1990s feature magical realism. Among leading practitioners in this style were Steven Millhauser & Robert Olen Butler. Stuart Dybek gained prominence for his depictions of life in Chicago’s Polish neighborhoods & Tim O’ Brien’s ‘The Things They Carried’ tackled the legacy of Vietnam War. Louise Erdrich wrote poignantly of Native American life. T. C. Boyle & David Foster Wallace explored psychology of popular culture.

33. First years of 21st century saw emergence of a new generation of young writers including Jhumpa Lahiri, Karen Russell, Nathan Englander, Kevin Brockmeier, George Saunders, German-American bilingual writer Paul-Henri Campbell & Dan Chaon. Blogs & e-zines joined traditional paper-based literary journals in showcasing work of emerging authors.
Thus development of short story is multi-concerned & distinctive. Its growth suggests popularity of this genre.

34. ELEMENTS -
It is not merely a shortened novel. Like fiction, it constitutes elements like plot, character & settings. These three elements cannot be treated with same detail as in a novel. Each element is reduced for an overall effect & impression. Hence, plot is confined to essentials, characters to indispensable & setting to a few suggestive hints.

35. PLOT - Plot is a literary term
PLOT - Plot is a literary term. It is events that makes up a story related to one another in a sequence pattern through cause & effect. This pattern of events accomplishes some artistic or emotional effect. Ex- In traditional ballads & intricate, complicated plot is called a mess, but even simplest statements of plots include multiple inferences.

36. ARISTOTLE ON PLOT -
In his Poetics, Aristotle considered plot (mythos) most important element of drama-more important than character. Aristotle says, a plot must have a beginning a middle & end events of plot must relate to one another which is necessary his plots have ability to arouse emotion in psyche of audience. In tragedy, appropriate emotions are consider in his Rhetoric. His work on comedy has not survived.

37. Aristotle considers sufferings & errors of tragic character
Aristotle considers sufferings & errors of tragic character. He illustrates this with question of tragic character who is about to kill someone in his family.
Artistically the worst situation is when personage is with full knowledge on doing deed & leaves it undone. It is odious to it & untragic, hence no one is made to act except Haemon & Creon in ‘Anitgone’.

38. Next after this comes actual perpetration of deed meditated however a better situation is for deed to be done in ignorance & relationship discovered afterword, since there is nothing odious in it & discovery will serve to astound us. But best of all is Cresphontes.
For ex., Merope on slaying her son, recognizes him in time in Iphigenia, where sister & brother are in like position & in Helle, where son recognizes his mother on point of giving her up to her enemy.

39. 2) Rising Action (through conflict), 3) Climax (or turning point),
FREYTAG ON PLOT -
Gustav Freytag was a German novelist & playwright. He considered plot a narrative structure that divided a story into five acts of a play. These parts are -
1) Exposition (of situation),
2) Rising Action (through conflict),
3) Climax (or turning point),
4) Falling Action,
5) Denouement or resolution.

40. Rising Action
Falling Action

41. EXPOSITION -
It introduces all main characters, there relation to one another, their goals, motivations & kind of person they are. Audience may have specific & well focused questions. In expositions, audience want to know his or her main goal as well as why he or she fails to attend this goal. This phase ends with beginning of introduction of conflict.

42. RISING ACTION -
It is second phase in Freytag’s five-phase structure. It starts with death of characters or a conflict. ‘Conflict’ in Freytag’s discussion must not be confused with ‘conflict’ in Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch’s critical apparatus plots into types.
e.g. man vs. society.

43. Difference is that an entire story can be discussed according to Quiller-Couch’s mode of analysis, while Freytag talks about second act in a five-act play, at a time when all of major characters are introduced, their motives & allegiances are made clear at least for most part, & they now begin to struggle against one another. Generally, in this phase protagonist understands his or her goal & begins to work toward it.

44. Smaller problems spoil protagonist’s initial success & in this phase his or her progress is directed primarily against these secondary obstacles. This phase shows us how he or she overcomes these obstacles.
CLIMAX -
It is turning point of story. Decision of main character defines outcome of their story. According Freytag, third phase it occupies middle of story.

45. Its beginning is marked by protagonist
Its beginning is marked by protagonist. Both protagonist & antagonist try to win against each other. They directly or indirectly clash with each other. This struggle results in neither winning nor losing against other. Usually, each character’s plan is partially successful & partially foiled by his or her rival. In this struggle, protagonist’s moral quality determines his fate. In a tragedy, protagonist does ‘bad’ decisions, miscalculation & tragic flaw brings upon him his tragedy.

46. FALLING ACTION –
It ties up loose ends in this phase greatest overall tension in play goes wrong.
In this phase, it seems that evil will triumph, over good. Protagonist looks like losing his goal. For Freytag in tragedies & comedies good wins over evil. Even though unclear to audience.

47. RESOLUTION/DENOUEMENT
It is final stage of Freytag’s structure, there is a final confrontation between protagonist & antagonist, where one or the other wins. This phase explains long term consequences of confrontation.
Ex - In story of “The Home-coming”, Phatik & Makhan are main character introduced at beginning. Action of log & reaches with incident of pushing of log & reaches with climax with Makhan’s safety with mother’s love. Falling action begins with Phatik’s sufferings at his uncle’s home & ends with his death.

48. OTHER VEIWS -
Besides classical view of plot, there are other ways of looking at it. Plot also has conflict in it so conflict has something to do with plot. In 1950s, during writing instructor, Foster-Harris, said that plot is an emotional problem caused by two conflicting emotions being felt by same person (main character), & working-out of that conflict. His system for creating popular fiction is compatible with, but distinct from, classical understanding of plot. In particular, his focus is not on analysis but generation: not how to write criticism about existing plots, but how to create one.

49. PLOT DEVICES -
A plot device is a means of advancing plot in a story. It is often used to motivate characters, create urgency or resolve a difficulty. This is contrasted with moving a story forward with narrative technique means by making things happen because character states action for well motivated reasons. For ex-when cavalry shows up at last movement saves day, that can be a plot device. When an adversarial character struggles with him, saves day to a change of heart that is dramatic technique.

50. Familiar types of plot devices include Deus ex machine, MacGuffin, red herring & Chekhov’s gun. A dues ex machine (god from machine); is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly & abruptly solved with contrived & unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object. Depending on usage, it can be used to move story forward when writer has “painted himself into corner” & sees no other way out, to surprise audience, or to bring a happy ending into

51. In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or maguffin) is a plot device in form of some goal, desired object, or other motivator that protagonist (& sometimes antagonist) is willing to do & sacrifice almost anything to purse, protect or control, often with little or no narrative explanation as to why it is considered so important.
Specific nature of a MacGuffin may be ambiguous, undefined, generic, left open to interpretation, or otherwise completely unimportant to overall plot. Most common type of MacGuffin is an object, place or person, exact details of which are not integral to narrative.

52. However, a MacGuffin can sometimes take a more abstract from, such as money, victory, glory, survival, power, love, or even something that is entirely unexplained, as long as it strongly motivates key characters within structure of plot. Whether audience should care about or identify with a MacGuffin in a story is open to debate among producers of fiction. MacGuffin technique is common in films, especially thrillers. Usually, MacGuffin is central focus of film in first act, & then declines in important as struggles & motivations of characters play out.

53. It may come back into play at climax of story, but sometimes MacGuffin is actually forgotten by end of story. Multiple MacGuffins are sometimes derisively referred to as plot coupons. Chekhov’s gun is a metaphor for a dramatic principle concerning simplicity & foreshadowing. It suggests that if one shows a loaded gun on stage in first act of a play, it should be fired in a later act; otherwise, gun should not be shown in first place. Principle was articulated by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov & reported in various forms.

54. ‘Chekhov’s gun’ is often used as an example of foreshadowing, with sight of gun preparing audience for its eventual use. But primary point of Chekhov’s advice was to caution against including unnecessary elements in a story or its staging. Failure to observe rule of ‘Chekhov’s gun’ may be cited by critics when discussing plot holes. Deliberated defiance of this principle may take the form of a red herring: something which audience is meant to assume will be important to plot’s outcome, but ultimately is not.

55. Red herring is an English-language idiom that commonly refers to a type of logical fallacy in which a clue is intentionally or unintentionally misleading or distracting from actual issue. It is also a literary device employed by writers that leads readers or characters towards a false conclusion, often used in mystery or detective fiction.
PLOT OUTLINE -
A plot outline is a prose telling of a story to be turned into a screenplay. Sometimes called a “one page” (one-page synopsis, about 1-3 pages in length).

56. It is generally longer & more detailed than a treatment or a step outline. There are different ways to create these outlines & they vary in length, but are basically same thing.
In comics, a pencil, often pluralized as “pencils”, refers to a stage in development where story has been broken down very loosely in a style similar to storyboarding in film development.

57. Pencils will be very loose (i. e
Pencils will be very loose (i.e., the rough sketch), main goals being to lay out flow of panels across a page, to ensure story successfully builds suspense & to work out points of view, camera angles & character positions within panels. This can also be referred to as a ‘plot outline’ or a ‘layout’.
CHARACTER -
A character is a person or animal in a narrative work of art (such as a novel, play, or film). Derived from ancient Greek work Kharakter, English word dates from Restoration although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749.

58. From this, sense of ‘a part played by an actor’ developed
From this, sense of ‘a part played by an actor’ developed. Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in theatre or cinema, involves ‘illusion of being a human person.’ In literature, characters guide readers through their stories, helping them to understand plots & ponder themes. Since end of the 18th century, phrase ‘in character’ has been used to describe an effective impersonation by actors or writers, has been called characterization.

59. A character that stands as a representative of a particular class or group of people is known as a type. Types include both stock characters & those that are more fully individualized. Characters in Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (1891) & August Strindberg’s Miss Julie (1888), for example, are representative of specific position in social relations of class & gender, such that conflicts between characters reveal ideological conflicts.

60. Study of a character requires an analysis of its relations with all of other characters in work.
Individual status of a character is defined through network of oppositions (proairetic, pragmatic, linguistic, proxemic) that it forms with other characters.
Relation between characters & auction of story shifts historically, often miming shifts in society & its ideas about human individually, self-determination & social order.

61. CLASSICAL ANALYSIS OF CHARACTER - In earliest surviving work of dramatic theory, Poetic (c.335 BCE), Greek Philosopher Aristotle deduces that character (ethos) is one of six qualitative parts of Athenian tragedy & one of three objects that it represents (1450a12). He understands character not to denote a fictional person, but quality of person acting in story & reacting to its situations (1450a5). He defines characters as ‘that which reveals decision, of whatever sort’ (1450b8). It is possible, therefore, to have tragedies that do not contain ‘characters’ in Aristotle’s sense of word, since character makes ethical disposition of those performing action of story clear, Aristotle argues for primary of plot (mythos) over character (ethos).

62. CLASSICAL ANALYSIS OF CHARACTER - In earliest surviving work of dramatic theory, Poetic (c.335 BC), Greek Philosopher Aristotle deduces that character (ethos) is one of six qualitative parts of Athenian tragedy & one of three objects that it represents. He understands character not to denote a fictional person, but quality of person acting in story & reacting to its situations. He defines characters as ‘that which reveals decision, of whatever sort’.

63. It is possible, therefore, to have tragedies that do not contain ‘characters’ in Aristotle’s sense of word, since character makes ethical disposition of those performing action of story clear, Aristotle argues for primary of plot (mythos) over character (ethos).
He writes : But most important of these is structure of incidents. For (i) tragedy is a representation not of human beings but of action & life. Happiness & unhappiness lie in action, & end (of life) is a sort of action, not a quality; people are of a certain sort according to their characters, but happy or opposite according to their actions.

64. So [actors] do not act in order to represent characters, but they include characters for sake of their actions. (1450a15-23)
In Poetics, Aristotle also introduced influential tripartite division of characters in superior to audience, inferior, or at same level. In Tractatus coislinianus (which may or may not be by Aristotle), comedy is defined as involving three types of characters : Buffon (bomolochus), ironist (eiron) & imposter to Aristophanes’

65. By time Roman playwright Plautus wrote his plays, use of characters to define dramatic genres was well established. His Amphitryon begins with a prologue in which speaker Mercury claims that since play contains kings & gods, it cannot be a comedy & must be a tragicomedy. Like much Roman comedy, it is probably translated from an earlier Greek original, most commonly held to be Philemon’s Long Night, or Rhinthon’s Amphitryon, both now lost.

66. TYPES OF CHARACTERS - Round vs. flat
In his book ‘Aspects of the Novel’, E.M. Forster defined two types of characters, their qualities, functions, & importance : flat characters & round characters. Flat characters are two-dimensional, they are relatively uncomplicated & do not change throughout course of a work. By contrast, round characters are complex & undergo development, sometimes surprise reader.

67. Protagonist is a dynamic character that changes during course of events. Antagonist is opposite of protagonist. Antagonist puts obstacles, creates difficulties & challenges in way of protagonist. Phatik (‘The Home-coming’), Max Kelada (‘Mr. Know-All’), Nicholas (‘The Lumber Room’), an old man (‘The Refugee’), & Rakesh (‘The Cherry Tree’) are round characters who undergo changes & develop in stories.

68. SETTING -
Setting of short story is where action of story happens. Setting includes place, time & culture of where your story happens. Setting also provides as richness & depth story as it can relate to main message or idea you are trying to get across to your readers. Think of your setting as a scenic background for which drama of your tale will take place.

69. In works of narrative (especially fictional), setting includes historical moment in time & geographic location in which a story takes place, & helps initiate main backdrop & mood for a story. Setting is referred to as story world or milieu to include a context (especially society) beyond immediate surroundings of story. Elements of setting may include culture, historical period, geography & hour. Along with plot, character, theme & style, setting is considered one of fundamental components of fiction.

70. ROLE OF SETTING - Setting is a critical component for assisting plot, as in man vs. nature or man vs. society stories. In some stories setting becomes a character itself. Term ‘setting’ is used to refer to social milieu in which events of a novel occur. Novelist & novel-writing instructor Donna Levin described how this social milieu shapes characters’ values. For young readers in US, setting is a as ‘place’ where story occurs.

71. As children, advance elements of story setting are expanded to include passage of time which might be static in some stories or dynamic in others (e.g. changing seasons, day-and-night, etc). Passage of time as an element of setting helps direct child’s attention to recognize setting elements in more complex stories.

72. TYPES OF SETTING -
Settings has various forms : alternate history, campaign setting, constructed world, dystopia, fantasy world, fictional city, fictional country, fictional crossover, fictional location, fictional universe, future history, imaginary world, mythical place, other world (science fiction), parallel universe, planets in science fiction, simulated reality, virtual reality, utopia.

73. THEME - Theme means story’s main ideas on message writer intends to communicate. Short stories have single themes & illustrate a single idea such as result of certain actions on behalf of either protagonist or antagonist. Theme can be reflected in a variety of ways through story. Theme can be incorporated in a story through setting, clothing, musing, sounds, certain smells, things, things characters touch or hold, transportation & occupation, abilities of characters.

74. For ex- in short story, ‘The Refugee’ theme of aftermath of a natural disaster is developed through old man’s behavior & his views. In contemporary literary studies, a theme is central topic, subject, or concept author is trying to point out, not to be confused with whatever message, moral, or commentary it may send or be interpreted as sending regarding said concept.

75. While term ‘theme’ was for a period used to reference ‘message’ or ‘moral’, literary critics now rarely employ it in this fashion, namely due to confusion it causes regarding common denotation of theme : ‘(t)he subject of discourse, discussion, conservation, meditation, or composition; a topic. One historic problem with previous usage was that readers would frequently conflate ‘subject’ & ‘theme’ as similar concepts, a confusion that the new terminology helps prevent in both scholarship & classroom.

76. Thus, according to recent scholarship & pedagogy, identifying a story’s theme for example. ‘Death’-does not inherently involve identifying the story’s thesis or claims about ‘death’s’ definitions, properties, values, or significance. Like morals or messages, themes often explore historically common or cross-culturally recognizable ideas & are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot, character, setting & style theme is considered one of fundamental components of fiction.

77. THEMATIC PATTERNING - Thematic pattering means insertion of a recurring motif in a narrative. For ex-various scenes in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice & Men are about loneliness. This technique also dates back to ‘One Thousand and One Nights’. A recurring motif of ‘home’ occurs in ‘The Home-coming’, a motif of refugee can be noted in ‘Refugee’, & importance of trees is repeatedly emphasized in ‘The Cherry Tree’ by development of cherry tree planted by Rakesh.

78. STYLE -
In fiction, style is codified gestures, in which author tells the story. Along with plot, character, theme, & setting, style is considered one of fundamental components of fiction.
COMPONENTS OF STYLE -
Style in fiction includes use of various literary techniques. A writer of a short story writes with some aim. His story may be religious, humorous, satire, comic, tragic or a love story. But writer has some purpose behind it. If he wants to say something effectively, he has to use suitable style. Style must suit the story & its purpose. Style takes into account suitable tone & suitable choice of diction.

79. NARRATOR AND POINT OF VIEW - Narrator is the teller of the story, orator, doing mouth work, or its in-print equivalent. A writer is faced with many choices regarding narrator of a story : first-person narrative, third-person narrative, unreliable narrator, stream-of-consciousness writing. A narrator may be either obtrusive or unobtrusive, depending on author’s intended relationship between himself, narrator, point-of-view character, & reader.

80. POINT OF VIEW -
Point of view is from whose consciousness reader hears, sees & feels story. Person who tells a story is called the narrator & angle from which story is told is called its ‘point of view’. A story can be told by someone who is a character in story or by an outside observer.
First-person point of view -
Narrator speaking as ‘I’ has advantages of adding immediacy to a story. But such point of view also has limitation. Reader sees events from vantage point of only one character. Character can reveal his own thoughts but can’t get into minds of other characters.

81. Third-person point of view - A story can be told from third-person point of view, by an observer who does not play a role in events. Third-person narrator may be an omniscient, or all-knowing, observer, who knows what all characters can see, hear, think & feel & who comments on action & interprets events. However, narrator may enter mind of only one character. ‘The Homing-coming’, ‘The Lumber Room’, ‘The Cherry Tree’ is told in third-person narrations while ‘Mr. Known- All’ is narrated from first person point of view.

82. ALLEGORY AND SYMBOLISM -
Allegory is a work of fiction in which symbols, characters, & events come to represent, in somewhat point-by-point fashion, a different metaphysical, political, or social situation. Symbolism refers to any object or person which represents something else.
TONE -
Tone is the attitude a writer takes towards subject, character & reader of a literary work. Tone shows writer’s mood. It is important to recognize; you may misunderstand author’s intention.

83. Tone can be solemn, humorous, romantic, mocking, compassionate, bitter etc. An important element that contributes to overall tone of a story is writer’s choice of words.
IRONY -
Sometimes tone of an entire story is ironic. Irony involves a difference or contrast between appearance & reality-that is a discrepancy between what appears to be true & what really is true. Irony reminds us that life is unpredictable & that what we except to happen or wish to have happened does not always have intended result.

84. Irony can make us smile or wince.
It can be genial or bitter. Irony of situation (in which there is a contrast between what is expected to happen & what actually happens).
Dramatic Irony (in which reader knows something that a character in story does not know). Verbal irony (in which a character says one thing & means something, entirely different).

85. SATIRE -
Sometimes a humorous story mocks or ridicules certain weakness, follies, or vices in human nature and society. A literary work that pokes fun at some failing of human behavior is called satire. Satire is generally of two kinds it can be gentle, amusing & lighthearted, or it can be biting, bitter, even savage.

86. IMAGERY –
Imagery is used in fiction to refer to descriptive language. Imagery may be in many forms- metaphors & similes. Imagery, in a literary text, occurs when an author uses an object that is not really there, in order to create a comparison between one that is, usually evoking a more meaningful visual experience for readers. It is useful as it allows an author to add depth & understanding to his work, like a sculptor adding layer upon layer to his statue, building it up into a beautiful work of art.

87. Auditory imagery represents a sound - e. g
Auditory imagery represents a sound - e.g.’The bells chimed two o’clock & Daniel got ready for school’. Onomatopoeia: a word that makes a sound. Kinesthetic imagery represents movement-e.g. - “tossing their heads in sprightly dance.” (Wordsworth’s Daffodils) Gustatory imagery represents a taste- e.g.- ‘I am as tricky as a fox’, ‘Angel’s heart, like a candy store, has a hundred variations of sweetness’. A metaphor is similar to a simile, however this literary device makes a comparison without use of ‘like’ or ‘as’- e.g.-‘Big Daddy’s face is a garden’.

88. WORD CHOICE -
Diction, in its original, primary meaning, refers to writer’s or speaker’s distinctive vocabulary choices & style of expression. Literary diction analysis reveals how a passage establishes tone & characterization For example, a preponderance of verbs relating physical movement suggests an active character, while a preponderance of verbs relating states of mind portrays an introspective character.

89. Development of subject-
GRAMMAR -
In linguistics, grammar refers to logical & structural rules that govern composition of sentences, phrases & words in any given natural language. Grammar also refers to study of such rules. This field includes morphology & syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology, semantics & pragmatics.
CHARACTERISTICS -
Development of subject-
Subject of a story can be adequately & effectively developed within prescribed limits. On this point, reader’s own feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction will provide a sufficient test.

90. Whatever may be theme & object of a story, it should leave us with conviction that even if nothing would have been lost, at least nothing should have been gained by further elaboration.
It should impress us as absolutely clear in outline, well proportioned, full enough for purpose yet without the slightest suggestion of crowding & within its own framework complete. For ex-all prescribed short stories show development of subject with proper ending.

91. Unity-
Unity of motive, purpose, action & impression is a fundamental characteristic of a short story. A short story must contain one & only one idea & this idea must be worked out to its logical conclusion with absolute singleness of aim & directness of method. Perfection of workmanship in a short story –complete adaptation of means to end – gives peculiar aesthetic pleasure to thoughtful reader. Short story ‘The Homing-coming’ keeps perfect unity of logical development of action & gives aesthetic pleasure.

92. Brevity or Economy-
Brevity or economy is soul of a short story. Short story must present minimum number of events & character. It means that a short story must cover only a small chunk of human life. There should be no sub-plot as far as possible. Unnecessary characters should be avoided. Protagonist must be given weight age. ‘The Cherry Tree’ gives a message to love plants through its fine balance of characters. ‘The Lumber Room’ expresses feelings of Nicholas by using minimum events & characters.

93. Language-
Language of short story should be a model of economy. There should be nothing in language that does not positively add something to story. Every word in it should contribute to its effect. A novel often has passages which could be scored out without detriment to plot but there is no room for these in short story. It requires apt word & telling phrase. Descriptive passages are only valuable in so far as they contribute towards total effect. ‘The Cherry Tree’ gives a message to love plants through its fine use of perfect words.

94. Moral-
Moral is a characteristic of a short story but it is not compulsory. A writer hopes to teach or instruct his readers through his writing. In such a case there may be a moral. Sometimes moral is clearly stated. At times it is noticeable. But in majority of cases it is implied & we have to trace it out.
Conflicts-
In a short story, there is generally a problem or struggle of some kind called a conflict. Conflict is soul of story. It is most important element in a plot. A conflict can be external or internal. In a story, there may be a single conflict or there may be several related conflicts.

95. End-
End of short story is vital in its structure. An unexpected shock or surprise at end makes story interesting. A good short story must end in an impressive way. ‘The Cherry Tree’ ends with cheerfulness as well as impressive understanding of child. ‘The Home-coming’ ends tragically creating sympathy for Phatik & his mother.
Title- Title is an important aspect of a short story. It encourages readers to read story. A short story deals with personality or an incident.

96. Title is expected to lead us to this central issue in story
Title is expected to lead us to this central issue in story. It can be attractive by its contrast, suggestion, meaning etc. It is an inseparable part of a short story. Title ‘The home-coming’ suggests emotions of Phatik, ‘Mr. Know-All’ satirizes main character’s, ‘The Lumber Room’ is important to highlight development of main character’s psyche, ‘The Refugee’ & ‘The Cherry Tree’ throws light on main theme of story.
To conclude, short story becomes interesting with proper plot, setting, theme, & characters. It must be given attractive title, effective language, clear point of view & excellent end.