Elements of Short Stories - hasd.org · Elements of Short Stories What makes up a short story? How...
Transcript of Elements of Short Stories - hasd.org · Elements of Short Stories What makes up a short story? How...
Elements of Short Stories
What makes up a short story?
How should these elements come together?
Are there guidelines to follow?
5 Elements of Plot
Setting: environment of the story
Details: exposition/rising action
Conflict: central struggle (story problem)
Climax: highest point of tension
Resolution: falling action
Theme: The story’s main ideas—the “message” that the author intends to communicate by telling the story. Themes are often universal truths that are suggested by the specifics in the story.
Setting
Setting: The environment that the story takes place in.
When: past? present? future? specific? vague?
Where: home? Ship? different places?
Mood: established by author
Conflict
2 Types: Internal: within a character’s mind
External: forces battling outside a character
4 Categories of conflict:
Character vs. Character (E)
Character vs. Self (I)
Character vs. Nature (E)
Character vs. Society (I)
Characterization
Direct Characterization: When an author tells the reader directly about a character.
Indirect Characterization: When the author shows the character in action and lets the reader draw their own conclusions.
Characterization
4 Ways we learn about characterization
What the author directly tells us.
What the character says. (speech)
What the character thinks. (thoughts)
What the character does (actions).
Characterization: The methods a writer uses to communicate information about characters to readers.
Climax: The moment when the action comes to its highest point of dramatic conflict. Most often, the climax occurs before the actual ending of the story.
Main Conflict: The central source of tension and drama in the story. Conflict is sometimes referred to as the story problem.
Mood: The overall feeling ~ light and happy or dark and brooding, for example ~ created by an author’s choice of words.
Setting: The environment in which the story takes place.
Theme: The story’s main ideas—the “message” that the author intends to communicate by telling the story. Themes are often universal truths that are suggested by the specifics in the story.