A short story contains key elements such as characters, setting, plot, point of view, conflict, and theme. It is a brief work of prose fiction that typically features a small cast of characters in a single conflict that leads to a climax. The plot follows an exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Conflict in a short story can involve man against man, nature, society, supernatural beings, or himself. Point of view is presented through first, second, or third person narration. The theme is the central idea or belief conveyed by the story.

1. ELEMENTS OF A
SHORT STORY

2. SHORT STORY
•A prose narrative shorter than a novel
•May be written in the mode of fantasy, realism or
naturalism
•Dealing with few characters
•A short work of fiction

3. ELEMENTS
OF SHORT
STORY

4. CHARACTER
•is a person, or sometimes even an animal,
who takes part in the action of a short story or
other literary work.

5. CHARACTER
PROTAGONIST ANTAGONIST

6. SETTING
•the place where the story takes place
•It encompasses both the physical locale, the frames,
the action and the specific time including dates and
years, the climate actions, and even the historical
period during which the story took place.

7. PLOT
•is a series of events and character actions that
relate to the central conflict

8. PLOT

9. PLOT
•EXPOSITION - is the beginning of the story and prepares
the way for upcoming events. in the exposition, the
author introduces the major characters, establishes the
setting and reveals major conflicts in the story. the author
often discusses the characters' backstory, so readers gain
insight as to why characters act or respond as they do.

10. PLOT
•RISING ACTION - occurs when the main problemor
conflict is addressed with a form of action.
During the rising action, the protagonist often
encounters some sort of crisis that creates tension.

11. PLOT
•CLIMAX - the pivotal point in the story when the
protagonist deals with the culmination of events. the
climax often centers on the protagonist's most
difficult challenge or bleakestmoment

12. PLOT
•FALLING ACTION - occurs immediately after the climax
and details the consequences -- good or bad -- that
the characters must deal with after the turningpoint
of events.

13. PLOT
•RESOLUTION - tells us what happens to the characters
after the conflict is resolved. all the loose ends are
tied up, unless the author plans to write a sequel and
purposely leaves room for further plot developments.

14. SPECIAL TECHNIQUES OF PLOT
•SUSPENSE – excitement or tension
•FORESHADOWING – hint or clue about what will happen inthe
story
•FLASHBACKS – interrupts the normal sequence of events to tell
about something that happened in the past.
•SURPRISE ENDING – conclusion that reader does not expect (use
of irony)

15. CONFLICT
•the conflict is a struggle between two people or
things in a short story
•it is the driving force in any story, as it influences the
turn of events in the plot. Without conflict, there is no
story arc and no character development.

16. MAN
VS.
MAN

17. MAN
VS.
NATURE

18. MAN
VS.
SOCIETY

19. MAN VS.
SUPERNATURAL
BEING

20. MAN
VS.
HIMSELF

21. POINT OF VIEW
the author is the
person who wrote the
story.
The narrator is the
person who is
recounting the events
in the story.

22. POINT OF VIEW
1st Person
“I, Me, My,
Mine,We”
2nd Person
“You,Your”
3rd Person
“He, She,
They”

23. First Person – is
used when the
main character
is telling the
story. This isthe
kind that uses
the “I” narrator.
“It was times like these when I thoughtmy father, who hated
guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who
ever lived.” - ToKillaMockingbirdby Harper Lee
“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties
there isn’t any privacy.” - TheGreatGatsbyby F.Scott Fitzgerald
“I could not unlove him now, merely because I found that he had
ceased to notice me.” - JaneEyreby Charlotte Brontë

24. SECOND
PERSON – is
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not
be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the
foundations under them." - Henry David Thoreau
generally used
in instructional
writing. It istold
from the
perspectiveof
“you”
“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country
can do for you, ask what you can do for your
country.” - John F.Kennedy
“Youmust be the change you wish to see
in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi

25. THIRD PERSON
– is usedwhen
the narrator is not a character in the story .

26. THEME
•Is the central idea or belief in a short story. The plot
is considered as the body of the story and the theme
is its soul.