Short stories have their origins in oral storytelling traditions from ancient epics like Homer's works. Over time, short sections of stories told in verse evolved into short prose narratives that could be told in a single sitting. Some of the earliest published short stories appeared between 1790-1810, though true short story collections emerged between 1810-1830. During the 19th century, the growth of magazines and journals fueled demand for short fiction of 3,000-15,000 words. Many famous authors contributed short stories during this time, helping establish the short story as a popular genre. The 20th century saw continued experimentation and growth in the short story form across various regions and time periods.

2.  Short stories date back to oral story-telling traditions
which originally produced epics such
as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Oral narratives were
often told in the form of rhyming or rhythmic verse,
often including recurring sections or, in the case of
Homer, Homeric epithets. Such stylistic devices often
acted as mnemonics for easier recall, rendition and
adaptation of the story. Short sections of verse might
focus on individual narratives that could be told at one
sitting. The overall arc of the tale would emerge only
through the telling of multiple such sections.

3.  There are early examples of short stories published separately between 1790
and 1810, but the first true collections of short stories appeared between 1810
and 1830 in several countries around the same period.
 The first short stories in the United Kingdom were gothic tales like Richard
Cumberland's "remarkable narrative" "The Poisoner of Montremos"
(1791). Great novelists like Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens also wrote
some short stories.
 One of the earliest short stories in the United States was Charles Brockden
Brown's "Somnambulism" from 1805. Washington Irving wrote mysterious
tales including "Rip van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
(1820). Nathaniel Hawthorne published the first part of his Twice-Told Tales in
1837. Edgar Allan Poe wrote his tales of mystery and imagination between 1842
and 1859. Classic stories are "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Tell-Tale
Heart", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Pit and the Pendulum", and the
first detective story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". In "The Philosophy of
Composition" (1846) Poe argued that a literary work should be short enough
for a reader to finish in one sitting.

4.  In the latter 19th century, the growth of print magazines
and journals created a strong demand for short fiction of
between 3,000 and 15,000 words.
 In the United Kingdom Thomas Hardy wrote dozens of
short stories, including "The Three Strangers" (1883), "A
Mere Interlude" (1885) and "Barbara of the House of Grebe"
(1890). Rudyard Kipling published short story collections
for grown-ups, e.g. Plain Tales from the Hills(1888), as well
as for children, e.g. The Jungle Book (1894). In 1892 Arthur
Conan Doyle brought the detective story to a new height
with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. H. G. Wells wrote
his first science fiction stories in the 1880s. One of his best
known "The Country of the Blind" (1904).

5.  In the United Kingdom periodicals like The Strand Magazine, The
Sketch, Harper's Magazine and Story-Teller contributed to the
popularity of the short story. Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916), also
known by his pen name of Saki, wrote satirical short stories
about Edwardian England.W. Somerset Maugham, who wrote over a
hundred short stories, was one of the most popular authors of his
time. P. G. Wodehouse published his first collection of comical stories
about butler Jeeves in 1917. Lots of detective stories were written by G.
K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie en Dorothy L. Sayers. Short stories
by Virginia Woolf are Kew Gardens (1919) and Solid Objects, about a
politician with mental problems. Graham Greene wrote his Twenty-
One Stories between 1929 and 1954. A specialist of the short story
was V. S. Pritchett, whose first collection appeared in 1932. Arthur C.
Clarke published his first science fiction story, Travel by Wire! in 1937.
 In Ireland James Joyce published his short story collection Dubliners in
1914. These stories, written in a more accessible style than his later
novels, are based on careful observation of the inhabitants of his birth
city.

6.  The period following World War II saw a great flowering of
literary short fiction in the United States. The New
Yorker continued to publish the works of the form’s leading
mid-century practitioners, including Shirley Jackson, whose
story, The Lottery, published in 1948, elicited the strongest
response in the magazine’s history to that time. Other
frequent contributors during the last 1940s included John
Cheever, John Steinbeck, Jean Stafford, and Eudora Welty. J.
D. Salinger's Nine Stories (1953) experimented with point of
view and voice, while Flannery O’Connor's story A Good
Man is Hard to Find (1955) reinvigorated the Southern
Gothic style. Cultural and social identity played a
considerable role in much of the short fiction of the
1960s. Philip Roth and Grace Paley cultivated distinctive
Jewish-American voices.

7.  Tillie Olsen’s I Stand Here Ironing (1961) adopted a
consciously feminist perspective. James Baldwin’s
collection Going to Meet the Man (1965) told stories of
African-American life. Frank O’Connor’s The Lonely Voice,
an exploration of the short story, appeared in 1963. Wallace
Stegner's short stories are primarily set in the American
West. Stephen King published a lot of short stories in
men's magazines in the 1960s and after. The 1970s saw the
rise of the post-modern short story in the works of Donald
Barthelme and John Barth. Traditionalists including John
Updike and Joyce Carol Oates maintained significant
influence on the form. Minimalism gained widespread
influence in the 1980s, most notably in the work
of Raymond Carver and Ann Beattie.

8. What parts make up a story?

9. Plot
Setting
Characters
Theme
Point of View

10. Plot is what happens and how
it happens in a narrative. A
narrative is any work that tells
a story, such as a short story, a
novel, a drama, or a narrative
poem.

11.  Exposition – event that gives rise to conflict
(opening situation)
 Rising Action- events that complicate or intensify
the central conflict (rising action)
 Climax- highest point of interest or emotional
involvement in the story
 Falling Action- logical result of Climax
 Resolution- Final outcome of the story

12. Climax (often called the “Turning Point)
Exposition Resolution
Conflict

13.  Suspense- excitement or tension
 Foreshadowing- hint or clue about what will happen in
story
 Flashback- 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)

14.  Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces
 Every plot must contain some kind of conflict
 Stories can have more than one conflict
 Conflicts can be external or internal
 External conflict- outside force may be person, group,
animal, nature, or a nonhuman obstacle
 Internal conflict- takes place in a character’s mind

15. CONFLICT BASES
Man vs. Man Physical
Man vs. Himself Psychological
Man vs. God Spiritual
Man vs. Universe Intellectual
Man vs. Society Moral/Social
Man vs. Environment Intellectual
Man vs. Nature Intellectual

16. Protagonist
Antagonist
Major Characters
Minor Characters

17. Types of Characters Meaning
Protagonist The Main Character
Antagonist The Character or force in
conflict with the Protagonist
Major A character who plays a large
role in the out come of the
story
Minor A character who plays a small
role in the out come of the
story

18. Ways Description
Dynamic Grows and changes in some
significant manner by the end of
the story
Static Changes a little or none through out
the story
Round Character shows many different
traits, like faults and virtues.
Flat We only know the character as one
type of person – we only meet one
side.

19. Round
Fully
Relatives Friends
Developed
Main Minor
Not Fully
Protagonist Character Flat
Developed
Flat Others
Co-Main Antagonist
Enemy

20.  A writer reveals what a character is like and how the
character changes throughout the story.
 Two primary methods of characterization:
Direct- writer tells what the character is like
Indirect- writer shows what a character is like by
describing what the character looks like, by telling
what the character says and does, and by what other
characters say about and do in response to the
character.

21. …And I don’t play the dozens or believe
in standing around with somebody in my face
doing a lot of talking. I much rather just
knock you down and take my chances even if
I’m a little girl with skinny arms and a
squeaky voice, which is how I got the name
Squeaky.
From “Raymond’s Run” by T. Bambara

22. The old man bowed to all of us
in the room. Then he removed his
hat and gloves, slowly and carefully.
Chaplin once did that in a picture, in
a bank--he was the janitor.
From “Gentleman of Rio en Medio” by J. Sedillo

23.  A writer reveals what a character is like and how the
character changes throughout the story.
 Two primary types of character:
Flat- reveals only one or two traits.
Round- reveals varied and sometimes contradictory
traits.

24.  Physical appearance of character
 Personality
 Background/personal history
 Motivation
 Relationships
 Conflict
 Does character change?

25. Time and place are where the action
occurs
Details that describe:
 Furniture
 Scenery
 Customs
 Transportation
 Clothing
 Dialects
 Weather
 Time of day
 Time of year

26. Location Life Era
Place Time
Physical Setting History
Atmosphere Day
Mood Feelings
Word
Choice
Use as activator to activate prior know ledge. Write
Weather the w eb on the board or overhead and students
cre ate one at their seats. Then as class share and fill
in.

27.  To create a mood or
atmosphere
 To show a reader a
different way of life
 To make action seem
more real
 To be the source of
conflict or struggle
 To symbolize an idea

28. A central message, concern, or
insight into life expressed through a
literary work
Can be expressed by one or two
sentence statement about human
beings or about life
May be stated directly or implied
Interpretation uncovers the theme

29. “Every man needs to feel allegiance to
his native country, whether he always
appreciates that country or not.”
From “A Man Without a Country” by Edward Hale
pg. 185 in Prentice Hall Literature book

30. In the objective point of view, the writer
tells what happens without stating more
than can be inferred from the story's
action and dialogue.
The narrator never tells the reader
anything about what the characters thinks
or feels, and remains a detached observer
of the story.

31. A.) Third Person Point – of – View
a. Omniscient
b. Objective
c. Central Intelligence

32. The word omniscient is derived from Latin and consists of two
parts: Omni-which simply means “all” or “everywhere”
and scire which means “to know”. This word is often used to refer
to God’s ability to know everything, even that which is hidden
from humans.
If you use this point of view of a short story, you take that
elevated position of knowing everything. Therefore, when you tell
the story, you even grant the reader access to the characters’
thoughts and other things that the characters cannot discern. You
are not limited by your characters’ inabilities or lack of
discernment.

33. To be objective means to be unbiased
and unaffected by personal thoughts or
opinions. Thus, in this point of view of
a short story, the writer presents facts and
events as they happen and does not
concentrate on a character’s thoughts or
opinions.

34. The story is told from the view of one
character i.e. the main character. We
see the setting through his eyes. We see
and note the characters in the manner
that he sees them. We feel his fears and
anxieties. Indeed, we have full access
to his thoughts, emotions and
imaginations.

35. B.) First Person Point – of – View
a. Interior Monologue
b. Dramatic Dialogue

36. You as the author,
concentrates on the
character’s thoughts… As the
name suggest, the character
speaks all to herself. The
story occurs all in her mind.

37. In this point of view of a short story,
the character speaks to others. This
is the most common type of first
person point-of-view of a short story.
It usually results in a simple style.

38. Not very common
this, but it does sure
make you feel part of
the action!