The document provides an overview of key elements of short stories, including setting, characters, plot, point of view, theme, irony, symbolism, flashback, and foreshadowing. It defines these elements and provides examples from short stories to illustrate how authors use each element in crafting their works.

1. Elements of
Short Stories
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2. Setting
The setting is the place where the story takes
place. Setting includes the following:
– The geographical location
• For example: London, Cairo, Halifax, Vancouver
– The time period
• For example: 1865, during WWII, today
– The socio-economic characteristics of the location
• For example: wealthy suburbs
– The specific building, room etc.
• For example: a prep school, a log cabin, a bus, a military
base

3. Setting
Can be used to tell readers about the
characters:
That evening T.J. smelled the
air, his nostrils dilating with the odor
of the earth under his feet. “It’s
spring,” he said, and there was
gladness rising in his voice that filled
us all with the same feeling.
“It’s mighty late for it, but it’s
spring” … We were all sniffing at
the air, too, trying to smell it the way that T.J. did, and I can
still remember the sweet odor of the earth under our feet. It
was the first time in my life that spring and spring earth had
meant anything to me.
“Antaeus” by Borden Deal

4. Setting
Can be used to set the atmosphere for the story:
“During the whole of a dull,
dark, and soundless day in the
autumn of the year, when the
clouds hung oppressively low
in the heavens, I had been
passing alone, on horseback,
though a singularly dreary tract
of country.”
“The Fall of the House of Usher”
by Edgar Allan Poe

5. Characters
The people (or animals, things, etc. presented as
people) appearing in a literary work.
• Round Characters are convincing, true to
life. Have many different and sometimes even
contradictory personality traits.
• Dynamic Characters undergo some type
of change or development in story, often
because of something that happens to them
• Flat Characters are stereotyped, shallow,
and often symbolic. Have only one or two
personality traits
• Static Characters do not change in the
course of the story

6. Characters
• Protagonist: The main
character in a literary work
(for instance, Charles in
“Here There Be Tygers” or
Cinderella or Snow White
in the fairy tales named
for their characters)
•Antagonist: The character who opposes the protagonist (for
instance, Miss Bird in “Here There Be Tygers” or the wicked
stepmothers in the fairy tales)

7. Methods of Characterization
Direct Characterization: The author develops the
personality of a character by direct statements.
“Jack had been in basic training
in Florida and Dottie was there
on vacation with her parents.
They’d met on the beach and
struck up a conversation. Dottie
was the talker, the outgoing one
– the extrovert. Jack was too shy
around girls to say much at all.”
“Furlough – 1944” by Harry Mazer

8. Methods of Characterization
Indirect Characterization : Revealing
a character’s personality through:
• The character’s thoughts, words, and
actions
• The comments of other characters
• The character’s physical appearance

9. Indirect Characterization
through Thoughts
“Moonbeam closed his eyes and
pretended to sleep the rest of the way
to Bamfield. He couldn’t believe what
he had gotten himself into. How had
this happened? He’d never held a gun
in his life, much less gone hunting for
animals.”
“Moonbeam Dawson and the Killer Bear”
by Jean Okimoto

10. Indirect Characterization
through Words
It was Kenny Griffen, smiling
complacently. “Miss Bird sent me after
you ‘cause you been gone six years.
You’re in trouble… yer constipated!”
Kenny chortled gleefully. “Wait’ll I tell
Caaathy!”
“Here There Be Tygers” by Stephen King

11. Indirect Characterization
through Actions
“The boy held his breath; he
wondered whether his father
would hear his heart
beating… Through a crack in
the counter he could see his
father where he stood, one
hand held to his high stiff
collar…”
“I Spy” by Graham Greene

12. Indirect Characterization
through Appearance
“Miss Kinney was young and blonde and bouncy and
had a boyfriend who picked her up after school in a
blue Camaro.”
“Here There Be Tygers” by Stephen King

13. Plot
Plot is how the author arranges events to develop his/her basic
idea. It is the sequence of events in a story or play. The plot is a
planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle
and end.

14. Plot Components
Introduction: The start of the story, the situation
before the action starts
Rising Action: The series of conflicts and crisis in the
story that lead to the climax
Climax / Turning Point : The most intense moment –
either mentally or in action – the reader wonders what
will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
Falling Action: The events and complications begin to
resolve themselves. (The events between the climax
and the resolution)
Resolution: The conclusion, the untangling of events
in the story

15. Plot: Conflict
Conflict is the dramatic
struggle between two
forces in a story. Without
conflict there is no plot.

16. Plot: Types of Conflict
Interpersonal Conflict Internal Conflict
• Human vs. Human • Human vs. Self
• Human vs. Nature
• Human vs. Society

17. Point of View
The angle or perspective from
which the story is told
• Who is telling the story?
– For instance, is it a player on the home
team or someone watching the game?
• How do we know what is happening?
– For instance, does a character tell us?

18. First Person Point of
View
Told from the viewpoint of one of the
characters, using the first person
pronoun “I”.
“The thousands of injuries of Fortunato I had
borne as I best could, but when he ventured
upon insult I vowed revenge. You, who so
well know the nature of my soul, will not
suppose, however, that I give utterance to a
threat.”
“The Cask of Amontillado”
by Edgar Allan Poe

19. • Innocent Eye: The story is told
through the eyes of a child (his/her
judgment being different from that of an
adult).
• Stream of Consciousness : The
story is told so that the reader feels as if
they are inside the head of one
character and knows all their thoughts
and reactions.

20. Second Person Point of
View
The main character in the story is
referred to using the second person
pronoun “you”.
“Rubbing your aching head, you take in the scene around you.
Nearby you see a narrow dirt road, and beyond it a fast-running
brook. The road disappears into dense woods on either side of
the field.
You hear the sound of hooves, and a strange clanking noise.
Someone is coming! You duck behind a tree as two men on
horseback ride toward you. They are wearing shining metal
armor. One of them carries a white banner with a golden lion on
it. They must be knights! You watch as they rein in their horses
and dismount just a few yards away.”
Choose Your Own Adventure : The Forbidden Castle by Edward Packard

21. Third Person Point of
View
The story is told using a narrator who is
located outside of the action of the story and
uses third person pronouns such as “he”,
“she”, “his”, “her”, “they” etc.
Third Person Point of View can be broken up into three
different types:
• Omniscient
• Limited Omniscient
• Objective

22. Omniscient Point of View
The narrator has the power to show the
reader what is happening though a
number of characters’ eyes.
“Myop carried a short knobby stick. She struck out at
random at chickens she liked, and worked out the
beat of a song on the fence around the pigpen. She
felt light and good in the warm sun. She was ten, and
nothing existed for her but her son, the stick she
clutched in her dark brown hand, and the tat-de-ta-ta-
ta of accompaniment.”
“The Flowers” by Alice Walker

23. Limited Omniscient Point
of View
Third person, told from the viewpoint of a
character in the story.
“They all laughed, and while they were laughing,
the quiet boy moved his bare foot on the sidewalk
and merely touched, brushed against a number of
red ants that were scurrying about on the
sidewalk. Secretly his eyes shining, while his
parents chatted with the old man, he saw the ants
hesitate, quiver, and lie still on the cement. He
sensed they were cold now.”
“Fever Dream” by Ray Bradbury

24. Objective Point of View
Third person, told as if from a camera that
follows the characters. Only what is said and
done is recorded.
“Jennifer stirred in bed. The cotton sheet clung to her
body as she rolled to face the nightstand. With eyes
half open, she reached over to switch the alarm clock
off when the man in the shadows reached out and
grabbed her arm. Her scream pierced the quiet night
and died abruptly as she was forced violently back
into the dark oblivion.”
“Objective Point of View” writesville.com

25. Theme
• Theme is the central idea or central
message of the story. It usually
contains some insight into the human
condition – telling something about
humans and life.
• The theme can be stated directly or
implied by the events and actions in the
story.

26. Types of Irony
• Verbal Irony: This is the contrast between what is
said and what is meant. In other words: sarcasm.
• Dramatic Irony: This is the contrast between what
the character thinks to be true and what we (the
reader) know to be true. Sometimes as we read we
are placed in the position of knowing more than what
one character knows. Because we know something
the character does not, we read to discover how the
character will react when he or she learns the truth of
the situation.
• Situational Irony: This is the most common in
literature. It is the contrast between what happens
and what was expected (or what would seem
appropriate). Because it emerges from the events
and circumstances of a story it is often more subtle
and effective than verbal or dramatic irony.

27. Symbolism
A symbol represents an idea, quality, or
concept larger than itself.
• A journey can • A lion can be
symbolize life a symbol of
courage.
• Water may • A red rose
represent can
cleanliness represent
and renewal love.

28. Flashback
This is a writers’ technique in which the author
interrupts the plot of the story to recreate an
incident of an earlier time (goes back in time; like
giving the reader a memory). This device is often
used to provide additional information to the reader.

29. Foreshadowing
This is a writers’
technique in which the
author provides clues or
hints as to what is going
to happen later in the
story. It’s like the music
in a scary movie when
we know that something
bad is about to happen.