Essay on Elements of Short Stories

Submitted By BlazingScopX
Words: 831
Pages: 4
Open Document
Elements of Short Stories

Setting
This includes the:
time (of day and year/season)
time period (early 1700’s)
place of a story (where in the world, country, village, home, room).
It helps establish the background, the plot, and can tell you a lot about the characters who inhabit it
Task: Read the story following and create a description for the setting.

Plot
• Plot refers to events of a story. Every story has to

have things “happen” in order for it to be effective. • Usually the plot introduces a conflict, has some events in the rising action which develop the conflict, and leads toward a climax or turning point, where the outcome is decided.

Inciting Incident
This is the point in the story where the

problem that needs to be resolved is
INTRODUCED
Describe the inciting incident in the following story. Conflict
Every story needs a conflict to make it

compelling. The main types of conflict are:
 Person vs. Person
 Person vs. Self
 Person vs. Society
 Person vs. Almighty
 Person vs Nature

Describe an example of each from the latest movie you watched.

Characters
An author usually tries to show what a

character is like through what he/she says, does or what others say about him/her.

Types of Characters
Major or central characters are vital to the

development and resolution of the conflict. In other words, the plot and resolution of conflict revolves around these characters.
Minor characters serve to complement the major characters and help move the plot events forward.
Dynamic - A dynamic character is a person who changes over time, usually as a result of resolving a central conflict or facing a major crisis.
Most dynamic characters tend to be central rather than peripheral characters, because resolving the conflict is the major role of central characters.

Types of Characters
Static - A static character is someone who

does not change over time; his or her personality does not transform or evolve.
Round - A rounded character is anyone who has a complex personality; he or she is often portrayed as a conflicted and contradictory person.
Flat - A flat character is the opposite of a round character. This literary personality is notable for one kind of personality trait or characteristic.

Types of Characters
Stock - Stock characters are those types of

characters who have become conventional or stereotypical through repeated use in particular types of stories. Stock characters are instantly recognizable to readers or audience members (e.g. the femme fatale, the cynical but moral private eye, the mad scientist, the geeky boy with glasses, and the faithful sidekick). Stock characters are normally onedimensional flat characters, but sometimes stock personalities are deeply conflicted, rounded characters (e.g. the "Hamlet" type).

Types of Characters
Protagonist - The protagonist is the central person

in a story, and is often referred to as the story's main character. He or she (or they) is faced with a conflict that must be resolved. The protagonist may not always be admirable (e.g. an anti-hero); nevertheless s/he must command involvement on the part of the reader, or better yet, empathy.
Antagonist - The antagonist is the character(s) (or situation) that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend. In other words, the antagonist is an obstacle that the
protagonist
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Elements of Short Stories

Symbolism In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron

Significance of Symbolism The short story “Harrison Bergeron” written by Kurt Vonnegut, uses many elements of style. As in fiction writing, these elements combined are what create the story, these elements form the basis for the words to become a story rather than just words alone. Kurt Vonnegut made fine use of the elements of fiction in writing this short story. The setting is represented, although the symbolism is what makes the story shine. The author’s use of the writing elements such as setting and more…

Words 593 - Pages 3

Fog Horn Comparison

makes fiction seem real in his many short stories. The three short stories by Ray Bradbury, “The Veldt”, “A Sound of Thunder’, and “Fog Horn” all have many similarities and differences. The “Fog Horn”, “A Sound of Thunder”, and the “Veldt”, by Ray Bradbury, all have many similarities. A few of them are that they have science fiction elements, the theme of technology can be a curse or a blessing, and they all have a foreboding mood. The science fiction elements included the Sea Monster from the “Fog…

Words 456 - Pages 2

A Jury Of Her Peers Summary

Of all the elements explained in Perrine’s Literature, “Plot and Structure” seem to be easily identified and the most superficial. Plot can be defined simply as “What happened?” The structure, however is the complex meaning BEHIND the plot. Analyzing the short story “A Jury of Her Peers”, for example, can reveal the different aspects of plot and structure. Protagonist Minnie Wright is under the suspicion of committing murder against her late husband, John Wright. As the antagonists Martha Hale…

Words 942 - Pages 4

Tell Tale Heart Analysis Essay

device of setting to create a dark threatening tone in his short story, “Tell-Tale Heart”? In the story “Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe the element of setting plays a big role in the short story. The setting makes the story more scary for the people reading it. This essay will explain the 3 elements of setting Poe used. One of the elements of setting Poe uses is locale, most of the story is in the old man’s house. The locale made the story baleful because the old man wouldn’t think that the person…

Words 383 - Pages 2

Cynthia Rylant Checkouts

The story I selected is Checkouts by Cynthia Rylant. The theme of the story is love which is a very universal, in other words, many people can relate to it because love is an idea that could apply to anyone regardless of your race, gender or culture. Irony and the climax are the elements the author used within the short story which conveyed the theme. Checkouts being only one of more than a hundred literary works she has published nonetheless is still vital because it serves its purpose as a…

Words 555 - Pages 3

Tell Tale Heart Mood

In his short story "Tell-Tale Heart," Edgar Allan Poe used the literary device of setting to create a dark, threatening tone. He used time of day, man-made geography, and elapsed time. He also used mood. These elements of setting created a dark, threatening tone in "Tell-Tale Heart." Edgar Allan Poe used time of day in his story. He explained that it was the "dead hour of night" which is the darkest time of night. Being in such a dark place, the old man wouldn't have been able to see the approaching…

Words 449 - Pages 2

The Short Story Checkouts By Cynthia Rylant

The short story “Checkouts” by Cynthia Rylant is a story about the young minds and hearts of teenagers and how they can change in a very fast. Love is a very complicated emotion that is almost impossible to understand. I will use two elements to show what the author used to communicate the aforementioned theme to the reader. The first element that I will examine is the plot. Second, I will examine the setting and how both of these elements help the author convey the overall theme of the story.…

Words 445 - Pages 2

Similarities Between The Devil And Tom Walker

Vincent Benet. The authors of the two short stories are artists when it comes to shaping each element and bringing the themes to life. Both stories were shaped by the work of Faust; Irving wrote his story before Benet wrote his. Both “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” have similar elements that help convey the theme. “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” both have similar plot structures. In the beginning of each story, there is a preview of what will…

Words 473 - Pages 2

Amy Tan Two Kinds Conflict

The short story "Two Kinds" was written by Amy Tan. When I first read this story, I felt that I had a connection with the narrator. The story uses all five key elements from the beginning of the story till the end. The most important and necessary elements that I found make the story as great as it is are character, setting, theme, conflict, and point of view. Of these five elements, I noticed that two stood out to me the whole time I was reading the story and both elements made me want to keep reading…

Words 241 - Pages 1

Comparing Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children And The Raven

In all of the short stories there is an ideal amount of gothic elements that the authors use. The gothic elements the use are psychological issues, death, and magic. In Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children and The Raven both had dealings with psychological issues. In The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator is hallucinating when he is seeing a raven on his door. “But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only that one word” (Poe 439). In the novel Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar…

Words 438 - Pages 2