1. Short Stories
What you always wanted to know…and more!!

2. What exactly is a short
story?
 Always FICTION (something feigned, invented, or
imagined; a made-up story)
 Able to read in one sitting
 A GOOD short story presents enough lifelike
qualities to help us better understand ourselves and
our world.
 Short Stories present us with a world of the author’s
imagination. The author has at least one important
purpose in mind: to illustrate a truth, or
generalization, about life.

3. What should I be thinking
while reading a short
story?
What happens? (PLOT)
When and Where does it happen?
(SETTING)
Who does it? (CHARACTER)
What does it mean? (THEME)

4. What exactly do those
words mean?
 PLOT: Arrangement of action. The author must
select facts and place them in an interesting order.
 SETTING: The time and place of the action.
 CHARACTERIZATION: How the author presents
the character
 Direct- A summary of character’s traits and
characteristics
 Indirect- Through a character’s dialogue and action
 THEME: The whole story, including the atmosphere
or feeling, makes up the theme. The whole story is
an image.

5. Plot Development Chart
hook conclusion
↵
introduction denouement

6. What do these have to do
with a short story?
 Exposition: Introduction to the character, setting,
situation, and background of story
 Narrative Hook: Introduction of the story’s conflict
 Rising Action: Begins with the narrative hook, catches
attention and adds to the conflict
 Climax: Highest point of emotional involvement, the
conflict peaks
 Falling Action: Events stemming from the results of the
climax
 Resolution: The final outcome or conclusion of conflict

7. Conflict
 Man vs. Man: Man in conflict against another character
 Man vs. Himself: Man in conflict with himself (inner
turmoil)
 Man vs. Nature: Man in conflict with an aspect of nature
(blizzard, bear)
 Man vs. Society: Man in conflict with a group of people
or society beliefs
 Man vs. Fate: Man in conflict with that which he cannot
change

8. Symbolism
 An object, action or person that represents
something abstract.