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The Short StoryIt is a brief fictional prose

narrative that is shorter than a novel. It usually deals with few characters, one idea, and one

situation conveyed in few significant scenes.

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Brief Background:

• The short story is a modern literary form born in the 19th

century. It was popular because it was short and thereforecould be published in magazines and newspaper. Moreover,it dealt with the concerns of the rising middle classes and,therefore, was very appealing to them.

• The American writer Edgar Allan Poe gave the earliestdefinition of this art. According to him, the short story is aprose work of fiction that concentrates on a single effect. Itmay be concerned with a certain scene, an episode, anexperience, or an action. It looks like a little drama; thus, ithas a beginning, a middle, and an end.Dr. A

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Short Story Elements

Characters Plot Setting

Themes Conflict&P0int of View

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Characters

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Dr. Abe

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Dr. Abe

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Characterization

It is the way in which an author shows the personality of a character. In other words, it is the technique writers use to make characters

come to life, seem real.

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The author reveals characters in two ways:

• Direct: by telling the reader about the personality of a character.• Emy was very competitive.

• Indirect: by showing things that reveal the personality of the character: speech, thoughts, dreams, appearance, actions, what others say and how others react to the chracter.

• Two days before the game, Freddy gathered his teammates and laid out his plan. Then he looked at them and said, “We are going to win this one. No excuses.”

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Dr. Abe

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Types of Characters:

•Round:•Dynamic, many sided personalities that change, for better or worse, by the end of the story.

•Flat:Stereotype, have one or two characteristics that never change.

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Plot

• The plot is how the author arranges events to develop hisbasic idea. It is the sequence of events in a story or play. It isusually a planned, logical series of events having a beginning,middle, and end. The short story usually has one plot andcan be read in one sitting.

• There are five essential parts of the plot: Introduction, risingaction, climax, falling action, denoument (resolution).

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Dr. Abe

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Dr. Abe

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Dr. Abe

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Dr. Abe

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Dr. Abe

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Dr. Abe

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Dr. Abe

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Themes•The theme in a short story is its controllingidea or central insight. It is the author’sunderlying meaning or the main idea theauthor is trying to convey. Sometimes thetitle of the short story refers to what theauthor wants to say.

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Dr. Abe

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Dr. Abe

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Dr. Abe

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Dr. Abe

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Point of View

• Point of view is the angle from which a story is told.• First Person: the story is told by the protagonist or one of the

characters who interacts closely with the protagonist. The reader seesthe story through this person’s eyes.

• Third Person: the author tells the story in third person using pronounsthey, she, …

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Dr. Abe

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