1. Elements of a Short Story
Terms

2. Plot
• A series of related
events that present
and resolve a conflict

3. Plot Diagram

4. Conflict
• The Primary struggle
between the main
character or
characters and an
adverse character,
group or force
• Internal Conflict
– A struggle between a
character and
him/herself
• External Conflict
– A struggle between a
character and an
outside force.
• Man vs. Man
• Man vs. Nature
• Man vs. Supernatural
• Man vs. Society

5. Main characters
• Protagonist
– MAIN CHARACTER
of the story
– Often, hero or character
the audience is
supposed to feel most
sympathetic for
• Antagonist
– primary adversary of
the protagonist
– Sometimes the villain

6. Complications
• Small problems in
addition to the
conflict that add
interest to the story

7. Suspense
• The uncertainty or anxiety that a reader
feels about what will happen in a story
– Foreshadowing
– Dilemma
– Mystery
– Reversal

8. Foreshadowing
• Clues (real or false)
that hint at a story’s
outcome

9. Dilemma
• A character that we
care about is in peril
or must choose
between two
dangerous courses of
action

10. Mystery
• The creation of
suspense by
withholding
information or by
presenting unusual
circumstances

11. Reversal
• A sudden change in a
character’s situation
from good to bad or
vice versa

12. Climax and Resolution
• Climax
– The most exciting point
in the story, when the
conflict is decided
• Resolution
– The conflict is resolved
(positively or negatively)
and the story is brought
to a close
– Also know as
“Denouement”

13. Characterization
• The technique used by a writer
to create and reveal the
personalities of the characters
in a written work. This may be
done by:
• Direct Characterization
– The author directly states
aspects of the character’s
personality
• Indirect Characterization
– describing the character’s
physical appearance and
situation,
– revealing a characters
thoughts, or
– showing the reaction of other
characters.

14. Types of Characters
• Flat Character
– shows only one trait
• Round Character
– Shows many different traits, good and bad
• Static Character
– character does not change through the course of the
story
• Dynamic Character
– character develops and grows during the course of the
story

15. Setting
• The time and place in
which the action of a
narrative occurs

16. Theme
• The underlying meaning
of a literary work.
• This differs from the
subject in that it involves
a statement of opinion
about that subject.
• The theme may be stated
or implied.
• Not every literary work
has a theme, and some
have more than one

17. Point of View
• The relationship
between the narrator
of a story and the
characters in it
• Narrator is NOT the
same as author
• Types of POV:
– First Person
– Third Person,
Omniscient
– Third Person, Limited
Omniscient
– Third Person,
Objective

18. P.O.V. continued
• First Person
– The narrator offers a
personal account of their
own experiences or
describes what happens to
other characters as the
narrator sees it
• Third Person
– The narrator stands outside
the action (non-participatory)
and presents
• Omniscient
– (all-knowing) point of
view
– Can see the thoughts &
emotions of all (or
numerous) characters
• Limited Omniscient
– focuses on one character’s
thoughts and viewpoints
• Objective
– Describes only what can be
seen
– “Reporter style”

19. Irony
• Irony: differences in appearance and reality, or
expectations and results, or meaning and
intention
– Dramatic Irony:
• a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the
reader or audience knows to be true
– Situational Irony:
• an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of
the characters, readers, or audience
– Verbal Irony:
• words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant (i.e.
sarcasm, double-entendre, etc.)