Short Story Terms

Compile by Santiana, S.S., M.Pd.

What is a Short Story?

A short story is :  a brief  work of fiction where, usually, the main character faces a conflict that is worked out in the plot of the story

Character

Character – a person in a story, poem or play.

Types of Characters:

• - Round- fully developed, has many different character traits
• - Flat- stereotyped, one-dimensional, few traits
• - Static – Does not change 
• - Dynamic – Changes as a result of the story's events

Characterization

How the author develops the characters, especially the main character.  

This is done through:

• - what the character does or says
• - what others say of and to the character
• - author’s word choice in descriptive passages

Direct characterization

The author directly states what the character’s personality is like.  Example: cruel, kind

Indirect characterization

Showing a character’s personality through his/her actions, thoughts, feelings, words, appearance or other character’s observations or reactions

Protagonist

Main character of the story that changes

- (death is not a change)

- the most important character

- changes and grows because of experiences in the story

Antagonist

A major character who opposes the protagonist

the antagonist does not change

Types of antagonists:

• - people
• - nature
• - society

Conflict

A struggle between two opposing forces

Types

- Internal – takes place in a character’s own mind

• Man vs. Him(Her)self

- External – a character struggles against an outside force

• Man vs. Man
• Man vs. Nature
• Man vs. technology, progress
• Man vs. Society
• Man vs. Supernatural

What is the Plot?

Plot:  Series of related events that make up a story.

Exposition

Section that introduces characters, the setting, and conflicts.

Setting

The time and place of the story’s action

Rising Action

Consists of a series of complications.  

These occur when the main characters take action to resolve their problems and are met with further problems:

• - Fear
• - Hostility
• - Threatening situation

Climax

The turning point in the story: the high point of interest and suspense

Falling Action

All events following the climax or turning point in the story.  These events are a result of the action taken at the climax.

Resolution (Denoument)

The end of the central conflict: it shows how the situation turns out and ties up loose ends

Point of View

Vantage point from which the writer tells the story.

• - First person- One of the characters is actually telling the story using the pronoun “I”
• - Third person- Centers on one character’s    thoughts and actions.
• - Omniscient- All knowing narrator.  Can center on the thoughts any actions of any and all characters.

Theme

The central message or insight into life revealed through a literary work.

The “main idea” of the story

Flashback

The present scene in the story is interrupted to flash backward and tell what happened in an earlier time. 

Foreshadowing

Clues the writer puts in the story to give the reader a hint of what is to come.

Symbol

An object, person, or event that functions as itself, but also stands for something more than itself.

Example: Scales function is to weigh things, but they are also a symbol of our justice system.

Figurative Language

Involves some imaginative comparison between two unlike things.

• - Simile – comparing two unlike things using like or as. “I wandered lonely as a cloud”
• - Metaphor – comparing two unlike things (not using like or as) Life is a roller coaster, it has lots of ups and downs.
• - Personification – Giving human qualities to non-human things. “The wind howled”
• - Irony A  contrast between expectation and reality

Irony

• Verbal Irony – saying one thing but meaning something completely different. - Calling a clumsy basketball player “Michael Jordan”
• Situational Irony – A contradiction between what we expect to happen and what really does happen
• Dramatic Irony – occurs when the reader knows something important that the characters in the story do not know.

Allusion

Reference to a statement, person, a place, or events from:

• Literature
• History
• Religion
• Mythology
• Politics
• Sports

Suspense

Uncertainty or anxiety the reader feels about what is going to happen next in a story.

Imagery

Language that appeals to the senses.

• Touch
• Taste
• Sight
• Sound
• Smell