Short Story

Front 1

What is a short story?

Back 1

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

Front 2

A short has a has

Back 2

One plot
One setting
One theme
Few main characters
Can be read in one sitting

Front 3

Character

Back 3

A person in a short story, poem, or play

Front 4

Types of characters

Back 4

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

Front 5

Characterization

Back 5

How the author develops the characters, especially the main character

Front 6

Characterization is done through:

Back 6

what the character does or says
what others say of or to the character
what others think of the character
author's word choice in descriptive passages

Front 7

Direct characterization

Back 7

The author directly states what the character's personality is like

Front 8

Indirect characterization

Back 8

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

Front 9

Protagonist

Back 9

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

Front 10

Antagonist

Back 10

A major character who opposes the protagonist
-the antagonist does not change

Front 11

Types of Antagonist

Back 11

-people
-nature
-society

Front 12

Dynamic Character

Back 12

Undergoes a change
-the change is not physical
-the change is emotional
-may be caused by physical
-may be caused by trauma

Front 13

Static Character

Back 13

-Does NOT undergo a change
-Remains the same emotionally throughout the selection

Front 14

Conflict

Back 14

A struggle between two opposing forces

Front 15

Types of Conflict

Back 15

-Internal-takes place in a character's own mind
-External-a character struggles against an outside force

Front 16

Plot

Back 16

A series of related events that makes up a story

Front 17

Exposition

Back 17

Section that introduces characters, the setting, and conflicts.

Front 18

Setting

Back 18

The time and place of the story’s action

Front 19

Rising Action

Back 19

-Consists of a series of complications.
-These occur when the main characters take action to resolve their problems and are met with further problems:

Front 20

Climax

Back 20

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

Front 21

Falling Action

Back 21

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

Front 22

Resolution

Back 22

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

Front 23

Point of view

Back 23

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.

Front 24

Theme

Back 24

-The central message or insight into life revealed through a literary work.
-The “main idea” of the story

Front 25

Flashback

Back 25

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

Front 26

Foreshadowing

Back 26

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

Front 27

Symbol

Back 27

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