Republic of the Philippines

ILOILO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

Burgos St., La Paz, Iloilo City

MAUREEN MAE E. MANA-AY DR. CATHERINE L. SUMACULUB

READING: MODERN SHORT STORY

SHORT STORIES: GENERAL

Short Story: A fictional tale of a length that is too short to publish in a single volume
like a novel. Short stories are usually between five and sixty pages; as a result, they can
be read in a single sitting. Usually, short stories concentrate on a single event with only
one or two characters.

ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY

I. PLOT
The story line, or action, of a narrative. The classical division of plot are:

 Introduction (exposition) – the introductory part of a narrative, in which characters

and conflicts are identified and the setting and tone established.

Example: Romeo and Juliet's families are enemies, but Romeo and Juliet meet at a
party and like each other.

 Rising Action (complication) – the problem that confronts one or more of the
characters during the course of the plot exposition. The remainder of the story is
concerned with resolution of the complication.

Example: Romeo visits Juliet on a balcony one night, and then she sends a message
to him through her nurse. They meet and secretly wed without their families'
knowledge. Romeo kills Juliet's cousin Tybalt, and he is exiled. Juliet's father orders
her to marry someone else. Juliet fakes her death, sending a message to Romeo to let
him know, but he hears of her death and doesn't get the message.

 Climax (point of greatest intensity) – the turning point in the plot structure, the peak
at which the rising action reverse and becomes falling action. In a short story, the
climax is the point at which the outcome of the story becomes inevitable.

Example: Romeo kills himself, and Juliet wakes from her sleep, sees him, and kills
herself.

 Falling Action (Denouement) – the events and complications begin to resolve

themselves. The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was
resolved or not.

Example: The two families mourn Romeo and Juliet.

 Resolution – the resolution of the plot in any dramatic narrative; the events that
follow the climax of the plot.
 Example: Romeo and Juliet's deaths have ended their families' feud and there is
peace in Verona.

There are four types of conclusions and they have a variety of names:

 Expository Happy: All loose ends are tied up and explained and the ending is
happy.
 Expository Sad: All loose ends are tied up and explained and the ending is sad.
 Surprise or Twist: Something happens that the reader does not expect at all.
 Unresolved/Indeterminate/Cliffhanger: The reader is left with questions and
has to, in part, supply the ending him or herself. Some loose ends are left to
dangle

Anti-Climax: A dull or disappointing ending to something after increasing excitement.

For example: After the weeks of preparation, the concert itself was a bit of an anticlimax.
In connection to a story or novel, it means an ending that doesn’t measure up to the plot
events that precede it (the ending is anti-climactic).

II. SETTING
The time, place, and mood in which the action in a narrative occurs.

Example: Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, Italy.

Details can be describe:

 Place
 Time
 Weather Conditions
 Social Conditions
 Mood or Atmosphere

III. CHARACTERIZATION
The presentation of fictional beings as credible persons; also the particular methods—
description, detail, action, dialogue—that the author uses to make his characters
believable.

 Direct/Explicit – the author literally tells the audience what a character is like.
This may done via narrator, another character or by the character him or himself.
 Indirect/Implicit – the audience must figure out for themselves what the
character is like through the character’s thoughts, actions, speech (choice of
words, way of talking), looks and interaction with other characters, including
other character’s reaction.

Character types:

a. Protagonist – the main character; the character everything revolves

around (“the good guy”)
b. Antagonist – the character or force that struggles against the protagonist
or causes him or her conflict/problems (“the bad guy”).
c. Flat – This is a minor character with one or maybe two sides to the
personality. These characters might not seem very realistic or life-like
because so little is known about them.
d. Round – These characters are believable and complex people with several
sides to their personality. They are lifelike and behave like real people
would, if real people were in those same situations.
 e. Dynamic – Also known as a kinetic character, a dynamic character
changes in some important way because of plot events. For example: a
cruel old man might see the error of his ways and become generous and
kind or a gentle girl becomes vicious and angry because her parents
divorce.
f. Static – These characters are the opposite of dynamic characters. These
people don’t change through the course of a story. They have the same
personality throughout.
g. Stereotypical – Also known as stock*, these characters are people who
are easily recognized as “types”. It wouldn’t matter in which story they
appear, they are always the same.
h. Character Foil – A character foil, or simply “foil”, occurs when two
characters balance each other in some way; they are almost like two halves
of a whole person.
i. Caricature – A character in a piece of literature who has very exaggerated
characteristics, usually for comic effect. In a way, a caricature is an
extreme form of stereotype.
j. Hero – Traditionally, this was a main character who was comprised of
only admirable traits: courage, idealism, bravery, strength, fortitude.
k. Anti-hero – By modern times, the idea of an anti-hero had emerged: a
main character having none of the traits of a traditional hero, and therefore
having a lot of qualities that make him/her easy to dislike. This person
might be whiny, weak, immoral, or cowardly

Characteristics: Features or traits that the author combines to create the personality and
appearance of his characters.

There are two type of characteristics:

1. Behavioral – information that discloses how a character behaves (happy,
sad, kind, mean).
2. Physical – information that discloses a character’s appearance (sloppy,
meat, tall, short)

SHORT STORY DEVICES AND FEATURES

1. CONFLICT
The struggle between two opposing forces in a narrative. Conflict is the source of action
in a story, the reason the plot moves forward. For action to be convincing, some
motivation for the conflict must be given in the story.

Two types of conflicts:

a) Internal – a struggle within the mind of one character.
b) External – a struggle between one character in a work of fiction and
another character or force outside himself.

There are Four Kinds of conflict:

a) Man vs. Man: (Physical) – The leading character struggles with his
physical strength against other men, forces of nature, or animals
b) Man vs, Circumstances (Classical) – The leading character struggles
against fate, or the circumstances of life facing him.
c) Man vs. Society (Social) – The leading character struggles against ideas,
practices, or customs of other people
 d) Man vs. Himself / Herself (Psychological) – The leading character
struggles with himself; with his own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical
limitations, choices, etc.

2. POINT OF VIEW
Point of View, or P.O.V. is defined as the angle form which the story is told

a) Innocent Eye – The story is told through the eyes of a child (his/her judgment
being different from that of an adult).
b) Stream of Consciousness – The story is told so that the reader feels as if they are
inside the head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions.
c) First Person – The story is told by the protagonist or one of the characters who
interacts closely with the protagonist or other characters (using pronouns I, me,
we, etc). The reader sees the story through this person's eyes as he/she
experiences it and only knows what he/she knows or feels.
d) There are two main types of Third Person point of view:
 Omniscient Limited - The author tells the story in third person (using
pronouns they, she, he, it, etc). We know only what the character knows
and what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the thoughts and
feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us.
 Third Person Objective - The author tells the story in the third person. It
appears as though a camera is following the characters, going anywhere,
and recording only what is seen and heard. There is no comment on the
characters or their thoughts. No interpretations are offered. The reader is
placed in the position of spectator without the author there to explain. The
reader has to interpret events on his own.
e) Second Person – The story is told to another character using the pronouns you,
your, and yours. It is not often used in fiction writing, but is used in letters,
speeches, and other forms of nonfiction.
f) Deus ex Machina – From the Latin "god out of the machine." This device refers
to any artificial device that is not a natural extension of the plot that allows for
an easy– and unbelievable—resolution of conflict. Deus ex machina is an
improbable plot event.
g) In Medias Res – Beginning in the middle of the action.
h) Flashback – When a character thinks back to an event that occurred before the
story began. Sometimes flashbacks are written as separate “interrupter” sections
within a novel. Flashbacks are also used in short stories.
i) Foreshadowing – A hint of events to come. Also used extensively in both novels
and short stories.
j) Suspense – Anxiety or apprehension resulting from an uncertain, undecided, or
mysterious situation. Suspense is when the writer creates excited anticipation of
an approaching climax in the reader.
k) Dilemma – is something a character faces that puts him or her in the position of
decision-maker. Unfortunately, the nature of a dilemma is such that, given two
choices, neither is ideal and both have some unattractive qualities.

3. THEME
The central idea or main point of a literary work; it usually deals with universal truths or
human experience such as maturation, love, revenge, death.

For example, Romeo and Juliet is not just about "love," but you could state the theme as
"Love overcomes hate."

a. Fraudulent: dishonest or deceitful.

b. Idiosyncrasy: a habit or mode of behavior peculiar to an individual.
c. Iniquity: wickedness.
d. Romantic: idealistic; of a storybook, fairytale quality. (Romantic also has a
precise literary meaning, but the word is not used in the literary sense here or in
the program.)
e. Grotesque: fantastically ugly, monstrous, unnatural, and bizarre.
f. Realistic: accurately reflecting life as it is, not as one might wish it to be.