The Short Story

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Eo6
cBbfqg

• Cinderella:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQSTl
R7LtAE
A short story is a short piece of fiction

Learn the elements of short stories

through the classic “Cinderella”
 Setting
• Setting is the time and place of the
story’s action.
 The setting in “Cinderella”
• The story takes place a long time ago in
a land ruled by a king and a queen.
 Characters
• Characters are the actors in a story’s
plot. They can be people, animals, or
whatever the writer chooses.

• The protagonist is the main character.

• The antagonist is the person/concept in
conflict with the main character.
 Characters in “Cinderella”
• The main characters are Cinderella, the
stepsisters, their mother, the fairy
godmother, and the prince.

• Protagonist: Cinderella
• Antagonist: the stepsisters, their mother
 Point of View
• Point of view refers to the relationship of the
narrator, or storyteller, to the story.
• In first-person point of view, the narrator is a
character in the story, referred to as “I.”
• In third-person limited point of view, the narrator
reveals the thoughts of only one character, referring
to that character as “he” or “she.”
• In third-person omniscient point of view, the
narrator knows everything about the story’s events
and reveals the thoughts of all the characters.

Cinderella is told through

the third-person omniscient
point of view.
 Theme
• Theme is the central idea or
message of a story, often a
perception about life or human
nature.
• Themes are oftentimes implied,
and it is up to the reader to
deduce the theme.

• The theme of “Cinderella” is that

if you are in a bad situation, you
should do the best that you can.
In the end, things will work out
for you.
 Plot
• Plot is the sequence of events in a story.
Each event causes or leads to the next. Plot
is often created through conflict, a struggle
between opposing forces.
• An external conflict is one between a
character and an outside force, such as
another character, nature, society, or fate.
• An internal conflict takes place within the
mind of a character who is torn between
opposing feelings or between different
courses of action.
 Problem and Conflict in
“Cinderella”
• Problem: Cinderella wants to go to the ball,
but her stepsisters prevent her from going.

• Conflict: The conflict is external—Cinderella

versus the stepsisters and their mother.
 Types of Conflict
• Conflict is generally categorized in the
following ways:
– Man vs Man: this is an external struggle between
two characters
– Man vs Society: this is an external struggle between
a character and a social force or condition produced
by society, such as poverty, political revolution, or a
set of values
– Man vs Nature: this is an external struggle between
a character and some natural obstacle or natural
condition
– Man vs Self: this is an internal struggle within a
character, where aspects of his or her personality
may struggle for dominance. These aspects may be
emotional, intellectual, or moral.
 The Five Stages of Plot
• Exposition introduces the story’s characters,
setting, and conflict.
• Rising action occurs as complications, twists,
or intensifications of the conflict occur.
• Climax is the emotional high point of the
story.
• Falling action is the logical result of the
climax.
• Resolution presents the final outcome of the
story.
 The 5 Stages of
plot in The stepsisters
try to force their
Cinderella A fairy Cinderella dances
feet into the slipper.
It fits Cinderella.
godmother with the prince,
appears and but leaves hurriedly
provides at midnight; losing a
Cinderella lives An Cinderella slipper
with her stepsisters invitation with clothes,
and their mother. to the ball a coach, and Cinderella and
The prince
they make her wear arrives. footman. the prince marry.
says he
rags and do all the will marry
hard work. Cinderella the woman
goes to the whom the
ball. slipper fits.

The
stepsisters
They live happily
go to the
ever after.
ball.