What is a short story?
A short story is a story with a fully developed theme, however, it is significantly shorter and less elaborate than a novel.
A Short Story usually has one plot, and can be read in one sitting.
Title:
The title will generally indicate what the story is about.
Setting:
This is the time and place of where the story occurs.
This is the sequence of events in the short story. The reader can identify a beginning, middle and end.
5 Essential parts to the plot:
Theme:
It is the author's underlying meaning or main idea that he is trying to convey.
Characters:
The persons (or characters) in a piece of fiction. One person is central to all the action in a short story. The main character is called the Protagonist. The Antagonist is the opposer to the Protagonist, a simple example is Harry Potter and Lord Voldermort.
Narrator:
The person who is telling the story.
Point of View:
Point of view, or p.o.v., is defined as the angle from which the story is told.
The most common point of view is first person. The main character, or the protagonist, tells the story by using the words “I think, I feel, I saw, I like, we…” (pronouns). The reader sees the story through the main characters eyes, and knows what they think or feel. There are other points of view.
Please click on these icon's read about the different Points of View.
- Introduction: Introduce the charaters and the setting.
- Rising Action: the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed.
- This is the most exciting point or the where the most action happens, the reader wonders, "what will happen next?
- Resolution: things begin to unravel or complications resolve itself.
- Denouement: the outcome of the story.
- Conflict:
Conflict is essential to plot. Without conflict there is no plot. It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move. Conflict is not merely limited to open arguments, rather it is any form of opposition, struggle or disagreement that faces the main character.
Try watching this excerpt from a short film below. Can you see the conflict or struggle here?
If there is no clip below showing on your ipad, use the "Two Big Boys" video link to the left.
WASLA Teacher Librarian of the Year- 2017: Jo-Anne Urquhart
- 2016: Lise Legg
WASLA Library Officer of the Year- 2012: Karen Notley