Elements of a

Short Story
 OBJECTIVES
• Identify elements of a short story
• Define elements of a short story
• Demonstrate mastery of short story elements
 OVERVIEW
*Short stories often contain structural and character
elements that should be familiar to you.
*These elements can be used as guides to help you
think about the actions, themes, and contexts of
the story.
• Theme • Plot
- exposition statement
• Setting
- rising action
• Characters - conflict
• Point of view - climax
- falling action
• Characterization
- resolution
 THEME
• The main idea of a literary work, usually
expressed as a generalization.

SETTING
•The time and place
in which a work of
literature happens.
CHARACTERS
• The people (or actors)
in the story.

POINT OF VIEW
• The story teller from whose point of view the
story is being told, the narrator.
CHARACTERS
 CHARACTERIZATION
The description of the personalities
of the characters in the story and
the way in which an author reveals
their personalities.
 PLOT
• The sequence or order of events in a story. The plot includes:

- Exposition Statement - The part of the plot that tells how

the story begins.
- Rising Action - The action in the story leading up to the
climax.
- Conflict - Struggles or problems between opposing forces.
 More PLOT
- Climax - The point of crisis in the plot. It may be the reader’s
point of highest interest.

- Falling action - The action in the story after the climax is

revealed.

- Resolution - The part of the plot that reveals the final outcome.
 PLOT DIAGRAM
Climax

Fall
gA in
Conflict
n

ction
ctio
A
ing
Ris

Exposition Resolution
Do Exercise 6 on page 30.
 Complete the story chart of
“The Cycle of the Sun and Moon.”

pages 31-33
 Plot of
The Cycle of the Sun and Moon
Climax

Fall
gAin
Conflict
ion

ction
Act
ing
Ris

Exposition Resolution
 Bibliography
Dinneen, K. Elements of the Short Story. Retrieved Jun.
19, 2003, from Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute:
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1983/3/83.03.09.x.html

Five Elements of a Story. Retrieved Jun. 19, 2003,

http://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-2277.html

Guevin, D. Short Story Elements. Retrieved Jun. 19, 2003,

http://www.uvm.edu/~dguevin/Elements.html