ELEMENTS OF A

SHORT STORY
 ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY
CHARACTER
SETTING
PLOT
CONFLICT
THEME
 CHARACTER
• the people, animals or creatures in a story.

• protagonist (main character in the story)

• antagonist (character who are in conflict with the

protagonist)
 DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION
• tells the reader the personality of the
character.
• is obvious to the reader and “spells” it right out.

Example:
The patient boy and the quiet girl were
both well behaved and did not disobey
their mother.
 INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION
• shows things that reveal the personality of the
character.
Speech
Thought
Effect on others
Actions
Looks
 SETTING
• the time and place a story takes place.
• it helps build background and create images
in the mind.
• it helps set the tone or mood of the story.
Details can describe:
Time of day Example:
Time of year
Time in History
Romeo and Juliet is set
Scenery in Verona, Italy
Weather
Location
 PLOT
• the series of events that make up a story.
1. Exposition
Example: Romeo and Juliet’s families are enemies, but Romeo and Juliet meet a party
and like each other
2. Rising Action
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.
3. Climax
Example: Romeo kills himself, and Juliet wakes from her sleep, sees him, and kills
herself.
4. Falling Action
Example: The two families mourn Romeo and Juliet.
5. Resolution
Example: Romeo and Juliet’s deaths have ended their families’ feud and there is
peace in Verona.
 SPECIAL TECHNIQUES OF PLOT
• Suspense – excitement or tension.
• Foreshadowing – hint or clue about what will
happen in story.
• Flashback – interrupts the normal sequence of
events to tell about something that happened
in the past.
• Surprise Ending – conclusion that reader does
not expect (use of irony).
 CONFLICT
•struggle between two forces in a story.
•without conflict, there is no plot.

Example:
Romeo and Juliet’s conflict is that their
families are in a feud, and they are not
allowed to be with each other.
 TYPES OF CONFLICT
1. Character vs Character
(problem with another character)
2. Character vs Nature
( problem with force of nature)
3. Character vs Society
(problem with the laws or belief of a group)
4. Character vs Self
(problem with deciding what to do or think; “inner
conflict”)
 THEME

• the central idea or belief in a short story

• can be expressed by one or two sentence

statement about human beings or about life.
EXPLICIT
• states the theme openly and clearly.

IMPLICIT
• themes that are not directly stated in the story.
Example:
Romeo and Juliet is not just about
“love”.
“Love overcomes hate.”