Major Genre of English Literature:

Short Story
Ayu Pardede, M.A

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Outline

 What is short story?

 Components of short story

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What is short story?

 fictional work
 shorter in length than a novel
 range from 1,000 to 20,000 words
 focuses on one incident, has a single plot, a single
setting, a small number of characters, and covers a
short period of time.

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Successful Short Story
A successful short story must contain:

 Integrity: It should form a coherent whole.

 Economy: There cannot be a long introduction.
 Epiphany: Something has to change in the course
of the story
 Ending: A good short story needs to give the
reader a feeling of closure

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Components of Short Story (1)

The elements of short story:

 Setting: place, time, weather conditions, social

conditions, mood or atmosphere

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Components of Short Story (2)
 Plot
Climax

Rising Action Falling action

Introduction Denouement

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Components of Short Story (3)
 Conflict

 External: A struggle with a force outside one's

self.

 Internal: A struggle within one's self; a person

must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet
his/her temper, resist an urge, etc.

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Components of Short Story (4)
 Dimensions of conflict:

 Man vs. Man (physical): struggles with his physical

strength against other men, nature, or animals.
 Man vs. Circumstances: struggles against fate, or
the circumstances
 Man vs. Society (social): struggles against ideas,
practices, or customs of other people.
 Man vs. Himself/Herself: struggles with
himself/herself, limitations, choices, etc.
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Components of Short Story (5)
 Character

two meanings for the word character:

 The person in a work of fiction: protagonist,

antagonist, etc.
 The characteristics of a person: appearance, what
they think, feel, dream, do, etc.

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Components of Short Story (6)
 Point of view

 Omniscient point of view; using pronouns (he, she,

they, them)

 First person narration: using pronouns (I, me, we)

 Figural narrative situation: readers explore the

characters and their identity

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Components of Short Story (7)
 Theme

 idea or its central insight.

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THANK YOU
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