Elements of a Short Story

and Ernest Hemingway

2.1
Introduction
 Learning Goals and Success Criteria

Learning Goals: Student will learn…..

a) Students will understand how a historical period and the author’s life shape a
certain work of fiction,
b) Students will apply their understanding to the specific story.
c) Students will understand the elements of a short story.
Success Criteria: I will be able…
To use the short story to aid in understanding and apply their knowledge of author’s work to
the story of focus.
 Minds On….

Class Discussion:
What is a short story?
• A short story is a piece of fiction which can be read at one sitting.
• Like a novel it uses character, conflict, theme, setting, and point of view/
narration to create an impression on the reader.
• In a short story every word counts, so it creates restrictions for the author.
SHORT STORY
ELEMENTS
SETTING, CHARACTER, POINT OF VIEW AND PLOT
STRUCTURE
SETTING

•The time and place of

a story or play.
•Answers where and
when?

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

CHARACTER:
PROTAGONIST
• The main character—the one we
focus our attention on as we read.
• Often, but not always, the hero or
“good guy.”
• The person who sets the plot in
motion.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
CHARACTER:
ANTAGONIST

• The character in conflict

with the protagonist
• Readers often don’t know a
lot about the antagonist—
sometimes just that they are
the “bad guy”

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

 •The point from which
the story is told.
POINT OF
VIEW •The person who tells the
story is called the
narrator.
FIRST PERSON

• The narrator is a
character in the story.
The reader hears and
sees only what the
narrator does.

• Clues: first-person
pronouns—I, we, us,
my, etc.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC
THIRD PERSON OMNISCENT

• The narrator plays no part in the story; tells

the story looking in from the outside.

• Clues: third-person pronouns—he, she, it,

they, them, etc.
• An “all knowing” narrator who reveals the
thoughts and actions of the characters.
• May reveal the past, present, and future,
and even tell the reader what is happening
in other places.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

 •The sequence of events in a
story
PLOT
•Most plots deal with a
problem and develop
around a conflict
 CONFLICT

◦ EXTERNAL CONFLICT: a struggle

between a character and an outside force
such as another character, nature, society or
fate

◦ INTERNAL CONFLICT: takes place

within the mind of a character who struggles
with opposing feelings or with a decision on
how to act
 CONFLICT
External Conflict Internal Conflict
Man vs. Man Man vs. Self
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. Society
Man vs. Technology
Man vs the Supernatural
 STAGES OF A PLOT

Climax

Rising Falling
Action Action

Exposition Resolution
 STAGES OF A PLOT
The big issue or
confrontation for the
main character

How the character begins to resolve

Climax or come to terms with the decisions
Events leading to the
big action of the story made
(twists)

Introduces story, How the story fixes or

characters, setting, Rising Falling does not fix the issue that
happened
etc Action Action

Exposition Conflict Resolution

Initial issue that the main
character is having
Literary Terms
• Tone: – the attitude of the writer towards his/her
subject.
• The tone may be a comic tone, serious, critical,
angry, sympathetic….
• Mood – the feeling the reader gets from the story. It is
created through images, rhyme, rhythm, and other
devices.
• Ex. The mood of “The Simpsons” is humorous but
the tone is critical.
16-10-
29
Themes, Motifs, and Symbols
Theme
 Theme is the main idea or message of the work. It is a thought or
idea the author presents to the reader. The theme of a work may
be profound, difficult to understand, intended to teach a lesson
or moral. Usually, readers have to figure out the theme of a
specific work as they read it. The theme is important because it
helps the reader understand part of the reason why the author
wrote the work.

 Questions to think about: Theme

 What is the author trying to convey/tell to me in this work?
 What is the significance of what the author wrote?
 What did I learn from reading this work?
 Motif
 Motif is a repeating object or idea in a work. A motif can also be
something abstract, such as an emotion or quality like love,
bravery or honesty. Motif is easily confused with theme. A theme
is the main, overall idea or lesson the author is trying to teach in
their book. A motif is a smaller idea that we see come up again
and again in the book. A motif can be used to help develop the
theme.

 Questions to think about: Motif

 Are there objects, ideas, or concepts I have seen repeated in this book?
 What could that object, idea, or concept mean?
 What could that object, idea, or concept teach me about the theme of the
story?
 Symbols
A symbol is anything that represents another thing.
These are used in a text to help us understand
something at that moment. They are not usually used to
help find the theme. There are millions of symbols that
you recognize every day.
a red light means stop
a light bulb means "new idea"
a heart means love

 Anytime you read a piece of literature, you should

consider whether certain objects have a double role.
They might hold a hidden message or meaning.
EXAMPLES USING
SPIDERMAN!
Themes are the main ideas and often
universal ideas explored in a literary work.
 Sacrificing for you family should not mean hurting others.
 When the bad guy of the movie, “Vulture” takes alien technology
from cleaning up after fights between superheroes and villains, he
sells the technology as weapons to other criminals. He thinks this is
okay to do because he is making money to take care of his family,
but he is actually hurting people.
 Sometimes even more experienced people make
inaccurate judgments.
 Even though Tony Stark is one of the smartest scientists in the
entire universe, he misjudges Peter Parker as someone who isn’t
ready to be a superhero, but at the end, Tony realizes that Peter
deserves to be a superhero and gives him the supersuit.
Motifs are objects or ideas that can help to
develop and inform the text’s major themes.
 The Spider-man Suit
 The Spider-man suit changes from one that Peter makes himself with
everyday kind of clothes. Very soon, Iron-Man/Tony Stark gives him a
supersuit, which does many cool things, like shoot out different kinds of
web. Later, Tony takes the suit back, and Peter is back wearing his old
suit. At the end, Tony realizes that Peter deserves the supersuit. This
motif repeats in the story to show the theme that sometimes even
heroes are misjudged and misunderstood, and that being a true hero
means having your heart in the right place and doing your best.
Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or
colours used to represent abstract ideas or
concepts.
 Tie for Homecoming Ball/Party
 Peter wearing the tie shows that he is
growing up, learning what adult men do,
which is to do a tie properly for a formal
event.
 Decathlon trophy
 Peter and his friends from the decathlon team (a
team that answers trivia questions to see who is
the smarter group from the schools in USA) win
the contest, also signifying Peter’s successful
time proving that he is a worthy superhero.
 Ernest
Hemingway
a complicated man, (and seemingly simple
writer) any literature fanatic should know
about at some point.
How is the author inherently connected to a work?
⇀ At the heart of all fiction is a writer, who has created a world, with characters and lives.

⇀The author, although sometimes vastly removed from the story itself and with no legitimate comparisons
between their own lives and their writing, is still something that helps us understand a work.

⇀All inspiration comes from somewhere, and the author’s imprint on the story is sometimes what helps us
understand the story at its core.
How an Author's Life Influences Literary Works
⇀ We are all influenced by the world around us, and have unique, individual experiences that affect our personality.

⇀ In the same way, an author is influenced by their past when they write. ⇀ Gender, race and socioeconomic status
also have a huge impact on writing.

⇀ Therefore, the more you know about the author, the better you can understand the messages central to their body
of work.
Examples
Langston Hughes
A second example of an author's personal life coming through in
his writing can be seen with poet and novelist Langston Hughes
(1902-1967). Hughes had ancestors that were slaves, and this
heritage had a major impact on his work. In fact, he dedicated all
his writing to the black experience in America.

Langston was raised by his grandmother, who ingrained in him a

strong sense of pride in his heritage. In addition, he personally
experienced the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, which was a
cultural movement celebrating black traditions and customs.
An Example
Hughes built his career around writing about black culture and making connections to his ancestors. Note those
connections in the following poems on the following slides, Remember (1930) and Mother to Son (1922).
Remember
The days of bondage—
And remembering—
Do not stand still.
Go to the highest hill
And look down upon the town
Where you are yet a slave.
Look down upon any town in Carolina
Or any town in Maine, for that matter,
Or Africa, your homeland—
And you will see what I mean for you to see—
The white hand:
The thieving hand.
The white face:
The lying face.
The white power:
The unscrupulous power
That makes of you
Remember
The hungry wretched thing you are today.
by Langston Hughes
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
Mother to Son
I’se still climbin’,
by Langston Hughes
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
Emily Dickinson
⇀ A prime example of the influence of one's personal life
on their writing is the American poet, Emily Dickinson
(1830-1886).
⇀ Dickinson grew up in a prosperous family in
Massachusetts.
⇀ She lived a quiet and reserved life; in fact, she was a
recluse, living in her father's house. She did not have a
close relationship with her parents, who pushed a strong
Christian doctrine on their daughter.
⇀ Dickinson, however, withdrew from the world to live in
seclusion, never marrying and having few friends.
⇀ Her life choices and ability to live within herself are
reflected in her poetry, through a strong sense of
imagination.
Example of Dickinson’s Life in Her Work

Her life choices and ability to live within herself are reflected in her poetry, through a strong sense of imagination. The
life experiences Emily lacked led her to delve deeply into her mind's eye. Note her acknowledgement of this in the
stanza:

I dwell in Possibility -

A fairer House than Prose -

More numerous of Windows -

Superior - for Doors -

She states that she lives in a world where anything is possible in her imagination. Furthermore, since she lived a life void
of a family, husband, children, or friends, she had a deeper appreciation for those things.
Now to Hemingway: An Elusive,
Private and Tragic Man
Read the following article (published during Hemingway’s lifetime, in 1950):
The Moods of Ernest Hemingway
Now, finally, read Hemingway’s
“A Very Short Story”
Discuss
1. How do you think Hemingway informed this work? How is own life reflected in the piece?
2. Hemingway tells a lot, but reveals little; and most of Hemingway’s work takes on this nature. His writing is
simplistic, and a lot is left to the reader’s understanding of the text. What was Hemingway trying to say with this
story? About the tragedy of life, and the disappointment it sometimes brings?
Consolidation

Knowing about the author and their life divulges a lot about a story; what does this story say about Ernest Hemingway’s
view of women and relationships?

How would a feminist lens view this short story? Let’s apply literary criticism.

The story doesn’t romanticize much; it divulges very little about the relationship between Luz and the man, it’s short
and a lot isn’t said about what these two characters were feeling. What does this do to the narrative? What does this say
about a portrayal of women?