What is a short

story?
Terminology and elements
THE “WHY”
WHY IS POETRY IMPORTANT?
Poetry takes a simple concept and makes it more
powerful and beautiful
Which one of these poems is better? Why?

The Turtle
breaks from the blue-black
skin of the water, dragging her shell
with its mossy scutes
across the shallows and through the rushes
and over the mudflats, to the uprise,
The Turtle
to the yellow sand,
comes out of the water
to dig her ungainly feet
walks across the sand
a nest, and hunker there spewing
digs a nest
her white eggs down
and lays some eggs
into the darkness…

By: Mr. Brooks

By: Mary Oliver
DIFFERENT TYPES
OF STORIES
Fairy tale
• Fairy tales tend to be about royalty,
fairies, wicked stepmothers, giants and
talking animals.
• Settings often include castles, forests,
cottages and the time is often “long ago”
• Events are magical and supernatural. The
good live happily ever after at the end
and the bad are punished in some way.
• Formulaic language, including rhyme and
repetition, is common.
Parable

• Usually refers to the stories told by Jesus in the

New Testament
• They are used to explain difficult theological
concepts in terms which people can easily
understand

EG:

BREAD AND WINE

FISHES AND BREAD

MOSES SEPERATES THE

WATER
 Fable
• Characters are usually animals, plants,
inanimate objects, or forces of nature
which are given human qualities.
• They illustrate a moral lesson which is
often expressed explicitly at the end

Slow and steady

wins the race!
Myth
• Myths tend to be about gods
or supernatural beings.
• Often tell about events from
the distant past
• Sometimes creation stories
or explain natural
phenomena
• Legends are similar, but
usually about heroes rather
than gods.
EG: HERCULES
Folk tale
• Folktales are similar to fairy tales,
except that they usually concern
ordinary people rather than royalty
• Values such as thrift, kindness,
honesty and diligence are usually
rewarded
• As with fairy tales, formulaic
language is common

EG: THREE LITTLE PIGS

 Crime story
• Also called “mystery” genre or
“whodunnits” EG: NCIS, SHERLOCK
HOMES, HAWAII 5’O
• Mystery plots always involve
characters trying to discover a
vital piece of information which
is kept hidden until the climax.
Solving crimes by the use of
clues is common in this genre.
• Characters usually include
detectives, criminals, or the
police.
 Science Fiction
• Science fiction plots commonly explore
ideas like space travel, cloning, time
EG:
travel, or aliens. Fantastical things THE DAY AFTER
happen but all have a scientific TOMMOROW,
SHEZAM,
explanation. No use of magic. ET,
PACIFIC RIM
• Settings often include other planets,
space ships, or futuristic cities. These
may be described in detail
• Characters will often include robots,
aliens, astronauts, or scientists
• The plot is always a horror Ghost / Horror
experience and it usually involves
the intrusion of a supernatural
Story
element into everyday human
experience.
• Characters are often ordinary but
vulnerable people, such as
children and women.
• Settings vary but they are usually
secluded and isolated places.
EG: EDWARD SCISSOR HANDS
• Atmosphere is often created by
description of the setting.
 EG:
ROMEO AND JULIET
ROYALLY EVER AFTER
Love Story
(Romance)
• Plots of romance revolve around two people as
they develop romantic love for each other and
work to build a relationship together.
• Both the conflict and the climax of the story
should be directly related to that core theme of
developing a romantic relationship.
• There is often a happy
ending.
 Modern stories
Traditional stories
• “round” characters
• “flat” characters
• setting may be described in
• unspecified settings detail
• simple and fast moving plot • may not be much
background at beginning
• ending is clear and usually happy
• ending may be inconclusive
• formulaic language
• present tenses may be used
• simple past tense
• first person narration can
• third person narration be used
 WHAT IS FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE?

• Figurative language presents ordinary

things in fresh ways, communicating
ideas that go beyond words’ ordinary
meanings.

• HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES…

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
IT’S LIKE A SIMILE

– a comparison of two unlike things using the

words like or as.

Examples of simile:
• “Life is like a box of chocolates.”
• “The girl is as beautiful as a rose.”
• “The willow is like an etching…”
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
IT IS A METAPHOR

– a comparison of two unlike things without using

the words like or as.

Examples of metaphor:
• “My father is a tall, sturdy oak.”
• “The hotel is a diamond in the sky.”
• “who know’s if the moon’s a balloon…”
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
PERSONIFICATION
– the giving of human qualities to an animal,
object, or idea.

Examples of personification:
• “Hunger sat shivering on the road.”
• “The flowers danced on the lawn.”
• “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Smokey the
Bear” are personified characters.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
HYPERBOLE

- an exaggerated statement used to make a point.

Examples of hyperbole:
• “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
• “I could sleep for a year.”
• “This book weighs a ton.”
SOUND DEVICE: REPETITION

- the repeating of sound, words, phrases or lines in a

poem used to emphasize an idea or convey a certain
feeling.

Examples of repetition:
• “Sing a song full of faith that the dark past has taught
us, Sing a song of the hope that the present has brought
us…”
• “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…”
• “The isolation during my vacation created a situation of
relaxation.”
SOUND DEVICE: ALLITERATION

- repetition of CONSONANT SOUNDS at the

BEGINNING of at least two words in a line of poetry.
Example of alliteration:

Examples of Alliteration
• “the frog frolicked frivolously on the forest floor.”
• “…Little skinny shoulder blades Sticking through your
clothes…”
• “…struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet…”
• Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds at any
place in a series of words
• Do you like blue?
• We viewed the movie about mooing rookies at the
school.

• “Well he seemed so low that I couldn’t say no” –Robert

Service (“The Cremation of Sam McGee, pg. 709)
BASICS OF A STORY
A short story……..
• can be read in one sitting (Edgar
Allan Poe “The Philosophy of
Composition” 1846)
• is 1,000 – 20,000 words long
• has a limited set of characters, a
single setting, and a simple plot
What makes a story short?
- The action or
The problem or - The lesson about
sequence of events in
struggle in a life the author is
a story
trying to get across
story that in a story
- It is usually a series
triggers the
of related events that Is the theme told
action. build up on one to you directly at
another as the story the end of a story
develops or implied?

CONFLICT THE PLOT THEME

 PLOT LINE
1. Exposition (the beginning)– 4. Falling action
(winding down) –
The background or situation part of the story
surrounding the story, setting, that works out
characters
decisions reached
during the climax

2. Rising action (introduction of

conflict) - the series of
struggles that builds a story
toward a climax, the main
conflict introduced
5. Resolution (the
ending or
denouement) – is
3. Climax (the high point)– the part of the story
turning point, which marks a in which the
change, for the better or the conflict is solved
worse, for the protagonist or resolved
 Climax
(Crisis, turning point, point
of no return)

Falling
Action

Exposition Resolution
FORESHADOWING
FLASHBACK TONE

(this is almost the

• The use in a - Tone is the
opposite of attitude that an
literary work foreshadowing) author takes
of clues that toward the
• A flashback is audience, the
suggest events when an author subject, or the
what will character.
refers back to
happen later in something that - Tone is conveyed
a story previously through the
happened author's words
and details.
• Flashback is an interruption in the present action
of a plot to show events that happened at an
earlier time.
• Flashback is when the story returns or goes back
in time to a past event.
• Flashback is used to tell a past story.
• Flashback can be the memory of a
single character or the narrator.

• FLASHBACK
• Foreshadowing is the use of clues or
hints to suggest events that will occur
later in the plot.
• Foreshadowing is when you are given
hints or clues about something that
will happen in the future of the story.
• A good examples of foreshadowing are
in O’Henry’s short story, “After
Twenty years” when he gives us
clues of what is to come.
• The words used to appeal to the five senses. It
creates word pictures in our minds while we
read.

“The east wind came whipping across the

fields from higher ground. He stamped his
and blew upon is hands. In the distance
he could see the clay hills, white and
clean, against the heavy pallor of the sky”
(du Maurier 63).
We can feel / hear the wind and see the hill s and sky in our
minds!
• Language that appeals to the senses.
• Imagery is when words or language is
used to appeal to one or all of the five
senses – sight, touch, taste, smell or
sound.
• Theodore Taylor provides the reader
with imagery when he describes the
sounds of the ship being torpedoed.
Imagery is also used when Taylor has
Timothy describe the cay to the blind
Phillip.
• The time, place and background of the story.
• The setting can change throughout a story

What is the setting of your favorite movie? Your

favorite book?

THE SETTING
• The setting describes where
an when the story takes Details can describe:
place.  Time of day
 Time of year
• It helps build background
 Time in History
and create images in the
mind.  Scenery
 Weather
• It helps set the tone or
 Location
mood of the story.
 • SIGHT
Using the Five Senses • SMELL
• TASTE
• A good setting helps the reader • FEEL
visualize the places in the
story. • SOUND

• A good author includes

descriptions of the setting
using the five senses…
 Take a Look…Which is better?

The castle
was beside OR…
the water.

The waves crashed loudly against the shoreline. The

fog lifted lightly and the medieval castle came into
view. It was a beautiful site! The fog brushed my
face and I could smell the smoke from the fire in the
distance and taste the sea salt on my lips.
Every story needs
Characters…

Or Creatures

Animals
• People
The protagonist is the “good
guy”
The antagonist is the “bad
guy” or force
Characterization
Characterization is the way in
which an author shows the
personality of a character

Characterization is a technique
writers use to make characters
“come to life.”
• Conflict is a struggle between opposing
characters or opposing forces.
• Conflict creates the plot of a story. Conflict is the problem or
struggle in a story.
There are four general types of conflict in literature:
 Man versus Man is the conflict of one person against another person.
 Man versus Nature is the conflict a person encounters with the forces
of nature, and shows how insignificant one person can be when
compared to the cosmic scheme of things.
 Man versus Society is the conflict of a person/people and the views of
society. Prejudice/Racism is a good example.
 Man versus Self is internal conflict. It is those conflicts an individual
has with his conscience.
 Symbolism
A symbol represents an idea, quality, or
concept larger than itself.
• A journey can • A lion can be
symbolize life
a symbol of courage.

• A red rose
• Water may represent
cleanliness can

and renewal represent

love.
 Author’s Purpose
An author’s reason for creating a particular work is called the
author’s purpose. Sometimes the author will state his or her purpose up front.
Other times you’ll need to make inferences (reasonable guesses) about the
author’s
purpose.

• There are four basic reasons an author might choose to write:

• to explain or inform
• to entertain
• to persuade
• to enlighten or reveal an important truth
HOMEWORK:

1. Listen to the story about: THE FLY

THAT FORGOT ITS NAME.
2. Draw a line under last time’s work in
your literature books(FRONT).
3. Complete the following diagram
about the story.(You can draw a
mindmap OR write it in paragraph
format)
 2
1 Name the characters in
Draw the the story
plot line of
the story
3
7
What is the
What is the
conflict in
tone
the story

6 5
What was
Describe the
What is the the author’s
setting of
theme? purpose for
the story
the story?