1. Elements
of a
Short Story
English 9

2. Objectives
Elements of a Short Story
• Identify and define
elements of a short story
• Demonstrate mastery of
short story elements by
creating story grammar

3. GUESS THE TITLE
English 9

5. THE THREE LITTLE PIGS
THE THREE LITTLE PIGS

7. THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER

9. THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF
THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF

10. THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF

11. COCO
COCO

12. COCO

13. COCO
MULAN

14. Elements
of a
Short Story
English 9

16. Overview
A Short Story is similar to your dish. It needs
the best ingredients for you to enjoy its delectable taste.
Elements of a Short Story
Stories are made up of important
elements:
Setting
Characters, Plot,
Conflict
and Theme

17. Setting
Tells the reader where and when
the story takes place.

18. Characters and
Characterization
The people, and in some stories,
the animals that take part in
the story.
The description of the personalities
of the characters in the story and
the way in which an author
reveals their personalities.

19. Two Identifications of
Characters
1. Protagonist –
the hero of the story
2. Antagonist –
the villain in the story
who is always
opposing the
protagonist

20. Methods of Characterization
Creating Believable Characters
• Indirect
– physical appearance
– speech, thoughts,
feelings, or actions of
the character
– speech, thoughts,
feelings, or actions of
other characters
• Direct
– the narrator’s
direct
comments
about a
character

21. Plot
• The chain of related events that
take place in a story.
• Built around conflict, which is
a struggle between opposing
forces.

22. PLOT DIAGRAM
Resolution
Climax
Exposition
Conflict
• The plot is 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
The struggles or problems between
opposing forces.
Climax
The point of crisis in the plot. It
may be the reader’s point of
highest interest.
Fallingaction
The action in the story after
the climax is revealed.
Resolution
The part of the plot that reveals
the final outcome.

24. Conflict is any of the problems
that a character encounters in a story.
The conflict is a struggle between two
people or things in a short story.
The main character is on one side of
the main conflict.
Conflicts can be:
1. External – conflict with others and
with nature
2. Internal – conflict within themselves
Conflict

25. -Man vs. Man
-Man vs. Nature
-Man vs. Society
- Man vs. Supernatural Being
-Man vs. Himself
Types of Conflict

26. Theme
Ex.
Love
Family Feud
Themes from ‘The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet’
• The main idea of a story.
• It is not a moral, lesson, or a
rule for living.

27. Point of View
Point of View, or P.O.V. is defined as the angle
form which the story is told
1. Innocent Eye - The story is told through
the eyes of a child (his/her judgment being
different from that of an adult) .
2. Stream of Consciousness - The story is
told so that the reader feels as if they are
inside the head of one character and
knows all their thoughts and reactions.

28. Point of View
Point of View, or P.O.V. is defined as the angle
form which the story is told
3. First Person - The story is told by the
protagonist or one of the characters who
interacts closely with the protagonist or other
characters (using pronouns I, me, we, etc).
The reader sees the story through this
person's eyes as he/she experiences it and
only knows what he/she knows or feels.

29. Point of View
4. There are three main types of Third Person point
of view:
Omniscient/Limited - The author tells the story in
third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it, etc).
We know only what the character knows and what
the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the
thoughts and feelings of characters if the author
chooses to reveal them to us.

30. Point of View
4. There are two main types of Third Person point of
view:
Third Person Objective - The author tells the story in
the third person. It appears as though a camera is
following the characters, going anywhere, and
recording only what is seen and heard. There is no
comment on the characters or their thoughts. No
interpretations are offered. The reader is placed in the
position of spectator without the author there to
explain. The reader has to interpret events on his own.

31. Point of View
5. Second Person -- the story is told to
another character using the pronouns you,
your, and yours. It is not often used in fiction
writing, but is used in letters, speeches, and
other forms of nonfiction.

32. MOOD
It refers to the emotion that the reader gets
from the story

33. MOOD
It refers to the emotion that the reader gets
from the story

36. CONCLUSION
Now that we have identified
and defined the elements of a
short story, let us use the
elements to analyze a Short
Story.
You may use your notes from
the PowerPoint presentation to
assist you when reading..

38. 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