2. Elements of a Short
Story
Setting
Characters
Plot
Conflict
Point of View
Theme
3. Setting
• Place - Geographical location. Where is the action of
the story taking place?
• Time - When is the story taking place? (historical
period, time of day, year, etc.)
• Weather Conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy,
etc.?
• Social Conditions -What is the daily life of the
characters like? Does the story contain local color
(writing that focuses on the speech, dress,
mannerisms, customs, etc. of a particular place)?
• Mood or Atmosphere - What feeling is created at the
beginning of the story? Is it bright and cheerful or
dark and frightening?
4. Characters
Character is a person, or sometimes
even an animal, who takes part in
the action of a short story or a
piece of literary work.
• main characters - those who are
most important in the story
• minor characters - usually static
or unchanging
5. Characters According to
Principality
1.Protagonist
• is the character with whom the
reader empathizes
2.Antagonist
• is the character that goes
against the protagonist
6. Characters According to
Development
1.Dynamic
• a character that exhibits noticeable
development
2.Static
• a character who exhibits no
changes and development
7. Characters According to
Personality
1.Round
• is a character that displays
different/multiple personalities
throughout the story
2.Flat
• it is the character that reveals
conventional traits; who remains
the same throughout the story
8. Characterization
Characterization is the method used by the
writer/author to reveal the personality of the
character/s.
The characters are revealed according to:
1. actions of the character
2. thoughts of the character
3. descriptions of the character
4. descriptions of other characters
5. descriptions of the author
9. Plot
It is the sequence of events in a story
or play.
Kinds of Plot
1. Linear plot - Moves with the natural sequence
of events where actions are arranged
sequentially.
2. Circular plot - A kind of plot where linear
development of the story merges with an
interruption in the chronological order to show
an event that happened in the past.
3. En Medias Res - A kind of plot where the story
commences in the middle part of the action.
10. Five Stages
a) Introduction - The beginning of the story where the
characters and the setting is revealed.
b) Rising Action - This is where the events in the story
become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed
(events between the introduction and climax).
c) Climax - This is the highest point of interest and the turning
point of the story. The reader wonders what will happen next; will
the conflict be resolved or not?
d) Falling action - The events and complications begin
to resolve themselves. The reader knows what has
happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not
(events between climax and denouement).
e) Denouement - This is the final outcome or untangling of
events in the story.
12. Conflict
Conflict is the opposition of forces
which ties one incident to another and
makes the plot move.
Two Major Types
1. External - A struggle with a force
outside one's self.
2. Internal - A struggle within one's self;
a person must make some decision,
overcome pain, quiet their temper,
resist an urge, etc.
13. External
a. man vs. man
- a type of conflict where one character in the story has a
problem with one or more of the other characters
b. man vs. society
- a type of conflict where a character has a conflict or
problem with some element of society-the school, the
law, the accepted way of doing things, and so on
c. man vs. nature
- a type of conflict where a character has a problem with
some natural happening: snowstorm, typhoon, avalanche,
bitter cold, or any elements common to nature
14. Internal
man vs. self
-is a type of conflict where a
character has trouble deciding
what to do in a particular situation
15. Point of View
The angle from which the story is told.
Types:
1. First-Person POT - 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).
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.
3. Third-Person Omniscient POT (third person) - The
narrator tells the story from an all-knowing point of view.
He can move from character to character, event to event,
having free access to the thoughts, feelings and
motivations of his characters and he introduces
information where and when he chooses.
16. Theme
The theme is the controlling idea or
the central insight.
It is the author's underlying meaning
or main idea that he is trying to
convey.
The theme may be the author's
thoughts about a topic or view of
human nature.
17. SETTING
In a single hour in an American home in the 19th century.
CHARACTERS -Mrs. Louise Mallard
-Mr. Brently Mallard
-Josephine
-Richards
- Doctors
PLOT Exposition
- Mrs. Mallard had a heart ailment. And his husband Brently Mallard is believed to be killed
in a train accident.
Rising Action
-Josephine broke the news of Brently Mallard’s “death”.
Climax
-Mrs. Mallard cried and went to her room. In the room, she saw all signs of new life coming.
Falling Action
-She was delighted about the freedom. She went down and joined Josephine and Richards
when somebody opened the door.
Denouement
- Surprised and disappointed, Mrs. Mallard died of heart attack.
CONFLICT Man vs. self
Man vs. society
PT. OF VIEW Third person omniscient
THEME
There was discrimination of women in a male-dominated society in the 19th century.
Freedom seems like a terrible thing to Mrs. Mallard, who's restricted in lots of ways: through
her marriage, by her bad heart, and even inside her home, which she doesn't leave during
"The Story of an Hour."
