Short Story Elements

In order to understand short stories, we must know and understand the elements that the author uses to tell his or her story. Here are some of them:

-         Allusion: a casual and brief reference to a famous historical or literacy figure or event.

-         Flashback: allows the author to present events that happened before the time of the current narration. It can be memories, dream sequences, stories, or even authorial sovereignty.

-         Irony: a mode of expression conveying a reality different from and usually  opposite to appearance or expectation. A writer may say the opposite of what he means, create a reversal between expectation and its fulfilment, or give the audience knowledge that a character lacks, making the character’s words hace meaning to the audience not perceived by the character.

-         Setting: setting includes time period (when), the place (where), the historical milieu, as well as the social and political realities.

-         Symbol: something that is itself and yet also represents something else, like and idea. Ex.: a sword may be a sword and also representatives justice.

-         Pathos: pathos occurs when the author expresses thoughts and feelings in a way that evokes pity or compassion.

-         Plot: the pattern of events in a narrative or drama. Typically plots have a beginning, a middle and an end.

-         Pont of view: the narrative perspective from which a literary work is presented to the reader. There are four traditionally points of view:

o       Third person omniscient: gives the reader a godlike perspective, from which top see actions and look into the minds of characters. This allow the author to comment openly on characters and events in the work.

o       Third person: relates the events of the story from an outside of any single character’s perception, much like the omniscient point of view, but the reader must understand the action as it takes place without any opinion.

o       First person: relates event as they are perceived by a single character. He may tell his opinions.

o       Second person: it is very uncommon. The author tells the story as if it is happening to the reader.

-         Denouement: it is in French (unknotting). In literacy criticism, it denotes the resolution of conflict. It follows the climax and provides an outcome to the primary plot as well as an explanation of secondary plot complications.

-         Climax: the turning point in a narrative, the moment when the conflict is at its most intense.

-         Conflict: the conflict is the issue to be resolved in the story. It usually occurs between two characters, the protagonist and society or the protagonist and him/herself.

-         Antagonist: the major character who works against the hero or protagonist.

-         Mood: the prevailing emotions of a work or of the authors in his or her creation of the work. It is not always what might be expected based on its subject matter.

-         Suspense: a literary device in which the author maintains the audience’s attention through the build up of events, the outcome of which will soon be revealed.

-         Protagonist: the central character of a story who serves as a focus for its themes and incidents and as the principal rationale for its development.

-         Theme: the central or domination idea of a work.