SHORT STORY

HISTORY

Short stories date back to oral story-telling traditions which originally produced epics such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Oral narratives were often told in the form of rhyming or rhythmic verse, often including recurring sections or, in the case of Homer, Homeric epithets. Such stylistic devices often acted as mnemonics for easier recall, rendition and adaptation of the story. Short sections of verse might focus on individual narratives that could be told at one sitting. The overall arc of the tale would emerge only through the telling of multiple such sections.

PREDECESSORS

There are early examples of short stories published separately between 1790 and 1810, but the first true collections of short stories appeared between 1810 and 1830 in several countries around the same period.

The first short stories in the United Kingdom were gothic tales like Richard Cumberland's "remarkable narrative" "The Poisoner of Montremos" (1791). Great novelists like Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens also wrote some short stories.

One of the earliest short stories in the United States was Charles Brockden Brown's "Somnambulism" from 1805. Washington Irving wrote mysterious tales including "Rip van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820). Nathaniel Hawthorne published the first part of his Twice-Told Tales in 1837. Edgar Allan Poe wrote his tales of mystery and imagination between 1842 and 1859. Classic stories are "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Pit and the Pendulum", and the first detective story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". In "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846) Poe argued that a literary work should be short enough for a reader to finish in one sitting.

1790–1850

In the latter 19th century, the growth of print magazines and journals created a strong demand for short fiction of between 3,000 and 15,000 words.

In the United Kingdom Thomas Hardy wrote dozens of short stories, including "The Three Strangers" (1883), "A Mere Interlude" (1885) and "Barbara of the House of Grebe" (1890). Rudyard Kipling published short story collections for grown-ups, e.g. Plain Tales from the Hills(1888), as well as for children, e.g. The Jungle Book (1894). In 1892 Arthur Conan Doyle brought the detective story to a new height with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. H. G. Wells wrote his first science fiction stories in the 1880s. One of his best known "The Country of the Blind" (1904).

1850 - 1900

In the United Kingdom periodicals like The Strand Magazine, The Sketch, Harper's Magazine and Story-Teller contributed to the popularity of the short story. Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916), also known by his pen name of Saki, wrote satirical short stories about Edwardian England.W. Somerset Maugham, who wrote over a hundred short stories, was one of the most popular authors of his time. P. G. Wodehouse published his first collection of comical stories about butler Jeeves in 1917. Lots of detective stories were written by G. K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie en Dorothy L. Sayers. Short stories by Virginia Woolf are Kew Gardens (1919) and Solid Objects, about a politician with mental problems. Graham Greene wrote his Twenty-One Stories between 1929 and 1954. A specialist of the short story was V. S. Pritchett, whose first collection appeared in 1932. Arthur C. Clarke published his first science fiction story, Travel by Wire! in 1937.

In Ireland James Joyce published his short story collection Dubliners in 1914. These stories, written in a more accessible style than his later novels, are based on careful observation of the inhabitants of his birth city.

1900 - 1945

The period following World War II saw a great flowering of literary short fiction in the United States. The New Yorker continued to publish the works of the form’s leading mid-century practitioners, including Shirley Jackson, whose story, The Lottery, published in 1948, elicited the strongest response in the magazine’s history to that time. Other frequent contributors during the last 1940s included John Cheever, John Steinbeck, Jean Stafford, and Eudora Welty. J. D. Salinger's Nine Stories (1953) experimented with point of view and voice, while Flannery O’Connor's story A Good Man is Hard to Find (1955) reinvigorated the Southern Gothic style. Cultural and social identity played a considerable role in much of the short fiction of the 1960s. Philip Roth and Grace Paley cultivated distinctive Jewish-American voices. 

AFTER 1945

Tillie Olsen’s I Stand Here Ironing (1961) adopted a consciously feminist perspective. James Baldwin’s collection Going to Meet the Man (1965) told stories of African-American life. Frank O’Connor’s The Lonely Voice, an exploration of the short story, appeared in 1963. Wallace Stegner's short stories are primarily set in the American West. Stephen King published a lot of short stories in men's magazines in the 1960s and after. The 1970s saw the rise of the post-modern short story in the works of Donald Barthelme and John Barth. Traditionalists including John Updike and Joyce Carol Oates maintained significant influence on the form. Minimalism gained widespread influence in the 1980s, most notably in the work of Raymond Carver and Ann Beattie.

What parts make up a story?

Short Story Elements

Plot SettingCharactersThemePoint of View

Story Terms

Plot is what happens and how it happens in a narrative. A narrative is any work that tells a story, such as a short story, a novel, a drama, or a narrative poem.

Plot

Exposition – event that gives rise to conflict (opening situation)

Rising Action- events that complicate or intensify the central conflict (rising action)

Climax- highest point of interest or emotional involvement in the story

Falling Action- logical result of ClimaxResolution- Final outcome of the story

Parts of a Plot

Diagram of Plot

Conflict

Exposition

Ris

ing

Act

ion

Climax (often called the “Turning Point)

Falling Action

Resolution

Suspense- excitement or tensionForeshadowing- hint or clue about what will

happen in storyFlashback- interrupts the normal sequence of

events to tell about something that happened in the past

Surprise Ending- conclusion that reader does not expect (use of irony)

Special Techniques of Plot

Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces

Every plot must contain some kind of conflictStories can have more than one conflictConflicts can be external or internal

External conflict- outside force may be person, group, animal, nature, or a nonhuman obstacle

Internal conflict- takes place in a character’s mind

Conflict

CONFLICT BASES

Man vs. Man Physical

Man vs. Himself Psychological

Man vs. God Spiritual

Man vs. Universe Intellectual

Man vs. Society Moral/Social

Man vs. Environment Intellectual

Man vs. Nature Intellectual

The core of a conventional plot, the most significant kind of action

ProtagonistAntagonistMajor Characters

Minor Characters

Types of Characters

Types of Characters MeaningProtagonist The Main Character

Antagonist The Character or force in conflict with the

Protagonist

Major A character who plays a large role in the out

come of the story

Minor A character who plays a small role in the out come of the story

Ways Description

Dynamic Grows and changes in some significant manner by the end

of the story

Static Changes a little or none through out the story

Round Character shows many different traits, like faults and

virtues.

Flat We only know the character as one type of person – we

only meet one side.

Four Ways to Classify Character

Elements of Character

Character

Main

Flat

Minor

Not Fully Developed

FriendsRelativesFully

Developed

Protagonist

AntagonistCo-Main

Enemy

Others

Round

Flat

A writer reveals what a character is like and how the character changes throughout the story.

Two primary methods of characterization:Direct- writer tells what the character is

likeIndirect- writer shows what a character is

like by describing what the character looks like, by telling what the character says and does, and by what other characters say about and do in response to the character.

Characterization

Direct Characterization(Expository Method)

…And I don’t play the dozens or believe in standing around with somebody in my face doing a lot of talking. I much rather just knock you down and take my chances even if I’m a little girl with skinny arms and a squeaky voice, which is how I got the name Squeaky.

From “Raymond’s Run” by T. Bambara

Indirect Characterization(Dramatic Method)

The old man bowed to all of us in the room. Then he removed his hat and gloves, slowly and carefully. Chaplin once did that in a picture, in a bank--he was the janitor.

From “Gentleman of Rio en Medio” by J. Sedillo

A writer reveals what a character is like and how the character changes throughout the story.

Two primary types of character:Flat- reveals only one or two traits.

Round- reveals varied and sometimes contradictory traits.

Characterization

Physical appearance of characterPersonalityBackground/personal historyMotivationRelationshipsConflictDoes character change?

Factors in Analyzing Characters

SettingSettingDetails that describe:

Furniture Scenery Customs Transportation Clothing Dialects Weather Time of day Time of year

Time and place are where the action occurs

Elements of a Setting

Setting

Place

Atmosphere

Time

History

EraLife

Mood

Weather

Feelings

WordChoice

Location

Physical

Day

Use as activator to activate prior knowledge. Write the web on the board or overhead and students create one at their seats. Then as class share and fill in.

The Functions of a Setting

To create a mood or atmosphere

To show a reader a different way of life

To make action seem more real

To be the source of conflict or struggle

To symbolize an idea

A central message, concern, or insight into life expressed through a literary work

Can be expressed by one or two sentence statement about human beings or about life

May be stated directly or implied

Interpretation uncovers the theme

Theme

Example of Theme

“Every man needs to feel allegiance to his native country, whether he always appreciates that country or not.”

From “A Man Without a Country” by Edward Hale pg. 185 in Prentice Hall Literature book

POINT OF VIEW

In the objective point of view, the writer tells what happens without stating more

than can be inferred from the story's action and dialogue.

The narrator never tells the reader anything about what the characters thinks or feels, and remains a detached observer

of the story.

KINDS OF POINTS OF VIEW

A.) Third Person Point – of – View

a. Omniscientb. Objectivec. Central Intelligence

a.) OMNISCIENTThe word omniscient is derived from Latin and consists of two parts: Omni-which simply means “all” or “everywhere” and scire which means “to know”. This word is often used to refer to God’s ability to know everything, even that which is hidden from humans.

If you use this point of view of a short story, you take that elevated position of knowing everything. Therefore, when you tell the story, you even grant the reader access to the characters’ thoughts and other things that the characters cannot discern. You are not limited by your characters’ inabilities or lack of discernment.

b.) OBJECTIVE

To be objective means to be unbiased and unaffected by personal thoughts or opinions. Thus, in this point of view of a short story, the writer presents facts and events as they happen and does not concentrate on a character’s thoughts or opinions.

c.) CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

The story is told from the view of one character i.e. the main character. We see the setting through his eyes. We see and note the characters in the manner that he sees them. We feel his fears and anxieties. Indeed, we have full access to his thoughts, emotions and imaginations.

B.) First Person Point – of – View

a. Interior Monologueb. Dramatic Dialogue

a.) INTERIOR MONOLOGUE

You as the author, concentrates on the character’s thoughts… As the name suggest, the character speaks all to herself. The story occurs all in her mind.

b.) DRAMATIC DIALOGUE

In this point of view of a short story, the character speaks to others. This is the most common type of first person point-of-view of a short story. It usually results in a simple style.

Second Person Point – of - view

Not very common this, but it does sure make you feel part of the action!

GROUP 2