What did you need to know when you read a short story?

WHAT IS A SHORT STORY?
 A short story :
- A short narrative work of fiction written in prose
- Usually centres around one or two main characters
- Like the novel, it has a plot and both main and minor characters.
- It has a less complicated plot and fewer characters than a novel
- Covers a limited time frame
- Its length can vary from a paragraph to thirty pages or more
- The author also uses literary devices to enhance its presentation

ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY 
When reading and discussing a short story, a teacher has to bring the reader’s attention to the following elements of the story :

Author 
Person who wrote the story.

Setting
The setting of a story is the time and place the story happens. The atmosphere suggested by the setting is very important. It creates the mood or reveals the values, ideas and attitudes of a character connected to a place.

 Theme 
A theme is the main idea of a story. It is the central focus or idea presented by the author concerning a view or a theory about life. Sometimes, a story may have several themes.

Characterisation 
A short story usually has only a few characters. These characters tell us about themselves through their words and actions or we may learn about them from what other characters say about them.

Point Of View
The writer tells a story from a particular point of view. The story may be told in the first person point of view, where the narrator is one of the characters in the story and relates the story as ‘I’. The writer may also use the third person or omniscient point of view, where the narrator tells the story objectively and uses pronouns such as ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’ or ‘they’.

 Plot 
Plot is the sequence of events in a story. An interesting sequence of events keeps the story moving and maintains the reader’s interest. The events usually follow the structure below :

EXPOSITION -Introduction of characters, setting and background of the story

CONFLICT -Build-up the story

CLIMAX  -The most exciting part of the story

FALLING ACTION  -How the events resolve

RESOLUTION  -How the story finally end

Literary Devices 
When discussing language and style, the teacher should also highlight where possible the use of literary devices such as flashback, diction, repetition, imagery, personification, similes, metaphors, symbolism, etc.

+Symbolism
Things such as an object, a person, a situation or an action that is used to represent something else. +Foreshadowing
A technique used by the writers to hint at what will happen later in the story.
+Flashback
A technique used to show or explain certain events that have happened earlier in the lives of the characters.
+Irony
It is a situation where the result of an action contradicts the desired effect.
+Conflict
Conflict occurs when there is a struggle, a clash of actions or intentions between characters, between a character and an external force or within the character himself.
+Simile
A direct comparison between two objects or ideas with the use of the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.
+Repetition
Stating something more than once to highlight the matter or for dramatic effect.
+Personification
An object or animal that is given human qualities or personalities.