Story Elements

What is a short story?

• A story that is short

• A brief, imaginative narrative containing few characters, simple plot, conflict, and suspense which leads to a climax and a swift conclusion.

• A story that can be read in less than five minutes

• A story that is vertically-challenged

The five elements of a short story include...

• 1. PLOT

  2. SETTING

  3. CHARACTER

  4. THEME

  5. CONFLICT

• 1. Characters

  2. Setting

  3. Plot

  4. Short

  5. Interesting

• 1. Plot

  2. Characters

  3. Theme

  4. Short

  5. There's a sequel

The six elements of story arc include...

• Title

  Author

  Genre

  Book Cover

  Dedication

  Rating

• Prologue

  Intro

  Plot

  Characters

  Setting

  Conflict

• Introduction/Exposition

  Inciting incident

  Rising action

  Climax

  Falling Action/Denouement

  Resolution

Tags

CCSS.W.8.3B

'Exposition' does the following...

• Setting

• Basic Situation & Characters

• Narrative Hook

• All of the Above

Tags

CCSS.W.8.3A

The Inciting Incident is...

• The first major action that sets the story in motion

• When we meet the story's villain

• The first major character to die

• When the fat lady sings

Rising Action is...

• Special effects are used to create suspense

• When the audience is getting the most excited

• When the main character gets really mad

• Incidents or story events that carry the plot along

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.3

Foreshadowing is...

• Standing outside one's own shadow

• One character following another character around

• A technique for hinting events that may happen later in the plot

• When the plot gets gloomy

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.4

Flashback is...

• The insertion of an earlier event into the time order of a narrative

• When a character remembers a dream he or she had

• Is when the main character is struck by lightning or other crazy weather event

• When a character gets dizzy and confused about things

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.RL.8.4

Suspense is...

• What happens when the main character is the only character left in the story

• Waiting to find out what's behind Door #3

• Not knowing what's going on

• The feeling of excitement and curiosity that keeps the reader reading

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.6

The climax is...

• The highest point of interest in the story when the character struggles the most

• Already knowing what's going to happen next

• When a reader screams out loud while reading

• Not really important to a story

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.3