Short Story Analysis

The people who inhabit and take part in a story.

• Characters
• Point of View
• Imagery
• Personification

Where an author provides important background information such as setting character.

• Figurative Language
• Exposition
•  Tone    
• Protagonist

Method of narration that describes in words the flow of thoughts in the minds of the characters.

• omniscience
• exposition
• narration
• conflict

The turning point in a story, at which the end result becomes inevitable, usually where something suddenly goes terribly wrong; the “dramatic high point” of a story.

• Simile
• Climax  
• Figurative Language
• Context 

The apparent emotional state, or “attitude,” of the speaker/narrator/narrative voice, as conveyed through the language of the piece 

• Point-of-view
• Theme
• Hyperbole
• Tone

The main character in a story, the one with whom the reader is meant to identify. The person is not necessarily “good” by any conventional moral standard, but he/she is the person in whose plight the reader is most invested. 

•  Climax 
• Exposition 
•  Context 
• Protagonist

The time and place where a story occurs. It can be specific (e.g., New York City in 1930) or ambiguous (e.g., a large urban city during economic hard times).    

• Conflict .
• Setting 
• Climax
• Plot

A struggle between opposing forces which is the driving force of a story. The outcome of any story provides a resolution of this. It is what keeps the reader reading. It exists between individual characters, between groups of characters, between a character and society, etc., and can be purely abstract. 

• Foreshadowing 
• Personification
• Theme 
•  Conflict

The identity of the narrative voice; the person or entity through whom the reader experiences the story. May be third-person or first-person. 

• Point-of-view
• Antagonist 
• Dialogue  
• Characters  

The main idea or message conveyed by the piece.

• Setting 
• Theme 
• Plot  
• Personification