This year many of you will write and perhaps study short stories. The purpose of this post is to discuss the features of the short story and to think about how to analyse one.
The elements of a short story:
The short story has the elements of:
- plot
- theme
- character
- setting
- point of view
- style
Each element contributes to the overall effect of the story. As you read and write a short story you should keep the following questions in mind:
- What is the writer’s purpose? To entertain? To be thought provoking? To state an opinion? To play on the reader’s emotions?
- What is the writer’s tone? Is the writer being ironic? Sarcastic? Humorous? Serious? Tongue in cheek?
- How does the story begin? Does the writer establish setting or emphasise the background of the situation? Is the character given more emphasis than the setting? How much detail is supplied?
Look at your own short story… how much detail is supplied by the writer? How much is supplied by the reader? A good short story allows the reader to flesh out the details so that the writer can get on with exploring the situation he or she is concerned with.
- How does the story develop? Is it told through a series of blocks moving rapidly through time and space, like flash backs and flash forwards? Is it being told chronologically?
- How does the story end? With a twist or surprise? With a build up to an inevitable climax or are you left hanging, being forced to supply your own ending based on your reading of the little blocks of action the writer supplied?
- Who tells the story? Is the story being told through the eyes of a character involved in the action? Is the author standing outside of the action and observing? Is the author observing but within the action?
Check the use of the pronoun… if it is I, me, my, our, we then the author is a character within the story. The story is being told in the first person.
If the pronouns are: he, she, it, hers, his, they, them, the author is outside of the action and observing as if he/she was God. This is known as the Eye of God technique.
Another way of telling a story is as a series of thoughts, each thought block building up an impression or action. The thoughts can be told in a logical order or as they seemingly occur to the character… at random. This is known as the stream of consciousness technique.
- What is the language and style like? The impression the writer wants in the story will be affected by the language he/she tells the story in or has the characters use. Frank Sargeson uses the colloquial, chatty style that creates an impression of 1930-50s NZ ‘mateyiness’. The language is important to develop the character and action. The realism of the dialogue will influence our reading of the story and our attitudes to the characters involved.
- What images are used? In order to rapidly develop a story the writer relies on the reader recognising particular symbols and references and understanding what he/she intends them to mean, e.g. in Maurice Gee’s story Schooldays the lead character’s red hair becomes a symbol for rebellion, challenge and freedom.
- What are the characters like? The characters don’t have to be fully developed. They need not have a name. They can be identified simply as “the boy”, “the girl”. “the mother.” In other stories it is essential that the characters have fully developed personalities and motivations.
- How important is the setting in conveying the ideas and mood of the story?
If you want more ideas, check out Rules for Short Stories at answer.com.
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