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Characteristics And Elements Of Short Stories - Coggle Diagram
Characteristics And Elements Of Short Stories
Definition:
Short stories are pieces of prose fiction significantly shorter than novels and can generally be read in a sitting. They deal with few characters and are concise as they focus on few incidents.
Types Of Short Stories
Fairy Tales:
Fairy tales are short stories that feature fantasy creatures such as elves, goblins, wizards, fairies etc. They may have talking animals and take place in magical settings and have a magical plot. They are considered traditional but they have undergone reinvention and adaptation.
Fairy Tales By Hans Christian Anderson & Grimm Brothers:
The Princess And The Pea
The Emperor's New Clothes
The Snow Queen
Hansel And Gretel
Cinderella
Parables:
Parables are short stories that teach a religious or moral life lesson. They are often religious or spiritual and teach principles, many of them found in religious texts such as the Bible.
Examples:
The Good Samaritan
The Prodigal Son
Fables:
Fables are stories that teach moral lessons, usually featuring animals, mythical creatures, forces of nature and inanimate objects. Fables are one of the oldest traditions of storytelling in the world.
The best known fables are Aesop's Fables, written by Aesop from Ancient Greece. His morals revolved around equality, justice and virtuous behavior.
Examples:
The Ant And The Grasshopper
The Golden Touch
The Goose With The Golden Eggs
Animal Farm
Gulliver's Travels
Flash Fiction:
Flash fiction is an extremely short story that ranges from 300 words to 1000 words. Flash fiction follows all the elements of a story and remains in one setting and usually doesn't focus much on characters, but on the fast-moving plot.
Types:
Microfiction
Six-Word Story
Examples:
The Pedestrian (Ray Bradbury)
A Haunted House (Virginia Woolf)
Everyone Cried (Lydia Davis)
Anecdotes:
An anecdote is used to provide a short account about a real person or an incident that actually took place. These stories are used to illustrate a point and are very short with no specific limits.
Types:
Humorous
Reminiscent
Inspirational
Cautionary
Elements Of Short Stories
Conflict:
The conflict is the problem in the story that needs to be solved. It is where the protagonists and antagonists collide that results in the conflict. It may be with another person, an animal, a group or even nature.
Resolution:
The resolution is the solution to the conflict and how it is solved. The resolution solves the challenges faced and brings out a reasonable solution to the problem.
Plot:
The plot is the entire storyline of the story and the sequenced events that actually happen. A plot has three parts: the beginning, middle and end, that shape the entire story.
Parts Of Plot:
Exposition
Rising Position
Climax
Falling Action
Resolution
Point Of View:
The point of view is the perspective the story is told from. The character themselves might tell the story or there might be a narrator.
Types:
First-Person
Second-Person
Third-Person
Setting:
The setting is when and where the story takes place and progresses. It creates the right mood and atmosphere for readers and helps them visualize the story. A story's setting can be anywhere such as a city, state, country or it can be where the character is present.
Theme:
The theme is the big idea or message from the story that is gained after reading it. Themes may also be a moral lesson learned from the story.
Examples:
Friendship
Bravery
Loyalty
Character:
Characters are the people, animals or objects that the story revolves around and they each play a part in the story. Each character has its own physical and emotional traits and is characterized.
Types:
Protagonist
Antagonist
Dynamic Character
Static Character
Genres Of Short Stories
Horror Fiction:
These stories contain scary incidents and paranormal events that are meant to horrify and scare the readers.
Types:
Ghost Story
Monster Story
Mystery:
Mysteries contain problems that need to be investigated. They may include detectives and other people who try to solve clues in order to find something or solve some crime.
Types:
Investigative
Suspense
Fantasy:
This genre had magical events and other magical elements such as spells, mythical creatures, witchcraft etc.
Types:
Fables
Fairytales
Drama:
This genre is dramatic and may contain family stories or romance that may be set in the historical past.
Types:
Romance
Historical
Tragedy
Comedy:
This genre consists of humorous stories that are intended to make the reader laugh. They contain funny incidents and events.
Types:
Black Comedy
Rom-Coms
Science Fiction:
This genre revolves around science and different scientific concepts.The stories explain the universe through them and contain sciences such as physics, astronomy and chemistry.
Types:
Space Opera
Action & Adventure:
This genre contains exciting obstacles that must be overcome before achieving the goal. The characters might go on adventures around the world.
Types:
Epic
Military
Spy Fiction
Westerns
Realistic Fiction:
Realist fiction is set in a time and place that can actually exist. They include real people and places and are true in everyday life as they abide by all the laws.
Length:
An average short story ´ s length is 1,000 to 7,500 words, sometimes exceeding to 10,000 to 15,000 words.
Examples Of Short Stories:
One Thousand And One
Nights
Canterbury Tales
(Geoffrey Chaucer)
Gift of the Magi
(O. Henry)
The Dead
(James Joyce)
The Garden Party
(Katherine Mansfield)
The Lottery
(Shirley Jackson)
Lamb to the Slaughter
(Roald Dahl)