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Elements of a Short Story

SETTING -- The time and location in which a story takes place is called the setting.  For some stories the setting is very important, while for others it is not.  There are several aspects of a story's setting to consider when examining how setting contributes to a story (some, or all, may be present in a story):
 

a)  place - geographical location.  Where is the action of the story taking place?
b)  time - When is the story taking place? (historical period, time of day, year, etc)
c)  weather conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc?
d)  social conditions - What is the daily life of the characters like? Does the story contain local colour (writing that focuses on the speech, dress, mannerisms, customs, etc. of a particular place)?
e)  mood or atmosphere - What feeling is created at the beginning of the story?  Is it bright and cheerful or dark and frightening?

PLOT -- The plot is how the author arranges events to develop his basic idea;  It is the sequence of events in a story or play.  The plot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle, and end.  The short story usually has one plot so it can be read in one sitting.  There are five essential parts of plot:
 

a)  Introduction - The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed.b)  Rising Action - This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and climax).
c)  Climax - This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story.  The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?
d)  Falling action - The events and complications begin to resolve themselves.  The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between climax and denouement).
e)  Denouement - This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story.

It is helpful to consider climax as a three-fold phenomenon:  1)  the main character receives new information  2)  accepts this information (realizes it but does not necessarily agree with it) 3)  acts on this information (makes a choice that will determine whether or not he/she gains his objective).


CONFLICT--   Conflict is essential to plot.  Without conflict there is no plot.  It is the opposition of forces which ties one incident to another and makes the plot move.  Conflict is not merely limited to open arguments, rather it is any form of opposition that faces the main character. Within a short story there may be only one central struggle, or there may be one dominant struggle with many minor ones.

There are two types of conflict:
1)  External - A struggle with a force outside one's self.

2)  Internal - A struggle within one's self; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist an urge, etc.There are four kinds of conflict:
1)  Man vs. Man (physical) - The leading character struggles with his physical strength against other men, forces of nature, or animals.
2)  Man vs. Circumstances (classical) - The leading character struggles against fate, or the circumstances of life facing him/her.
3)  Man vs. Society (social) - The leading character struggles against ideas, practices, or customs of other people.
4)  Man vs. Himself/Herself (psychological) -  The leading character struggles with himself/herself; with his/her own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical limitations, choices, etc.

CHARACTER -- There are two meanings for the word character:
1)  The person in a work of fiction.
2)  The characteristics of a person.
Persons in a work of fiction - Antagonist and Protagonist
Short stories use few characters.  One character is clearly central to the story with all major events having some importance to this character - he/she is the PROTAGONIST.  The opposer of the main character is called the ANTAGONIST.
The Characteristics of a Person -
In order for a story to seem real to the reader its characters must seem real.  Characterization is the information the author gives the reader about the characters themselves.  The author may reveal a character in several ways:
a)  his/her physical appearance
b)  what he/she says, thinks, feels and dreams
c)  what he/she does or does not do
d)  what others say about him/her and how others react to him/her
Characters are convincing if they are:  consistent, motivated, and life-like (resemble real people)
Characters are...
1.  Individual - round, many sided and complex personalities.
2.  Developing - dynamic,  many sided personalities that change, for better or worse, by the end of the story.
3.  Static - Stereotype, have one or two characteristics that never change and are emphasized e.g. brilliant detective, drunk, scrooge, cruel stepmother, etc.


POINT OF VIEW
Point of view, or p.o.v., is defined as the angle from which the story is told.
1.  Innocent Eye - The story is told through the eyes of a child (his/her judgment being different from that of an adult) .
2.  Stream of Consciousness - The story is told so that the reader feels as if they are inside the head of one character and knows all their thoughts and reactions.
3.  First Person - The story is told  by the protagonist or one of the characters who interacts closely with the protagonist or other characters (using pronouns I, me, we, etc).  The reader sees the story through this person's eyes as he/she experiences it and only knows what he/she knows or feels.
4.  Omniscient- The author can narrate the story using the omniscient point of view.  He can move from character to character, event to event, having free access to the thoughts, feelings and motivations of his characters and he introduces information where and when he chooses.  There are two main types of omniscient point of view:
a)  Omniscient Limited - The author tells the story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it, etc).  We know only what the character knows and what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the thoughts and feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us.
b)  Omniscient Objective – The author tells the story in the third person.  It appears as though a camera is following the characters, going anywhere, and recording only what is seen and heard.  There is no comment on the characters or their thoughts. No interpretations are offered.  The reader is placed in the position of spectator without the author there to explain.  The reader has to interpret events on his own.

THEME -- The theme in a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight.  It is the author's underlying meaning or main idea that he is trying to convey.  The theme may be the author's thoughts about a topic or view of human nature.  The title of the short story usually points to what the writer is saying and he may use various figures of speech to emphasize his theme, such as: symbol, allusion, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or irony.  

(source: hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca)

Types of Poetry

Acrostic: Acrostic poetry is one that contains certain letters, which are usually placed at the beginning of each line. These letters form a message or word when they are read in a sequence.

Ballad: This type of poetry is short and narrative and is made up of stanzas of two to four lines. Ballads usually have a refrain. They also deal mostly with folklore or popular trends though some also originate from a wide range of subject matter. The verses in ballads are straight-forward and seldom have any detail. Apart from that, ballads always possess graphic simplicity and force.

Blank Verse: A blank verse is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. This form is a little like the rhythms of speech.

Burlesque: In this kind of poetry a subject that is serious in nature is treated as humor.

Cinquain: A cinquain is short poem that is made up of five lines that are usually unrhymed. These five lines contain two, four, six, eight and two syllables respectively.

Clerihew: This type of poetry is made up of a comic verse that has two couplets and a specific rhyming scheme.

Didactic Poetry: Didactic poems are poems that are written in order to instruct or teach.

Epic: This type of poem is long and narrative in nature. It talks about the adventures of a hero. Epics usually deal with the history and traditions of a nation.

Epigram: Practiced by poets like Robert Frost, William Blake and Ben Jonson, epigrams are short poems that possess satire. This type of poetry ends with a stinging punchline or humorous retort. Common forms of epigrams are written as a couplet.

Epitaph: A short poem with rhyming lines written on a tombstone in praise of a deceased person is called an epitaph.

Elegy: This type of poetry is sad and thoughtful in nature. They talk about the death of an individual.

Fable: A poetic story that is made up of verse or prose with a moral at the end is called a fable. In fables, animals are usually used to teach a lesson.

Free Verse: Like the name suggests, free verse is poetry that is irregular. This type of poetry has content which is free from the traditional rules of using verse.

Ghazal: A Ghazal refers to a poem that contains an odd number chain of couplets. In this scenario each couplet is a poem on it own. In a Ghazal it is natural to put a comma instead of a full stop at the end of the first line.

Haiku: Also known by other names such as seasonal or nature haiku, this type of poetry is made up of unrhymed Japanese verse. This verse consists of three unrhymed lines which are then made up of five, seven and five syllables or 17 syllables on the whole. This form of poetry is mostly written in the present tense and lays its focus on nature. 

Kyrielle: A French form of poetry that is written in quatrains i.e. a 14 line stanza is known as a Kyrielle. In this type of poetry each quatrain is made up of a repeating phrase or line as a refrain. Each line that forms a part of a Kyrielle consists of eight syllables. The rhyming pattern in a Kyrielle depends on the poet.

Lanturne: A five-line verse that resembles a Japanese lantern is called a lanturne. This type of poetry has a one, two, three, four, one syllabic pattern.

Limerick: This form of poetry originated in Limerick, Ireland and is used to refer to a rhymed humorous poem which is made up of five lines.

Monody: A monody is a poem in which a person expresses remorse over another’s death.

Monorhyme: In this type of poetry all the lines are made up of the same end rhyme.

Nonet: In a nonet there are nine lines of which the first lines had nine syllables, the second eight. This pattern continues until line nine which is made up of only one syllable. Nonet’s can be written on any subject and rhyming is a matter of choice.

Ode: A poem that is written in praise of a place, thing or person, is known as an ode.

Palindrome: Also known as mirrored poetry, a palindrome poem is one that remains the same whether read forwards or backwards.

Quatrain: This type of poetry is made up of four lines of verse that have a specific scheme of rhyming.

Rispetto: Like the name suggests, a Rispetto is an Italian form of poetry. This form is poetry is a complete poem that has two rhyme quatrains that have a strict meter.

Sonnet: A poem that is made up of 14 lines and a particular rhyming scheme is called a sonnet.

Tanka: The tanka is a form of Japanese poetry that is related to the haiku. This type of poetry is made five unrhymed lines that have the following number of syllables, five, seven, five, seven and seven syllables.

Verse: This word is used to refer to a single line of metrical poetry.

Villanelle: The villanelle is poem that is made up of 19 lines. These lines consist of five tercets as also a final quatrain on two rhymes. In the first tercet the first as well as the third lines repeat alternatively as a refrain. This closes the succeeding stanzas and is joined as the final couplet of the quatrain.

(source: articleswave.com)

Epitaph

 

Thou shall not be weary of my death, my love

For I am watching you from above

Thou shall not mourn of my passing

For I am in paradise with my Father, my King

The Symphony of Nature

It was a cold Tuesday night, as I tread lightly on a rocky path that leads to our house, under the night sky and as the majestic moon gazing upon me with its shimmering light. There is something inside me that said, stop and take time to listen to the symphony of nature. And that moment I was awe-strucked on how beautiful the nature’s ensemble is. And at that time I felt that I have been drawn closer to nature. I can hear different sounds that when combined together I can hear and listen to an extravagant performance of nature’s melodies and symphonies. And like the “Great Tenor” I can hear the strong and firm voice of the dog howling at the moon. And like the strings and wood wind instrument section of an orchestra, I can hear the cricket’s and cicada’s sweet ripping whistle in a perfect single note, unwavering and light to the ears, I can also hear the deep bass wooshing of the wind and I can feel it’s sweet caress and smooth touch on my skin. And like my mother the wind embraced me tightly and I felt comfort and peace. But in every concert there is always a finale, I can say time is like a thief, I realized that the night is very late and I have to finish my communion with nature and need to go home early.  And as I was laying my body to sleep I was thinking of that moment and said to myself, what a wonderful world we have. And then I slowly drift into a very deep slumber.

Poem

(Couplet)

"Lightning"

If there is a strong lightning

there's a bad weather brewing.

Poems

(Haiku) 

"The Plane"

Zooom, there goes the plane

as fast as the wind that blows

look how big it is.

(Rhyme)

"Trees, The Sentinels of Time"

Some still stands for a millenia

Some became a witness of an era

Some are big some are small

They are majestic and great, some may call

It is used as a refuge of big and small creatures

Because of it's helpful and useful features

Some are used for industrialization

But others are protected to be seen by the next generation

Some may say they are the oldest of the old

And I say they are as precious as gold.