ELEMENTS OF THE SHORT STORY Flashcards
is a casually related sequence of actions and events in the story
Plot
The characters and the situation before the action proper is presented
Introduction (exposition)
: This stage unfolds the problem; the conflict begins.
Beginning of the Action (complication)
The main character’s struggles lead to the crisis or turning point (a decisive turn for better or for worse)
Middle of the Action (continuation of the complication)
This stage unfolds how the conflict or problem is resolved leading to its end
End of the Actión (résolution/denouement):
This stage rounds off the action a period of time after a disastrous event, However, a story may end with a swift resolution and has no aftermath.
Conclusion (aftermath):
refer to any make-believe persons encountered in the story. They may sometimes be animals or even objects in the story.
Characters
supports the good side
protagonist (hero)
contradicts the good intention of the protagonist
antagonist (villain)
supports the main character
confidant/cornfidante (sidekick)
make the setting real; i.c. students in a university, employees in ah office
Background characters (minor)
Methods of Character Portrayal:
Direct and Indirect Method
describes a character with a straightforward enumeration of his or her traits
Direct Method
shows a character in the following ways:
By action - through the character’s mannerisms and gestures
By word - through the character’s words and speech accent.
By thought-through what and how the character thinks.
By physical appearance-through a description of how the character looks like
By what others say-through someone’s reaction or description of others.
By juxtaposition with other characters, through the reactions of the characters to each other.
Indirect Method
refers to the time, physical, and social locality in which the story occurs.
Setting
Principal Functions of the Setting:
A. It can give immediacy to the story. This refers to the deadline or time limit of the hero to solve the problem.
B. It can lend an atmosphere to the story and thus, contribute to its emotional effect. 1
Examples: haunted house-strong feeling of fear, horror death in the family-grief, lament, deep sortow
C. It can enter directly into the meaning of the story, giving hints to the characters.
Example: May Day Eve by Nick Joaquin: It bespeaks of a woman who has been trapped of the snares of that May night and summertime.
refers to the main meaning of the story as projected by the characters, or the central or dominating idea in the story; a generalization about life or human character that a story explicitly or implicit embodies; a writer’s philosophy that does not necessarily have to be agreeable.
Theme
Guide to Stating the Theme:
A. The title of a story may directly lead to a generalization.
Example: We Filipinos Are Mild Drinkers-by Alejandro Roces
B. The resolution of the conflict may lead to a generalization.
Example: Footnote to Youth by Jose Garcia-Villa: Love must triumph now… Youth must triumph now… Afterwards… it will be Life.
C. The theme is not always explicit. The render is left to arrive at it.
D. Symbolic elements may point towards the theme.
Example: Scent of Apples by Bienvenido Santos: A Filipino living in America may feel lonely and alienated.
E. The theme should be stated in a complete sentence.
Example: wrong: Love and deception right: Love can be deceiving.
is the focus of the narration, in whose eyes the story is seen (angle of vision), or who tells the story.
Point of View.
The author speaks as one of the characters.
Example: My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken by Alejandro Roces
first person (“F”)-
A character may tell in the first person a story which he or she has observed.
Example: How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife by Manuel Arguilla
First person observer-
The narrator tells what happens in a purely objective manner. It tells the actions and thoughts of the character’s without revealing their emotions.
scenic or observer-
The natrator tells all including the actions, thoughts and feelings of the characters.
Example: The Exile by Ricardo Patalinjug
Ominiscient
The narrator is not part of the story, or is an oûtsider, a variation of the omniscient.
Example: Dead Stars by Paz Marquez-Benitez
E composite-Each of the characters tells his story in the first person. Example; What Signified the Expatriates by Nick Joaquin
Third person
