Short Story Devices and Features Flashcards
Setting
The author may choose to state the setting clearly or leave it to the reader
to infer from textual clues (such as weather). There are two parts to a complete setting:
emotional and physical. The mood* (or atmosphere*) of a story is the emotional setting,
so readers need to concentrate on words that evoke feeling and emotion. The time, place,
and season comprise the physical setting, so readers need to concentrate on words that
describe physical details
Theme
The message of the story, stated in one or two complete sentences.
When a person describes a story’s theme, the person is describing what can be
learned about life and/or people from the story. Theme is so important, it is often
described as the fourth element of the short story. Sometimes theme is confused
with “the moral” of the story
Conflict
Conflict drives the plot forward. The reader discovers the conflict by
the end of the introduction with the initiating incident, which is an event that
demonstrates the conflict to the reader and begins the rising action. Either internal
or external conflict can be the main conflict of a story and therefore the primary
driver of the plot
Internal Conflict
When the conflict is inside a character in a short story/
novel as an internal struggle. Usually characters, like real people, have
conflicting fears and goals that cause them to behave in certain ways. These
secret conflicts (secret from the other characters in the text) represent the
character’s internal conflict. The reader, of course, is aware of the internal
conflict because he/she can see the character’s thoughts
External Conflict
When the conflict is outside a character in a short story/
novel. External conflict is the opposite of internal conflict, in that the conflict
is obvious to all the other characters in the story, as well as the reader.
External conflict is best described as the adversities faced by the character
during the plot.
four different categories of conflict
- Person versus person
- Person versus self
- Person versus environment
- Person versus the supernatural/machine
Point of View
The writer selects the point of view from which to tell the story
that best suits his/her intentions as a writer
First Person
“I” is the central character and tells his or her own story.
Second Person
The story is told about “you”; for example, “You could see the
anger in her eyes.”
Third Person
Omniscient, Limited Omniscient, and Objective
Omniscient
Characters are referred to as “he” and “she”, and the reader
knows what is going on in their heads. All characters’ thoughts are made
clear in the text.
Limited Omniscient
Characters are referred to as “he” and “she”, and
the reader knows what is going on in some of their heads. The remaining
characters are treated in the objective fashion.
Objective
The story is about “he” or “she”, and the author records
action objectively, as a movie camera would. The reader does not see any
of the character’s thoughts (doesn’t get inside their heads)
Deus ex Machina
From the Latin “god out of the machine.” This device refers to
any artificial device that is not a natural extension of the plot that allows for an easy–
and unbelievable—resolution of conflict. Deus ex machina is an improbable plot
event.
In Medias Res
Beginning in the middle of the action. A sample beginning to such
a story: “I saw the punch coming but couldn’t duck in time. I collapsed to the floor,
nose gushing red, clotted blood.”
