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ENGLISH 12
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Characteristics of Short Fiction Short Fictionis a brief but compley piece of literature in short prose, or story-telling form sontains all of the following characteristics. PLOT: Everything that happens in the story. The plot is the basic story developed by a writer into a novel, play or short story form. The plot contains all of the characteristics of the short story. CHARACTERS: All individuals in the story involved in thedevelopment or outcome of the story. PROTAGONIST: also known as MAIN CHARACTER. This is the one most important person that the story is about. Most of the action, discussion and conflict revolves around the protagonist or main character. ANTAGONISTS: also known as MINOR CHARACTERS. There are all the other characters in thestory. They react to , or have a conflict with the main character; or they have an effect on the main character and how the story turns out. SHIEF ANTAGONIST: This is the mostimportant of all the minor characters. He/She has the most contact with, and the most effect on the protagonist. THEME: This is the main or central idea which the story is written about. The theme of a story could be love, war, family situations, crime, sports, etc. ***The theme of a story must be given in onecomplete sentence.*** In that sentence you must do three things; (a) Name the Story (b) Name the author (c) State what the story is about. For example, "The story Very Special Shoes, by Morley Callagham is about a little girl who's shoes become very special to her." SETTING: This is where the story takes place. Setting includes all details which give the story a physical location and time and a place. Setting includes TIME, PLACE, CITY, RURAL(COUNTRY), LAND, SEA, AIR, ERA(HISTORICALTIME). ATMOSPHERE of MOOD: This is the feeling that the story teller creates by using descriptive words and phrases. Example: feeling of fear, anger, sadness, mystery, adventure CLIMAX: This is the higher point of interest or the highest point of drama, fear, happiness or excitement in the story. The Climax might be the point of a clash or fight, or discovery or something significant in the story. The climax is also the turning point or the point of change in the story. ANTICLIMAX: This is the second highest point of interests or excitenment or exciting as a climax. It is almost as 'significant'. There may be more than one anticlimax. CONCLUSION: The series of events which happen after the climax to end the story. SUB-PLOT: This is a smaller story withinthe main story. |