1
Dr. P. S. Sontakke ( M.A., M. Phil., Ph.D. )
Asst. Prof. of English
Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Karad,
Dist. Satara (Maharashtra)
www.paragsontakke.com
[email protected]
SHORT STORY
Short
Story
as
a
2
form
of
literature
Development, Elements & Characteristics of
short story.
Introduction : Since old age, man likes to
listen to stories routed in human civilization.
Man being social animal, is always interested
in other man's lives this psyche of man
created by art of story telling. Ancient oral
 Oral narratives were told in rhyming or rhythmic
verse form they were told
3 at one sitting only. This
oral story telling tradition was oldest form of
short story.
 This anecdote a short story was popular in ancient
Roman period. Anecdote is a brief realistic that
embodies a point. Anecdotes were popular in Europe
in 18th century when fictional anecdotal letters of Sir
Roger de Coverley was published.
 Another form close to short story is fable. Fables are
concise tales with an explicit
moral were, said by
4
Greek historian, Herodotus. They were invented in
6th century BCE by Greek Slave Aesop which is
known as Aesop's fables.
 In short, short story is a literary genre which presents a
signal significant event or a scene involving limited
number of characters. Short stories have no length.
Definition -
Edgar Allan Poe in 5 his essay ‘Thomas Le
Moineau
(Le Molie)’ in 1846
defined it as, “one should be able to read it in one
sitting”.
Other definitions place maximum word count at
anywhere from 1,000-9,000 words.
Ex - Harris King’s ‘A Solitary Man’ is around
4,000 words.
 In contemporary usage, the term short story refers to a work of
6
fiction no longer than 20,000 words & no shorter than 10,000
words are sometimes referred to as ‘short stories’ or ‘flash
fiction’.
 Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America define its length
for Nebula Awards for science fiction submission guidelines as
having a word count of fewer than 7,500 words. A firm
definition of a short story is impossible. Each definition
emphasizes some aspects & cannot cover all. Some important
 “A fictional prose tale of no specified length, but
7 as a volume on its own,
too short to be published
as novellas sometimes and novels unusually are. A
short story will normally concentrate on a single
event with only one or two characters, more
economically than a novel’s sustained exploration
of social background.”
 Chris Baldick: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of
Literary Terms.
“A short story is a brief work of prose fiction, & most
terms for analyzing the component
elements, types
8
& narrative techniques of novel are applicable to
short story as well.”
M.H. Abrams, Geoffrey Galt Harpham: A Handbook
of Literary Terms.
“A prose narrative “requiring from half an hour to
one or two hours in its perusal”
Edgar Allan Poe: Review of Nathaniel Hawthorne's
Twice Told Tales.
DEVELOPMENT  It is comparatively recent development in English literature. In
Europe, in early
Geoffrey
14th
Chaucer
9
century short stories were written by
&
Giovanni
Boccaccio.
Their
well-known collections are ‘Canterbury Tales’ & ‘Decameron’
respectively.
 At the end of 16th century in Europe Matteo Bandello wrote that
darkly tragic ‘Novella’ in mid 17th century in France refined short
novel, “nouvelle” was written by Madam de Lafayette.
 In
1690's traditional fairy tales began to be
republished. Charles Perrault
published his famous
10
collections. 18th century European short stories of
Voltaire, Diderot & other writers were influenced by
Antoine Galland's first modern translation ‘Thousand
and One Nights or Arabian Nights’.
 Its development is divided into periods as -
1790 – 1850 -
In UK, first short stories ‘The Poisoner of
Montremos’
(1791)
were
written
by
Richard
Cumberland. Great novelists like Sir Walter Scott &
Charles Dickens also wrote some short stories.
 Earlier in US, Charles Brockden Brown wrote
‘Somnambulism’ (1805). Washington Irving wrote
mysterious tales ‘Rip van Winkle’ (1819) & ‘The
Legend
of
Sleepy
Hollow’
(1820).
Nathaniel
Hawthorne published first part of his Twice-Told
 Edgar Allan Poe argued that a literary work should be
short enough for a reader12to finish in one sitting. Poe
wrote his tales of mystery an imagination between
1832-1849. His classic stories are ‘The Fall of the
House of Usher’,
‘The Tell-Tale Heart’,
‘The Cask of Amontillado’, ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’,
& first detective story, ‘The Murders in the Rue
Morgue’, &
Composition’ in 1846.
‘The philosophy of
 In Germany, in 1810-11, Henrich von Kleist published
first collections of short13 stories. Brothers Grimm
published their first volume of collected fairy tales in
1812. E.T.A. Hoffmann followed with his fantasy tales
of which ‘The Nutcracker & Mouse King’ (1816) is very
popular.
 In France Prosper Mérimée wrote Mateo Falcone in
1829.
 In
Russia Alexander Pushkin wrote romantic &
mysterious tales, including
14 ‘The Blizzard’ in 1831 and
‘The Queen of Spades’ in 1834. Nikolai Gogol's ‘Nevsky
Prospekt’ in 1835, ‘The Nose’ in 1836 and ‘The
Overcoat’ in 1842 are humorous tales about human
misery.
1850 – 1900  In
a
19th century print magazines & journals created
strong
15
demand
for
short
fiction
between
3,000-15,000 words. At end of 19th century all branches of
literature
&
arts
Industrialization
became
forced
self
people
to
conscious.
read
Rapid
something
interesting in a short period in single sitting. There demand
was fulfilled by the short story & soon it became a popular
genre of Literature.
 In UK, Thomas Hardy wrote dozens of short stories,
including “The Three Stranger's”
in (1883), “A Mere
16
Interlude” (1885) & “Barbara the of House of Grebe”
(1890). Rudyard Kipling published short story collections
like ‘Plain Tales from the Hills’ (1888) for grown-ups as
well as ‘The Jungle Book’ (1894) for children. In 1892,
Arthur Conan Doyle brought detective story to a new
height with ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Homes’.
 H. G. Wells wrote his first science fiction stories in
1880’s. One of his best known
is “The Country of the
17
Blind” (1904). In US, Herman Melville published his
story collection ‘The Piazza Tales’ in 1856. “The
Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country” was
title story of Mark Twain's first book a year later. In
1884, Brander Matthews, first American professor of
dramatic literature, published ‘The Philosophy of the
Short-Story’.
At the same year, Matthews
was first one to name emerging genre “short story”.
 Another theorist of narrative fiction was Henry
James. James wrote a lot
18 of short stories himself,
including “The Real Thing” (1892), “Maud-Evelyn” &
‘The Beast in the Jungle’ (1903).
 In 1890’s Kate Chopin publishes short stories in
several magazines.
 The most prolific French author of short stories was
Guy de Maupassant. Stories like “Boule de Suif”
(“Ball of Fat” 1880) and “L’ Inutile Beaute” (“The
Useless Beauty”, 1890) are good examples of French
 In Russia, Ivan Turgenev gained recognition with his story
collection ‘A Sportsman’s Sketches’. Nikolai Leskov created his
19
first short stories in the 1860s.
 Late in his life Fyodor Dostoyevski wrote “The Meek One”
(1876) and “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (1877), two
stories with great psychological & philosophical depth.
 Leo Tolstoy handled ethical questions in his short stories, for
example in “Ivan the Fool” (1885), “How Much Land Does a
Man Need?” (1886) & Alyosha the Pot” (1905). The greatest
specialist of Russian short story however was Anton Chekhov.
 Classic examples of his realistic prose are “The Bet” (1889),
“Ward No. 6” (1892) & “The 20Lady with Dog” (1899). Maxim
Gorky’s best known short story is “Twenty-six Men and a Girl”
(1899).
 Most prolific Indian author of short stories was Munshi
Premchand, who pioneered genre in Hindi-Urdu language
writing a substantial body of short stories & novel in a style
characterized by realism & an unsentimental & authentic
introspection into complexities of Indian Society.
 Premchand’s work including his over 200 short
stories such as story21 “Lottery” & his novel
‘Godaan’ remain substantial works. Rabindranath
Tagore with his “The Beggar Woman” (1877) in
Bengali language introduced genre of short story.
 In Poland, Bolesaw Prus was most important
author of short stories. In 1888 he wrote “A
Legend of Old Egypt”.
1900 – 1945 -
In UK, periodicals like 22
The Strand Magazine, The
Sketch Harper’s Magazine & Story-Teller contributed
to popularity of short story. Hector Huge Munro
(1870-1916), also known by his pen name of Saki,
wrote over a hundred short stories, was one of most
popular author of his time. P. G. Wodehouse
published his first collection of comical stories about
Butler Jeeves in 1917. Lots of detective stories were
written by G. K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie &
Dorothy L. Sayers.
Short stories by Virginia Woolf are “Kew Gardens”
(1919) & “Solid Objects”,
about a politician with
23
mental problems.
Graham Greene wrote Twenty-One Stories between
1929 & 1954. A specialist was V. S. Pritchett, whose
first collection appeared in 1932. Arthur C. Clarke
published first science fiction story, “Travel by Wire!”
(1937).
In Ireland, James Joyce published his short story
collection Dubliners in 1914. These stories, written in
a more accessible style than his later novels, are
 In first half of 20th century, a no. of high-profile American
magazines like The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker
24
Scribner’s, The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, & The
Bookman published short stories in each issue.
 Demand for quality short stories was so great & money
paid for it so well that F. Scott Fitzgerald repeatedly turned
to short-story writing to pay his numerous debts. His first
collection Flappers & Philosophers appeared in book form
1920.
William Faulkner wrote over one hundred short
25
stories. Go Down, Moses,
a collection of seven
stories, appeared in 1941. Ernest Hemingway’s
concise writing style was perfectly fit for shorter
fiction. Stories like “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”
(1926), “Hills Like White Elephants” (1927) &
Dorothy Parker’s bittersweet story “Big Blonde”
saw the light in 1929. A popular science fiction
story is “Nightfall” by Isaac Asimov.
 Katherine Mansfield from New Zealand wrote many of her
short stories between 1912 & her death in 1923. “The Doll’s
26
House” (1922) treats the topic of social inequity.
 Two important authors in the German language were
Thomas Mann & Franz Kafka. In 1922 the latter wrote “A
Hunger Artist”, about a man who fasts for several days.
 Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) is called Father of
Japanese short story.
After 1945: The Post-war Era
27
Period following World War II saw a great
flowering of literary short fiction in the US. The
New Yorker continued to publish the works of the
form’s
leading
mid-century
practitioners,
including Shirley Jackson, whose story, ‘The
Lottery’ (1948), elicited strongest response in
magazine’s history. Other frequent contributors
J. D. Salinger’s ‘Nine Stories’ (1953) experimented
with point of view & 28voice, while Flannery O’
Connor’s ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’ (1955)
reinvigorated Southern Gothic style. When Life
magazine published, Ernest Hemingway’s long
short story (or novella) The Old Man and the Sea in
1952, issue containing this story sold 5,300,000
copies in only two days. Cultural & social identity
played a considerable role in much of short fiction
of 1960s.
Philip Roth & Grace Paley cultivated distinctive
Jewish-American voices.29Tillie Olsen’s ‘I Stand Here
Ironing’ adopted a consciously feminist perspective.
James Baldwin’s Going to Meet the Man told stories
of African-American life. Frank O’Connor’s ‘The
Lonely Voice,’ (1963) a classic exploration of short
story, appeared. 1970s saw rise of post-modern
short story, in work of Donald Barthelme & John
Barth.
Same decade witnessed establishment of Pushcart
Press, which, under leadership
of Bill Henderson,
30
began publishing the best of independent & small
presses.
Stephen King, one of bestselling novelists of all time,
initiated his career by publishing numerous short
stories in men’s magazines of era (1970s) & stated in
an interview with Rich Fahle regarding his short
story collection Just After Sunset that ‘The novel is a
quagmire that a lot of young writers stumble into.
I started with short stories & I got comfortable with
31
that format & never wanted
to leave it behind.’
Minimalism gained widespread influence in 1980s,
most notably in work of Raymond Carver, Ann
Beattie & Bobbi Ann Mason. However, traditionalists
including John Updike & Joyce Carol Oates
maintained significant influence on forum, as did
Canadian author Alice Munro. John Gardner’s
seminal reference text, ‘The Art of Fiction’, appeared
in 1983.
Many of American short stories of 1990s feature
32
magical realism. Among
leading practitioners in
this style were Steven Millhauser & Robert Olen
Butler. Stuart Dybek gained prominence for his
depictions
of
life
in
Chicago’s
Polish
neighborhoods & Tim O’ Brien’s ‘The Things They
Carried’ tackled the legacy of Vietnam War.
Louise Erdrich wrote poignantly of Native
American life. T. C. Boyle & David Foster Wallace
 First
years of 21st century saw emergence of a new
generation of young writers
33 including Jhumpa Lahiri,
Karen Russell, Nathan Englander, Kevin Brockmeier,
George Saunders, German-American bilingual writer
Paul-Henri Campbell & Dan Chaon. Blogs & e-zines
joined traditional paper-based literary journals in
showcasing work of emerging authors.
 Thus development of short story is multi-concerned
& distinctive. Its growth suggests popularity of this
genre.
ELEMENTS It is not merely a shortened
novel. Like fiction, it
34
constitutes elements like plot, character & settings.
These three elements cannot be treated with same
detail as in a novel. Each element is reduced for an
overall effect & impression. Hence, plot is confined to
essentials, characters to indispensable & setting to a few
suggestive hints.
PLOT Plot is a literary term. It is35events that makes up a story
related to one another in a sequence pattern through cause
& effect. This pattern of events accomplishes some artistic
or emotional effect.
Ex- In traditional ballads & intricate, complicated plot is
called a mess, but even simplest statements of plots include
multiple inferences.
ARISTOTLE ON PLOT In his Poetics, Aristotle36 considered plot (mythos)
most important element of drama-more important
than character. Aristotle says, a plot must have a
beginning a middle & end events of plot must relate
to one another which is necessary his plots have
ability to arouse emotion in psyche of audience. In
tragedy, appropriate emotions are consider in his
Rhetoric. His work on comedy has not survived.
 Aristotle considers sufferings & errors of tragic
37
character. He illustrates
this with question of
tragic character who is about to kill someone in
his family.
 Artistically the worst situation is when personage
is with full knowledge on doing deed & leaves it
undone. It is odious to it & untragic, hence no
one is made to act except Haemon & Creon in
‘Anitgone’.
 Next after this comes actual perpetration of deed
meditated however a better
situation is for deed to
38
be done in ignorance & relationship discovered
afterword, since there is nothing odious in it &
discovery will serve to astound us. But best of all is
Cresphontes.
 For ex., Merope on slaying her son, recognizes him
in time in Iphigenia, where sister & brother are in
like position & in Helle, where son recognizes his
mother on point of giving her up to her enemy.
FREYTAG ON PLOT Gustav Freytag was a German novelist
& playwright. He considered
39
plot a narrative structure that divided a story into five acts of a play.
These parts are -
1) Exposition (of situation),
2) Rising Action (through conflict),
3) Climax (or turning point),
4) Falling Action,
5) Denouement or resolution.
40
EXPOSITION 41
It introduces all main characters,
there relation to
one another, their goals, motivations & kind of
person they are. Audience may have specific & well
focused questions. In expositions, audience want to
know his or her main goal as well as why he or she
fails to attend this goal. This phase ends with
beginning of introduction of conflict.
RISING ACTION 42
It is second phase in Freytag’s five-phase
structure. It starts with death of characters or a
conflict. ‘Conflict’ in Freytag’s discussion must
not be confused with ‘conflict’ in Sir Arthur
Thomas Quiller-Couch’s critical apparatus plots
into types.
e.g. man vs. society.
Difference is that an entire story can be discussed
43
according to Quiller-Couch’s
mode of analysis, while
Freytag talks about second act in a five-act play, at a
time when all of major characters are introduced,
their motives & allegiances are made clear at least for
most part, & they now begin to struggle against one
another.
Generally,
in
this
phase
protagonist
understands his or her goal & begins to work toward
it.
Smaller problems spoil protagonist’s initial success &
in this phase his or her progress
is directed primarily
44
against these secondary obstacles. This phase shows
us how he or she overcomes these obstacles.
CLIMAX It is turning point of story. Decision of main
character defines outcome of their story. According
Freytag, third phase it occupies middle of story.
Its beginning is marked by protagonist. Both
protagonist & antagonist
45 try to win against each
other. They directly or indirectly clash with each
other. This struggle results in neither winning nor
losing against other. Usually, each character’s
plan is partially successful & partially foiled by
his or her rival. In this struggle, protagonist’s
moral quality determines his fate. In a tragedy,
protagonist does ‘bad’ decisions, miscalculation &
tragic flaw brings upon him his tragedy.
FALLING ACTION –
46
It ties up loose ends in this phase
greatest overall tension in play goes
wrong.
In this phase, it seems that evil will
triumph, over good. Protagonist looks
like losing his goal. For Freytag in
tragedies & comedies good wins over
evil. Even though unclear to audience.
RESOLUTION/DENOUEMENT
It is final stage of Freytag’s structure, there is a final
47
confrontation between protagonist & antagonist, where
one or the other wins. This phase explains long term
consequences of confrontation.
 Ex - In story of “The Home-coming”, Phatik & Makhan
are main character introduced at beginning. Action of
log & reaches with incident of pushing of log & reaches
with climax with Makhan’s safety with mother’s love.
Falling action begins with Phatik’s sufferings at his
uncle’s home & ends with his death.
OTHER VEIWS Besides classical view of plot, there are other ways of looking at it. Plot
48
also has conflict in it so conflict has something to do with plot. In
1950s, during writing instructor, Foster-Harris, said that plot is an
emotional problem caused by two conflicting emotions being felt by
same person (main character), & working-out of that conflict. His
system for creating popular fiction is compatible with, but distinct
from, classical understanding of plot. In particular, his focus is not on
analysis but generation: not how to write criticism about existing
plots, but how to create one.
PLOT DEVICES A plot device is a means of advancing plot in a story. It is often
49
used to motivate characters, create urgency or resolve a
difficulty. This is contrasted with moving a story forward with
narrative technique means by making things happen because
character states action for well motivated reasons. For ex-when
cavalry shows up at last movement saves day, that can be a plot
device. When an adversarial character struggles with him, saves
day to a change of heart that is dramatic technique.
 Familiar types of plot devices include Deus ex
machine, MacGuffin, red 50herring & Chekhov’s gun. A
dues ex machine (god from machine); is a plot device
whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly
& abruptly solved with contrived & unexpected
intervention of some new event, character, ability, or
object. Depending on usage, it can be used to move
story forward when writer has “painted himself into
corner” & sees no other way out, to surprise
audience, or to bring a happy ending into
 In
fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or
maguffin) is a plot device in form of some goal, desired
51
object, or other motivator that protagonist (& sometimes
antagonist) is willing to do & sacrifice almost anything to
purse, protect or control, often with little or no narrative
explanation as to why it is considered so important.
 Specific nature of a MacGuffin may be ambiguous,
undefined, generic, left open to interpretation, or
otherwise completely unimportant to overall plot. Most
common type of MacGuffin is an object, place or person,
exact details of which are not integral to narrative.
 However, a MacGuffin can sometimes take a more
abstract from, such as money, victory, glory, survival,
52
power, love, or even something
that is entirely
unexplained, as long as it strongly motivates key
characters within structure of plot. Whether audience
should care about or identify with a MacGuffin in a
story is open to debate among producers of fiction.
MacGuffin technique is common in films, especially
thrillers. Usually, MacGuffin is central focus of film in
first act, & then declines in important as struggles &
motivations of characters play out.
 It may come back into play at climax of story, but
sometimes MacGuffin is actually forgotten by end of
53 are sometimes derisively
story. Multiple MacGuffins
referred to as plot coupons. Chekhov’s gun is a
metaphor for a dramatic principle concerning
simplicity & foreshadowing. It suggests that if one
shows a loaded gun on stage in first act of a play, it
should be fired in a later act; otherwise, gun should not
be shown in first place. Principle was articulated by
Russian playwright Anton Chekhov & reported in
various forms.
‘Chekhov’s gun’ is often used as an example of
foreshadowing, with sight
of gun preparing
54
audience for its eventual use. But primary point of
Chekhov’s advice was to caution against including
unnecessary elements in a story or its staging.
Failure to observe rule of ‘Chekhov’s gun’ may be
cited by critics when discussing plot holes.
Deliberated defiance of this principle may take the
form of a red herring: something which audience is
meant to assume will be important to plot’s
outcome, but ultimately is not.
Red herring is an English-language idiom that
commonly refers to a type
55 of logical fallacy in which
a clue is intentionally or unintentionally misleading
or distracting from actual issue. It is also a literary
device employed by writers that leads readers or
characters towards a false conclusion, often used in
mystery or detective fiction.
PLOT OUTLINE A plot outline is a prose telling of a story to be
turned into a screenplay. Sometimes called a “one
page”
(one-page synopsis, about 1-3 pages
 It is generally longer & more detailed than a
56 There are different ways
treatment or a step outline.
to create these outlines & they vary in length, but
are basically same thing.
 In comics, a pencil, often pluralized as “pencils”,
refers to a stage in development where story has
been broken down very loosely in a style similar to
storyboarding in film development.
 Pencils will be very loose (i.e., the rough sketch), main goals
being to lay out flow of panels
across a page, to ensure story
57
successfully builds suspense & to work out points of view,
camera angles & character positions within panels. This can
also be referred to as a ‘plot outline’ or a ‘layout’.
CHARACTER  A character is a person or animal in a narrative work of art
(such as a novel, play, or film). Derived from ancient Greek
work Kharakter, English word dates from Restoration
although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom
Jones in 1749.
 From this, sense of ‘a part played by an actor’
58
developed. Character, particularly
when enacted by
an actor in theatre or cinema, involves ‘illusion of
being a human person.’ In literature, characters
guide readers through their stories, helping them to
understand plots & ponder themes. Since end of the
18th century, phrase ‘in character’ has been used to
describe an effective impersonation by actors or
writers, has been called characterization.
 A character that stands as a representative of a
particular class or group of
59 people is known as a type.
Types include both stock characters & those that are
more fully individualized. Characters in Henrik Ibsen’s
Hedda Gabler (1891) & August Strindberg’s Miss Julie
(1888), for example, are representative of specific
position in social relations of class & gender, such that
conflicts
conflicts.
between
characters
reveal
ideological
 Study of a character requires an analysis of its relations
with all of other characters in work.
60
 Individual status of a character is defined through network
of oppositions (proairetic, pragmatic, linguistic, proxemic)
that it forms with other characters.
 Relation between characters & auction of story shifts
historically, often miming shifts in society & its ideas
about human individually,
determination & social order.
self-
CLASSICAL ANALYSIS OF CHARACTER In earliest surviving work of dramatic theory, Poetic (c.335
BCE), Greek Philosopher Aristotle
deduces that character
61
(ethos) is one of six qualitative parts of Athenian tragedy &
one of three objects that it represents (1450a12). He
understands character not to denote a fictional person, but
quality of person acting in story & reacting to its situations
(1450a5). He defines characters as ‘that which reveals
decision, of whatever sort’ (1450b8). It is possible,
therefore, to have tragedies that do not contain ‘characters’
in Aristotle’s sense of word, since character makes ethical
disposition of those performing action of story clear,
Aristotle argues for primary of plot (mythos) over character
(ethos).
CLASSICAL ANALYSIS OF CHARACTER -
In earliest surviving
work of dramatic
62
theory,
Poetic
(c.335
BC),
Greek
Philosopher Aristotle deduces that
character (ethos) is one of six qualitative
parts of Athenian tragedy & one of three
objects
that
it
represents.
He
understands character not to denote a
fictional person, but quality of person
acting in story & reacting to its situations.
He defines characters as ‘that which
reveals decision, of whatever sort’.
It is possible, therefore, to have tragedies that do not
contain ‘characters’ in Aristotle’s
sense of word, since
63
character makes ethical disposition of those performing
action of story clear, Aristotle argues for primary of plot
(mythos) over character (ethos).
He writes : But most important of these is structure of
incidents. For (i) tragedy is a representation not of
human beings but of action & life. Happiness &
unhappiness lie in action, & end (of life) is a sort of
action, not a quality; people are of a certain sort
according to their characters, but happy or opposite
according to their actions.
So [actors] do not act in order to represent
characters, but they include
characters for sake of
64
their actions. (1450a15-23)
In Poetics, Aristotle also introduced influential
tripartite division of characters in superior to
audience, inferior, or at same level. In Tractatus
coislinianus (which may or may not be by Aristotle),
comedy is defined as involving three types of
characters : Buffon (bomolochus), ironist (eiron) &
imposter to Aristophanes’
 By time Roman playwright Plautus wrote his plays,
65 dramatic genres was well
use of characters to define
established. His Amphitryon begins with a prologue
in which speaker Mercury claims that since play
contains kings & gods, it cannot be a comedy & must
be a tragicomedy. Like much Roman comedy, it is
probably translated from an earlier Greek original,
most commonly held to be Philemon’s Long Night,
or Rhinthon’s Amphitryon, both now lost.
TYPES OF CHARACTERS -
Round vs. flat
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In his book ‘Aspects of the Novel’, E.M. Forster defined two
types of characters, their qualities, functions, & importance : flat
characters & round characters. Flat characters are two-
dimensional, they are relatively uncomplicated & do not change
throughout course of a work. By contrast, round characters are
complex & undergo development, sometimes surprise reader.
 Protagonist is a dynamic character that changes
during course of events.67 Antagonist is opposite of
protagonist.
Antagonist
puts
obstacles,
creates
difficulties & challenges in way of protagonist. Phatik
(‘The Home-coming’), Max Kelada (‘Mr. Know-All’),
Nicholas (‘The Lumber Room’), an old man (‘The
Refugee’), & Rakesh (‘The Cherry Tree’) are round
characters who undergo changes & develop in
stories.
SETTING -
Setting of short story 68is where action of story
happens. Setting includes place, time & culture of
where your story happens. Setting also provides as
richness & depth story as it can relate to main
message or idea you are trying to get across to your
readers. Think of your setting as a scenic background
for which drama of your tale will take place.
In works of narrative (especially fictional), setting
includes historical moment
in time & geographic
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location in which a story takes place, & helps initiate
main backdrop & mood for a story. Setting is referred
to as story world or milieu to include a context
(especially society) beyond immediate surroundings
of story. Elements of setting may include culture,
historical period, geography & hour. Along with plot,
character, theme & style, setting is considered one of
fundamental components of fiction.
ROLE OF SETTING 70
Setting is a critical component
for assisting plot, as in
man vs. nature or man vs. society stories. In some
stories setting becomes a character itself. Term
‘setting’ is used to refer to social milieu in which
events of a novel occur. Novelist & novel-writing
instructor Donna Levin described how this social
milieu shapes characters’ values. For young readers
in US, setting is a as ‘place’ where story occurs.
As children, advance elements of story setting are
expanded to include passage
of time which might be
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static in some stories or dynamic in others (e.g.
changing seasons, day-and-night, etc). Passage of
time as an element of setting helps direct child’s
attention to recognize setting elements in more
complex stories.
TYPES OF SETTING Settings has various forms
: alternate history,
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campaign setting, constructed world, dystopia,
fantasy world, fictional city, fictional country,
fictional crossover, fictional location, fictional
universe, future history, imaginary world, mythical
place,
other
world
(science
fiction),
parallel
universe, planets in science fiction, simulated
reality, virtual reality, utopia.
THEME -
Theme means story’s main ideas on message writer
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intends to communicate. Short stories have single
themes & illustrate a single idea such as result of
certain actions on behalf of either protagonist or
antagonist. Theme can be reflected in a variety of ways
through story. Theme can be incorporated in a story
through setting, clothing, musing, sounds, certain
smells, things, things characters touch or hold,
transportation & occupation, abilities of characters.
 For ex- in short story, ‘The Refugee’ theme of
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aftermath of a natural disaster
is developed through
old man’s behavior & his views. In contemporary
literary studies, a theme is central topic, subject, or
concept author is trying to point out, not to be
confused
with
whatever
message,
moral,
or
commentary it may send or be interpreted as
sending regarding said concept.
While term ‘theme’ was for a period used to reference ‘message’
or ‘moral’, literary critics now75rarely employ it in this fashion,
namely due to confusion it causes regarding common
denotation of theme : ‘(t)he subject of discourse, discussion,
conservation, meditation, or composition; a topic. One historic
problem with previous usage was that readers would frequently
conflate ‘subject’ & ‘theme’ as similar concepts, a confusion that
the new terminology helps prevent in both scholarship &
classroom.
Thus, according to recent scholarship & pedagogy, identifying a
story’s theme for example.
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‘Death’-does not inherently involve identifying the story’s thesis
or claims about ‘death’s’ definitions, properties, values, or
significance. Like morals or messages, themes often explore
historically common or cross-culturally recognizable ideas &
are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along
with plot, character, setting & style theme is considered one of
fundamental components of fiction.
THEMATIC PATTERNING Thematic pattering means
insertion of a recurring
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motif in a narrative. For ex-various scenes in John
Steinbeck’s Of Mice & Men are about loneliness.
This technique also dates back to ‘One Thousand
and One Nights’. A recurring motif of ‘home’
occurs in ‘The Home-coming’, a motif of refugee
can be noted in ‘Refugee’, & importance of trees is
repeatedly emphasized in ‘The Cherry Tree’ by
development of cherry tree planted by Rakesh.
STYLE In fiction, style is codified gestures,
in which author tells the
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story. Along with plot, character, theme, & setting, style is
considered one of fundamental components of fiction.
COMPONENTS OF STYLE Style in fiction includes use of various literary techniques. A
writer of a short story writes with some aim. His story may be
religious, humorous, satire, comic, tragic or a love story. But
writer has some purpose behind it. If he wants to say
something effectively, he has to use suitable style. Style must
suit the story & its purpose. Style takes into account suitable
tone & suitable choice of diction.
NARRATOR AND POINT OF VIEW -
Narrator is the teller
of
the
story,
orator,
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doing mouth work, or its in-print
equivalent. A writer is faced with many
choices regarding narrator of a story : firstperson narrative, third-person narrative,
unreliable
narrator,
stream-ofconsciousness writing. A narrator may be
either obtrusive or unobtrusive, depending
on author’s intended relationship between
himself, narrator, point-of-view character,
& reader.
POINT OF VIEW Point of view is from whose consciousness reader hears,
sees & feels story. Person 80
who tells a story is called the
narrator & angle from which story is told is called its ‘point
of view’. A story can be told by someone who is a character
in story or by an outside observer.
First-person point of view Narrator speaking as ‘I’ has advantages of adding
immediacy to a story. But such point of view also has
limitation. Reader sees events from vantage point of only
one character. Character can reveal his own thoughts but
can’t get into minds of other characters.
Third-person point of view A story can be told from third-person point of view, by an
observer who does not play a81role in events.
Third-person narrator may be an omniscient, or
all-knowing, observer, who knows what all characters can
see, hear, think & feel & who comments on action &
interprets events. However, narrator may enter mind of
only one character.
‘The Homing-coming’, ‘The Lumber Room’, ‘The Cherry
Tree’ is told in third-person narrations while ‘Mr. KnownAll’ is narrated from first person point of view.
ALLEGORY AND SYMBOLISM 82
Allegory is a work of fiction
in which symbols,
characters, & events come to represent, in somewhat
point-by-point fashion, a different metaphysical,
political, or social situation. Symbolism refers to any
object or person which represents something else.
TONE Tone is the attitude a writer takes towards
subject, character & reader of a literary work. Tone
shows writer’s mood. It is important to recognize; you
may misunderstand author’s intention.
Tone can be solemn, humorous, romantic, mocking,
compassionate, bitter etc. An important element that
contributes to overall tone83 of a story is writer’s choice
of words.
IRONY Sometimes tone of an entire story is ironic.
Irony involves a difference or contrast
between appearance & reality-that is a
discrepancy between what appears to be
true & what really is true. Irony reminds us
that life is unpredictable & that what we
except to happen or wish to have happened
does not always have intended result.
Irony can make us smile or wince.
It can be genial or bitter. 84
Irony of situation (in which
there is a contrast between what is expected to
happen & what actually happens).
Dramatic Irony (in which reader knows something
that a character in story does not know). Verbal
irony (in which a character says one thing & means
something, entirely different).
SATIRE Sometimes a humorous85story mocks or ridicules
certain weakness, follies, or vices in human nature
and society. A literary work that pokes fun at some
failing of human behavior is called satire. Satire is
generally of two kinds it can be gentle, amusing &
lighthearted, or it can be biting, bitter, even savage.
IMAGERY –
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Imagery is used in fiction
to refer to descriptive
language. Imagery may be in many forms- metaphors
& similes. Imagery, in a literary text, occurs when an
author uses an object that is not really there, in order
to create a comparison between one that is, usually
evoking a more meaningful visual experience for
readers. It is useful as it allows an author to add
depth & understanding to his work, like a sculptor
adding layer upon layer to his statue, building it up
into a beautiful work of art.
Auditory imagery represents a sound - e.g.’The bells
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chimed two o’clock & Daniel
got ready for school’.
Onomatopoeia: a word that makes a sound. Kinesthetic
imagery represents movement-e.g. - “tossing their heads
in sprightly dance.” (Wordsworth’s Daffodils) Gustatory
imagery represents a taste- e.g.- ‘I am as tricky as a fox’,
‘Angel’s heart, like a candy store, has a hundred
variations of sweetness’. A metaphor is similar to a
simile, however this literary device makes a comparison
without use of ‘like’ or ‘as’- e.g.-‘Big Daddy’s face is a
garden’.
WORD CHOICE Diction, in its original, 88
primary meaning, refers to
writer’s or speaker’s distinctive vocabulary choices &
style of expression. Literary diction analysis reveals
how a passage establishes tone & characterization.
For example, a preponderance of verbs relating
physical movement suggests an active character,
while a preponderance of verbs relating states of
mind portrays an introspective character.
GRAMMAR In linguistics, grammar refers to logical &
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structural rules that govern composition of
sentences, phrases & words in any given natural
language. Grammar also refers to study of such
rules. This field includes morphology & syntax,
often complemented by phonetics, phonology,
semantics & pragmatics.
CHARACTERISTICS Development of subjectSubject of a story can be adequately & effectively
developed within prescribed limits. On this point,
reader’s own feeling of satisfaction or
• Whatever may be theme & object of a story, it
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should leave us with conviction
that even if nothing
would have been lost, at least nothing should have
been gained by further elaboration.
• It should impress us as absolutely clear in outline,
well proportioned, full enough for purpose yet
without the slightest suggestion of crowding & within
its own framework complete. For ex-all prescribed
short stories show development of subject with
proper ending.
UnityUnity of motive, purpose,
action & impression is a
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fundamental characteristic of a short story. A short story
must contain one & only one idea & this idea must be
worked out to its logical conclusion with absolute
singleness of aim & directness of method. Perfection of
workmanship in a short story –complete adaptation of
means to end – gives peculiar aesthetic pleasure to
thoughtful reader. Short story ‘The Homing-coming’
keeps perfect unity of logical development of action &
gives aesthetic pleasure.
Brevity or Economy92
Brevity or economy is soul
of a short story. Short
story must present minimum number of events &
character. It means that a short story must cover
only a small chunk of human life. There should be no
sub-plot as far as possible. Unnecessary characters
should be avoided. Protagonist must be given weight
age. ‘The Cherry Tree’ gives a message to love plants
through its fine balance of characters. ‘The Lumber
Room’ expresses feelings of Nicholas by using
LanguageLanguage of short story should be a model of economy.
There should be nothing93 in language that does not
positively add something to story. Every word in it
should contribute to its effect. A novel often has
passages which could be scored out without detriment
to plot but there is no room for these in short story. It
requires apt word & telling phrase. Descriptive
passages are only valuable in so far as they contribute
towards total effect. ‘The Cherry Tree’ gives a message
to love plants through its fine use of perfect words.
MoralMoral is a characteristic of a short story but it is not
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compulsory. A writer hopes to teach or instruct his readers
through his writing. In such a case there may be a moral.
Sometimes moral is clearly stated. At times it is noticeable.
But in majority of cases it is implied & we have to trace it out.
ConflictsIn a short story, there is generally a problem or struggle of
some kind called a conflict. Conflict is soul of story. It is most
important element in a plot. A conflict can be external or
internal. In a story, there may be a single conflict or there may
be several related conflicts.
EndEnd of short story is vital
in its structure. An
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unexpected shock or surprise at end makes story
interesting. A good short story must end in an
impressive
way.
‘The
Cherry
Tree’
ends
with
cheerfulness as well as impressive understanding of
child. ‘The Home-coming’ ends tragically creating
sympathy for Phatik & his mother.
Title- Title is an important aspect of a short story. It
encourages readers to read story. A short story deals
 Title is expected to lead us to this central issue in story. It can
be attractive by its contrast, suggestion,
meaning etc. It is an
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inseparable part of a short story. Title ‘The home-coming’
suggests emotions of Phatik, ‘Mr. Know-All’ satirizes main
character’s, ‘The Lumber Room’ is important to highlight
development of main character’s psyche, ‘The Refugee’ & ‘The
Cherry Tree’ throws light on main theme of story.
 To conclude, short story becomes interesting with proper plot,
setting, theme, & characters. It must be given attractive title,
effective language, clear point of view & excellent end.
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