The Short StoryBy: Devann Hattis

What is a Short Story?

“An invented prose narrative shorter than a novel usually dealing with a few characters and dealing with unity of effect and often concentrating on the creation of mood rather than plot” – Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Same plot structure as a novel, but much, much shorter

History of Short Stories

First verbal stories Aesop’s Fables

The Arabian Nights

Modern Short story arrived in the 19th Century

Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorn, Mark Twain

Term “Short Story” coined in 1887

Famed Short Story AuthorsFitzgerald, Hemmingway, Kipling

Famous Short Stories

Edgar Allan Poe

“The Masque of Red Death”“And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.”

Famous Short Stories

Ernest Hemmingway

Hemmingway Challenge“For sale: baby shoes – never used”

“Hills like White Elephants”“’It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig.’ the man said. ‘It’s not really an operation at all’The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.‘I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in.’The girl did not say anything.”

Famous Short Stories

F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Tales of the Jazz Age”Book of short stories

1920’s – related

11 stories total

Structure of the Short Story

Difference from novelLength

Shorter than novels

Longest tend to be around 20,000 words

DepthOften less detailed than novels

Focus on a single event

Can be non-fiction

Structure of the Short Story

IntroductionBrings in main character(s)

Gives setting

Introduces main problem

How it differs from a novelFewer characters

Less elaborate setting

Only one main problem

Structure of a Short Story

Rising ActionLeads from problem to climax

Builds on the problem that was already introduced

How it differs from novelMore direct

Can take place in a very short span of time

Structure of a Short Story

ClimaxTurning point of the story

Culmination of problem

How it differs from a novelOften happens very quickly

Can occur in a few words or a single sentence

Structure of a Short Story

Falling ActionAfter effects of climax

Leads to resolution of problem

How it differs from a novelPoint which least differs from novel

Both can occur in a short span of time

Like rising action, can happen quickly

Structure of a Short Story

ResolutionDraws story to a close

Resolves problem presented in introduction

How it differs from a novelEasier to identify

More concise – no “epilogue” formatting

A Dying Art Form?

Number of short stories said to be decreasing

Replaced by movies, television

“People are always announcing the demise of literature, and yet literature somehow keeps on going, and the support systems for producing it—writing workshops, M.F.A. programs, etc.—keep expanding.”

– Deborah Treisman, “The New Yorker”

Short Stories Today

“The Jungle Book”

Rudyard Kipling

Published in 1894

Series of stories about jungle boy Mogli

Made into different films and inspired TV shows

Short Stories Today

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Featured in “Tales of the Jazz Age”

Film released in 2008

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