A short story is, like the name says, a short literary composition. The action is compact and every single event is crucial to the development of the plot. The time span covered within the action of a short story could vary from few hours to days or years. A short story could have elements of present events, flashbacks to account for what happens and futuristic insights. The short story composition has a very old history. We can go back to the cave men. Through their simple drawings fund in caves, they have left us brief accounts of their daily lives. The story material is there, but because of language limitations the stories are very simple. Later we come across the method of oral story-telling. With the invention of writing many of the orally told stories were compiled in written volumes. Great examples of very old collections of short stories are
The Iliad
and
The Odyssey
. Many of the episodes of
The Iliad
and
The Odyssey
come very close to short story examples. Other famous illustrations of short stories are
Aesop’s Fables
. They are very brief compositions whose themes do occur frequently even in recently written short stories.
The Bible
is also very rich of short story examples.
During the Middle Ages, between the fifth and the fifteenth Centuries, Europe suffered great movements. With the many movements, the Latin language, which had been the official language of the Roman Empire, began to fade away giving birth to the Romance Languages. With the evolution of the new languages we have a separation in literary compositions.
Looking at the Italian literature, the earliest composition goes back to the thirteenth century. It is a collection of one hundred stories by an unknown writer. Later we have Giovanni Boccaccio’s
Decameron
. This book won immediate fame and it is frequently imitated.
In France too, there was a great deal of literary activity. We have the development of “chausons” (songs), “fabliaux” (fables) and the “lai”. The last one is a kind of fairy tale made popular by a French woman, Marie de France.
Short stories continued to be written all over the world. In the United States, beginning with Edgar Allan Poe, we have the development of short story writing. With Poe we have a clear definition of types of short stories. His style, his characters, his themes have influenced others. In one of his critical essay Poe clearly states the requirements of a short story. It has to be short. It has to be read in one sitting and has to maintain the reader’s attention.
Still today short stories continue to be written offering the reader intriguing plots, relevant themes, amazing conflicts and extraordinary endings making reading an enjoyable activity.
The essential parts of a short story are: the plot, the theme, the characters and the setting.
The plot-The plot answers the questions what happened? When did it happen? In what order did the events happen? What is the story about? The plot comprises a series of intertwined events which create problems for the characters. These problems are followed by solutions. The turning point of the plot, toward the solution, is the climax, The time factor and the sequence of events are also important in the development of the plot.
The theme-The theme is the basic idea of the story. It is what the author tries to tell us by writing the story. A short story can concentrate around one specific theme or a sequence of themes related to one another. The plot evolves around the theme.
The characters-The characters are the people involved in the action of the plot. The plot of the story is developed by the characters. Their actions, their dialogues and their point of view combined form the development of the plot. Who they are? What they do? How well what they do follows who they are? are important questions which need to be addressed in discussing the characters of a short story. The characters have to interact with the plot. It is through this interaction that we determine the characteristics and the development of the characters.
The setting-The setting can be defined as the place where the story happens, the time when it happens and the conditions under which the story is told. The setting can be any determined area or time. It is the stage
that demonstrates the attributes of a character. The setting can be an object and how it fits in a certain category. The setting can also be personified.