Process

Process



 * What is a short story?** It is a short piece of fiction that includes five elements, setting, characters, point of view, theme and the plot.

__**Step 1:**__ Read pages 2-6 in unit one of your Glencoe Literature book. This unit focuses on the Short Story. Pages 2-6 will help you understand the elements of a short story.

__**Step 2:**__ Think of a story that you have read and enjoyed. Think about the authors attention to details such as, the season that the story takes place in, the year and so on. These details are part of the __setting__. Try to envision a setting for your story.

__**Step 3:**__ Create two or more fictional characters for your story. A __character__ can be a person, animal or inanimate object. An example is: the candle stick in //Beauty and the Beast//. You must have a protagonist (the main character) and a antagonist (the person in conflict with the main character).

__**Step 4:**__ Think of how you want the story told. __The point of view__ refers to the vantage point from which a story is told. The person telling the story is the narrator. **First-person point of view** - the narrator, a character in the story, uses "I" and "me" to tell the story. **Third-person point of view** - the narrator describes the characters and action from outside the story. A **third -person omniscient** - narrator knows everything that goes on. A **third-person limited** - narrator describes events as one character sees them.

__**Step 5:**__ Think of the message that you want to convey to the readers. The t__heme__ is the central message of a story. Example: The theme of //Cinderella// is implied. The reader can infer the message that if you are in a bad situation, you should do the best that you can. In the end, things will work out for you.

__**Step 6:**__ Think of a time in your life that you have had to struggle with something or when you have had a disagreement with another person. __Plot__ is the sequence of events in a story, a series of related incidents. Most plots deal with a problem and develop around a conflict, a struggle between opposing forces. an external conflict is a struggle between a character and an outside force, such as another character, nature, society, or fate. An internal conflict takes place within the mind of a character who struggles with opposing feelings or with indecision about how to act.

__**Step 7:**__ After you have considered each of the five elements and come up with an idea for a story, you are ready to begin writing.

__**Step 8:**__ Plan, draft, revise, and edit your writing. Also, analyze and critique the texts of your classmates.