TASK PRELIM ASSIGNMENT

SUBJECT PROSE-B

STUDENT’S NAME: Muhammad Tariq

ROLL NO: 3382

CLASS: MA English (Semester-III)

PRESENTED TO: RESPECTED MA’AM QURAT UL AIN.

THE ORIGIN OF SHORT STORIES

Few of us can say we haven’t read or listened to a short story, whether it’s a fast-
paced western, a religious parable, or a fairy tale read to us at bed time by our parents.
Over the centuries short fiction has developed into a literary form all its own. And
while the short story wasn’t recognised as a true art form until the 1900’s when
innovative writers like Poe, Hawthorne, de Maupassant, Chekov and Twain perfected
the format, these tales have existed for a long, long time. Short tales steeped in
religion, tradition, myth, magic, romance, adventure and heroism date back to our
ancient tribal ancestors who huddled around their flickering campfires recounting the
day’s successful hunt, raids on an enemy’s stronghold or the loss felt over the death of
a loved one.

Early man was telling short stories even before they’d invented the written word, tales
that were often recited in verse or rhyme and handed down from one generation to the
next by a tribe or region’s official storyteller. Once alphabets were created, the ancient
Babylonians gave us the Adventures of Gilgamesh and the Egyptians their kings
queens, gods and animal deities. Indian and Middle Eastern stories were steeped in
religion and ancient wisdom and the Greek storyteller, Aesop immortalized the animal
parable. His enchanting collection of animal fables date back to the 6th century, B.C.
Animals are the main characters in “Aesop’s Fables” and by the end of their trial or
adventure, they’ve learned a valuable moral lesson - a lesson that is often as valid in
this century as it was during Aesop’s era.

By the Middle Ages, folk tales, romantic, heroic or tragic ballads, Greek and
Scandinavian myths, fairy tales and farcical verse aimed at various lifestyles, customs,
mannerisms and political affiliations became increasingly popular. Geoffrey
Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” were widely read during this era. So was “A Thousand
and One
Arabian Nights”, a collection of colourful and often unbelievable tales as told by
fictional Queen Scheherazade to her husband, the king, to avoid her execution. Many
of these Persian stories were based on original Oriental versions.

In the 1660’s the first periodicals appeared in Germany, most of them political or
secular in nature. By the early 1700’s British periodicals were being published at more
regular intervals and included a wider range of subject material. These pamphlets or
booklets were immediately embraced by the populace. Editors were always looking
for short material to fill their pages and satisfy burgeoning public demand. Short
fictional stories fit naturally into this niche. Charles Dickens gained a huge following
with his serialised stories. Many of the various short works that were published were
classified as nothing more than escapism, Dickens’ work included. Of course, now his
stories are considered classics. As the 19th century approached, more and more
writers began experimenting with the short story format and various new themes. This
interest would see the eventual evolution of what literary critics call the modern short
story.

What exactly then, is a short story? It’s a work of fiction characterized by its short
format and presenting a single situation that one or at most, a few, characters must
resolve by the story’s end. Because of a short story’s brief format, the main
character(s) are never fully developed. Character is usually revealed through plot
action, emotion evoked by a limited number of scenes and by the overall theme.
Various literary movements that explored the short story evolved in Europe and the
United States during the 19th and 20th centuries: romanticism, realism,
impressionism, and symbolism.

American writer, Edgar Allan Poe, would become one of the most influential writers
of his time and a master of the short story. He’s been called the creator of the detective
story and of the horror story. Tales like “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The
Masque of the Red Death”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and
Poe’s classic poem, “The Raven”, remain unsurpassed in evoking mood, setting and
characterisation. Many of his protagonists were dark and psychologically troubled,
often teetering on the edge of madness. Conversely, writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne
and Mark Twain leaned more toward realism and life experiences. In Twain’s case,
his regionally flavoured tales where often overstated, whimsical or bordered on the
fantastic. William Sydney Porter,whose pen name was O Henry, was another popular
short story craftsman whose work relied heavily on coincidence and many times
ended with an unusual plot twist.

European writers were also making their mark in literary and popular short fiction.
French author Guy de Maupassant chose to write realistic short stories about the
French middle class and of human behaviour. Rudyard Kipling wrote immensely
popular stories about British military life in India as well as wonderfully creative
children’s tales, most notably, “The Jungle Book”. He received the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1907. Russian writer, Anton Chekov, on the other hand, crafted simple
tales of life as he perceived it during an era of upheaval and change in Russia. His
stories are slow moving with little in the way of plot or action, and could more
accurately be called character studies. Joseph Conrad was another writer whose tales
were character driven and whose settings usually revolved around realistic
observances of naval life that didn’t always have happy endings.

In the 1920’s and well into the 1950’s short stories took on many different themes,
setting and character types. Edgar Rice Burroughs discovered Tarzan living with apes
in the dark jungles of Africa; H.G. Wells’ fantastic science fiction tales about
Martians and assorted other-worldly creatures enchanted his fans; Jack London
introduced readers to animal adventures where the main characters were wolves or
Alaskan sled dogs; and Dashiell Hammet presented hard boiled, no-holds-barred
crime fiction teeming with sex and violence. The age of “the pulps” and of “pulp
fiction” had arrived. Scores of dime novels, digest-sized magazines and eventually
paperbacks were made available to slake readers’ insatiable appetite for short stories
of all kinds. Hundreds of writers took advantage of this creative explosion. However,
by the 60’s and 70’s readers’ tastes had again changed, and editors’ need for short
tales to fill the pages of their magazines and periodicals declined. Despite this
diminished interest, the day of the short story was far from over. Today hundreds of
magazines and anthologies publish new and innovative short stories crafted by veteran
and beginning writers alike. The short story format survives and evolves as it always
has.

Here’s a list of a few more writers who achieved distinction with their short stories:
James Joyce, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, George Orwell, Katherine Mansfield, Saki,
James Thurber, Ambrose Bierce, Sheridan le Fanu, H.P. Lovecraft, Hermann
Melville, James Fenimore Cooper, W.O. Mitchell, Margaret Lawrence, Ernest
Thompson Seton, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, and Dorothy Parker. As
our ancestors knew so very well, short stories are addictive and will never lose their
power to draw us in and introduce us to interesting people or sweep us to another time
and place, if only for a short while.

Definition and Characteristics of Short Stories

Definition:-
A brief fictional narrative in prose that has formal structure.
Narrative :-
– An account of an actual or fictional event or sequence of events in prose as
presented by a narrator or narrators.
– In fiction, narrative is different from plot.
Characteristics :-
Elements and Characteristics of Short Stories
Short stories tend to be less complex than novels. Usually, a short story will focus on
only one incident, has a single plot, a single setting, a limited number of characters,
and covers a short period of time.
In longer forms of fiction, stories tend to contain certain core elements of dramatic
structure: exposition (the introduction of setting, situation and main characters);
complication (the event of the story that introduces the conflict); rising action, crisis
(the decisive moment for the protagonist and their commitment to a course of action);
climax (the point of highest interest in terms of the conflict and the point of the story
with the most action); resolution (the point of the story when the conflict is resolved);
and

MORAL.

Because of their short length, short stories may or may not follow this pattern. Some
do not follow patterns at all. For example, modern short stories only occasionally have
an exposition. More typical, though, is an abrupt beginning, with the story starting in
the middle of the action. As with longer stories, plots of short stories also have a
climax, crisis, or turning-point. However, the endings of many short stories are abrupt
and open and may or may not have a moral or practical lesson.
Of course, as with any art form, the exact characteristics of a short story will vary by
author.
LENGTH
Determining what exactly separates a short story from longer fictional formats is
problematic. A classic definition of a short story is that one should be able to be read
it in one sitting, a point most notably made in Edgar Allan Poe's essay "The
Philosophy of Composition" (1846). Other definitions place the maximum word
length at 7,500 words. In contemporary usage, the term short story most often refers to
a work of fiction no longer than 20,000 words and no shorter than 1,000.
Source: www.en.wikipedia.org

Short Story Structure

• Create a narrative lead:
Show the main character in action, dialogue, or reaction.
• Introduce the main character’s character.
• Introduce the setting: the time place, and relationships of the main character’s life.
• Introduce and develop the problem the main character is facing.
• Develop the plot and problem toward a climax:
e.g. a decision, action, conversation , or confrontation, or confrontation that shows the
problem at its height.
• Develop a change in the main character:
e.g. an acknowledgement of understanding of something, a decision, a course of
action, a regret.
• Develop a resolution: how does the main character come to terms – or not – with his
or her problem?
Source: Lessons that Change Writers, Nancie Atwell, 2002
Short Story Terminology
Atmosphere – the general mood, feeling or spirit of a story.
Characterization – the way that the author creates characters.
Protagonist – the main character who is faced with a problem.
Antagonist – the person, place, idea or physical force against the protagonist.
Climax – the point of the highest dramatic intensity; the turning point.
External conflict – happens outside the character.
Internal conflict – happens inside the character; (character vs. himself/herself)
Foreshadowing – clues of hints which prepare the reader for future action or events.
Irony – contrast or contradiction of what is expected and what results.
Verbal irony – occurs when a character or narrator says one thing but means the
opposite.
Dramatic irony – occurs when the reader knows more than the character.
Situational irony – occurs when the contrast between what appears to be and what
actually exists.
Plot – action of the story.
Chronological – places events in order of time from first to last.
Flashback – looks back at events that have already occurred.

Point of View – the angle from which the author tells the story.
First Person Narrative – the narrator uses “I” and participates in the action.

Third Person Narrative – the narrator uses “he” and “she” and is
an outside observer.
Omniscient – narrator can see, know and tell all of the characters
of a story.
Limited Omniscient – narrator can only see, know and tell all of one character.
Objective – narrator describes the characters statements but
doesn’t reveal thoughts or feelings.
Resolution – the outcome of a story.
Setting – the background where the action takes place.
Suspense – anticipation as to the outcome of events.
Symbol – a similar object, action, person, or place or something else that stands for
something abstract.
– Possesses all the attributes of fiction.
– Deals with people who have some singularity of character.
– Confines itself to a single major character and sometimes more than one major
character.
– Aims to provide a ‘slice of a life story’ and sometimes it may also incorporate
fantastic and fabulous elements.

ELEMENTS IN SHORT STORIES :-

CHARACTERIZATION :-
– A person in a fictional story is known as character.
– Characters can be divided into two categories:
Flat/static characters
Or
Round/dynamic characters
– Protagonist and Antagonist
SETTING :-
– The background against which the action of a narrative takes place.
– It could be an actual geographical location, or the time and period in which the
action occurs.

PLOT :-
– On fiction, narrative is different from plot:
Consider this:-
(a) “The King died, and the Queen died.”
(b) “The King died, and the Queen died of grief.”
According to E.M Forster, narrative is just a record of events, but for narrative to
become a plot, the events must be casually connected, or connected by cause and
effect.
Point of view:-
– The perspective of angle from which a writer tells a story.
– First person point of view.
– Second person view.
– Omniscient Narrator.
– Limited omniscient.
Theme :-
– The main or central idea of a literary work.
– It may be stated directly but more often it emerges indirectly through imagery of
symbolism.
Tone:-
– The attribute of the author or writer expresses toward the subject matter.
– It can be formal or informal, intimate, serious, ironic, playful and etc.