Short Stories

I'd like to talk about what I've learnt in the short stories elective module at school.

I've learnt a lot about the six key elements of a short story. They are: setting, character, point of view, plot, conflict and theme.

Setting tells readers when and where the story takes place. Characters usually experience some obstacles or conflicts that lead them to a change. Point of view is the perspective that a story being told. A plot is the events in the story and the pattern of the events. A good plot follows a logical sequence: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Conflict is the dispute between two or more characters. It creates tension and excitement in a short story.Theme is the main message of a story.

In my opinion, conflict is the most decisive in making a story successful because it is what catches readers' attention when they first read the introduction of a story. An outstanding short story will make readers want to know emerge of the conflict and how the characters solve it. (Through the conflict, readers are able to see how the characters grow, how they turn bad or what they'd choose in a dilemma,) writers can deliver messages of the story through telling the ways that the characters tackle a conflict.

A significant example of using a suitable conflict is Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet were from opposing family but they fell in love. So, the conflict was: they had to fail their families for not upholding family tradition - not to have affairs with the opposing family or they had to give up the love of their life. It is a perfect conflict because the writer had the characters, Romeo and Juliet, made very difficult decisions. They could only choose one way to live their remaining life, and each decision could bring huge sacrifice. This interested the readers to keep reading what Romeo and Juliet would choose.

Moreover, the conflict itself and its resolution could convey the messages - things sometimes happen the way we less likely to want it to and sometimes love needs huge sacrifice.

In Romeo and Juliet, conflict is the base of the whole story. It all begun with the dispute between two families, and the embarrassing love affair between two families' young people. The story went on with deepening of the conflict by have more people involved in it. (Romeo's best friend and Juliet's cousin). The conflict was the spine of the story. Therefore, we can conclude that conflict is the most important in a story.

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