Lesson Transcript
Instructor: Joshua Wimmer
Joshua holds a master's degree in Latin and has taught a variety of Classical literature and language courses.
We've all read short stories, such as 'A Country Doctor' by Franz Kafka or Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart'. In this lesson, you'll learn more about the characteristics of the short story and explore some noteworthy examples by American and European writers.
Definition
A short story typically takes the form of a brief fictional work, usually written in prose. The earliest precursors to the short story can be found in the oral storytelling tradition, as well as episodes from ancient Mediterranean epics, such as 'The Epic of Gilgamesh' and Homer's 'Iliad'.
Anecdotes, fables, fairy tales, and parables are all examples of the oral storytelling tradition that helped to shape the short story, such as 'The Painting of the Dog and His Reflection' from 'Aesop's Fables'. In fact, 'Aesop's Fables', first collected in the 4th century B.C., may have been the first anthology of short stories in Western literature.
Over time, genres and writers all around the world have influenced the development of the short story. For example, Norse legends, Irish ballads, and Gothic ghost stories have all played a major role in directing both its structure and subject matter. Let's take a look at some of the major characteristics of the short story.
Characteristics
Length: Short stories typically range from 1,600 to 20,000 words.
Although authors and critics have debated the length of the short story throughout literary history, most agree on a minimum of 1,600 and a maximum of 20,000 words. In his own contribution to the debate, Edgar Allen Poe suggested that a short story should take 30 minutes to two hours to read.
Subject: Short stories usually focus on a single subject or theme.
Subjects or themes may range from something as mundane as a daily errand or as thrilling as a ghost tale. A single, easily contained plot is one of the hallmarks of the short story and helps shape its other characteristics.
'In medias res': Short stories usually take place in a single setting and begin 'in medias res', which means 'into the middle of things' in Latin.
In general, short stories tend to begin and end abruptly, with little to no prior information and no major lapses in time. As they involve just one plot line and are limited in word length, there is little room or need for the extended developments we frequently find in novels.
Limited number of characters: Due to the limitations of the genre, short stories typically focus on just one or a couple characters.
As short stories usually cover such brief periods of time, even a single character may never be fully developed. However, historical examples, like some of Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales,' may find interesting ways of involving many different people, as we'll discuss next.