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Short Story

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Short story: Definition and History. A short story like any other term does not have only one definition, it has many definitions, but all of them are similar in a general idea. According to The World Book Encyclopedia (1994, Vol. 12, L-354), “the short story is a short work of fiction that usually centers around a single incident. Because of its shorter length, the characters and situations are fewer and less complicated than those of a novel.” In the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (third edition) short story is defined as “an invented story which is no more than about 10 000 words in length.” At the same time online Britannica Encyclopaedia (www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/541698/short-story, 21.02.2012; 12:04 p.m.) …show more content…

If to speak in general, short stories have no set length. According to The World Book Encyclopedia ( 1994, Vol.12, L-354), “ a short story may range in length from a short story of 1,000 to 1,500 words to a novelette, or short novel, of 12,000 to 30,000 words.” Like the novel, the short story 's predominant shape reflects the demands of the available markets for publication, and the evolution of the form seems closely tied to the evolution of the publishing industry and the submission guidelines of its constituent houses.

“Short stories have their basic elements, all of them they share with longer works of fiction. These basic elements are setting, conflict, plot, character development, theme and point of view. All stories have some version of all of these elements although not necessarily in the most literal manner. A story’s main “characters” could be even bacterial cells or pieces of furniture, for example. Literature is flexible and open to experimentation.” (www.ehow.com/info_7890707_basic-elements-short-stories.html )

According to the site which was mentioned above, “a story’s setting is more than just its physical location. It includes the time in which the story takes place, whether it’s the interval of an hour or a lifetime and whether it takes place in modern times, the future or the distant past. Setting refers to the world where the characters exist. This world includes things such as weather, architecture, social

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