The following guide and questions may help you to analyze a short story:
Setting
Setting is a description of where and when the story takes place. In a short story there are fewer settings compared to a novel. The time is more limited.
Describe the time and the place. Explain why you think the way you think and give examples from the text.
Characters
•Describe the main characters. What do they look like and what kind of people are they? Give examples from the text.
Plot and structure
The plot is what happens in the story. In short stories the plot is usually centered around one experience or significant moment.
•What is the most important event?
•Is the plot believable?
Conflict
Conflict or tension is usually the heart of the short story and is related to the main character. In a short story there is usually one main struggle.
•How would you describe the main conflict?
Climax
The climax is the point of greatest tension or intensity in the short story. It can also be the turning point where events take a major turn as the story races towards its conclusion.
•Is there a turning point in the story?
•When does the climax take place?
Your literary analysis of a short story will often be in the form of an essay where you may be asked to give your opinions of the short story at the end. Choose the elements that made the greatest impression on you. Point out which character/characters you liked best or least and always support your arguments.
Mr Smedjeback's English Class 