Short Story Themes

Presenting topics in short narratives

We' re so focused on fiction here on the subject: The soul of a story that we have not yet discussed, short literary genres. Books contain an unbelievable diversity of literary subject matter samples in actions, making them fantastical tools for intensive study of a particular subject. But short histories also emanate themes.

You can be more restricted in the number of words (between 1,000 and 7,500 words) and have a more simple overall image. However, if they are well processed, they can explore the same high-level approaches that are equally effective in exploring novel. How then do short narratives present their themes in a convincing way despite their limitations? What advice should authors follow to cultivate topics in this kind of fantasy?

Best way to find these responses is to examine how other writers have done the same in their short histories, and see what technique these plays have in common. What is the best way to find these responses? There Bradley encounters a young physician called Samantha, and his immediate appeal to her (and other aspects of the party) compels him to agree with how his efforts to express himself may have led to his wedding breaking up - and how he must conquer his anxiety if he wants a second shot at it.

What is Schwarz's successful way of cultivating her themes in this story? Let us emphasize the three most famous ones and the technologies she uses: As the story begins, Bradley sits alone on a parkbenches. Communications: The Bradley and Samantha's first interview is unforgettable in that half of it is in writing because Samantha (a lung professional, strangely enough) has momentarily dropped her vote.

It is a fun, yet symbolic initiation into the topic of communications before it turns into a celebratory turn. Just as with insulation, Schwarz uses dialog and flash-backs to uncover Bradley's battles with others and how they lead to his marriage (and thus connect marriage and isolation). This topic sounds even deeper through Bradley's inner conflicts over whether to call his ex-wife.

It is no wonder that it is an important topic in "What we cannot talk about". In addition, it integrates itself smoothly with the topics of insulation and communications. Indeed, these words from Samantha's writing dialog touch the core of Bradley's inner conflicts and link all three issues together: It is not to a wife you love" (19).

"The " Division By Zero ", from Ted Chiang's collection Arrival (originally called Histories of Your Life and Others), is about much more than just maths formulas. Posted in a non-linear texture, the story shows how Renee, a maths teacher, suffered a psychological collapse after accidentally demonstrating that maths is not consistent. In the end, her agony forces her to try to commit her own death and harms her relation to her man Carl, who tries in desperation to grasp her sorrow as he too was once at risk of committing it.

What about the topics? Here is how Chiang examines these three in Division By Zero: Chipang introduced this uncommon topic by providing historic samples of findings that question the consistence of math. Then he uses Renee and Carl's scene to show daily instances of "consistency versus inconsistency". "Renee in particular has been intrigued by accuracy since the time she was seven, when she was "enchanted by the discovery of the perfectly squared" tile floors of a related person (74).

From Renee's request to be seen as "fleeting or unstable" after her attempted suicide in 85 to Carl's wish to abandon Renee despite his original pledge to help her through convalescence, Chiang also affects the contradictions of the way she behaves. Chiang's use of binaryOVs allows the reader to see Renee and Carl transforming each other's mirror into psychological sickness.

Carl, for example, is reflecting on his past attempted commit ad suicide and observes Renee's downwards trend. He notices his remembrance of a boyfriend who convinced him not to take his own lives, as well as his request to Renee not to discard her own live (85), and he attends Renee's mental hospital every day because it is "what he would have valued from his own relatives during his own recovery" (74).

Renee, however, refuses Carl's assistance for the time being. Only after her experiment does Renee realize that Carl was trying to help her and that she had never thought to ask his opinion. Yes, "Division By Zero" is a romance story - or rather, a story about the disintegration of romance loving.

The reader experiences this especially in Carl's scene when he slowly realises that his emotions for Renee have subsided. In Chiang's contrast, this shift is illustrated by illustrative instances in which Carl shows his attachment to Renee with his breathtaking moments of revealing towards the end ("...[S]he had shifted, and now he neither knew nor could understand how he should be feeling for her"[87]).

Sympathy, or the capacity to sense and divide another person's emotions, also play a vital part in the exploration of charity. Understanding the transformational force of empiricism, Carl receives during his convalescence from a (now former) friend (75). However, his efforts to practise it with Renee failed because of her rejection.

Thus the last line of the story ("[T]his was a compassion that divided rather than bound her, and he could not tell her that"[90]) stresses how Renee and Carl eventually came to a common agreement, but at the expense of their own loves. Essentially, short histories and fiction do not differ in the way they investigate the subject.

However, short storytelling requires more diligence and refinement for these investigations to be successful. There are four keys to effective short story topics management here, using our example from Alethea Black and Ted Chiang. Keys #1: Keep the story easy, which leads to fewer topics. Because short histories are of course much less lengthy and less complicated than fiction, they also research fewer topics.

However, the two topics are not the same (case study: "What we are talking about" and "Division by zero" each emphasize three topics). Her short story will only cover a few topics as long as it is short enough in length and circumference. However, if the overall image covers more than a few topics, you can either make the story simpler in order to reduce the number of words, or consider a longer version (novella, short story, short story, etc.) that better serves the story you want to tell.

Due to the length of a short story, any repeat of items that define topics might be more eye-catching for the reader. Don't be worried if this will make your story dull or foreseeable. Concentrating on a few themes and using the right technique to create them will make the play strong and unforgettable.

Make effective use of the storytelling element. All words are important, especially in short fiction. It will help you focus on the essentials of the story and avoid having to add duplicate or superfluous items. Keys #4: Make sure the themes of your story are related. Have you noticed how charity, loneliness and communications are related in "The That We Can't Talk About"?

How does consistency, insanity, and charity do the same thing in division by zero? Rather, this was because each writer kept the primary action or controversy closely focussed (key #1), selected his narrative items with care (key #3), and used the repeat accordingly (key #2). This is also found in fiction, but is less conspicuous due to the length and complex nature of the novel.

Keeping these first three keys in your own short story ensures that the finished play matches the number of words you recommend, presents harmonious topics, and remains in the reader's mind long after it has been read. Which are some of your favourite shortstories and the themes they are about?

Despite or because of their number of words, how can they successfully investigate these issues? When you write a short story or have already done so, what are its themes and how are they studied?