Short Story Analysis: Style and Purpose
Match Point of View to Definition
Draw a line to match each narrative perspective with its definition.
Identify the Point of View
Circle the correct point of view for each extract.
'I didn't know why she had looked at me that way, but it unsettled me for the rest of the day.'
'She watched him leave, and in the kitchen below, her mother was already beginning to cry.'
'He walked to the window, wondering what she meant. He would never know — and she, across the city, was already forgetting she had said it.'
Sort: Features of Different Points of View
Sort each feature into the correct column.
Narrative Technique Analysis
Answer each question about the short story you have read, supporting your response with specific evidence from the text.
Short story title and author: ___________________________________________ What point of view is used? Quote one sentence that makes this clear, and explain why this perspective might serve the author's purpose.
Find one moment where the author slows the pacing (gives a lot of detail to a short period of time). What is happening in this moment, and why do you think the author slows down here?
How does the setting contribute to the story's meaning? Be specific about the time, place, and how these create particular constraints or possibilities for the characters.
Find one piece of dialogue and explain what it reveals about character or relationship that the narration does not say directly.
Characterisation in Short Fiction
Short stories have less space for characterisation than novels. Answer each question about how character is built in your story.
How does the author introduce the main character? What do we learn in the first appearance?
What does the character want? What is stopping them?
Find one moment of characterisation that reveals something significant through action, dialogue, or thought rather than direct description.
Sort: Direct or Indirect Characterisation?
Direct characterisation tells us what a character is like explicitly. Indirect characterisation shows us through action, dialogue, and thought. Sort each example into the correct column.
Identify the Conflict
Identify and describe the central conflict in your chosen short story. What type of conflict is it? How is it established? How is it developed or resolved?
Type of conflict: ___________________________________________ How it is established: ___________________________________________ How it is developed or resolved:
Analyse the Opening
The opening of a short story is one of its most important parts — it sets up expectations, establishes voice, and makes an implicit promise to the reader. Write 4–5 sentences analysing the opening of your chosen story: what is introduced, what tone is established, what does the reader immediately want to know?
Opening lines of the story: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:
Analyse the Ending
Write 4–5 sentences analysing the ending of your chosen short story. Is it resolved or unresolved? Expected or surprising? How does the final image or statement connect to the story's central concern?
Final lines of the story: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:
Write Your First Analytical Paragraph on a Short Story
Write a TEEL analytical paragraph responding to this question: How does one specific narrative technique in this story serve the author's purpose? Label each part.
Your TEEL paragraph (label T / E / E / L):
Analytical Paragraph on Author's Purpose
Write a TEEL analytical paragraph responding to: How does one specific narrative technique in this story serve the author's purpose?
Your TEEL paragraph:
Analyse Tone and Mood
Write 4–5 sentences analysing the tone and mood of your chosen short story. What is the narrative voice's attitude? What emotional atmosphere is created? What specific language choices create these effects?
Your tone and mood analysis:
Respond to the Story
Write a genuine personal response (5–7 sentences): what did you think of this story? What did it make you feel or think about? Was the author's purpose achieved for you as a reader?
Write your response here:
Sort: Plot Elements
Sort each element into the correct column of the traditional narrative arc.
Identify Foreshadowing
Find one example of foreshadowing in your chosen short story (a hint earlier in the story about what will happen later). Quote it, explain what it foreshadows, and explain the effect it creates — does it create anticipation, dread, irony, or something else?
Foreshadowing example: ___________________________________________ What it foreshadows: ___________________________________________ Effect created:
Write an Alternative Point of View
Take a scene from your chosen short story and rewrite it from a different character's point of view. If it was written in first person from Character A's perspective, rewrite it in first person from Character B's perspective, or in third person limited following a different character. Write 4–6 sentences, then write 2–3 sentences analysing what changes when the perspective shifts.
Scene rewritten from a different perspective:
What changes when the perspective shifts:
What Changes in the Story?
Write 4–5 sentences explaining what changes in your chosen short story. Consider: does a character's understanding change? Does a relationship change? Does the reader's understanding of a character change? Is the change external or internal?
Your analysis of change in the story:
Describe the Narrative Voice
Write 4–5 sentences describing the narrative voice of your chosen short story. What is its tone? Is it close or distant, warm or cool, ironic or earnest? What specific language features create this voice?
Your analysis of the narrative voice:
Symbol and Theme
Find one symbol in your chosen short story — an object, place, or recurring image that carries a meaning beyond its literal function. Write 4–5 sentences analysing what the symbol represents and how it connects to the story's central theme.
Symbol: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:
Identify the Theme
Write 3–4 sentences identifying the central theme of your chosen short story. Distinguish between the subject (what the story is literally about) and the theme (the larger idea it explores). Give specific evidence from the story to support your theme identification.
Subject: ___________________________________________ Theme: ___________________________________________ Evidence from the story:
Two TEEL Paragraphs on the Short Story
Write two TEEL analytical paragraphs on your chosen short story. The first should analyse a language or technique choice; the second should analyse a structural or narrative choice. Together they should build a coherent argument about the story's meaning.
Paragraph 1 — Language/technique:
Paragraph 2 — Structure/narrative:
Read and Analyse an Australian Short Story
Read a short story by an Australian author (suggestions: Henry Lawson, Tim Winton, Kate Grenville, Peter Carey, or any contemporary Australian writer). Write 5–6 sentences analysing what is distinctively Australian about the story's concerns, setting, voice, or characters.
Story title and author: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:
Comparative Analysis: Two Short Stories
Write three sentences comparing the narrative perspective of two short stories you have read. How does each author's choice of perspective shape what the reader knows and feels?
Story 1: ___________________________________________ Story 2: ___________________________________________ Your comparison (3 sentences):
Identify and Analyse Dramatic Irony
Find an example of dramatic irony in your short story (or in a story you know well). Explain what the reader knows that the character does not, and analyse what effect this creates.
Your analysis of dramatic irony:
Write a Story Opening Using Different Techniques
Write three different openings for the same story — one starting in media res (in the middle of the action), one starting with character description, and one starting with setting. Then write 2–3 sentences comparing the effect of each.
Opening 1 (in media res):
Opening 2 (character description):
Opening 3 (setting):
Which is most effective and why:
Micro-Analysis: One Paragraph
Choose one paragraph from your short story and do a complete micro-analysis of it: every sentence, every significant word choice, every structural decision. Write 6–8 sentences discussing what you find. This kind of close reading at the sentence level is the foundation of all literary analysis.
Chosen paragraph: ___________________________________________ Your micro-analysis:
Write a Complete Short Story Analysis Essay
Write a complete analytical essay (intro + three TEEL paragraphs + conclusion, approximately 400 words) on your chosen short story. The essay should make a clear argument about what the story is doing and how its craft serves its purpose.
Your essay:
Synthesis: What Makes a Great Short Story?
Write a personal critical argument (6–8 sentences) about what makes a short story great. Use at least one specific short story you have read as your evidence. Your argument should be specific, defensible, and original.
Your argument:
Analyse a Morally Ambiguous Character
Write a TEEL paragraph analysing a character in your short story who cannot be simply labelled good or bad. Your topic sentence should reflect the complexity. Your evidence should show a moment where the ambiguity is most visible.
Character: ___________________________________________ Your TEEL paragraph:
Write the Story from a Different Genre
Take the core situation or events from your chosen short story and transpose them into a different genre: what would this story look like as science fiction? As a fairy tale? As a contemporary realist story set in Australia today? Write the opening paragraph (5–7 sentences) of the transposed version and then write 2–3 sentences analysing how the genre change affects the meaning.
Transposed opening:
How genre change affects meaning:
Analyse Narrative Structure
Write 4–5 sentences analysing the narrative structure of your chosen short story. Does it follow a linear structure? Does it use flashbacks or time jumps? Does it begin in media res or with a traditional exposition? How does the structure serve the story's purpose?
Your structural analysis:
Write a Story Using a Non-Linear Structure
Write a short piece (250–350 words) that tells a story using a non-linear structure — perhaps starting with the ending and working backwards, or alternating between past and present. Annotate it when done, labelling your structural choices.
Your non-linear story (annotated):
Analyse Setting as Constraint
Write 4–5 sentences arguing that the setting of your chosen short story functions as a constraint on the characters — that the place and time make certain outcomes more likely or certain possibilities unavailable. What would be different if the story were set elsewhere or in a different time?
Your analysis:
Apply Chekhov's Gun
Identify one detail in your short story that initially seems minor but turns out to be significant later in the narrative. Write 4–5 sentences analysing how the author plants and then reveals this detail.
The detail: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:
Short Story Analysis: Context
Research the context in which your chosen short story was written. Write 5–6 sentences explaining how the historical, social, or biographical context enriches your reading of the story. How does knowing this context change or deepen your interpretation?
Context: ___________________________________________ Your contextual analysis:
Comparative Essay: Two Short Stories
Write a three-paragraph comparative essay on two short stories you have read. Each paragraph should compare a different aspect: (1) narrative perspective, (2) setting and its function, (3) which story you find more effective and why.
Story 1: ___________________________________________ Story 2: ___________________________________________ Your comparative essay:
Analyse the White Space — What the Story Omits
Write 4–5 sentences analysing what your chosen short story deliberately leaves out or does not explain. What gaps are there in the narrative? What is never said or shown? Why might the author have made these omissions, and what effect do they create?
Your analysis of omission and white space:
Write a Critical Review of a Short Story
Write a short story review (8–10 sentences) for a literary publication. Evaluate the story: make a specific argument about its strengths and weaknesses, support it with textual evidence, and write in a register appropriate for an educated general audience.
Your review:
Design a Short Story Reading Unit
Design a one-week study unit for a short story of your choice. Include: learning objectives, daily activities (Day 1: reading, Day 2: annotation, Day 3: discussion, Day 4: analysis writing, Day 5: sharing and reflection), and the key analytical question you would ask at the end of the week.
Your unit design:
Short Story and Social Context
Write 5–6 sentences arguing that your chosen short story engages with a specific social, political, or cultural concern. What does the story say about the world it depicts? Does it challenge or reinforce social norms?
Your analysis:
Write Your Own Short Story — Revised
Return to the short story you wrote earlier in this worksheet. Revise it with what you have learned: improve the opening, sharpen the dialogue, strengthen the ending. Write a final polished version and an author's note explaining three specific changes you made and why.
Revised story:
Author's note (three specific changes and reasons):
The Significance of the Title
The title of a short story is its first communication with the reader — and often its most compressed. Write 3–4 sentences analysing the title of your chosen short story: what does it tell the reader before the story begins? Does it change meaning on re-reading, once the story is known? Is it ironic, literal, or symbolic?
Your analysis of the title:
Analyse a Moment of Silence or Hesitation
Find a moment in your story where a character does not speak, pauses, or fails to say what they seem to want to say. Write 4–5 sentences analysing what this silence or hesitation reveals about the character and the situation.
The moment: ___________________________________________ Your analysis:
Write About a Story You Disagree With
Write 5–7 sentences about a short story whose perspective, argument, or values you find problematic or unconvincing. Be specific about what you object to and why, using evidence from the text.
Story: ___________________________________________ Your critical response:
Extended Analysis: A Favourite Short Story
Write a complete analytical essay (500+ words) on the short story you have found most rewarding in this worksheet. The essay should have a clear argument and demonstrate your full analytical range.
Your essay:
Short Fiction and Empathy
Write a reflection (5–7 sentences) on this idea: 'Reading short fiction develops empathy by placing the reader inside unfamiliar experiences and perspectives.' Use at least one specific story as evidence.
Your reflection:
Write a Short Story on a Social Theme
Write a short story (400–600 words) that engages with a social or ethical issue you care about — inequality, environmental change, belonging, identity, family. Make the issue felt through specific characters and events, not stated directly. After writing, annotate your craft choices.
Your story (annotated):
Portfolio: Your Best Short Story Analysis
Select the best piece of analytical writing you have produced in this worksheet. Copy it here, write a 4–5 sentence self-evaluation, and explain what makes it your best work.
Your best work:
Self-evaluation:
A Letter to the Author
Write a letter (8–10 sentences) to the author of the short story you have studied. Tell them what you think their story achieves, what technique you most admired, and one question you would want to ask them about a choice they made. Write in a register appropriate for correspondence with a professional author.
Your letter:
Synthesis: What You Have Learned
Write a synthesis (8–10 sentences) of what you have learned about reading and writing short fiction. What analytical skills do you now have that you did not have before? What will you notice differently in the next short story you read?
Your synthesis:
Final Extended Essay
Write a complete analytical essay (500+ words) on any short story of your choosing. The essay should have a clear, original argument, three analytical paragraphs, and a conclusion that extends the argument.
Your essay:
Teach Short Story Analysis
Design a fifteen-minute lesson to introduce short story analysis to a Year 5 student. Include: one story to read together, three discussion questions, and one simple analytical task. Write the lesson plan and explain your choices.
Your lesson plan:
Write a Short Story That Surprises
Write a short story (400–600 words) with a twist — an ending or revelation that reframes what came before it. The twist should be genuinely surprising but feel inevitable in retrospect. After writing, annotate the clues you planted.
Your story (annotated):
Create a Short Story Reading Guide
Create a reading guide for a short story of your choice. The guide should include: a brief introduction to the story and its context, five discussion questions (ranging from factual to analytical to interpretive), and one analytical writing task. Write it as if it will be used by other Year 7 students.
Your reading guide:
Short Story and the Australian Voice
Write 5–7 sentences about what 'an Australian voice' in short fiction means to you, drawing on stories you have read. What concerns, settings, ways of speaking, or perspectives recur? Is there one Australian story that feels most distinctively Australian to you?
Your reflection:
Reflective Synthesis
Write a final reflection (8–10 sentences) on what you have learned about reading, analysing, and writing short fiction across this worksheet. What has changed in how you approach a story?
Your reflection:
Write a Story That Stays With You
Write the short story you want to stay with — the one that comes from something you genuinely need to write about. It may be drawn from experience, imagination, or a combination of both. Write it (400–600 words), revise it until you are proud of it, and then annotate your most deliberate craft choices.
Your story (annotated):
Compare Your Writing and a Published Story
Compare a short story you have written with a published short story on a similar theme. Write 5–7 sentences identifying what the published author does that you have not yet learned to do, and one thing in your own story that you are genuinely proud of.
Published story and your story: ___________________________________________ Your comparison:
Write a Short Story Manifesto
Write a short manifesto (5–7 sentences) about what you believe the short story should do — what its purpose is, what it is uniquely suited to explore, and what makes a great short story. Draw on specific stories you have read as evidence.
Your manifesto:
A Reading List
Create an annotated reading list of ten short stories you recommend — Australian and international. For each, write two sentences: one summarising the story, one explaining why you recommend it for a Year 7 reader.
Your annotated reading list:
Publish Your Best Story
Choose the short story you are most proud of from this worksheet. Prepare it for sharing — edit it carefully, format it properly, and write a brief introduction (2–3 sentences) explaining the story and your intentions in writing it. Then share it with someone.
Your story and introduction:
Who you shared it with and their response:
Short Story Portfolio Entry
Select the strongest piece of analytical writing from this worksheet. Copy it here, add annotations pointing to three specific analytical choices you are proud of, and write a self-evaluation (4–5 sentences).
Your annotated work:
Self-evaluation:
A Letter to a Future Short Story Reader
Write a letter (7–9 sentences) to a future reader who is about to study short fiction for the first time. Tell them what to expect, what is difficult, what is rewarding, and what the most important thing to understand about reading short stories is.
Your letter: