What is a short story? What are the criteria necessary for a short story? What makes a good short story? After lengthy debates between many groups we've decided that it can not be decided by consensus, but by what we feel a short story must contain; different people may have different perspectives of this. This essay is devoted to portraying my group's conclusion to what a short story is. With reference to our critical criteria: plot, suspense, object and timeline; I will discuss whether the stories: Mr. Know All, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and By the Rivers of Babylon meets them.

The plot is a series of events combined together to form a short story. The events are limited due to the length of a short story. A short story is also viewed as the "storyline" of the story. Each event occurs according to its order in the storyline.

The three stories that I chose to analyze all contain the element of plot.

In the story Mr. Know All, Max Kelada, a voyager on the ship traveling from San Francisco annoys all the passengers by entering their conversations uninvitingly. He frequently takes over the discussion due to his vast knowledge. Max was credited to knowing almost everythi

In the story Mr. Know-All, the beginning point occurs when the war had finally ended and Max Kelada(Mr. Know-All) and the narrator boarded the ship and met in the lounge. The ending point was when Kelada received an envelope from Mrs. Ramsay with a hundred-dollar bill. This shows us that Kelada knew that the pearl necklace was real and ends the story with Kelada really knowing everything.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: Walter Mitty, Mrs. Mitty, parking attendant, car, judge, hydroplane, bomber, etc.

Mr. Know-All: Max Kelada, ship, Ramsay, Mrs. Ramsay, narrator etc.

A timeline was the last device we found necessary as a critical criteria for a short story. The timeline is defined as a series of events, some of which are included in the story. A beginning point and an ending point are selected from this timeline and the events that occur between these two points make up the story.

By the Waters of Babylon also contains a plot. It is a story that takes place in the post apocalyptic era. The people now live in tribes and have reverted to a superstitious religion. The elders constantly talk about the land of the Gods and how people are not allowed to journey there. The son of a priest gets curious about this land of the Gods. His soul would not rest unless he made this journey. Understanding that in doing so would mean death, he continues only to satisfy his curiousity. During his travel, he comes across a strange material called metal and finally the city of New York, not the forbidden realm of the Gods.

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Approximate Word count = 1372
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)