Question

When outlining the theme of a short story in a single paragraph, what should it include? And how long should the paragraph be?

Answer 1

The first sentence should include the thesis of your paragraph.
The three middle sentences should give 3 supporting facts to prove your thesis.
The last sentence should be a conclusion showing how these facts support your thesis.

The outline should look like this
A. Thesis
a. fact
b. fact
c. fact
B. Conclusion

Answer 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_%28narrative%29

This article lists the main elements of a short story. If you write your paragraph with one sentence each, you should be fine:

exposition
conflict
rising action
climax
falling action
dénouement