Genre Analysis of Classical and Modern Short Stories Short stories can be divided into classical and modern short stories. Classical and modern short stories have their features respectively, and this essay will analyse the genre of them.
Frist,the classical short story has a feature, that it will conclude an unexpected change in it. This change sometimes seems to be rediculous or not reasonable. However, because of author’s skillful description, the reader can find that the change is logical. The change makes the story more interesting, in the mean time, forces readers to think deeper. In The Death of a Government Clerk, which is written by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, this feature is distinct. The government clerk called Ivan Dmitrich Tchervyakov was enjoying himeself at first, however, he sneezed and spit on a general’s head indeliberatly. Due to this action, he became anxious, and in the end, he died because of his anxiety and fear. The change of the clerk’s mind and the death of him are both unexpected, as no one can expect a man should die because of such a small action. However, the author spends so much time describing the clerk’s mind, his action and his words to make his death logical. Eveline, which is written byJames Joyce, also has an unexpected change. Eveline hated the hard life at home, so it is certain that she wanted to leave with the sailor, Frank, and she thought she would be happy with Frank. However, in the end, when Frank called to her to follow him,
Maybe he got into a fight so serious and he is murdered, nobody knows. However, the sight of this carcass or the possible imagination of what happened to him left one honest impression or virtue in the life of the narrator. The narrator begins to realize how imprudent and irresponsible he is. At one point he contemplates suicide, but realizes “the dead man is the only person on the planet worse off than I was,” he said (Boyle, 693). The narrator’s experience tonight proves that his careless actions will place him in a position that will likely end up destroying him.
A short stories plot has a major effect on the theme. Themes of the stories affect not only the writer but also the readers in modern day. Within in the short story, “The Things They Carried,” readers can connect to the author by understanding
“M & L” by Sarah Kokernot is a short story featured in The Best American Short Stories. Kokernot was born in Kentucky and received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is a writer of various short stories and is presently working on her first novel. “M & L” tells the story from the point of view of Miriam and Liam – two good friends; one of which has a past trauma. As I read the story, it was difficult to stay focused on the main plot because of the depth of detail the author provides.
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Content
Language and Organization
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EL121: The Short Story and Essay Writing
TMA: Fall Semester 2015 - 2016
The ending of every short story represent a great significance for the short story itself.
1. Short stories often utilize suspense to peak a reader 's interest and keep them reading until the end of the story. One story that utilizes suspense is CP Gillman 's "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a woman 's experience with a rest treatment is described through an intriguing stream of consciousness. By looking at how the narrator describes her mental state, and using the syntax of the text, the reader is better able to understand exactly how the narrator is feeling and discern her mental state. In the last section of "The Yellow Wallpaper" CP Gillman destabilizes the reader by using unique syntax to describe the wallpaper and the narrator 's actions illustrating the narrator 's descent into madness.
Authors of the 20th century, such as Russell Banks and Tim O’Brien, have taken the traditional elements of fiction and created an updated version. The wave of modernism has affected many elements such as point of view, characterization, and the passage of time. Setting and themes have also been affected by these new writings.
Traditionally, the point of view of the story was based on a single narrator, such as in Poe’s stories.
“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is an allegory for the nature of humans to react to others’ strangeness differently.
Because short stories provide little time for complex character development, main characters
Will you go?” (26).
“Errand” by Carver Raymond is story that is quite absurd to other stories has wrote in his collection. “Errand” uses styles of a bibliography and fiction to describe his idol; Chekhov’s death. Carver uses aspects of imagination in relation with death by using the “young man” as a tool to underline the prosaic details of death.
The imaginary line between Reality and Illusion
In many works of literature, short stories are fictional work used to elaborate on a theme but shorter than an novel. Ambrose Bierce, an american journalist and author, wrote “ An Occurrence at Owl Creek bridge to develop meaningful themes and symbols, correspondingly Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of many novels, and of the short story “ Young Goodman Brown” pursue the same idea. Both stories illustrated many topics, such as images and symbols,analysis of a fundamental issue, diction and many more, which were commonly used, however each story had a unique topic not spoken of; Loss of innocence, good vs. evil, etc…
In the intention of analyzing a fundamental key issue-Reality vs Illusion,“Realism”- which takes place in both short stories, Ambrose Bierce’s “ An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, illustrate the issue by allowing us the reader to think and picture Peyton Farquhar’s escape in our mind. “As he rose to the surface, gasping for breath, he saw that he had been a long time under water; he was perceptibly farther downstream -- nearer to
Three of the most important aspects of any story are the point of view, characterization and plot. In the short stories “Geraldine Moore the Poet,” “The Story-Teller,” and “Enemy Territory” this statement proves to be true. With a good analysis, all of these things can be found in the stories. Additionally, the point of view, characterization and plot can relate to the theme. The point of view needs to be scrutinized throughout the whole story.
No longer is Tom an ambitious workaholic with no other purpose but to climb the corporate ladder. Spending time with his wife takes priority and he has a balanced approach to life. There are no traces of regret or hesitation in Tom’s reaction to the disappearing paper. The paper is gone, and with it went Tom’s previous life. Tom’s experiences greatly benefitted him by reminding him of the importance of living and enjoying life to the
One of the places that Frank would take Eveline, when they gate a chance is the theaters to watch the latest movies. Frank had given Eveline a chance to start fresh with him, he wants her to go to Buenos Aires to start a new life with him. Eveline is loving this feeling of the chance to escape with Frank. She packed whatever she can and headed to where they said that they’ll meet. She went, however she couldn’t find the courage to leave the ramp and go with him on the boat.
Short stories tend to cover a plot, a setting, and a small quantity of characters in such a limited amount of time. Two examples of a short story would include “Cons” by Jess Walter and “Killings” by Andres Dubus. Even though these stories contain their own unique storyline with different personas, they both can relate to one another by looking at them from multiple perspectives. “Cons” and “Killings” are very much alike as they are told from a third person narration, both men learn that they are capable of doing terrible things, and two individuals view death as problem solver.
Stories have always been a key part of cultures throughout time. In the last hundred and fifty years, some of today’s more influential writers published their works. Two famous writers, Kate Chopin and James Joyce, lived close to each other’s time. Chopin’s short story “Story of an Hour” has become a staple in humanity and literature courses. James Joyce, who is better known for his work Ulysses, wrote one short story titled “The Boarding House”, is also a brilliant piece of work.
Question
Discuss Toolan’s view that storytelling is a ‘core human activity’ which is directly connected to the ‘making and remaking of our identity and our relationships’ (2006, p. 76 & p. 54).
Storytelling is a core human activity related to identity and relationships
Para 1 Discussion of the nature and importance of spoken narrative in general.
Every day, we speak and communicate with others through the act of telling story. Toolan (2006) says narrative or story is a ‘core’ structuring form, found in major literary genres, such as novels and short stories, folk tales, fairy tales and epics, as well as in other art forms, both verbal and non-verbal, such as pictures and film, ballet and mime, etc.
