Analyzing Short Stories

by Lostracco, Joe; Wilkerson, George

• ISBN13: 9780787273767
• ISBN10: 0787273767
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-06-01
• Publisher: Kendall Hunt Pub

Table of Contents

The Central Idea	1	(10)
What Is a Central Idea?	1	(1)
The Central Idea and the Elements of Fiction	1	(1)
Interpretation	2	(1)
Sources for Central Ideas	3	(2)
Psychological	3	(1)
Sociological	3	(1)
Philosophical	4	(1)
Moral and Ethical	4	(1)
Entertainment	4	(1)
If the Central Idea Isn't a Moral, What Is It?	5	(1)
Summary and Central Idea	5	(1)
Samples	5	(3)
The Central Idea in ``A & P''	6	(1)
The Central Idea in ``I Want to Know Why?''	6	(1)
The Central Idea in ``Like a Bad Dream''	6	(1)
The Central Idea in ``A Worn Path''	7	(1)
The Central Idea in ``Miss Brill''	7	(1)
Common Interpretation Pitfalls	8	(3)
Differing Interpretations	8	(1)
Complex Ideas	8	(1)
Ideas That Conflict with Your Own	9	(1)
Meaning Beyond the Story	9	(1)
Reading Exercise	9	(2)
Character	11	(8)
Character Types	11	(1)
Round and Flat Characters	11	(2)
Details	12	(1)
Many Sides	12	(1)
Complexity	12	(1)
Major Characters, Minor Characters, and Stereotypes	13	(1)
Major Characters	13	(1)
Minor Characters	13	(1)
Stereotypes	13	(1)
Static and Dynamic Characters	14	(1)
The Static Character	14	(1)
The Dynamic Character	14	(1)
Methods of Character Presentation and Exposition	14	(3)
Character Presentation	15	(1)
Character Exposition	15	(1)
What the Narrator Says	15	(1)
What the Character Does	15	(1)
What the Character Says	16	(1)
What the Character Thinks	17	(1)
Reading Exercise	17	(2)
Conflict	19	(6)
Deviating from the Chronological Order	19	(2)
The Major Elements of a Plot	21	(1)
Conflict and Plot	21	(1)
Conflicts: Internal and External	21	(1)
Conflict and the Central Idea	22	(1)
Conflict and Character	23	(1)
Reading Exercise	24	(1)
Point of View	25	(6)
First Person Narration	25	(2)
The First Person Narrator's Perspective	26	(1)
Avoiding the Narrator-as-Author Confusion	26	(1)
Omniscient Narration	27	(1)
Complete vs. Limited Omniscience	27	(1)
Dramatic Narration	28	(1)
Consistency of Viewpoint	29	(1)
Reading Exercise	29	(2)
Setting	31	(4)
Specific vs. General Settings	31	(1)
The Setting and the Central Idea	32	(1)
Reading Exercise	33	(2)
Language	35	(14)
Diction	35	(2)
Denotation and Connotation	35	(2)
Imagery	37	(3)
Literal and Figurative Images	37	(1)
Similes and Metaphors	38	(1)
Imagery and Character	39	(1)
Imagery and Setting	39	(1)
Imagery and Tone	39	(1)
Allusions	39	(1)
Repetition	40	(1)
Symbolism	40	(2)
Universal Symbols	40	(1)
Contextual Symbols	41	(1)
Characters as Symbols	41	(1)
Objects as Symbols	41	(1)
Actions as Symbols	41	(1)
Allegory: The Symbolic Story	41	(1)
Irony	42	(1)
Verbal Irony	42	(1)
Dramatic Irony	42	(1)
Situational Irony	43	(1)
Dialogue	43	(3)
Syntax	46	(1)
The Periodic Sentence	46	(1)
Reading Exercise	47	(2)
Tone	49	(10)
Discovering and Describing the Tone	49	(5)
Similes and Metaphors	50	(1)
Allusions	50	(1)
Repetition	51	(1)
Diction	51	(1)
Symbolism	52	(1)
Dialogue	53	(1)
Syntax	53	(1)
The Periodic Sentence	54	(1)
Irony	54	(1)
Defining the Tone	54	(2)
Some Sample Passages	55	(1)
Tone and the Elements of Fiction	56	(2)
Character	57	(1)
Conflict	57	(1)
Point of View	57	(1)
Setting	58	(1)
Reading Exercise	58	(1)
The Creative Writing Process	59	(10)
John Steinbeck's Creation of ``The Chrysanthemums''	59	(2)
The Revision Phase	61	(8)
Character Revisions	62	(1)
Conflict Revisions	62	(1)
Point of View Revisions	63	(1)
Setting Revisions	64	(1)
Language Revisions	65	(4)
Alternative Methods of Analysis	69	(12)
Analysis through a Dominant Element	69	(2)
Alice Munro's ``How I Met My Husband''	70	(1)
Dana Ross
Analysis through Evaluation	71	(4)
Establishing Criteria for Evaluating Short Stories	72	(1)
Charlotte Perkins Gillman's ``The Yellow Wallpaper''	73	(2)
Sara Graham-Costain
Analysis through Comparison/Contrast	75	(5)
A Comparative Analysis of Katherine Mansfield's ``Miss Brill'' and James Thurber's ``The Secret Life of Walter Mitty''	76	(2)
A Comparative Analysis of Roald Dahl's ``The Way Up to Heaven And James Thurber's ``The Catbird Seat	78	(2)
Lee Anne Aspra
Reading for Comparison/Contrast	80	(1)
Sample Essays	81	(12)
A Standard Approach to Analysis	81	(6)
An Analysis of Guy de Maupassant's ``The Necklace''	81	(2)
Karen Gray
An Analysis of James Thurber's ``The Secret Life of Walter Mitty''	83	(2)
Roy Burgess
An Analysis of John Steinbeck's ``The Chrysanthemums''	85	(2)
R.C. Dumas
Analysis through a Dominant Element	87	(2)
An Analysis of Character in Guy de Maupassant's ``The Necklace''	87	(2)
Rachel Back
Analysis with an Evaluation	89	(2)
An Evaluative Analysis of D.H. Lawrence's ``The Rocking Horse Winner''	89	(2)
Gail Davis
Analysis through Comparison and Contrast	91	(2)
A Comparative Analysis of Irwin Shaw's ``The Girls in Their Summer Dresses'' and Ernest Hemingway's ``Hills Like White Elephants''	91	(2)
Selected Stories for Analysis	93	(1)
``A & P''	94	(7)
John Updike
``Arrangement in Black and White''	101	(5)
Dorothy Parker
``The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky''	106	(13)
Stephen Crane
``Carlyle Tries Polygamy''	119	(7)
William Melvin Kelley
``The Cask of Amontillado''	126	(8)
Edgar Allan Poe
``The Chrysanthemums''	134	(12)
Jon Steinbeck
``Desiree's Baby''	146	(7)
Kate Chopin
``The Possibility of Evil''	153	(11)
Shirley Jackson
``I'm a Fool''	164	(12)
Sherwood Anderson
``The Most Dangerous Game''	176	(22)
Richard Connell
``The Girls in Their Summer Dresses''	198	(6)
Irwin Shaw
``Hey, Joe''	204	(7)
Ben Neihart
``Inflexible Logic''	211	(8)
Russell Maloney
``The Secret Life of Walter Mitty''	219	(6)
James Thurber
``Offloading for Mrs. Schwartz''	225	(10)
George Saunders
``Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot''	235	(8)
Robert Olen Butler
``Paul's Case''	243	(21)
Willa Cather
``Riding the Rap''	264	(13)
Elmore Leonard
``Son in the Afternoon''	273	(8)
John A. Williams
``The Star''	281	(8)
Arthur C. Clarke
``Ten Miles West of Venus''	289
Judy Troy