Literature is an excellent way to convey messages to readers. Short stories are a form of literature that contain elements similar to those in novels, plays, and other works of literature. Although everyone is capable of writing a short story, not everyone is able to produce a good short story. It are the components within a story that sets some authors apart from others. Even so, there is always room for improvement as every short story has its strengths and weaknesses. In the short story “The Great Minu” written by Beth Wilson, the theme, use of dramatic irony, and imagery were nicely incorporated, whereas the conflict and character development could use some improvement. Another short story written nicely was “A Rupee Earned” by I.F. Bulatkin, which had nicely …show more content…
developed characters, an interesting plot, and a strong point-of view but a weak setting and theme.
These short stories show how the use or absence of certain elements either enhance or weaken a piece of writing. Certain elements like the theme, use of dramatic irony, and imagery were the strengths in the short story, “The Great Minu.” The dominant theme in the story was appreciation. The author uses the poor farmer to show that you should always be happy with what you have. When the farmer visits Accra, he is never envious of Minu for all his wealth. Instead, he leaves the town appreciating all that he has. After believing that a wealthy man called Minu died like a poor person, he had learned to be content to live a simple life. I think that this theme fits well into the storyline as it compare the lives of the lower and upper classes from different towns, while proving that you do not have to be rich to be happy. Although the plot was simple, I also liked how the author used dramatic irony to make the reader more interested. While the farmer was unaware that Minu was not actually a person, the reader is told that the people in Accra could not understand what he was saying as they spoke a different language. I believe that the use of dramatic irony
enhanced the plot as the reader looks forward to what happens when the farmer figures out that he misunderstood the people in the city. However, the reader soon comes to realize that the farmer was still led into thinking that Minu was a person. By choosing to incorporate dramatic irony in the short story, the author encourages readers to read until the very end. I also think that the author made a good choice to use imagery in her short story. The word choice in the novel is chosen very carefully to emphasize how wealthy Minu is. The author is very descriptive when it comes to identifying things that the farmer believes Minu is in possession of. The use of imagery helps the reader picture an ideal life similar to the one of Minu. It also helps the reader understand the difference between the village where the farmer resides and the city of Accra. For these reasons, I think that the strengths in the short story “The Great Minu” were the theme, use of dramatic irony, and imagery. Despite the numerous strengths in “The Great Minu,” I found that the conflict and characters were quite vague and not thoroughly developed. I don’t think that the author focused enough on the conflict. A conflict that the author mainly focused on was person vs self where the farmer failed to understand the language of the people in Accra. However, I feel like the author should’ve wrote more about why the farmer was not happy with what he had prior to visiting Accra. A suggestion would be to describe the living conditions in his village and how he struggled in more depth, connecting the conflict to himself and society. By doing so, it would be more interesting at the beginning and make more sense as to why the farmer decided to visit the city of Accra. Another point I found weak in the story was the development of the characters. The author did an excellent job developing Minu’s character and lifestyle, but I feel that she failed to elaborate on other characters like the farmer and people he encountered in the city. I feel that it is important to be more aware of these characters as they play an important role in identifying the social statuses during the time. The reader does not know much about the farmer other than being told that he is poor. The reader is also clueless about how the other people in the city live in comparison to the fictional character, Minu, and whether they take the things they have for granted. I feel like the author needs to work on developing a stronger conflict and the characters to make the story more interesting. Additionally, in the short story “A Rupee Earned,” the development of characters, plot, and the point-of view the story was written in were the strengths. I think that the characters were nicely developed, making it easier to distinguish members of the family. There is a father who is a hardworking blacksmith and has a son who is the complete opposite of him. Unlike his father, the son is lazy and has never worked hard himself. I like how the author used a mix of static and dynamic characters to make the story interesting. While the blacksmith is a static character who simply wants his son to work hard and earn a rupee, his son is a dynamic character as he eventually quits being lazy and works for people over the course of a few days to gather money. This combination of characters makes the story more interesting by showing how different members even within a family can think and act. Another thing I found strong in the story was the overall plot. The story nicely flowed together and was interesting throughout. I think that the climax was the best part because the father throws the money his son actually earned into the fire, thinking that he had been deceived once again. During that time, it was unpredictable whether the son would simply wait and watch all of his hard work go into vain after realizing that it is not easy to earn money. I like how he went and seperated the burning coals with his bare hands to take the money out that he earned himself. It showed that he understood the value of money. The climax is followed by the denouement in which the father transfers all of his property to his son. I think that is an excellent ending as the son fulfils his father's desire mentioned in the beginning as he knew that his life was coming to an end. Another element that I found enhanced the story was the point of view the story was written in. The short story was written in third person omniscient as the narrator includes the thoughts and feelings of the blacksmith, his wife, and his son. I think that this is an ideal point of view for the story because the reader understands why certain characters acted the way they did. For instance, the mother gave her son a rupee because she was unable to see her son suffer. By mentioning how the mother felt concerned, the reader is able to understand why she showed her son the easy way out. Not only does this point of view help us understand the parents better, but it also helps us understand how lazy their son was. The reader is told that although the son is unhappy with the deal his father made, he really wanted to inherit his father’s property. The son felt very lazy to earn a rupee and failed to acknowledge that he was living on his father's bread. It was the laziness and inconsideration that caused him to deceive his father twice. I believe that the author made an excellent choice to write the story in third person omniscient. That is why I think that the development of characters, plot, and point-of-view were very strong in the short story. In my opinion, the short story “A Rupee Earned” failed to develop a strong setting and theme. Although the time and place were described in detail, I feel that the atmosphere was not described as much. The author did not create a mood throughout the story. Perhaps the author could have described how the son felt as he worked hard for a week and whether or not he felt pleased to help the people in his community. I think by elaborating on his mood and surroundings, the story would have been effective at creating emotion and easier to understand. Another element that I feel was put little thought into was the theme. A few themes related to the short story were responsibility, hard work, and independence. The narrator ends the story by mentioning that the son had finally learnt that it is not easy to earn money. His father had told him that another person’s money could never help him. However, I don’t think that the son can ever learn about working hard after he inherited his father’s property. There is no guarantee that the son will continue to work sincerely even after his father’s death. The father’s decision of giving the property to his son will not make his son any more responsible. Instead, I think that he will continue to rely on his father’s wealth for as long as possible. I believe that the theme is weak as by transferring the property to his son, he will never learn to be an independent man. Hence, I feel that the author was unable to create a strong setting and theme in the short story. In the end, a few strengths in the short story “The Great Minu” were the theme, use of dramatic irony, and imagery, with a few weaknesses involving the conflict and development of the characters. In another wonderful short story called “A Rupee Earned,” there were nicely developed characters, an interesting plot, and a strong point-of-view with a poor setting and theme. Although these short stories could use some improvement, I think that the authors did a fantastic job writing them.
Wilson, Kathleen, ed. Short Stories for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context and Criticism on Commonly Studied Short Stories. Vol 2. Michigan: Gale Research, 1997.
Elements that make for the best literary short story are character, meaning, tone and tension. These four literary elements make your story have a plot. These elements also contribute to your story’s purpose and ambition. The short stories we have read this semester integrate these elements, making successful and literary filled works.
A good story is one that isn't demanding, that proceeds from A to B, and above all doesn't remind us of the bad times, the cardboard patches we used to wear in our shoes, the failed farms, the way people you love just up and die. It tells us instead that hard work and perseverance can overcome all obstacles; it tells lie after lie, and the happy ending is the happiest lie of all. (85)
"Unit 2: Reading & Writing About Short Fiction." ENGL200: Composition and Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 49-219. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
“Short Stories." Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 127. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2010. 125-388. Literature Criticism Online. Gale. VALE - Mercer County Community College. 28 February 2014
Short stories are temporary portals to another world; there is a plethora of knowledge to learn from the scenario, and lies on top of that knowledge are simple morals. Langston Hughes writes in “Thank You Ma’m” the timeline of a single night in a slum neighborhood of an anonymous city. This “timeline” tells of the unfolding generosities that begin when a teenage boy fails an attempted robbery of Mrs. Jones. An annoyed bachelor on a British train listens to three children their aunt converse rather obnoxiously in Saki’s tale, “The Storyteller”. After a failed story attempt, the bachelor tries his hand at storytelling and gives a wonderfully satisfying, inappropriate story. These stories are laden with humor, but have, like all other stories, an underlying theme. Both themes of these stories are “implied,” and provide an excellent stage to compare and contrast a story on.
The short story “Good Country People,” uses irony in many ways. But the clear use of irony is portrayed in the story through O’Connors use of character names. The use of irony is presented when characters names contradict what the character represents. In “Good Country People,” O’Connor uses these names to figuratively and literally describe the four main character’s and their flaws.
Some of the characteristics of Modernism are: a desire to break conventions and established traditions, reject history, experiment, remove relativity, remove any literal meaning, and create an identity that is fluid. The rejection of history sought to provide a narrative that could be completely up for interpretation. Any literal meaning no longer existed nor was it easily given; essence became synonymous. Narrative was transformed. Epic stories, like “Hills Like White Elephants”, could occur in the sequence of a day. Stories became pushed by a flow of thoughts. The narrative became skeptical of linear plots, preferring to function in fragments. These fragments often led to open unresolved inconclusive endings. This echoes in the short story’s format. The short story functions in fragmented dialogue. Focusing on subjectivity rather than objectivity. Creating characters with unfixed, mixed views to challenge readers.
What elements are needed to create a good short story? As John Dufrense quoted "A good story has a visionary quality, a personal voice, a signature gesture(1969). The elements used should be used so strongly that it pulls you in; forcing you to connect to the people in the story. Not every story is written well enough to be capable of doing this. This also creates a connection with the reader; leaving some type of effect or impacting the reader along with the characters’ lives. Although there are many elements in writing but one of the greatest things of writing is the ability to make the reader empathize with the characters. This goes beyond than just a connection with the characters; when the reader is able to apprehend with the characters he or she is truly relating and reaching out to them. The author has accomplished something truly special when the reader has the ability to feel the agony that a character is feeling.
... In Teaching Short Fiction 9.2 (2009): 102-108. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
The nature of human communication requires that only a certain number of details may be expressed. A photograph leaves out what is beyond its frame, statistical data generalizes answers into categories to make results meaningful, and words distinguish between specific concepts to present ideas. The author of a written work chooses the details to express not only what they want, but how they want the audience to feel about it. I will analyze what the author chooses to include and to ignore in The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemmingway.
Throughout the course of this class, there have been many assignments involving short stories, however, Hands by Sherwood Anderson is a short story that I found intriguing. Hands is a short story about a man who was an educator who loved his student and his career. Later in his career he was wrongfully accused of molesting a young boy and as a punishment he was severely beaten by the boy’s father and run out of town. Sherwood Anderson published this short story in 1919 and in my opinion wrote a story that evokes every component in which a short story should contain. According to Wikipedia a short story is generally written in narrative prose and falls under 7,500 words, making short story writing an art because it must contain so many components to create and complete story.
Eileen Baldeshwiler’s “The Lyric Short Story” discusses the two different branches of short story—the “epical” and the “lyrical” (231). Baldeshwiler highlights the separate functions of the forms by focusing on their stylistic differences. The epical short story, according to Baldeshwiler, relies heavily on “external action” that is “fabricated mainly to forward plot, culminating in a decisive ending that sometimes affords a universal insight” (231). Further, the plot and characters are “expressed in the serviceably inconspicuous language of prose realism” (Baldeshwiler 231). In other words, the characters, plot, and overall tone of the piece adhere to reality. In opposition to this style, Baldeshwiler explains that the lyrical short story “concentrates o...
Literature is rarely, if ever, merely a story that the author is trying to tell. It is imperative that the reader digs deep within the story to accurately analyze and understand the message the author is trying to portray. Authors tend to hide themselves in their stories. The reader can learn about the author through literary elements such as symbolism, diction, and structure. A good example of this is Robert Frost’s poems The Road Not Taken and Nothing Gold can Stay in which he uses ordinary language unlike many other poets that became more experimental (Frost, Robert. “1.”).
time to sit down and read a novel. One difficulty of a short story is