Reading Short StoriesGetting Involved in the Story

What Are Short Stories?

Short stories are brief works of prose fiction. Most short stories

•have simpler plots than novels

•are not long enough to be published on their own

•focus on a few characters and one major event

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Major U.S. Short-Story Writers

The United States has produced many great short-story writers, including

•Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)—“The Fall of the House of Usher”

•Jack London (1876–1916)—“To Build a Fire”

•William Faulkner (1897–1962)—“A Rose for Emily”

•Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)—“The Life You Save May Be Your Own”

•Tim O’Brien (1946– )—“Speaking of Courage”

Reading Short Stories

As you read a short story, use the following six strategies to become more involved in the story.

•Connect

•Ask

•Predict

•Interpret

•Extend

•Challenge

Connect

Connect the story with real-life experiences or other stories you’ve read.

•Does the story remind you of anything you’ve done yourself or have read about?

•Do the characters remind you of people you know or other fictional characters?

•Does the story teach a lesson that you’ve already learned or needed to learn?

Ask

Ask questions about the story—for example, about its structure or the author’s writing style.

•What motivates the characters?

•What does this flashback tell me about the situation?

•What does this particular word mean?

•Why does the author include this description?

Predict

Make predictions based on your prior knowledge and on evidence from the text. Adjust those predictions as you read.

•What do I think will happen next?

•What has happened like this in my own life?

•What would I do in the character’s place?

•Does the story turn out as I expected it would?

Interpret

Interpret what each part of the story means and how the parts work together.

•What is the story’s theme?

•What does this particular image symbolize?

•How does the story’s setting impact the plot?

•What events lead to the story’s conflict?

•How do the characters resolve the conflict?

Extend

Extend the text to real life and to other works.

•Has the story changed the way I look at things?

•If I were a character in the story, would I have behaved differently?

•How are the characters similar to or different from characters in other works I’ve read?

•How can reading this story help me understand works I will read in the future?

Challenge

Challenge the text and the author’s style of writing. Think about what you like and dislike about the story.

•Does the plot make sense?

•Are the characters realistic?

•Does the writer use the right amount of description?

•Is the theme memorable or forgettable?

•Does the plot move at a good pace?

Let’s Practice

A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water below. The man’s hands were bound behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck. It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head, and the slack fell to the level of his knees. Some loose boards laid upon the sleepers supporting the metals of the railway supplied a footing for him and his executioners—two private soldiers of the Federal army. . . .

Beyond one of the sentinels nobody was in sight; the railroad ran straight away into a forest for a hundred yards, then, curving, was lost to view.

from “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce

Who is the man? Why is he standing in such a dangerous place?

The man is tied up—it looks like he’s about to be hanged! What is his crime?

What are sleepers? They must have something to do with railroad tracks.

This man is really alone. Is there any chance he can escape?

On Your Own

Carl still frowned on Jody. “I’ll keep him busy if he isn’t careful.” He held out a sealed letter. “I guess it’s from your father.”

Mrs. Tiflin took a hairpin from her head and slit open the flap. Her lips pursed judiciously. Jody saw her eyes snap back and forth over the lines. “He says,” she translated, “he says he’s going to drive out Saturday to stay for a little while. Why, this is Saturday. The letter must have been delayed.” She looked at the postmark. “This was mailed day before yesterday. It should have been here yesterday.” She looked up questioningly at her husband, and then her face darkened angrily. “Now what have you got that look on you for? He doesn’t come often.”

Carl turned his eyes away from her anger. He could be stern with her most of the time, but when occasionally her temper arose, he could not combat it.

from “The Leader of the People” by John SteinbeckFrom “The Leader of the People” from The Red Pony by John Steinbeck. Copyright 1933, 1937, 1938 and renewed © 1961, 1965, 1966 by John Steinbeck. Reproduced by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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