Short Stories

The short stories will be handed out in the Google Classroom.

Theme

The theme is an understanding about life that the writer wishes to share with the reader. The theme is usually closely tied to the change a character undergoes in the story, or is something the character learns as a result of the situations that occur in the story.  It is the meaning or purpose of the story.

Theme

The theme is a general statement about life or human experience that an author makes through the specific events in his work.

It is the central insight in a work of fiction.

The story writer is an observer of life and an interpreter of it.

General questions to ask

What insights into life does the story reveal?

What view of life does the story give?

The theme is discovered by asking

How did the main character change and what has he/she learned?

What is the conflict of the story and what is its outcome?

Is the title a clue to understanding the meaning of the story?

Principles for discovering theme

Theme must be expressed in the form of a statement, with subject and predicate.

Theme must be stated as a generalisation about life, not about a specific character in a story.  It makes statements about all humans.

Theme should not be reduced to some familiar saying or cliche. For example: You can't teach and old dog new tricks. Or, truth vs falsehood.

Theme is the central and unifying concept of the story. All incidents must refer back to the statement of theme and not contradict it.

Short Stories

Green Velvet

For Pari

Black Coffee

Eraser Tattoo

The Way of the Machete

The Secret Source

The Machine Stops

Federigo's Falcon

The Open Boat

Winged Blackmail

Ten Kliks South

A & P

Short Story Assignment

The short story assignments will be written in class.