For a short story to be effective, it must be able to produce high levels of intensity, emotion and drama. ... As a result, the short story usually leaves a great deal of its content open to interpretation and examination by the reader and it tends to have some interesting parallels within the story itself. ... Ann and John, two characters from he short story "The Painted Door", do not have a very healthy relationship. ... As a result, the short story usually leaves a great deal of its content open to interpretation and examination by the reader. Also, the denouements of short stories frequ...

• Word Count: 2012
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

The Tell - Tale Heart The Tell - Tale Heart is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. ... The Tell Tale Heart is a story of total hatred for another person. ... The Tell Tale Heart is a typical Poe short story. As in many of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories there is one main theme. ... This is the theme most often used in Poe short stories because Poe wants to terrorize the reader. ...

• Word Count: 656
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

"The Magic Barrel" was written by Bernard Malamud in 1958 as part of a short story collection. ... Sloan discusses how Leo feels about each woman and points out all the intentional short comings of each one. ... The only negative part of Sloan's article was his short and unfinished point about the sexual messages in the story. ... That is the essence of a short story to me, the open ended stories and fable like events. All readers have different interpretations of short stories, and that is the magic that keeps them alive in our minds for decades. ...

• Word Count: 1309
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

These different characters of Macbeth can relate and contrast with several characters from modern day short stories and poems. Macbeth's guilty conscience can contrast and relate with Robert from the short story "Test" by Theodore Thomas. Macbeth's nature of lying and killing to cover up his guilt can relate with Liam from the short story "Bluffing" by Gail Helgason. ... In the short story "Test" written by Theodore Thomas, the main character is Robert, a very typical teenager. ... In the short story "Bluffing" written by Gail Helgason, one of the main characters are Liam who is crit...

• Word Count: 1628
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

These issues were not only the influences that led her to write The Yellow Wallpaper, but the story is a mirror image of her life. ... This is one of the major themes that the short story The Yellow Wallpaper is based upon. Kuhns 3 One point that I find very intriguing in the short story is the yellow wallpaper itself and the description of it by the narrator. ... This statement is true in both Gilman's life and it's recreation in the story. ... Here again, Gilman has the uncanny ability to combine aspects of her life with that of the story. ...

• Word Count: 1862
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

In the short story "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather, the reader is introduced to a strange young man named Paul. ... The story leads up to the events of Paul's suicide, after a brief fling in New York. ... In short, all that Paul wanted was to escape, and in the end he found the ultimate escape in his death. ... One short fling in New York is all he really had. Paul was self centered throughout the story, never stopping to think of anyone else. ...

• Word Count: 1360
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

"Wait a minute," his captor said. "You"d better shave." Naked, he went into the bathroom. As he shaved his face, his captor's masked head moved into view in the mirror behind him. "Hurry up, now," it said. After wiping his face, he went back into the bedroom where, watched by his tall captor, he put on his usual work clothes, a white shirt, a tie and his suit. ...

• Word Count: 2075
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

They own a tavern, which still stands today, in the story. ... The story focuses on their lives during the Revolutionary War. ... At the end of the story, he thinks he is equal to Sam. ... The plot of the story was very interesting and exciting. ... The change in society from this is that the town has a short supply of food and prices are going up, causing some people to starve. ...

• Word Count: 764
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the short story "The Enduring Chill" by Flannery O"Connor there is a very strong relationship between mother and son. Asbury, the son, is a college student who constantly comes home to see his mother because he is not feeling well. The protagonist, Asbury Fox, is obviously at absolute depend...

• Word Count: 219
• Approx Pages: 1
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Many writers use symbolism in their stories in order to reveal certain or multiple aspects of the story. Symbols can be anything in a story from a non-living object to a living object. In the short story "The Red Convertible" the author, Louise Enrich, uses a red convertible to symbolize the bond between the two main characters, Henry Jr. and Lyman. ... The convertible plays a major role in the story, as it resembles the relationship between Henry and Lyman, and how that relationship changes. ... At the end of the story Henry commits suicide by jumping in the river. ...

• Word Count: 687
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

This short lived group played the Woodstock Festival in August 1969. ... Following a short European tour Hendrix returned to London with his girlfriend, Monika Dannemann.... The closing lines were: The story of life is quicker, than the wink of an eye, The story of love, is hello and goodbye, Until we meet again. ...

• Word Count: 830
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

An Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's Main Characters In each of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Fall of the House of Usher", and "The Cask of Amontillado", Poe writes each main character with different personalities although some similar traits can be found in all his main characters. ... In the story "The Tell-Tale Heart" the narrator is the main character. He starts off the story by convincing the reader he is not a madman. ... Both characters had well planned murder plots in each story. ... In both stories they refer to their murder victims as friend...

• Word Count: 1238
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

They achieved this in the short-lived art form of absurdist theatre. ... Although the end of the play has the two of them planning to hang themselves, which shows that are in control of their actions and therefore conscious X also shows this conscious decision in "The Zoo Story". ... Jerry's life is much the same, the story he tells of his life would have little to no impact on society if it went untold, but he spoke out and had Peter listen, then Peter unknowingly helped Jerry kill himself, he gave his life meaning. ... This is still to do with time, but it becomes a focal point when V...

• Word Count: 681
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

QUESTIONS OF FAITH Pigeon Feathers is known as one of the better short stories of our time. It was written by John Updike in 1962 and conveyed the importance of faith in God. John Updike was born in Schilling, PA in 1932, and began writing at an early age. In his writings, Updike liked to wri...

• Word Count: 545
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The short story "Blood-Burning Moon", by Jean Toomer, is the final part in a three-part book called Cane. The story takes place in a rural southern setting during a time of strong segregation. ... Throughout the story, Toomer demonstrates racism through imagery. As noted in the title, the moon plays a foremost role in the scene of the story. The story opens and closes with the image of "The full moon in the great door" (Toomer 60) as an evil omen. ...

• Word Count: 1343
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

This story is about a young merchant by the name of Georg Bendemann and three very important relationships in his life. ... Throughout the first part of the story he is thinking about this friend and feeling sorry for him as his business in St. ... It is ironic how while only a short distance separates them physically, a huge one separates them emotionally. ... Right from the beginning of the story his mind was already made up to write the friend, and the rest of the story is about how he changes after this decision. ... This is a very psychologically confusing story and could be interpreted ...

• Word Count: 1060
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

This story is effective because it is a modern day parable. This means people can relate to the story and when people relate to the story it means something to them and it stays with them. ... Nonetheless, what is beneficial is discussing these deep-underlying themes of the story. The fact that the story has all these equivocal ideas is one of the main reasons it is a timeless classic. ... Of Mice and Men is a thoughtful, controversial tale and in short, it is a teacher. ...

• Word Count: 1311
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

There is a lot of naturalistic symbolism throughout this story that explains Henry's actions and motives of his changes. ... The story starts when Henry is waiting in camp for the army to move. ... During a short conversation with his friend Jim, he asks, " Did you ever think you might run yourself, Jim?" ... Henry carries on his shame throughout the rest of the story, causing him to behave tougher and braver. ... The naturalistic aspect of the story is what really shows the reality of the story. ...

• Word Count: 960
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Hawthorne concentrated on mastering novels, short stories and children's classics. ... In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The Artist of the Beautiful," the main character Owen Warland struggles with the reality that beauty is an unattainable possession which can only be possessed when one has faith. Owen goes through many emotions throughout the story which reveal what beauty is to him. ... It seems, "only a writer as painfully aware as Hawthorne was of the dangers by which the artist is beset could have been so scrupulously fair in his presentation of the opposing forces in thi...

• Word Count: 1481
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Hughes's poems, short plays, essays, and short stories began appearing in the NAACP publication Crisis Magazine and in Opportunity Magazine and other publications. ... He wanted to tell the stories of his people without personalizing them, so the reader could step in and draw his own conclusions. ... He wrote sixteen books of poems, two novels, three collections of short stories, four volumes of "editorial" and "documentary" fiction, twenty plays, children's poetry, musicals and operas, three autobiographies, a dozen radio and television scripts and dozens of magazine articles. ....

• Word Count: 2112
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

What are the particular characteristics of the play which make its story timeless and universal?" ... This story is timeless and universal in that people thought out history have followed and continue to follow charismatic leaders, this is true of politics and religion. ... Whatever the reasons are, these rabble-rousers continue to appear at various times in history and are never short of supporters. ... The major phase of McCarthy's career was mercifully short. ... During her short but relentless reign she managed to send 19 innocent people to their deaths, before running away w...

• Word Count: 1761
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Crane wrote the story "The Monster" the late 1800's when racism was a very real and almost natural part of life. ... Trescott defended his efforts and all of his efforts concerning Henry in the story with the short phrase "He saved my boy." ... The story ends with Trescott's wife weeping over a failed tea party. ... His stories also carried warm themes and meaningful morals. His short story "The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg" showed his ability to expose the negativity of human frailty, but at the same time make it funny. ...

• Word Count: 2988
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

In every short story read this semester, not one character loved another and was loved back equally. ... In the short story, "Princess Mary-, Pechorin decides that the princess will be his next conquest. ... After reading all these stories about the vices of mankind, it can be concluded that true love does not exist, at least in Russian literature. ...

• Word Count: 1555
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Unable to Cope in Erdrich's "The Red Convertible" In the short story "The Red Convertible" Louise Erdrich writes about two brothers who were Chippewa Indians, living on a reservation in the 1970's. ... Lyman's story is about how Henry changes, before the war Henry was out going, liked telling jokes and hanging out with his brother. ...

• Word Count: 663
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the short story "The Things They Carried" Tim O"Brien faces Jimmy Cross with the problem of surviving while fighting in Vietnam. ... Everyone in the story had there own things they carried, some carried lucky pebbles like Jimmy and others carried the New Testament like Kiowa. ...

• Word Count: 897
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School