Short Fiction Stories – Flashcards
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Rip Van Winkle
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-Washington Irving (1819) -Tells story of Rip, wife nags him for being idle, goes to forest, falls asleep in forest, sees Henry Hudson and crew, returns home 20 years later, mistakes King George for GW, returns at age where he can happily be idle
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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
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-Washington Irving (1820) -Icabod Crane, school teacher, headless horseman, in love with Katarina, competing with Brom -Unlikable character, concerned with Katarina bc of her standing in society and powerful father
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Young Goodman Brown
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-Nathaniel Hawthorne (1835) -criticism of religion -Brown goes on late night journey with "traveller" (devil), wife (Faith) begs him not to go -Discovers all the religious people in town are actually sinners (Faith is among the masses of sinners in the woods) -Lives the rest of his life in a depressed state, knowing now that the supposed pious people in town are sinners
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Rappaccini's Daughter
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-Nathaniel Hawthorne (1844) -Giovanni, young attractive, looks over garden owned by Rappaccini from his bedroom in Padua -Attracted to Beatrice from afar, soon realizes she is poisonous bc everything she touches dies -Try to give her antidote, but it kills her -All male characters (Giovanni, Baglioni, and Rappaccini are ultimately responsible for her death)
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The Grey Champion
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-Nathaniel Hawthorne (1837) -New England colony under British rule -People gather in square unhappy will rule and British soldiers march through -Grey Champion- antiquated clothing and speech, stops British soldiers = Oliver Cromwell (spirit of New England)
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My Kinsman, Major Molineux
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-Nathaniel Hawthorne (1832) -Robin traveled from country to find Major Molineux -Asking people where he is, hears approaching mob, suddenly sees Molineux tarred and feathered - reader does not sympathize with townspeople -Goes back home, world view has been turned upside down, opportunity is now gone
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The Tell-Tale Heart
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-Edgar Allen Poe (1843) -Crazy narrator tells story of killing old man -Clearly has mental illness, thinks he pulled off "perfect murder," calm when police first arrive, but soon hears beating heart under the floor and confesses to the murder
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The Fall of the House of Usher
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-Edgar Allen Poe (1839) -narrator visiting childhood friend Roderick Usher -Usher family = inbred, Usher and his mysterious sister (Madeline) are suffering from diseases -When Madeline dies, Usher puts her in the family crypt below the house, he hears her beating heart but does not attempt to take her out -Madeline escapes the tomb and appears covered in blood, kills Roderick -Narrator flees the mansion and watches it disappear
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Benito Cereno
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-Herman Melville (1855) -Capt Delano and his ship come into contact with Capt Benito Cereno, notices strange behavior from Cereno -Babo - personal slave (really the one in control) -Turning point= Delano realizes slaves have taken control of Cereno's ship (theme of slavery and racism) -Delano is naive but still racist (black=animals)
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Bartleby the Scrivener
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-Herman Melville (1853) -old man narrator owns law firm on Wall St -Nippers, Turkey, Bartleby = scriveners -"I prefer not to" - how Bartleby responds to every request -narrator sympathizes with him when he finds him living in office, he is thrown out by new tenants, prefers not to eat in jail and dies -used to work in dead letter office - explains depressed nature
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Miggles
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-Bret Harte (1869) -group of travelers in rain go to Miggles hoping to stay the night, see old man in chair and assume it is Miggles -woman (Miggles) dressed in masculine clothing arrives, does stereotypical man's jobs, male travelers are attracted to her, women are mean to her -She was a prostitute in the past, old man, Jim, was a client who she now takes care of
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The Poet of Sierra Flat
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-Bret Harte (1871) -plays with concept of gender norms -Milton Chubbuck = poet of Sierra Flat, not masculine -California Pet, male crossdresser/performer -Chubbuck is woman, he and California Pet run off together, hinting at homosexual relationship
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Wan Lee, the Pagan
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-Bret Harte (1876) -Hop Sing, narrator goes to see him, not a stereotypical chinaman (theme of race), narrator and other guests there for a performance, baby appears at the end of performance = Wan Lee -he is dead at end, stoned in streets of San Fran by Christian school children
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The Revolt of Mother
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-Mary Wilkins Freeman (1890) -woman (Sarah) was promised by husband (Adoniram) 40 years prior that he would build her a new house, daughter is getting married and their house is small and falling apart -perfect representation of the domestic sphere, but when husband is away she turns the new barn into their house by moving all of their belongings to create her own perfect home
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A New England Nun
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-Mary Wilkins Freeman (1891) -Louisa Ellis, had lived her life alone perfectly content, dainty home, organized daily routine, aprons -waiting for return of Joe, man promised marriage years earlier - he doesn't seem to fit into her life/home -Louisa hears him tell another woman from town he is in love with her but can't leave Louisa, she then tells him she doesn't want to get married -Challenging norm of day by staying alone and not getting married
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The Story of an Hour
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-Kate Chopin (1894) -Louise Mallard, heart trouble, hears husband Brently had died in railroad accident -she first cries but soon is happy to have years ahead that belong to her entirely -her husband appears home, turns out he didn't die, and she dies of heart disease "joy that kills," but really from shock that she has to go back to life with husband
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A Respectable Woman
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-Kate Chopin (1894) -Mrs. Baroda, lives with husband on souther plantation -Gouvernail visiting, does not like him very much until one night they have chemistry on a bench in garden -he leaves before anything happens, but when husband says he is returning she says she will be very nice to him, hinting that they may have an affair
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Desiree's Baby
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-Kate Chopin (1894) -issues of slavery and race -Desiree has baby with plantation owning husband, Armand, a cruel slave owner -She realizes one day that her baby is half black, her husband kicks her out, thinking its her fault bc she was abandoned as a child and doesn't know her ancestry -end of story reveals it is Armand's mother who is partially black, revealing the problems with racism and slavery
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The Open Boat
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-Stephen Crane (1897) -captain, oiler, correspondent, cook on dingy after surviving shipwreck, take turns rowing trying to figure out how to survive -attempt to swim ashore, story follows thoughts of characters as they are in water, oiler ends up dead for no apparent reason (randomness of nature) even though he was clearly the most capable of surviving the whole thing
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The Blue Hotel
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-Stephen Crane (1898) -Patrick Scully, hotel owner - three guests, the Easterner, the Swede, the cowboy -Swede acts strangely towards everyone, looking for what he has read in stereotypical westerns, gets into many fights (foreign with misconceptions about the west), eventually killed in episode of the sort of stereotypical violence he was looking for
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The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky
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-Stephen Crane (1898) -Jack Potter and new bride traveling from San Antonio to his home in Yellow Sky where he is town-marshal -saloon, fight with Scratchy Wilson enemy of Potter -Potter returns home to Scratchy wanting to fight, calls off fight when he finds out Potter is newly married
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The Real Thing
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-Henry James (1892) -The Monarchs, upper class couple fallen out of wealth, want to be models for painter, he agrees thinking that they will perfectly represent the characters he is illustrating -Miss Churm and Oronte, much lower class models, but turn out to be better at representing upper class than the Monarchs -plays with concept of wealth and class and perceptions
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Altar of the Dead
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-Henry James (1895) -George Stransom obsessed with people close to him who have died, personal altar with candles for them in specific order -meets woman who shares similar infatuation, they have both lost someone close to them, they begin falling in love but don't realize until it is too late -using altar to find closure, but does not find closure until the end when he dies
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Roman Fever
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-Edith Wharton (1934) -Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley upper class women in Rome with daughters Jenny and Barbara (Slade jealous of Ansley bc Barbara fun and Jenny is boring) -chatting on rooftop about growing up in Rome, Ansley was in love with Delphin Slade, Mrs. Slade knew and sent fake love letter -"I had Barbara" reveals Ansley and Delphin had affair "caught Roman fever" and Barbara is his
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Autres Temps
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-Edith Wharton (1911) -upper class, New York society -Mrs. Lindcote exiled years ago for getting divorced, daughter Leila is getting divorced now, but no one seems to mind -still a tradition to "cut" Lindcote even years after, even Franklin Ide and Leila treat her differently
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Hands
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-Sherwood Anderson (1919) -Wing Biddlebaum nervous little old man, interesting fast moving hands, when he was headmaster in PA he would caress heads of students, accused of child molestation and run out of town by angry mob -George Willard, reporter, his only friend, brings him back to how he inspired so many boys before the incident
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I Want to Know Why
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-Sherwood Anderson (1919) -narrator loves horses and racing, him and his friends travel to Saratoga for race -Jerry Tillford trains horse Sunstreak, he looks up to Jerry. After race he watches Jerry go to brothel, kiss prostitute and take credit for Sunstreak's win, changes young narrator and the way he thinks about horses and racing
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Death in the Woods
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-Sherwood Anderson (1933) -narrator, 3rd party who found body, all information from second hand around town, details could be false -Grimes, old woman, married husband from German farmer who she lived/worked for -he abused and sexually harassed her (pretty much a slave, no real family) -married to Jake, has son, she is in charge of everything at home for her entire life - used to being treated as a servant, she dies in woods against tree on a cold night
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Paul's Case
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-Willa Cather (1905) -Paul wants to flee middle class existence in Pittsburg, steals $ from job and goes to NYC, tries to experience extravagance, kills himself in end instead of going back home with father, jumps in front of train instead of using gun he bought
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Neighbor Rosicky
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-Willa Cather (1932) -Rosicky tells stories of his previous years in NYC and London, he prefers country life -Son Rudolph and wife Polly -Rosicky dying of heart attack in the end
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Come into the Roof Garden Maude
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-Djuna Barnes (1914) -high society roof garden party, no real plot, setting, stream of unorganized thoughts, journalistic feel of observation -dangerous woman is exemplar of NY society, party is juxtaposed to ongoings of greater city and other parts of society
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A Night Among the Horses
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-Djuna Barnes (1923) -John, used to be a stable boy, Freda Buckler is romantically interested in him and wants to make him a part of her high society life -At end John goes to recapture life with horses after the party drunk and they don't recognize him so they trample him to death -two worlds against each other (horses vs. high society)
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Hills like White Elephants
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-Ernest Hemingway (1927) -man and woman waiting for train having covo (story heavily based in dialogue) referencing medical procedure (abortion) passive argument, sympathizes with female character bc textual clues are that she's getting it bc of the man not herself
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The Snows of Kilimanjaro
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-Ernest Hemingway (1936) -Hunting trip, Harry is dying, wealthy girlfriend Helen, Harry complaining bc his writing is deteriorating due to Helen's extravagant lifestyle - he told Helen lies for her to fall in love with him, he's only loved the first woman -Harry's flashbacks and inner thoughts, theme of death, his eventual death at the end
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Big Boy Leaves Home
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-Richard Wright (1938) -African American dialect in dialogue, adds to story -first story with all main characters are African American -Big Boy, Bobo, Lester, and Buck skipping school and swimming, white man with wife see them, Jim thinks the naked boys are trying to rape her, he shoots Lester and Buck, Big Boy shoots Jim -Big Boy escapes but sees Bobo being lynched from afar
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A Man Who Was Almost a Man
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-Richard Wright (1961) -Dave, young black boy, wants to buy gun, owning gun represents manliness, convinces mother and she gives him $2 to buy old gun -accidentally shoots mule owned by white farmer, not much trouble, but 2 years work to repay for mule, seeing no progress in life he hops on passing train escaping life
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The Lottery
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-Shirley Jackson (1948) -annual ritual in small town, characters preparing for lottery, black box and lists of names -societal ritual that chooses the person that the village stones to death each year, no one questions its moral consequences, could be anyone even a baby
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A Good Man is Hard to Find
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-Flannery O'Connor (1953) -grandmother and family on trip, generational gap, critical of grandchildren -Misfit, escaped convict stops them to steal their clothes and car, his assistants kill family in woods -grandmother tries appealing to misfit and saving her life but he shoots her anyway, final lines show she finally found faith and became a good person moments before her death
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Good Country People
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-Flannery O'Connor (1955) -Hulga, believes she is smarter than everyone else and completely understands the world, leg blown off as child wears a prosthetic, heart condition - bitter -Manly, local man displays interest in Hulga so she decides to give him a chance, the town thinks he is a good man who sells bibles -takes a turn when he has alcohol, condoms and sex cards in his bible and then steals Hulga's leg, revealing that he travels from town to town seducing women and stealing their prosthetic body parts
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Going to Meet the Man
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-James Baldwin (1965) -Jesse, deputy sheriff, in bed with wife and can't have sex -African Americans gathering outside town hall to vote -lynching scene from childhood, town affair and event, parents enjoyed, father was sexually aroused by it -sexual unease leads to hatred towards black race, rationalization of violence
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Sonny's Blues
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-James Baldwin (1957) -Harlem and issues within African American community -relationship between Sonny and older brother teacher (narrator), story moves forward and back -Sonny wants to play jazz music, associated with drugs, he got busted with drugs at one point
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The Jew Bird
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-Bernard Malamud (1963) -deals with jewish identity -talking bird, Schwartz, flies through window of jewish family saying he is scared of anti-Semitic birds -magical element seamlessly integrated into realistic fiction narrative -Cohen, father, gets fed up with Schwartz's presence and attacks him eventually, bird's body found dead on street with eyes pecked out by anti-Semitic birds
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The Magic Barrel
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-Bernard Malamud (1954) -Leo Finkle, rabbi, on the hunt for a wife bc it will make him more attractive to the good temples, hires matchmaker - transactional nature of marriage - emerging concept of love in marriage -wrestling with internal questions, became rabbi bc he didn't necessarily believe in god -drawn to matchmaker's daughter in photo
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Roselily
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-Alice Walker (1973) -thoughts going through bride's head during marriage ceremony intertwined with lines from actual marriage ceremony "Dearly beloved..." -she has four children, probably all from different men, she plans to move to Chicago with new husband to start life in North and escape Mississippi -her life will be in the home, she does not want the marriage that badly, husband is most likely Muslim, member of activist movement
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Everyday Use
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-Alice Walker (1973) -Mama, single black mother with daughter Maggie in rundown house, Dee, the older daughter who left home to have own life is coming to visit -Dee comes with her new boyfriend, she does not appreciate where she comes from, argument over heirloom quilt
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The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
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-Ursula LeGuin (1973) -Omelas, utopian land where everyone is happy, hidden secret suffering child in basement, everyone knows it exists and that its misery corresponds to their successful city -children are told at young age, but most learn to accept, those who cannot, become those who walk away from Omelas, criticism of utilitarianism and our own society, how much suffering are we willing to overlook for our happiness?
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Sur
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-Ursula LeGuin (1982) -summary report of fictional expedition to Antarctica, women traveling their to see it, not conquer - contrasted to the male goals of conquering during exploration -one woman gives birth at end, male vs. female abilities and values
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Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby
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-Donald Barthelme (1973) -bizarre story of group of friends decided to hang Colby bc he had "gone too far" -long description of planning the event, music, transportation, wire or rope etc, all seems very rational, are these characters insane?
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The School
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-Donald Barthelme (1976) -Edgar, teacher, everything seems to be dying at elementary school (first gardens, pets, but then humans) -no explanation, Edgar says its all a coincidence or bad luck, average elementary school -final scene- children ask Edgar to show them making love with Helen, but then a gerbil walks in
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Porcupines at the University
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-Donald Barthelme (1970) -Dean and his wife, thousands of porcupines coming, they don't want the porcupines to enroll in the university -wrangler Griswold, deal is made, herd of porcupines taken to NY
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What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
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-Raymond Carver (1981) -mostly dialogue of four characters, two couples -Mel, cardiologist, thinks he has authority on love, wife Terri is smart, but unclear how strong their relationship is, all have been married before -unclear if anyone actually knows what love is, conversation about love didn't get them anywhere
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Cathedral
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-Raymond Carver (1981) -narrator's wife has blind friend, Robert -final scene, narrator has moment of self-discovery when he is drawing cathedral for Robert and closes his eyes, has deeper understanding of the world
