- Review of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Pierce
- Review of Dry September by William Faulkner
- Review of Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
- Review of Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
- Review of Let the Old Dead Make Room for the Young Dead by Milan Kundera
- Review of The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Young Goodman Brown
What is a short story? There are several things most critics agree upon.
- A short story is a piece of prose fiction which can be read at a single sitting.
- It ought to combine matter-of-fact description with poetic atmosphere.
- It ought to present a unified impression of temper, tone, colour, and effect.
- It mostly shows a decisive moment of life (which can entail a fatal blow).
- There is often little action, hardly any character development, but we get a snapshot of life.
- Its plot is not very complex (in contrast to the novel), but it creates a unified impression and leaves us with a vivid sensation rather than a number of remembered facts.
- There is a close connection between the short story and the poem as there is both a unique union of idea and structure.
I like to think of a short story as a tiny slice of life. A small moment that allows a glimpse into the motives of the characters.
