Short stories are a form of fictional prose that typically focuses on a single character or a small group of characters. They are known for their brevity and ability to convey a powerful message in a short amount of time. Short stories often explore complex themes ...Read More
Brief Description of Short Story
Short stories are a form of fictional prose that typically focuses on a single character or a small group of characters. They are known for their brevity and ability to convey a powerful message in a short amount of time. Short stories often explore complex themes and emotions, making them a valuable literary form for both writers and readers.
Importance of Writing Essays on This Topic
Writing essays about short stories allows students and writers to closely analyze the elements of storytelling, character development, and thematic exploration. It helps to develop critical thinking and analytical skills, as well as the ability to express ideas and interpretations effectively. Additionally, exploring short stories through essays can deepen one's understanding of human experiences and societal issues.
Tips on Choosing a Good Topic
- Consider the themes: Choose a topic that explores a specific theme or idea presented in the short story.
- Character analysis: Focus on the analysis of a particular character's development, motives, or conflicts within the short story.
- Narrative techniques: Explore the narrative structure, point of view, or symbolism used in the short story to craft an engaging topic.
Essay Topics
1. Argumentative
Essay Topics
- The impact of symbolism in "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson.
- Exploring moral dilemmas in "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe.
2. Reflective
Essay Topics
- How "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman portrays mental illness.
- The use of irony and satire in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor.
3. Comparative
Essay Topics
- Contrasting the themes of love and loss in "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry and "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant.
- Comparing the use of setting and atmosphere in "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway and "The Storm" by Kate Chopin.
Concluding Thought
Exploring short stories through essay writing offers a unique opportunity to delve into the complexities of human experiences, societal issues, and the art of storytelling. By choosing engaging topics and critically analyzing the elements of short stories, writers and students can gain a deeper appreciation for the power of this literary form.
A Worn Path During the time of slavery and the decades after, social class struggles were obvious and predominant. In a white world, African Americans struggled under great oppression and even after they were given freedom from slavery they were still held by the bondage...
Edith Wharton, the first woman to ever win the Pulitzer Prize, was an extremely vocal and critical figure of her time. She was born in 1862 and made it her life’s mission to bring the place of women at home and the workplace and the...
“Two Kinds” is a short story, which is a part of the book “The Joy Luck Club” written by Amy Tan. “The Joy Luck Club” was published in 1989. The mother-daughter relationship displayed in the short story, has received criticism for perpetuating racist stereotypes about...
People will always revert to what is most comfortable, reliant on their natural state. In Celeste Ng’s coming of age short story, “Girls, At Play”, the debate of nurture versus nature lies in the struggles between four girls. The theme of “Girls, At Play” is...
James Baldwin provides several constructions of black masculinity through his two texts Everybody’s Protest Novel and Sonny’s Blues. Since this essay is comparing works from the same author, it is essential to look at what these constructions are and also the consistency of them within...
In his two short stories “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” and “America! America!”, Delmore Schwartz depicts two protagonists born in America to Jewish immigrant parents. These two protagonists and the world as it is seen through their eyes display one of the important characteristics of Schwartz’s...
In Melville’s short story, “The Tartarus of Maids,” Melville creates a foil to the preceding short story, “The Paradise of Bachelors.” Melville juxtaposes these two stories as if in imitation of Blake’s contrasting poems with a theme of balance. One of those themes in the...
Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in the Brain,” tells the story of a disrespectful literary critic who gets shot in the head by a recounts one last memory before his gruesome death. Wolff’s story probes readers to not only challenge but contemplate their thoughts regarding life’s ability...
“Life is swift, and the value of life is the value of every moment.” -Waldo Frank Made-to-order essay as fast as you need it Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences + experts online Get my essay Out of all the readings...
“Good night,” the other said. Turning off the electric light he continued the conversation with himself. It was the light of course but it is necessary that the place be clean and pleasant. You do not want music. Certainly, you do not want music. Nor...
Short Story
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Nathan Englander’s “Free Fruit for Young Widows” is strong story full of morality. In the center of the story is Professor Tendler, who escaped from the concentration camp during the Holocaust to get back to his family home. He finds his babysitter with her family...
In the short story, “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin, the author provides two examples of the literary technique of irony to enrich and support the theme, “nothing is as it seems.” Kate Chopin uses both situational and verbal irony in different instances...
Royal Beatings starts in the defective tense with Rose revealing to us what her life resembled. Her mentality and her conditions are instantly uncovered. Her mom had kicked the bucket when she was as yet an infant, thus she grew up with “Flo for a...
Two short stories ‘To Build a Fire’ by Jack London and ‘Solitude’ by Henry David Thoreau demonstrate situations when a person is liaised with nature. However, the approach of the main characters of the short stories to such state of events is exactly opposite. Both...
Washington Irving wrote a short story “The Devil and Tom Walker”. Showing the way people may be on the outside but how they truly are on the inside. An example being Tom Walker he’s a quiet guy but on the inside he is a greedy...
James Joyce’s “Clay” is a remarkable explication of Irish folklore and the societal issues that plague turn-of-the-century Dublin. Following Maria on the night of Halloween, the story combines imagery and symbolism throughout. In S. A. Cowan’s article “Celtic Folklore in ‘Clay’: Maria and the Irish...
Introduction In the short story “The Lame Shall Enter First,” author Flannery O’Connor describes a widower’s attempts to mask his grief over his wife’s death. In order to fill the void in his heart, the widower, Sheppard, throws himself into miscellaneous charitable endeavors. He shows...
Epictetus, the Greek Stoic philosopher, said, “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” Defining one’s personal identity may coincide with this ancient Stoic principle, but what is not mentioned is the human transformation that must take...
Dr. James Knoll, a forensic psychiatrist, says, “The paranoia exists on a spectrum of severity. … Many perpetrators are in the middle, gray zone where psychiatrists will disagree about the relative contributions of moral failure versus mental affliction.” Dr. Knoll mentions that, in murderers, the...
Jhumpa Lahiri and Christopher Soto, in their respective pieces “Hell-Heaven” and “Winter Sundays”, discuss the restrictions on cultural expression for minority groups. The claim of both authors is that there is a unique cultural identity for each person, and that society has always tried to...
In Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, The Scrivener,” the author implies the major theme as the choices made in our lives, impact how we live our life. Both the narrator and Bartleby make choices that impact what happens to them in the present and the future. The...
The story you are about to read is a folktale. It is a story told by an older person to children especially on a night when the moon is high and bright in the sky. The children would gather and sit at the foot of...
“Okay Angela, just one more push and your baby will be here,” said the nurse softly. I thought to myself, this is the last time I will be pregnant. I have two beautiful children, and everything in life has been incredible so far, my children...
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a compelling story filled with excitement, sorrow, and life lessons. Huckleberry Finn goes on an escapade into the south with a runaway slave, Jim. The opportunity to do what is morally right versus what everyone around you believes is...
The short story “How to date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie” was written by Junot Diaz, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is centered around a young teenage boy giving instructions about readiness for a date with a“Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie.”...
“Lamb to Slaughter” by Roald Dahl and “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell are stories revolving two murderous women, Mary Maloney and Mrs. Wright (Minnie Foster), who murder their husbands under different circumstances. While the two women and guilty the authors manage to...
Marxist philosophy believes that society views the world through a completely economic lens. Marxism dictates that society is separated into two classes: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie utilizes ideology to suppress the proletariat mainly by manipulating their perceptions of their free agency. One...
Introduction Just one of the many short stories compiled in James Joyce’s Dubliners, “After the Race” is an effective portrayal of the shame and misfortune that result from Jimmy Doyle’s efforts to become accepted by a wealthy group of men. His constant desire to present...
Carter’s characters in The Lady of the House of Love (LHL), Wolf-Alice and The Werewolf differentiate between being victims of their own nature and victims of circumstance. These characters that are classified as ‘victims’ are often portrayed as being unable to help themselves as they...
She told him about country sounds and country smells and how fresh and clean everything in the country is. She said that he ought to live there and that if he did, he would find that all his troubles were city troubles. Made-to-order essay as...
