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.
In James Joyce's short story "Clay," fate forces Maria into a nun-like existence and keeps her from realizing her dream of marriage. She seems content with her position on the exterior, but several clues suggest this is not the case. Joyce makes this clear as...
“Little Red Riding Hood” can be viewed as one of the most popular and famous bedtime fairytales. Based on the original counterpart, Angela Carter remolds this story by adding sexual elements through her work “The Company of Wolves”, in which the narrator describes the red...
A recurring theme that can be found in Thomas Pynchon’s novel The Crying of Lot 49 is the conception that chaos has a tremendous effect on society. Pynchon engages in a dualistic method of literary technique to engender the realization of the effect that chaos...
Post-colonialism is concerned with the effects of colonization on the colonized. In fact, Richard Schur argues “that there can be no simple escape from the effects race, racism, gender, and sexism without some sort of decolonization” (277). One affect involves how language is used to...
Authors write using sentence structure and word classes to create environment and character in their stories; this essay will be analyzing and evaluating the differences between environment and character in two short stories. It’s A Bear’s Life and The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner....
Tuna was a little girl. Just like a toy doll The laugh was that the music was ringing. Tuna had a lot of love for her mother. After coming from the school, she used to revolve around her mother. If Tuna’s mother settled for home...
Both stories are similar because they explore the theme of personal identity. Kingston’s “No Name Woman” explores the narrator’s struggles to connect her American identity with the Chinese Identity. Similarly, Cisneros’ “Woman Hollering Creek” explores how Cleófilas’ Chicano identity affects her marriage and relationship. Therefore,...
“The Company of Wolves” is a combination of small story segments all included in the same space and time. The wolf-infested forests is a dangerous area for any traveller, the reason being that wolves are smart and take advantage of the environment so that the...
Powder by Tobias Wolff: summary Tobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff is best known because of his short stories and memoirs based on his own life. The famous author was born on June 14, 1945 in Birmingham, Alabama from Rosemary Loftus and Arthur Samuel Wolff, when Wolff’s...
Individuals in the public eye endeavor to discover bliss in one’s self, others and their locale. What factors are there to get extreme satisfaction in one’s life? What moral choices does one need to defeat to acquire this incomparable satisfaction that each individual undertakings? The...
Introduction Jorge Luis Borges, born in 1899, is an Argentinan short story writer and poet. “The Gospel According to Mark” is one of his short stories that was published in 1970. It covers biblical ideas and crucifixion. It begins with an introduction to Baltazar Esponosa...
A possibly dangerous intruder does not show up. A woman has dreams of a long dead man from her past. A child hopes to trick two teenage girls into thinking she is a ghost. A reminder that the king of France is bald. These are...
In Victor Lavalle’s Slapboxing with Jesus the neglected, maimed, and the damned people of New York are put in the spotlight. The people that are described are not thrown in situations without reason, their social condition puts them in their situation and keeps them there....
People must make sacrifices every single day. Whether such sacrifice serves to benefit them, those around them, or society in general, people find that decisions to give up aspects of their lives are prevalent in human nature. Both spectrums of this theme are thoroughly explored...
The short story “The Garden Party” was penned by Katherine Mansfield, a burgeoning short story writer from New Zealand; this work of fiction was first published in 1922 in The Garden Party and Other Stories. This short story delves into modernity through innovative literary techniques,...
Disentangling the Twins of Conrad’s Psyche 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 Joseph Conrad spoke such truth about the inner working of humankind when he said through...
There are a handful of logical approaches and techniques that human beings use to rationalize and understand situations we are not completely sure of. When placed in a situation in which we feel trauma or fear, our immediate reaction is to concoct a way to...
Kelly Link’s “The New Boyfriend” is a short story from her collection, Get in Trouble, which traffics into a teenage territory. The story focuses on a teenage girl, Immy, who is jealous of her good friend, Ainslie. The setting of the story is Ainslie’s birthday...
The man we call Pa Kay was coughing, all of us saw blood come out of his mouth, he have been trying to cover it up each time they ask how he is doing. ‘It’s nothing, I will be fine, you people should not bother...
The Gift of the Magi is a short story written by O. Henry is a story about a wife and her husband buying Christmas gifts for each other with just a little money that they have. I greatly admire the character, Della. Della is a...
“The tree” tells the story of two women of different social backgrounds: Marta, economically well positioned and Luisa, an Indian. Luisa, a woman of lower class, arrives at Marta’s house, fleeing from a violent husband, from whom, despite the mistreatment, she cannot break free. Marta...
‘But ain’t no body gonna beat me at nothing’ is an ironic choice of words coming from a lower-class young African American girl growing up in the brutal streets of in New York City. In the short story, ‘The Lesson’ Toni Cade Bambara illustrates the...
Helena Maria Viramontes’ “The Moths” recounts a story between a granddaughter and a grandmother who both offer an emblematic association between one another. The story is in a first individual account, told by the narrator, and her experience dealing with her ill grandmother while confronting...
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007, Doris Lessing crafted fiction that is deeply infused with autobiographical touches, especially from her experiences in Africa. All of her works center around modern themes such as the clash of cultures, the gross injustices of racial...
Written by master realist Anton Chekhov, “Misery” is the story of an old man’s grief for having lost his son. He keeps looking for somebody with whom to talk about the death of his child. Throughout, the use of the old man’s narrative perspective enables...
A fetish object assumes distinct, almost superstitious power and is often associated with sexual gratification, desire, and worship. As explained in “Sexualization in the Media,” “Fetishization marks a cultural, psychological, and social technique of fetishizing things by making them appear larger than life, animate, or...
Introduction In his stories “Ligeia,” “Berenice,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe presents a series of women in transit. These women exist in a liminal space between life and death, highlighting the fluidity of their existence. This perpetual state of transition emphasizes...
Gina Berriault’s “The Stone Boy” follows the story of a young boy facing the aftermath of a terrible accident and trying to understand his responsibility in the matter. When Arnold does not respond emotionally, the adults’ false assumptions isolate Arnold. In “The Stone Boy”, Berriault...
In Tressie McMillan Cottom’s essay, “The Logic of Stupid Poor People,” she skillfully employs personal experiences and observed patterns to challenge the flawed practice of judging and generalizing a population’s logic based on unfamiliar experiences. Specifically, Cottom argues that the logic of poor people is...
It was two o’clock in the afternoon. I was heading towards the bus station with Mohan after Mrs Wong’s extra class. The sun was beating mercilessly on my back and I could feel my sweat trickling down my spine. I have often wished that my...
