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A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner Short Story Analysis
“A Rose For Emily” is a short story by Mississippi born William Faulkner, first published 1930. I didn’t know of the short story when I listened to the podcast Shit Town.
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Dump Junk by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“Dump Junk” is a short story by Annie Proulx, included in the Bad Dirt collection (2004). This is a revisioned fairytale based on The Magic Porridge Pot and similar. Proulx’s shorts stories in many ways allude to, cite, and subvert a number of myths, legends, fairy tales, and folktales converging as common cultural patrimony. Annie Proulx’s short stories in many…
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The Wamsutter Wolf by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“The Wamsutter Wolf” by Annie Proulx is a short story included in the Bad Dirt collection (2004). The title of the collection comes from this story. SETTING OF “THE WAMSUTTER WOLF” This particular setting can be geolocated. Wamsutter is a town in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 451 at the 2010 census. Wikipedia As of this moment, there’s no mention of…
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Big Blonde by Dorothy Parker Analysis
“Big Blonde” (1929) by Dorothy Parker is a short story in five parts, included in various collections. We can read it for free online. The ‘Good Sport’ girl is the grandmother of Gillian Flynn’s ‘Cool Girl’. When Gillian Flynn published Gone Girl, our culture had a new phrase to describe the kind of woman who spends her time modifying herself…
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What Kind Of Furniture Would Jesus Pick by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“What Kind of Furniture Would Jesus Pick?” (2003) by Annie Proulx is the story of Gilbert Wolfscale, whose rabid devotion to his ranch drives off his wife and sons. You can read this one online. SETTING OF “WHAT KIND OF FURNITURE WOULD JESUS PICK?” This story reminds me of Larry McMurtry’s Hud, probably because it’s the story of an old…
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The Contest by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“The Contest” by Annie Proulx is a short story from the Bad Dirt collection, published 2004. Like Larry McMurtry, Proulx writes two main types of stories — comical stories similar to those found in dime novels (in McMurtry’s case) and in hunting and fishing magazines (in Proulx’s case). “The Contest” belongs to the comical class, and makes a great case…
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Man Crawling Out Of Trees by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“Man Crawling Out Of Trees” is a short story by Annie Proulx, included in her Bad Dirt collection (2004). Many of the stories in this collection are in the tall story, brutal, regional, humorous tradition, and readers who don’t share Proulx’s sense of humour haven’t connected to these stories as well as they connected to earlier ones.
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Silence by Alice Munro Short Story Analysis
“Silence” is a short story by Alice Munro, one of three in a triptych about a woman called Juliet. The first are “Chance” and “Soon“. All three are published in the Runaway collection (2004). [“Silence”] brings to the foreground a theme that runs through many stories by Alice Munro—the role of silence within the network of domestic relations. Corinne Bigot…
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The Blue Hotel by Stephen Crane (1898) Short Story Analysis
“The Blue Hotel” is a short story by Stephen Crane, published serially in Collier’s Weekly (1898) and then in the collection The Monster and Other Stories (1899). The story was inspired by Crane’s travels to the American Southwest in 1895. Encyclopedia Britannica I recently took a close look at “The Woman At The Store” by Katherine Mansfield. By coincidence I came across “The Blue Hotel” by Stephen Crane,…
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Je ne parle pas français by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“Je ne parle pas français” (I don’t speak French) is a 1918 short story by Katherine Mansfield. Nothing much ‘happens’, but the character of Raoul Duquette is a comedic archetype seen in contemporary creations such as Dwight Schrute from The Office. Connection To Mansfield’s Own Life Hard to fathom today, but the obliquely gay subject matter of this story would…
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How To Write Like Katherine Mansfield
Mansfield borrowed from those who came before her and we may do the same. In fact, it’s inevitable. It pays to know our own influences… if only so we don’t mimic them too closely. Overall, Mansfield was a modernist writer. And of the modernist writers, she was at the highly aesthetic and visual end of the spectrum. She wasn’t big…
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The Woman At The Store by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“The Woman At The Store” (1912) is one of Mansfield’s earlier stories, written for the magazine Rhythm. The aesthetic goal of this magazine was pity, brutality and a carefully wrought plot with adequate foreshadowing. It is now thought that this story is far from Mansfield’s best work. This short story has been criticised for its foreshadowing, considered ‘telegraphing’ (foreshadowing which…
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At The Bay by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“At the Bay” (1921) is considered one of Mansfield’s best short stories, by a writer at the height of her powers. This is one of the three about the Burnell family, who also star in “Prelude” and “The Doll’s House“. “At The Bay” is an interesting case study for writers, for so many reasons. Notably: CHARACTERISATION The way Mansfield creates…
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Prelude by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“Prelude” is the first in a trilogy of interlinked short stories. The other stories starring the Burnell family are “At the Bay” and “The Doll’s House”. Although Mansfield also populates “The Doll’s House” with the same characters.
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The Tiredness of Rosabel by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
Outside school magazines, “The Tiredness of Rosabel” was Katherine Mansfield’s first published story (1908, when Mansfield was 20 years old). Already we can see features the author became known for: WHAT HAPPENS IN “THE TIREDNESS OF ROSABEL” Rosabel takes a bus home after a tiring day working in a millinery shop. She thinks of a good dinner, feeling she would…