Short Story Essays

During the 1800’s Washington Irving was critical in American Literature’s separation from Britain. He wrote the “Sketch Book” which included stories such as “Rip Van Winkle” and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. It was the first book by an American writer to become popular outside of the United States and …

The story “The Half-Skinned Steer” by Annie Proulx could be classified in the Return to the womb arch-type. It fits that unit theme very well, mainly because the main character in the story, whose name is Mero, returns to his place of birth and childhood almost sixty years later. The …

Joyce’s ‘Eveline’ is a story about a young woman who was unhappy with her life so decides to run off with a man whom she fell in love with. The plot of the story is a quest-like search for the love she doesn’t feel with her father. The writer spreads …

Even though some leaders are very brilliant and have fantastic ideas, certain circumstances and the actions of others prevent these ideas from going forth. In Animal Farm, Snowball’s ideas are never put to plan. Seeing what a great speaker he is, his competitor, Napoleon, runs Snowball off the farm so …

Holden’s story begins on the Saturday following the end of classes at the Pencey prep school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Pencey is Holden’s fourth school; he has already failed out of three others. At Pencey, he has failed four out of five of his classes and has received notice that he …

Beowulf and the 13th Warrior are two stories that are centered around the Anglo-Saxon culture and even though they have many things in common, there are a few key differences to the stories. These are two great stories that portray the Anglo-Saxon culture very well. The two stories both show …

Storytelling and narrative have both been used as a teaching device for hundreds of years. Their roots have surrounded religion, generally as an easier way of understanding the beliefs better. From the early views of Animism and Taoism, later to the views of Judaism and Christianity, and throughout time to …

Atticus is said to be ‘the deadliest shot in Maycomb County’. This is because in an incident in Chapter 10, Atticus is called upon to rid Maycomb County of a sick, unhealthy mad dog, which could cause much harm to the community if it got a chance to attack the …

At times, we don’t understand why things occur. In the story “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier and The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock, all types of birds begin to attack the people for an unknown reason. The short story and the movie each have a different way of presenting the …

In “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles we see many occasions where a reader or perhaps even a scholar can begin to get confused. However, Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex takes time to look at some of the most debated events throughout the entire book. E.R. Dodd’s transforms Oedipus Rex into a descriptive …