Short Story Essays

A short story is a kind of prose fiction which has grown up besides the novel and which has its own important and recognised place in literature. It may be defined as a prose narrative, “requiring from half an hour to one hour for its perusal.” In other words, brevity …

The movie “Awakenings” is based on a factual memoir also titled “Awakenings” written by Oliver Sacks, MD. The movie tells the story of a neurologist, Dr. Sayer hired by a hospital for the chronically ill, whom is caring for a group of survivors of an endemic of encephalitis lethargica that …

In “a rough world of men” David Malouf highlights the importance of storytelling and the lessons that can be learnt from stories. He further strives to show how all people live out their own stories and that sometimes the most valuable lessons can be drawn from the lives that we …

I would have such a fellow whipped for o’erdoing Termagant (II,ii,14) It out herods Herod (III,ii,14) I would whip a guy for making a tyrant sound too tyrannical. That’s as bad as those old plays in which King Herod ranted. Please avoid doing that. In this allusion to a Moslem …

The quote is from Act I, Scene III of Hamlet. The character of Polonius is speaking to his son, Laertes, who is about to go on a long trip. Shakespeare wrote the character of Polonius as a blow-hard, a meddler, an eavesdropper, who gets his due when Hamlet (thinking it …

Who loved to hear folktale stories from their grandmother at nights before going to sleep? Personally I loved hearing them especially at night with hot chocolate and pan dulce [sweet bread]. However, wouldn’t you wonder why your grandmother would tell you these stories if there was a significant explanation, or …

Irony is expressing what an author is trying to say using language or words saying the opposite. There are three types of irony. Verbal irony is a contrast between what is said and what is actually meant. Situational irony occurs when things turn out contrary to what is expected or …

‘In The Rubbish Tin’ is a harsh short story about a cruel reality, by Apirana Taylor. The story is set out in an episode form, that switches in between three different characters points at the same time in the story. The main character of the story focus, is Phillipa, a …

“The Most Hateful Words” by Amy Tan is a short story with a lot of powerful meaning to it. As the title of the short story says it, it’s filled with emotional problems between the relationship of a young girl and her mother. Tan wants the readers to know not …

Dave Barry (b. 1947) is a syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald, where he won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1988. He is the author of twenty-three humor books, including Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys (1995), the introduction of which is included here. Despite its title, “Guys vs. …