Short Story Essays

The story was about Scout (Jean-Louise Finch) and her brother Jem who try to understand the real idea of sin in the little town ‘Maycomb’ in America. Their father (Atticus) became very unpopular when he tried to defend a Negro (Tom Robinson) who was wrongly accused. Jem and Scout learned …

It is relatively easy to see that during the first 9 chapters of the book there are several intended and significant mirrors of events between the children’s sheltered world and that of the adults. Throughout the book the transition from childhood to adult life remains a key theme and the …

In a novel, one element which -nearly- everyone enjoys is that of mystery. Being presented with something of a mysterious nature often entices the reader into thought over a certain aspect of the novel; the reader’s intrigue and excitement growing as the mystery develops and eventually culminates into resolution. Although, …

In the nineteenth century attitudes were very different to how they are today, as reflected in the books and short stories written in this period. The three short stories I shall be focusing on are: * ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’—Charlotte Perkins Gilman * ‘Tony Kytes-The Arch Deceiver— Thomas Hardy * ‘The …

Thomas Hardy’s works often explore the subjects of relationships, mortality, love and the ‘unflinching rigour’ or pattern of time. He uses the image of a landscape to great effect in both the poem ‘At Castle Boterel’ and the short story ‘The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion’. The poem is …

This story has two main characters, the narrator and the signalman. The signalman lives in his hut by a rail tunnel, with a steep cutting above it. The narrator goes to visit the signalman every day, and there are many ways in which Charles Dickens creates a genuine atmosphere of …

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story, “The Speckled Band” written in the early nineteenth century tells the tale of Sherlock Holmes and one of his cases and it compares very differently to Roald Dahl’s twentieth century short story, “Lamb to the Slaughter” about a wife murdering her husband. The murder …

In this assignment I will be looking at the downfall of the character Madame Loisel in the short story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. Maupassant was born in France in the 19th century in the Chateu de Miromesniall. He wrote about women in the lower-middle class because he had …

The theme of the story may have been influenced by Dickens’s own involvement in the Staple Hurst rail crash on the 9th of June 1865. While passing over a viaduct in Kent, the train on which he was traveling jumped a gap in the line, causing the central and rear …

‘The Darkness Out There’ written by Penelope Lively and ‘Great Expectations’ written by Charles Dickens are both pieces of prose contemporary to their writing date and audience. Similarly, the examples of text are moral tales which allow the audience to understand and comprehend the reality of humanity. Charles Dickens is …