Sticks By George Saunders: The Story Of An Hour

Some critics feel that short stories help struggling readers invest more time in reading. When comparing short stories to longer books such as novels, readers may feel that they have more interest in a short story since they can start and finish the story in a maximum time frame of 45 minutes. Due to the brevity of short stories, suspense builds quickly, the key information is clearly displayed, and everything is straight to the point without unnecessary detail. More often than not, struggling readers have trouble keeping their attention on the story and wanting to know what happens next. Short stories do not drag on endlessly and give the message of the story in few words, making them the perfect tool for struggling readers to invest more time in reading. A two paragraph short story, “Sticks” by George Saunders captures the reader’s attention and holds it for the duration of the story, which takes no longer than 5 minutes to complete. This narration can help any readers having a hard time staying focused on a long and descriptive story realize that a story as short as this can provoke just as much thought and consideration as a novel. In “Sticks”, the narrator’s father tries to display to …show more content…
In this story set in the late 1800’s, a woman learns that train has killed her patriarchal, controlling, and overbearing husband. Grieving at first, the woman realizes that the situation does not entail sadness; rather, this event gives her freedom. However, in the last paragraph of the story, the husband returns, and all glimpses of freedom vanish, causing the woman to die. Plot twists like these make the readers glad they took the time to sit down and read the story. Short stories can entice struggling readers by keeping them on the edge of their seat, as done in “The Story of an