Short Cuts

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe is a short story which the author uses to provide a study of paranoia and the deterioration of mental states. The short story describes nameless man, who explains that he is not an insane man, but simply has a “disease” which makes all his senses to become sensitive. Every midnight, the narrator goes to an old man’s room and conspires to murder the potential victim. He does not possess any personal rivalries or hatred against old man, and in fact loves…

“We loved with a love that was more than love” – Edgar Allen Poe. In the classical short story of The Gift of Magi that’s how Jim and Della felt. They had almost no money, but that sacrificed their greatest and most valuable treasure. Jim sold his watch for hair combs while; Della sold her luscious hair for a watch fob as a Christmas present for Jim. I think it was fine that they spent that much money on one present for love. A reason it was fine spending that much money is because it was…

an effective short story, setting may figure as more than mere background or underpinning. It can make things happen. It can prompt characters to act, bring them to realizations, or cause them to reveal their inmost natures” (112). Nathaniel Hawthorne emphasized the vibrant garden as the central imagery of the setting in his 1800 short story, “Rappaccini’s daughter”. Austin Clarke repetitively established his setting of a Caribbean island and the almshouse on the island in his short story from…

his prime time. His youth was suppose to be the most productive and fulfilling time of his life. Instead it turned out to be, as Tichborne writes himself in the upcoming line; “My crop of corn is but a field of tares”. Everything he had done in his short life had meant as much as he would haevliked and his time hoping to achieve something of importance was nothing but false hope. Even though he had been given life it was…

the story is short, my first impression was indifferent. The beginning is very slow, but then it left me on the edge of my seat and feeling a range of emotions towards the end of the short story. Unfortunately, Orwell left me feeling rushed after enacting a self-catharsis upon myself. Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is a wonderful narrative that is cut short, thus leaving me feeling dissatisfied and detached with the ending of the short story. When I first read the title of the short story,…

strangers, and as Juan holds Chiron like a priest would during a baptism, demonstrates the new beginning for the two. This new beginning consists of Juan adopting Chiron as a surrogate son and Chiron accepting Juan as a father like figure. The choppy, short shots that make up the scene are indicative of their fast moving, developing relationship. The two begin the scene as relative strangers, however, end it as much more, a considerably rapid development, illustrated by the quickness of the…

The issues and dangers that arise from blindly following tradition and leadership are central focal points in two short stories, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “Dead Man’s Path” by Chinua Achebe Both short stories show the kinds of trouble and destruction that can be brought on by these types of…

Different Literature Elements in a Short Story Flannery O’Connor is a famous American author. She wrote thirty-two short stories and two novels. She is very famous for her short stories. One of her famous short stories is “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” The short story is a relationship between son and mother, which also holds a mother’s and son’s perspective of colored people. To develop the short story, O’Connor uses different kinds of literature elements, such as, the main…

My reaction to this short story is somewhat astonished, but distraught. While I was reading this story, it gave me chicken skin because of the narrator’s frightening actions towards the people and animals that he cared for. How can one murder his own wife with an axe? How can one murder his own companion with a penknife and use it to cut one of its eyes from the socket? The middle and the ending of this story surprised me because in the intro the narrator portrayed himself as an “animal lover”,…

The most successful out of the three versions of building up suspense in the Monkey’s Paw is the short story by W.W. Jacob. In other words, the short story captures the most vulnerable moments of life in story and then all of a sudden the mood changes into phycological. One piece of textual evidence is showing the mother is in relief, then is not “Thank God for that! Thank---”(Jacobs 5). This shows how her mood turns from hopeful to paralyzed. Mrs. White had wanted a feeling of happiness and it…