Introduction to the American Short Story Assignment | Online Assignment

English 183, Introduction to the American Short Story, Final Exam: Choose TWO of the following questions and write thoughtful essays (at least one page in length) in response to them, employing appropriate examples and QUOTATIONS from the stories. Depending on the questions you choose, you may need to refer to stories read in the first half of the semester, in addition to those read in the second. Each essay is worth 50 points, for a total of 100 points possible. Each should be one to two pages long. 1. This semester you have read twenty American short stories written over a period of about two hundred years. Having done so, describe what you see as the primary trends in the evolution of this literary form. That is, attempt to explain how the American short story has changed from the time of Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne until now. 2. Choose a single story whose opening page or so clearly establishes the tensions and confrontations to come and whose ending offers a resonating metaphor of the story’s theme(s). Carefully explain how these opening and closing passages create both meaning and satisfaction for the reader. 3. By contrasting two stories written in the last sixty years (since 1950), attempt to convey the range and scope of the modern American short story. Proceed like this: choose two stories that you see as very different from one another; then explain these differences in terms of (a) subject, (b) writing style, or voice (c) technique (the author’s manipulation of point of view and time), and (d) plot. 4. This is a question about the untrustworthiness of first impressions. Choose a story you failed to understand on first reading but then came to understand and appreciate after giving it a second look, or after reading your classmates’ responses to it. Explain what you missed on first reading. Storys to pick From #1 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #2 The Birthmark–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #3 The Black Cat–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #4 The Coup de Grace–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #5 A White Heron–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #6 The Storm–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #7 The Blue Hotel–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #8 The Egg–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #9 The Grave–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #10 The Gilded Six-Bits–Questions Web Page Task: View this topic #11 Babylon Revisited–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #12 Barn Burning–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #13 A Clean, Well-Lighted Place–Questions Web Page Task: View this topic #14 The Magic Barrel–Questions Web Page Task: View this topic #15 Sonny’s Blues–Questions Web Page Task: View this topic #16 Revelation–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #17 A Girl’s Story–Questions Web Page You have viewed this topic #18 Hunters in the Snow–Questions Web Page Task: View this topic #19 The Things They Carried–Questions Web Page Task: View this topic #20 This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona–Questions Web Page