To the student

Reading will be a substantial component of students’ curriculum this year. This course will aid in dealing with the reading and interpretation of short stories by American and British writers and is aimed at the expansion of understanding of a short story beyond the literal and simple recollection of factual details. The majority of the activities in this course will concentrate on reading and analyzing the short story and its elements (the genre, the plot-structure, and the forms of presentation).

During the 1^st term students are expected:

• to read 21 short stories by British and American authors;

• to accomplish 2 home tests (supposed to be done independently and checked with the attached keys);

• to do an entrance test and a final test.

This book covers the course of Reading and Appreciation of the Short Story and aims at teaching students to:

• approach a literary text, understand and appreciate it;

• operate with the major notions important for literary analysis such as plot, setting, forms of presentation, tone, title, symbolism;

• summarize, generalize and evaluate main points and implications of the text;

• comment on events and characters of a literary work, discovering the author’s ideas and the means of conveying them.

Part 1 of the book is divided into 6 units containing original and unabridged short stories, followed by sections of questions to help students to appreciate the text and organize discussions in class. The texts are preceded by a necessary minimum of information, which will allow the student to answer the After You Read questions and accomplish the Before You Read tasks. The tasks take a variety of formats and are meant for full class activities, group activities and individual work.

Part 1 also includes 15 short stories intended for students’ independent reading and appreciation. To facilitate the task, a scheme of analysis is suggested and each short story is followed by a set of questions which focus the reader’s attention on the most relevant and important issues of interpretation. The supplement to Part 1 contains 2 home tests provided with keys for self-control.

The course presupposes thorough and conscientious independent and class work on behalf of the student.

We hope that this course will encourage students to respond imaginatively to what they read, to build up their vocabulary. It will help to understand and enjoy reading English language literature and will give tools and methods for appreciating fiction students will read in the future.

UNIT 1

STORY TYPES

Describing types of stories

Short stories can be set anywhere and at any time; they can involve all kinds of characters and cover a vast range of themes. Classification of all short stories into types would be an extremely difficult thing to do, particularly with the best short stories, whose subtlety and thematic interest make them unique. However, the definition of the type of a story (sometimes called genre) might be of some help in the task of bringing forth its central ideas and the author’s message.

Look at the various genres and answer the questions given below.

psychological story humour story (auto)biography science fiction fantasy horror story love story thriller western, crime story, parable romance adventure story detective story historical fiction fairy story spy story travelogue folk-tale tear-jerker whodunnit spine-chiller ghost story myth anecdote legend joke story with social significance

• Which of the above are usually oral: that is, people usually tell them to each other rather than write them down?

• Which of the genres above are similar in that they have the same kind of setting and same kind of characters?

• Can you think of some examples of the above genres by English writers and from your own culture?

• Which of these genres do you like? Which do you never read? Can you explain your preferences?

Exercise 1.

Here are 9 definitions of some popular story genres. Following them are passages explaining the definitions. Match up each definition with the appropriate description.

Historical fiction Spy thriller Romance

Science fiction Detective story Western

Horror story Humour story Autobiography

A. Similar to fairy tales and legends, these stories appeal to a reader’s romantic fantasies. In highly emotional, overblown language, they tell of love and adventure. Escapist in nature, such stories free readers from the concerns of everyday life, painting an idealized picture of human relationships.

B. This story genre presents fictitious characters interlinked with actual events and figures of history. Historical characters are portrayed speaking in first person as though an actual record exists of the event. Whatever their chronology, the characters of fiction of this type speak in the idiom of the author, not of their day.

C. This genre features the stories and mythology of the American frontier of the nineteenth century. Typical heroes are tough, self-reliant men with a love for the land. Native Americans are often an important presence in the story. Like its typical hero, its language is unadorned, with the dialogue often in dialect.

D. Stories of this type present a puzzle in the form of a mystery that must be solved. The main character (generally a detective) — and vicariously the reader — conduct a search for clues. Protagonists are presented as tough, honest individuals, ruthless but in pursuit of the social good. The language of “hard-boiled” fiction of this genre is streetwise and direct.

E. Derived from the detective story, the hero of this genre is a modern fantasy figure. Rebellious against authority or guilt-ridden from his deceptions, he symbolizes the amorality of modern society. Writers of thrillers of such kind go into great detail in their descriptions of procedures, events and tools of the trade, which is a very effective way of arresting and keeping up the reader’s interest.

F. The basic themes of this popular kind of imaginative literature include space travel, time travel and marvellous discoveries and inventions. Stories of this type may be set in the future or in the past; some are set in a far-away universe. Unlike fantasy, which deals with the impossible, this type of fiction describes events that could actually occur, according to accepted or possible theories. Popularity of the genre grew as developments in nuclear energy and space exploration showed that many of its predictions were more realistic than many people believed them to be.

G. This is a personal history, usually informal in style, in which the writer tells of persons known and things done sharing one’s own thoughts and emotions with the reader.

H. Such stories induce smiles or outright laughter. They may be gentle, silly, or sarcastic. In them, writers draw upon real concerns or contemporary issues, but through irony, exaggeration, and satire, they make the serious funny.

I. Melodramatic and containing mysterious and supernatural events, these stories aim at frightening their readers. Set in a gloomy, forbidding location, suspense is heightened by overblown descriptions, unaccountable sounds, darkness, and premonitions of death. Today this genre represents characters who fail to understand important clues and take on investigations that only get them into trouble — or worse.

Exercise 2.

Label the passages given below as to their story type. Give your reasoning.

1. Before I tell you anything about myself, I would like to tell you, or at least identify for you, the world into which I was born. My background. I mean of course my mother — my father. My two parents. Mother died when I was forty-odd. Dad died when I was fifty-odd. Thus I had them as my…Well, they were always, for over forty years — there. They were mine. (Katharine Hepburn, Me)

2. For a humorist I think a lot about death… My main concern about my death was that I would not make The New York Times obituary page. I was sure it would be just my luck that Charles de Gaulle would die on the same day and all the space would be taken up with tributes to him. The New York Times is the only institution which has the power to decide if you existed or not. You can spend eighty years on earth and if they don’t say anything about it when you pass away, your life has been a waste. (Art Buchwald, Leaving Home)

3. He would remember her joyous laughter for the rest of his life. Max could still see Cleo clearly in his mind, shimmering first with passion and then with delight. And he was responsible for giving her both... Max savored the unfamiliar pleasure that coursed through him… He was not accustomed to being viewed as a man who could make someone else happy. He certainly had never seen himself in such a light. But last night he, Max Fortune, had made Cleo Robbins happy. She said she had waited all her life for the right man, for him, and she claimed she had not been disappointed. Last night, for the first time in his entire life, he, Max Fortune, had been someone’s Mr. Right. (Jayne Ann Krentz, Grand Passion)

4. The rat jumped down and trotted off toward the elbow-bend further up. Hank’s hand was trembling now, and the flashing beam slipped jerkily from place to place, now picking out a dusty barrel, now a decades-old bureau that had been loaded down here, now a stack of old newspapers, now — He jerked the flashlight beam back toward the newspapers and sucked in breath as the light fell on something to the left side of him. A shirt… was that a shirt? Bundled up like an old rag. Something behind it that might have been blue jeans. And something that looked like… Something snapped behind him. He panicked, threw the keys wildly on the table, and turned away shambling into a run. As he passed the box, he saw what made the noise. (Stephen King, Salem’s Lot)

5. Theodore Roosevelt welcomed Blaise heartily into his railroad car, a somewhat shabby affair for the governor of so great a state… “Delighted you could come!” For once Roosevelt did not make two or three words of delighted. He seemed uncharacteristically subdued, even nervous. With a sudden shake, the train started. Blaise and Roosevelt fell together against Senator Platt’s chair. From the chair came a soft cry. Blaise looked down and saw two accusing eyes set in a livid face, glaring up at them. “Senator, forgive me — us. The train…”. Roosevelt stuttered apologies. (Gore Vidal, Empire)

f) The old man filled the cups, then leaned back in the booth and looked at Mike… “Never told my story to anybody. Never felt no call to, an’ didn’t want to be called a liar. Folks always figured I’d struck me a pocket, an’ I surely did”. He chuckled. “Only it weren’t raw gold but ree-fined gold. Pure! I found some all right an’ there’s aplenty where it came from if’n you aren’t skeered of ha’nts and the like… That there desert now, them mountains around Navajo an’ east of there… That’s wild country, boy! There’s places yonder you see one time an’ they never look the same again. There’s canyons no man has seen the end of nor ever will, either…” (Louis L’Amour, The Haunted Mesa)

g) The last question was asked for the first time… on May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light. The question came about as a result of a five-dollar bet over highballs, and it happened this way: Alexander Adell and Bertram Lupov were two of the faithful attendants of Multivac. As well as any human beings could, they knew what lay behind the cold, clicking face — miles and miles of face — of that giant computer. They had at least a vague notion of the general plan of relays and circuits that had long since grown past the point where any single human could possibly have a firm grasp of the whole. (Isaac Asimov, The Last Question)

h) It was a warm day, almost at the end of March, and I stood outside the barber shop looking up at the jutting neon sign of a second floor dine and dice emporium called Florian’s. A man was looking up at the sign too. He was looking up at the dusty windows with a sort of ecstatic fixity of expression, like a hunky immigrant catching his first sight of the Statue of Liberty. He was a big man but not more than six feet five inches tall and not wider than a beer truck. He was about ten feet away from me. His arms hung loose at his sides and a forgotten cigar smoked behind his enormous fingers… He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food. (Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely)

i) Ryan had been to the office of the Central intelligence several times before to deliver briefings and occasional messages… Greer waved Ryan over and passed him a folder. The folder was made of red plastic and had a snap closure. Its edges were bordered with white tape and the cover had a simple white paper label bearing the legends EYES ONLY and WILLOW. Neither notation was unusual. Ryan opened the folder and looked first at the index sheet. Evidently there were only three copies of the WILLOW document, each initialed by its owner. A CIA document with only three copies was unusual enough that Ryan, whose highest clearance was NEBULA, had never encountered one. (Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October)

SUMMARY MAKING RULES

Summary is a clear concise orderly retelling of the contents of a story and is generally no more than 10 sentences.

To write a good summary follow these directions:

• Read the text carefully. Divide it into logical parts. Sum up each part in 1-2 sentences.

• Pay special attention to the structure of the plot. Concentrate on the most relevant turns of the events and the most important facts. Avoid minor details and repetitions.

• Change direct narration into indirect.

• Use your own words instead of words used by the author. Do not give quotations.

• Avoid figurative language, try to make it as neutral as possible.

• Stick either to the Past or the Present Tenses.

• Avoid expressing your own judgements, opinions, interpretation or appreciation.

A helping hand

The story is taken from/written by…

The action takes place/is laid/is set in…

The main characters are…

The story opens up with the description of/the conversation between…

Then…/as the result of it…/after that…/finally…/in the end…

So/therefore/thus/because of it…

Exercise 1.

Each of these sentences can be rewritten much more briefly without really changing the meaning. Read them carefully, and then rewrite them in few words (between two and ten).

1. If I were asked to give an accurate description of my physical condition at the present moment, the only possible honest reply would be that I am greatly in need of liquid refreshment.

2. People whose professional activity lies in the field of politics are not, on the whole, conspicuous for their respect for factual accuracy.

3. I must confess to a feeling of very considerable affection for the young female person with whom I spend the greater part of my spare time.

4. Failure to assimilate an adequate quantity of solid food over an extended period of time is absolutely certain to lead, in due course, to a fatal conclusion.

5. It is by no means easy to achieve an accurate understanding of that subject of study which is concerned with the relationship between numbers.

6. It is my fervent wish that the creator of the universe will do his utmost to preserve and protect the royal lady who graciously occupies the position of head of state.

7. I should be greatly obliged if you would have the kindness to bring me, at your convenience, a written statement of the indebtedness I have incurred in connection with the meal which you have just finished serving to me.

8. The climactic conditions prevailing in the British Isles show a pattern of alternating and unpredictable periods of dry and wet weather, accompanied by a similarly irregular cycle of temperature changes.

9. I should be grateful if you would be so good as to stop the uninterrupted flow of senseless remarks with which you are currently straining my patience to breaking point.

10. I have long ceased to believe in the existence of the elderly male white-bearded person who is in charge of bringing gifts annually in the last week of December.

Exercise 2.

Read the text carefully and render it in as few words as possible.