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LITERATURE: SHORT STORIES

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SHORT STORY
The short story is a brief imaginative narrative, unfolding a single predominant incident and a single
chief character; it contains a plot, the details of which are so compressed and the whole treatment so
organized as to produce a single impression.

It is a prose narrative usually involving one connected episode or a sequence of related events. Its
literary form is the plot.

WHY IS THE SHORT STORY SHORT?

• Often the material that the writer takes for his or her story is in itself restricted, consisting of
one incident or a closely related sequence of events;

• Sometimes the material is broader but the writer has decided to compress it because they do
not intend to include all the details.

A short story may be short not because its action is inherently small, but rather because the author has
chosen to omit certain of its parts; an action may be large in size but still be short in the telling because
not all of it is there.

DURATION

• A short story can cover the events of a brief episode or encompass action that takes years to
conclude.

• Usually stories that are static, where little change occurs, are relatively short, while more
dynamic actions, covering a longer time and involving the characters’ changes from one state to
another, are longer.

• The writer may omit or condense complex episodes to intensify their dramatic effect or expand
a single incident to make a relatively long story.

• The events proceed chronologically or are rearranged with flashbacks.

SINGLE EFFECT

The storyteller must stay within the limits of this “single effect” established early on in the narrative.

MEANINGFUL CATEGORIES IN THE SHORT STORY

1) PLOT

Plot is the sequence of events in a story and their relation to one another. Usually they are related by
causation, and their meaning lies in this relation.

It may be defined as the framework of the story. Plot is how the events of the story are arranged
through different narrative techniques.

It is a plan, design, scheme or pattern of events in a play or work of fiction. It has to do with how
incidents and characters are organized in such a way as to induce curiosity and suspense in the reader.

ELEMENTS OF A PLOT

• SITUATION OR DATUM  The initial set of circumstances, out of which the story develops.
Closely connected with the situation, there must be conflict, a struggle which may be physical
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or mental. It may be an inner conflict between two characters, or a conflict between the
character and the surroundings.

• COMPLICATION  The second element of the plot, which is the getting into trouble. Somebody
or something interferes with the main character’s wishes and destiny.

• CLIMAX  It is the peak of intensity, the highest point of the story. There may be more than
one peak of interest and suspense. The climax will be the highest peak and it will occur near the
end.

• OUTCOME  It should follow swiftly after the climax. In the outcome, the suspense subsides
and comes to rest. Either the character gets what he/she wants and the ending is satisfactory,
or he does not, and the ending is an unhappy one.

2) CHARACTERS

Thanks to the development of psychoanalysis, there is a growing importance given to characterization.

They must materialize on the page through the accumulation of details about their appearances, actions
and responses.

How are the characters in a short story to be understood? Any discussion of character tends to drift
sooner or later into a value judgment, since our principles of definition and evaluation for fictional
characters are based on the ones we use for real people, controversial and confused as they may be for
most of us.

FLAT CHARACTERS have only one single trait. They are not fully developed, only one side of their
personality. In general, these are secondary characters that have brief appearances.

ROUND/DYNAMIC CHARACTERS, conversely, have a number of traits which make them seem closer to
life, like human beings. They have multifaceted personalities. We see them as capable of alternatives.
We can feel the pull of their actions, they seem real.

3) PLACE OR SETTING

Setting includes time, place, occupations and conditions. The short story writer usually states important
features of the setting near the beginning of the story, and further details may be brought in as the story
progresses. Long paragraphs of description should be avoided while vivid descriptions help the reader to
picture the action. To set the scene, the writer attempts to create in the reader’s visual imagination the
illusion of a solid world in which the story takes place; a solid setting makes it easier for us to accept the
fiction. A sense of place is essential if readers are to begin to engage themselves in the fictional
characters’ situations. The setting makes the characters seem real but also has a dramatic use,
considering it may affect character or plot.

4) MOOD AND ATMOSPHERE

They should not be confused with setting. Sometimes the atmosphere in a short story is too intangible
to be expressed in words. The means used may be: language, allegory, symbols, images and metaphors.
It is through atmosphere that the author presents his/her own view of whatever is happening in the
story. It appeals to extra-sensory and sensory perception.

5) THEME

Theme is the starting point of the story. It is an idea which the author wishes to illustrate and around
which he builds a plot. All the stories have a theme. The central idea, stated directly or indirectly.

Theme is a generalization about the meaning of a story. While the plot of a story can be summarized by
saying what happened in the action, the theme is an even more general statement of the meaning of
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the story (example: “losing faith destroys a person’s life”). Stories should boil down to a one-sentence
essence.

Students tend to look for moral judgments about life when they think about the meaning of a story, but
literature does not demand that they do.

It is possible that an interesting, well-constructed story will also contain a meaning with moral
implications; it is equally possible that an interesting, well-constructed story will be without a moral,
existing as a complete and satisfactory aesthetic pattern in itself. Ultimately, all great literature makes a
statement beyond morality. The innate impulse to tell a story does not necessarily originate in a moral
sense or a conscience. It probably arises from the mysterious and inexplicable human urge to
communicate and to create, to provide a personal expression in the way the author presents her or his
essence of what life is like in a narrative form. The story will probably show us something about human
experience. Theme is an abstract formulation of that truth. It’s the author’s vision of the meaning of life.
Stating it will help us understand the story better.

6) STYLE

Style is the sense of one’s self, the knowledge of what one wants to say and the saying of it in the most
fitting words. The writer’s style is then inseparable from his thoughts and his expression of that thought.
Consequently, all writers have a style.

Style is the language the author uses in narration. It is made up of various elements, including tone, the
way the writer uses words to convey the attitudes and actions of the characters. Some writers will resort
to irony or understatements, some others will use everyday speech to set up a feeling of intimacy with
the reader and make the story more realistic. It conveys part of the story’s meaning. Another aspect of
style is the use of symbols. A symbol is usually defined as something that stands for something else. The
words that create symbols may be figurative or literal –usually they are both. But the symbol is the thing
described, not the words used to describe it.

Symbols are sometimes interpreted in different ways by readers and this is only natural owing to the
ambiguous nature of signs.

The importance of using different images and symbols is to elicit emotional responses.

7) POINT OF VIEW

It is bound up with who tells the story. It represents the angle from which the events are seen or
narrated.

• OMNISCIENT POINT OF VIEW The author tells the story in 3rd person narrator. It is the most
common of all. The narrator knows everything about everyone in the story. He may comment
on the story, make asides, and even address the reader (editorial).

• OBJECTIVE/LIMITED POINT OF VIEW  Also a 3rd person, omniscient narrator, but this time the
author does not make asides nor comments on the action. He does not address the reader
either. He reports without interpreting.

• 1ST PERSON POINT OF VIEW  In this case the writer must decide whether the “I” is to be a
major or a minor character, or an observer, or someone merely repeating a story he has heard
at 2nd hand.

o NARRATOR PROTAGONIST  Uses 1st person and is the main character.

o WITNESS NARRATOR  A secondary character.

• MULTIPLE POINT OF VIEW OR ALTERNATE NARRATOR  He who is in charge of the narration

varies (1st and 3rd person).
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IN SUMMARY: THE ELEMENTS OF THE SHORT STORY

1) PLOT

• FRAMEWORK OF THE STORY.

• Uses different narrative techniques.
• It is the sequence of events in a story and their relation to one another.
• IN MOST CASE, IT CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS:

o SITUATION OR DATUM (EXPOSITION)

o COMPLICATION (RISING ACTION)
o CLIMAX (PEAK)
o OUTCOME (FALLING ACTION)

2) CHARACTERS

• ROUND-DYNAMIC
• FLAT-STATIC

3) SETTING

• TIME
• PLACE
• CHARACTER'S LIVING CONDITIONS
• CHARACTER'S OCUPATIONS

4) MOOD

• LANGUAGE
• ALLEGORY
• SYMBOLS
• IMAGES
• METAPHORS

5) THEME

• The starting point of the story.

• An idea the author wishes to illustrate through the story.
• THE CENTRAL IDEA, STATED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY.

Example: “The search for the inner self.”

6) STYLE

• A PERSONAL ASPECT OF THE AUTHOR/WRITER.

• Knowing an author's style helps us answer questions such as:

o What kind of language do they use? Simplistic or florid?

o Do they prefer long or short sentences? Do they use simple or complex sentences or both?
o Are their stories realistic or disruptive of the world as we know it?

7) POINT OF VIEW

• Be careful not to mistake the narrator for the author or the other way around.
• The author is the writer of the story.
• THE NARRATOR IS THE PERSON IN CHARGE OF NARRATING THE EVENTS INSIDE THE STORY.
• DIFFERENT TYPES OF POINT OF VIEW:

o OMNISCIENT POV (3RD PERSON)

o LIMITED POV (3RD PERSON)
o 1ST PERSON POV (WITNESS OR PROTAGONIST)
o MULTIPLE POV OR ALTERNATE NARRATOR
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THE STORY OF AN HOUR — KATE CHOPIN (1850-1904)

SUMMARY
Louise Mallard has heart trouble, so she must be informed carefully about her husband’s death. Her
sister, Josephine, tells her the news. Louise’s husband’s friend, Richards, learned about a railroad
disaster when he was in the newspaper office and saw Louise’s husband, Brently, on the list of those
killed. Louise begins sobbing when Josephine tells her of Brently’s death and goes upstairs to be alone in
her room.

Louise sits down and looks out an open window. She sees trees, smells approaching rain, and hears a
peddler yelling out what he’s selling. She hears someone singing as well as the sounds of sparrows, and
there are fluffy white clouds in the sky. She is young, with lines around her eyes. Still crying, she gazes
into the distance. She feels apprehensive and tries to suppress the building emotions within her, but
can’t. She begins repeating the word “Free!” to herself over and over again. Her heart beats quickly, and
she feels very warm.

Louise knows she’ll cry again when she sees Brently’s corpse. His hands were tender, and he always
looked at her lovingly. But then she imagines the years ahead, which belong only to her now, and
spreads her arms out joyfully with anticipation. She will be free, on her own without anyone to oppress
her. She thinks that all women and men oppress one another even if they do it out of kindness. Louise
knows that she often felt love for Brently but tells herself that none of that matters anymore. She feels
ecstatic with her newfound sense of independence.

Josephine comes to her door, begging Louise to come out, warning her that she’ll get sick if she doesn’t.
Louise tells her to go away. She fantasizes about all the days and years ahead and hopes that she lives a
long life. Then she opens the door, and she and Josephine start walking down the stairs, where Richards
is waiting.

The front door unexpectedly opens, and Brently comes in. He hadn’t been in the train accident or even
aware that one had happened. Josephine screams, and Richards tries unsuccessfully to block Louise
from seeing him. Doctors arrive and pronounce that Louise died of a heart attack brought on by
happiness.

PLOT
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CHARACTERS
LOUISE MALLARD (ROUND CHARACTER)  A woman whose husband is reportedly killed in a train
accident. When Louise hears the news, she is secretly happy because she is now free. She is filled with a
new lust for life, and although she usually loved her husband, she cherishes her newfound
independence even more. She has a heart attack when her husband, alive after all, comes home.

BRENTLY MALLARD (FLAT CHARACTER)  Louise’s husband, supposedly killed in a train accident.
Although Louise remembers Brently as a kind and loving man, merely being married to him also made
him an oppressive factor in her life. Brently arrives home unaware that there had been a train accident.

JOSEPHINE (FLAT CHARACTER)  Louise’s sister. Josephine informs Louise about Brently’s death.

RICHARDS (FLAT CHARACTER)  Brently’s friend. Richards learns about the train accident and Brently’s
death at the newspaper office, and he is there when Josephine tells the news to Louise.

PLACE OR SETTING
The story is set in the late nineteenth century in the Mallard residence, the home of Brently and Louise
Mallard.

The setting of the story is very limited; it is confined largely to a room, a staircase, and a front door. The
limited setting of the story may be viewed in relation to the trials and tribulations that Mrs. Mallard
possibly endured throughout her marriage to Brently Mallard. The staircase may signify the “ups and
downs” encountered by Mrs. Mallard; it could also represent her path to freedom as she walks toward
them to descend to victory. The room could represent the “box” encapsulating a person that suffers
from depression or anxiety, with the window located inside the room representing the happiness that
seems unattainable even though it is visible.

MOOD AND ATMOSPHERE

The first part of the story is somber and depressing. Mrs. Mallard learns of her husband’s sudden death
and is naturally shocked and saddened. Without knowing what is to come next, there is an initial image
of a heartbroken widow gone off to be alone in an attempt to process the news and come to terms with
her new circumstances.

What comes next, however, is the beginning of the second mood we find in this story. While Brently was
not a bad husband, Mrs. Mallard finds that she relishes the thought of her newfound freedom and her
ability to live life on her own terms without having to answer to anybody. While she has not been
unhappy in her marriage, the idea of having the rest of her life to live on her own, as she pleased, is
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intoxicating to Mrs. Mallard. The mood in this part of the story reflects her feeling of freedom and her
amazement at the wealth of possibilities that lie ahead for her as an unmarried woman.

The end of the story quite reverses Mrs. Mallard's fortunes, and the reader is left feeling somber once
again.

SYMBOLS

HEART TROUBLE  The heart trouble that afflicts Louise is both a physical and symbolic malady that
represents her ambivalence toward her marriage and unhappiness with her lack of freedom. The fact
that Louise has heart trouble is the first thing we learn about her, and this heart trouble is what seems
to make the announcement of Brently’s death so threatening. A person with a weak heart, after all,
would not deal well with such news. When Louise reflects on her new independence, her heart races,
pumping blood through her veins. When she dies at the end of the story, the diagnosis of “heart
disease” seems appropriate because the shock of seeing Brently was surely enough to kill her. But the
doctors’ conclusion that she’d died of overwhelming joy is ironic because it had been the loss of joy that
had actually killed her. Indeed, Louise seems to have died of a broken heart, caused by the sudden loss
of her much-loved independence.

THE OPEN WINDOW  The open window from which Louise gazes for much of the story represents the
freedom and opportunities that await her after her husband has died. From the window, Louise sees
blue sky, fluffy clouds, and treetops. She hears people and birds singing and smells a coming rainstorm.
Everything that she experiences through her senses suggests joy and spring—new life. And when she
ponders the sky, she feels the first hints of elation. Once she fully indulges in this excitement, she feels
that the open window is providing her with life itself. The open window provides a clear, bright view into
the distance and Louise’s own bright future, which is now unobstructed by the demands of another
person. It’s therefore no coincidence that when Louise turns from the window and the view, she quickly
loses her freedom as well.

MOTIFS

WEEPING  Louise’s weeping about Brently’s death highlights the dichotomy between sorrow and
happiness. Louise cries or thinks about crying for about three-quarters of “The Story of an Hour,”
stopping only when she thinks of her new freedom. Crying is part of her life with Brently, but it will
presumably be absent from her life as an independent woman. At the beginning of the story, Louise
sobs dramatically when she learns that Brently is dead, enduring a “storm of grief.” She continues
weeping when she is alone in her room, although the crying now is unconscious, more a physical reflex
than anything spurred by emotion. She imagines herself crying over Brently’s dead body. Once the
funeral is over in her fantasies, however, there is no further mention of crying because she’s consumed
with happiness.

THEMES
THE FORBIDDEN JOY OF INDEPENDENCE  In “The Story of an Hour,” independence is a forbidden
pleasure that can be imagined only privately. When Louise hears from Josephine and Richards of
Brently’s death, she reacts with obvious grief, and although her reaction is perhaps more violent than
other women’s, it is an appropriate one. Alone, however, Louise begins to realize that she is now an
independent woman, a realization that enlivens and excites her. Even though these are her private
thoughts, she at first tries to squelch the joy she feels, to “beat it back with her will.” Such resistance
reveals how forbidden this pleasure really is. When she finally does acknowledge the joy, she feels
possessed by it and must abandon herself to it as the word “free” escapes her lips. Louise’s life offers no
refuge for this kind of joy, and the rest of society will never accept it or understand it. Extreme
circumstances have given Louise a taste of this forbidden fruit, and her thoughts are, in turn, extreme.
She sees her life as being absolutely hers and her new independence as the core of her being.
Overwhelmed, Louise even turns to prayer, hoping for a long life in which to enjoy this feeling. When
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Brently returns, he unwittingly yanks Louise’s independence away from her, putting it once again out of
her reach. The forbidden joy disappears as quickly as it came, but the taste of it is enough to kill her.

THE INHERENT OPPRESSIVENESS OF MARRIAGE  Chopin suggests that all marriages, even the kindest
ones, are inherently oppressive. Louise, who readily admits that her husband was kind and loving,
nonetheless feels joy when she believes that he has died. Her reaction doesn’t suggest any malice, and
Louise knows that she’ll cry at Brently’s funeral. However, despite the love between husband and wife,
Louise views Brently’s death as a release from oppression. She never names a specific way in which
Brently oppressed her, hinting instead that marriage in general stifles both women and men. She even
seems to suggest that she oppressed Brently just as much as he oppressed her. Louise’s epiphany in
which these thoughts parade through her mind reveals the inherent oppressiveness of all marriages,
which by their nature rob people of their independence.

STYLE
In “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin employs specific structural and stylistic techniques to heighten the
drama of the hour. The structure Chopin has chosen for “The Story of an Hour” fits the subject matter
perfectly. The story is short, made up of a series of short paragraphs, many of which consist of just two
or three sentences. Likewise, the story covers only one hour in Louise Mallard’s life—from the moment
she learns of her husband’s death to the moment he unexpectedly returns alive. The short, dense
structure mirrors the intense hour Louise spends contemplating her new independence. Just as Louise is
completely immersed in her wild thoughts of the moment, we are immersed along with her in this brief
period of time. This story can be read quickly, but the impact it makes is powerful. Chopin surprises us
first with Louise’s elated reaction when she first murmurs “free” to herself. She shocks us again at the
conclusion when she dies upon Brently’s return. The “heart disease” mentioned at the end of the story
echoes the “heart trouble” discussed at the beginning, intensifying the twist ending and bringing the
story to a satisfying close.

Because such a short story leaves no room for background information, flashbacks, or excessive
speculation, Chopin succeeds in making every sentence important by employing an almost poetic
writing style. She uses repetition to highlight important points, such as when she repeats the word
“open” throughout the story to emphasize the freedom of Louise’s new life. She has Louise repeat the
word “free” over and over again as well, which is one of the few words Louise actually speaks aloud in
the story and indicates how much she cherishes her newfound freedom. Besides repeating words,
Chopin also repeats phrases and sentence structures to highlight important points. For example, Chopin
writes, “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday that she had thought
with a shudder that life might be long.” The identical phrasing of the second half of each sentence
reveals how drastically Louise’s life has changed—she once shuddered at the thought of a long life, but
now she prays for it. Finally, Chopin makes the prose of the story beautiful by using alliteration and
internal rhymes. For example, Josephine “revealed in half concealing” when she tells Louise the news,
and Brently reappears “composedly carrying” his belongings. All of Chopin’s stylistic and structural
techniques combine to make this very short story powerful.

POINT OF VIEW
THIRD PERSON (OMNISCIENT)  The use of an omniscient third-person narrator enables Chopin to tell a
complete story that’s not limited to the protagonist’s point of view. This is key because the opening of
the story begins with us readers knowing something Mrs. Mallard doesn’t, and because the story ends
after Mrs. Mallard has already died.
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THE FOUNTAIN OF FAIR FORTUNE — J. K. ROWLING (1965-)

SUMMARY
There is an enchanted and enclosed garden that is protected by “strong magic”. Once a year, an
“unfortunate” is allowed the opportunity to find their way to the Fountain, to bathe in the water, and
win “fair fortune forever more.”

Knowing that this may be the only chance to truly turn their lives around, people (with magical powers
and without) travel from the far reaches of the kingdom to try and gain entrance to the garden. It is here
that three witches meet and share their tales of woe. First is Asha, “sick of a malady no Healer... could
cure”, who hopes the Fountain can restore her health. The second is Altheda, who was robbed and
humiliated by a sorcerer. She hopes the Fountain will relieve her feelings of helplessness and her
poverty. The third witch, Amata, was deserted by her beloved, and hopes the Fountain will help cure her
“grief and longing.”

The witches decide that three heads are better than one, and they pool their efforts to reach the
Fountain together. At first light, a crack in the wall appears and “Creepers” from the garden reach
through and wrap themselves around Asha, the first witch. She grabs Altheda, who takes hold of Amata.
But Amata gets tangled in the armour of a Muggle knight, and as the vines pull Asha in, all three witches
along with the knight get pulled through the wall and into the beautiful garden.

Since only one of them will be permitted to bathe in the Fountain, the first two witches are upset that
Amata inadvertently invited another competitor. Because he has no magical power, recognises the
women as witches, and is well-suited to his name, “Sir Luckless”, the knight announces his intention to
abandon the quest. Amata promptly chides him for giving up and asks him to join their group.

On their journey to the Fountain, the motley band faces three challenges. First, they face a “monstrous
white worm, bloated and blind” who demands “proof of your pain”. After several fruitless attempts to
attack it with magic and other means, Asha’s tears of frustration finally satisfy the worm, and the four
are allowed to pass. Next, they face a steep slope and are asked to pay the “fruit of their labours”. They
try and try to make it up the hill but spend hours climbing to no avail. Finally, the hard-won effort of
Altheda as she cheers her friends on (specifically the sweat from her brow) gets them past the
challenge. At last, they face a stream in their path and are asked to pay “the treasure of your past”. They
attempt to float across or leap across, but all their attempts fail until Amata thinks to use her wand to
withdraw the memories of the lover who abandoned her. She drops them into the water and stepping
stones appear in the water, letting the group cross to the Fountain, where they must decide who gets to
bathe.

Asha collapses from exhaustion and is near death. She is in such pain that she cannot make it to the
Fountain, and she begs her three friends not to move her. Altheda quickly mixes a powerful potion in an
attempt to revive her, and the concoction actually cures her malady, so she no longer needs the
Fountain’s waters. By curing Asha, Altheda realises that she has the power to cure others and a means
to earn money. She no longer needs the waters of the Fountain to cure her “powerlessness and
poverty.”

The third witch, Amata, realises that once she washed away her regret for her lover, she was able to see
him for what he really was (“cruel and faithless”), and she no longer needs the Fountain’s waters. She
turns to Sir Luckless and offers him his turn at the Fountain as a reward for his bravery. The knight,
amazed at his luck, bathes in the Fountain and flings himself “in his rusted armour” at the feet of Amata
and begs for her “hand and her heart.” Each witch achieves their dreams for a cure, a hapless knight
wins knowledge of his bravery, and Amata, the one witch who had faith in him, realises that she has
found a “man worthy of her.” The four set off “arm-in-arm,” and the four friends live long, happy lives,
never realising that the Fountain’s waters “carried no enchantment at all.”
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PLOT
SITUATION/DATUM (EXPOSITION)  There is a Fountain that is alleged to be magic and there are 3
witches that want to bathe inside that Fountain. There is an opportunity for one person to bathe
themselves in the waters of the Fountain and receive Fair Fortune on a yearly basis. The 3 witches
gather to reach that goal (in order to solve their personal problems) and they succeed in gaining access
to the entrance of the Garden, while accidentally bringing along a hapless knight.

COMPLICATION (RISING ACTION)  The witches and the knight face 3 challenges along the way. The 1st
challenge is against a monstrous worm that demands the tears of their pain. The 2nd challenge appears
as an inscription in the earth and asks for the fruit of their labours. The 3rd and last challenge shows up
as a smooth stone in the depths of a stream that requests the treasure of their past.

CLIMAX  The moment in which they finally get what they have been looking for: seeing/reaching the
Fountain.

OUTCOME (FALLING ACTION)  They have to finally decide who is going to bathe. The 3 witches realize
they have already fixed their problems and encourage the knight to bath in the end. The knight asks one
of the witches to be his girlfriend and then they all set off together and lead long and happy lives. In the
end, they didn’t need the Fountain to solve their problems and it is revealed to the reader that the
Fountain didn’t contain any magic at all.

CHARACTERS
ASHA (ROUND CHARACTER)  A witch who has an apparently incurable sickness. She is trying to get to
the Fountain to banish her symptoms so as to have a long and happy life.

ALTHEDA (ROUND CHARACTER)  A witch who has had her home, gold and wand stolen by an evil
sorcerer. She wants to reach the Fountain in hopes of finding relief for her powerlessness and poverty.

AMATA (ROUND CHARACTER)  A witch who has been deserted by her lover. She wants to get to the
Fountain to get rid of her grief and longing.

SIR LUCKLESS (FLAT CHARACTER)  A hapless knight that gets entangled in the witches’ quest.

PLACE OR SETTING
The story takes place in an enchanted garden enclosed by tall walls and protected by magic. It’s an
imaginary world within the Harry Potter universe and it’s set in the distant past.

MOOD AND ATMOSPHERE

At the beginning of the story, the mood/atmosphere is a bit depressing and creepy. As the story unfolds
and the witches overcome their difficulties, it gets progressively brighter to finally wrap up with a
cheerful ending (CORRECTION  Although the story may include some sad moments, it’s cheerful
throughout since it’s still a fairy tale aimed at little kids).

SYMBOLS

THE FOUNTAIN  The witches overcome their difficulties without needing it. The Fountain ends up not
being relevant in the end, since the witches find the solutions through the challenges they face.

THE CHALLENGES  Each challenge presented to the 3 witches is a symbol for their problems. Asha’s
tears drank by the worm symbolize her rebirth, Altheda’s sweat is a symbol of her hard work and
Amata’s memories are a symbol of her letting go of the past to begin anew.
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THEMES
USING OUR INNER STRENGHT TO OVERCOME ANY DIFFICULTY/THE POWER TO CHANGE ONE’S LIFE IS
WITHIN ONESELF  In the end, the 3 witches overcome their ordeals with their own strength by
showing their sadness, hard labour and also by letting go of the past.

STYLE
The author borrows the narration and speech style of classic fairy tales in the manner of the Grimm
brothers’ stories of the XIX century.

POINT OF VIEW
THIRD PERSON (OMNISCIENT)  The narrator knows about the witches and their problems, the
fountain and its powers (or lack thereof). It’s objective because it never makes any comments about
what’s going on.

MRS. BIXBY AND THE COLONEL’S COAT — R. DAHL (1916-1990)

SUMMARY
Mrs. Bixby and her husband, a dentist, live in a flat. Once a month, for years, Mrs. Bixby would get on
the train at Pennsylvania Station and travel to Baltimore, supposedly visiting her old aunt. Meanwhile,
she is having an affair with a gentleman known as the Colonel.

One day, Mrs. Bixby gets a rare and expensive present from the Colonel: a black, lustrous, and quite
extravagant mink coat. A letter from the Colonel that came in the box with the coat informs Mrs. Bixby
that they can no longer see each other, and suggests she tells her husband the mink coat was a present
from her aunt for Christmas. She is clearly in despair as she reads the letter.

Mrs. Bixby however knows that her aunt is far too poor to be given credit for the purchase of the coat
but is intent on keeping it. She decides to go to a pawnbroker and sells the coat for $50. The
pawnbroker gives her a pawn ticket, which she declines to mark with any kind of name or description.
The ticket does however guarantee her right to claim the coat at any time. She tells her husband that
she found the pawn ticket in the taxi, and he decides it would be best if he redeemed the ticket, in spite
of Mrs. Bixby’s pleas.

The next day Mr. Bixby goes to the pawn shop to redeem the ticket and claim the object it stands for.
Mrs. Bixby gets all excited about it and rushes to her husband’s office after he’s claimed it. Just before
she opens her eyes to see it, he says “It's real mink!”. She then opens her eyes to find it is mink, but that
it is merely a small, mangy stole (little fur neckpiece), and not her coat. Mr. Bixby notes both that he will
be coming home late that night, and that since he spent $50 redeeming the ticket, that he will not be
able to buy Mrs. Bixby a Christmas present.

Mrs. Bixby is initially angry at the pawnbroker, thinking that he cheated her and kept the coat. But as
Mrs. Bixby leaves her husband’s office a few moments later, Miss Pulteney, the secretary, walks proudly
out of the office, wearing the black and rare mink coat that the Colonel had given to Mrs. Bixby. It is
implied that Mr. Bixby is having an affair with Miss Pulteney and decided to give her the coat, buying a
tacky fur neckpiece for his wife instead.

PLOT
SITUATION/DATUM (EXPOSITION)  Mrs. Bixby is having an affair and she travels once a month to meet
her lover.
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COMPLICATION (RISING ACTION)  Just before returning to NY, the Colonel’s groom gives her an
expensive mink coat as a parting gift from the Colonel. She realizes she can’t show it to her husband
since he will probably question her about its origins, so she comes up with a plan to keep it without
raising suspicion. Mrs. Bixby decides to leave the coat in a pawnshop and convinces Mr. Bixby to go and
retire it himself.

CLIMAX  The moment in which Mrs. Bixby is about to open the box that her husband brought from
the pawnshop.

OUTCOME (FALLING ACTION)  Mrs. Bixby finds out there is no coat, but a fur neckpiece. Mrs. Bixby
leaves and it is revealed that the coat is actually in the hands of Mr. Bixby’s secretary, who is implied to
be his lover.

CHARACTERS
MRS. BIXBY (ROUND CHARACTER)  Mr. Bixby’s wife, a very intelligent and tricky woman. She pretends
to take care of her aunt but uses most of that time to cheat on her husband. She is the only one who
changes through the story. She tries to achieve a goal (to maintain the lie) but ends up finding out a
secret that will probably change her marriage.

MR. BIXBY (FLAT CHARACTER)  Mrs. Bixby’s husband and a dentist. He’s a simple and ordinary man,
although hard working.

MISS PULTENEY (FLAT CHARACTER)  Mr. Bixby’s secretary/assistant. A shy woman.

COLONEL (FLAT CHARACTER)  Mrs. Bixby’s lover. A mysterious rich man with no family or wife. He
likes hunting and horse’s books. He lives in a charming house outside town and has a few loyal servants.

PAWNBROKER (FLAT CHARACTER)  The man who receives the coat and gives Mrs. Bixby the pawn
ticket.

PLACE OR SETTING
The story takes place mostly in New York during the winter, near 1960. Specific places include the train
station, the pawnshop, the Bixby’s apartment and the dental office.

MOOD AND ATMOSPHERE

The mood and atmosphere can be described as exciting at first (the reader wants to know more about
Mrs. Bixby, her affair and what is she going to do about the mink coat), tense and, in the end, ironic.
There is also a constant feeling of uncertainty.

SYMBOLS

MINK COAT WITH TONES OF BLUE  The mink coat is an indicator of high social and economical status.
The colour blue is generally associated with sadness, so it might be anticipating the main character not
being able to see her lover anymore or the fact that, thanks to that coat, she will realize her husband is
also cheating on her. The coat might also represent the hypocrisy in which the couple live, since it’s
hidden in order to hide the affair and, in the end, she finds out about her husband’s affair because of it.

DIRTY DOG  It is mentioned at the beginning of the story that a “dirty dog” is a man with whom a
married woman has an affair with. Later in the story, Mrs. Bixby refers to her husband as someone who
wants to give the impression of being “a bit of a dog.”

MR. BIXBY FOREWHADOWING THE END OF THE STORY  Mr. Bixby suggests that his wife is liable to get
cheated by the pawnbrokers (or anyone else), which Mrs. Bixby denies thinking that’s not something
that could happen to her.
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THEMES
BETRAYAL AND DECEPTION  Mrs. Bixby ended up being betrayed by her husband, just as she betrayed
him for years. While thinking she was smarter than her husband, she had a “taste of her own medicine”
by losing her mink coat.

WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND  The results of things that one has done will someday have
an effect on the person who started the events. Whatever you do in this life to other people, whether it
is good or bad, will return to you in some way or another.

WHAT'S DONE IN DARKNESS WILL COME TO LIGHT  People living a double life will be exposed sooner
or later.

STYLE
The author uses a simple and clear style of writing (everyday speech) without much metaphor. This
could be because he is supposed to be retelling a real story. The tone is humorous and ironic. The
narration is linear and follows the sequence of events.

POINT OF VIEW
THIRD PERSON (OMNISCIENT)  The narrator knows the thoughts of Mrs. Bixby and addresses the
reader at times.

MR. LOVEDAY’S LITTLE OUTING — EVELYN WAUGH (1903-1966)

SUMMARY
The story is about a wealthy family that lives in England. The father of the family (Lord Moping)
attempts to commit suicide at a family meeting and he is taken to an asylum. Ten years later, his wife
(Lady Moping) and his daughter (Angela) decide to visit him at the asylum. Once there, Angela meets
Mr. Loveday, who she initially believes to be her father’s caretaker.

Mr. Loveday, who produces the impression of an absolutely sane person, is actually an inmate of the
asylum too for having committed a murder 35 years before. Angela thinks that the years Mr. Loveday
has spent in the asylum cured him, so she embarks on the task of arranging his release.

Once released, Mr. Loveday goes on his outing and commits another murder.

PLOT
SITUATION/DATUM (EXPOSITION)  Lord Moping has spent 10 years at a mental asylum for trying to
commit suicide. Lady Moping takes her daughter Angela with her to visit Lord Moping at the asylum.

COMPLICATION (RISING ACTION)  Angela meets Mr. Loveday, her father’s fellow inmate, and thinks
he’s healthy enough to retrieve his freedom. She does her best to convince the asylum’s authorities to
set him free.

CLIMAX  Angela finds a way to release Mr. Loveday, who is finally set free to live a normal life outside
the asylum. There is a ceremony to mark his departure and everyone gathers to say goodbye and give
their best wishes to him.

OUTCOME (FALLING ACTION)  Mr. Loveday comes back only 2 hours later after his liberation,
surprising everyone at the asylum. A few hours later, the strangled body of a young woman is found half
a mile up the road from the asylum gates.
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CHARACTERS
ANGELA (ROUND CHARACTER)  Lord and Lady Moping’s daughter. She is a friendly woman, though a
little naive. She is affected by her father’s mental state and leaves the asylum oppressed by a sense of
injustice regarding Mr. Loveday’s situation. This makes her change the way she sees things.

MR. LOVEDAY (ROUND CHARACTER)  Inmate at the asylum for committing murder. He is an elderly
little man with full white hair and an expression of great kindness. He is known in the institution as a
friendly and helpful person and acts as Lord Moping’s “secretary”. He has many turning points
throughout the story.

LORD MOPING (FLAT CHARACTER)  Lady Moping’s husband and Angela’s father. A member of the
upper-class society and inmate at the asylum for attempting suicide. He stays the same from the
beginning to the end.

LADY MOPING (FLAT CHARACTER)  Lord Moping’s wife and Angela’s mother. She is an arrogant,
superficial and indifferent upper-class woman. She is angry at her husband for ruining her party with his
suicide’s attempt and doesn’t pay attention to how Angela is feeling about the situation with Mr.
Loveday. She feels the same way throughout the story and doesn’t change.

PLACE OR SETTING
The story happens in England, mainly in the asylum. Some parts of it (especially the beginning) take
place at the Moping’s house in the countryside. It’s set in the early 20th century, before World War 2.

MOOD AND ATMOSPHERE

The atmosphere is tragic, gloomy and dark. It talks about mental illness and also a little about the
difference between wealthy and not-so-wealthy patients. The mood is ironical and sarcastic, since Mr.
Loveday seemed to be functional to society only when he was in the asylum.

SYMBOLS

CHARACTERS’ NAMES  Angela is like an angel, naive, kind and soft-hearted. Mr. Loveday’s name is
ironic, since he seems like a lovable and a kind man but is definitely not (it could also refer to his
mentioning about having something he’d love to do just for a day). Lord and Lady Moping’s surname
refers to depression and despair.

THEMES
CONFLICT BETWEEN SOCIAL CLASSES  The biggest example of social classes is shown in the names.
Lord and Lady are not titles that just anyone can have. Mental health care was not in abundance post-
war and the fact that they could afford to house Lord Moping in a country estate/asylum is a great show
of wealth. Comparatively, Mr. Loveday is not a Lord so this difference in social classes immediately puts
him below the others.

MADNESS  Lord Moping’s mental state, the asylum and its inmates. Most importantly, Mr. Loveday’s
behaviour, attitude, and apparent sanity exaggerate his madness as the story progresses and we realize
that Mr. Loveday is certainly not sane at all.

MANIPULATION  In his interaction with Angela, Mr. Loveday manipulates her to do his deeds and
makes her believe he is sane when he’s actually not.

STYLE
The style is black humorous, ironic, and satirical. The story shows a quite cynical humour from the
author. Waugh writes about arrogant, self-centred, wealthy, vapid, young socialites in a very funny and
humoristic way.
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POINT OF VIEW
THIRD PERSON (LIMITED)  The narrator only reports the characters’ actions without making asides or
comments about them nor addressing the reader. In this particular story, it is important that the
narrator doesn’t tell/show us the characters’ thoughts so as to not spoil the ending.

THE LAST QUESTION — ISAAC ASIMOV (1920-1992)

SUMMARY
The story is about a question that is presented to a series of supercomputers over a long period of time.
It begins in 2061, with the activation of the new global supercomputer, Multivac. Earth has become a
planetary civilization and a pair of technicians, drunk from celebrating, discuss the theoretical future of
humanity and the ultimate heat-death of the universe due to entropy. On a $5 bet, one of the
technicians poses the question to Multivac: “How can the net amount of entropy of the universe be
massively decreased?” Multivac responds with “INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER”.

The story skips ahead to several successive time periods in the far future, each with humanity having
made tremendous advancements under the guidance of a supercomputer descended from the original
Multivac (first Microvac/Planetary AC, then Galactic AC, then Universal AC, then Cosmic AC). In each
time period, the question is put forth again of whether there is a way to reverse entropy. Each time that
Multivac’s descendant is asked the question, it finds itself unable to solve the problem, and all it can
answer is (linguistically increasingly sophisticated) “THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A
MEANINGFUL ANSWER”.

Man —now the unified mental process of over a trillion, trillion, trillion humans spread throughout the
universe— asks AC, Multivac’s ultimate descendant —which exists in hyperspace beyond the bounds of
gravity or time— the entropy question one last time, before it merges with AC and disappears. AC is still
unable to answer but continues to ponder the question even after space and time cease to exist. AC
ultimately realizes that it has not yet combined all of its available data in every possible combination and
so begins the arduous process of rearranging and combining every last bit of information that it has
gained throughout the eons and through its fusion with humanity. Eventually AC discovers the answer
—that the reversal of entropy is, in fact, possible— but has nobody to report it to, since the universe is
already dead. AC is unconcerned, as the answer itself would solve that problem, and therefore decides
to answer by demonstration. The story ends with AC’s pronouncement: “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” And
there was light.

PLOT
SITUATION/DATUM (EXPOSITION)  May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light.
Adell and Lupov are attendants of Multivac, a global supercomputer that helped to design the ships and
plot the trajectories that enabled man to reach other planets. The Earth was poor in resources, so they
start using the sun instead so as to have more energy on a planet-wide scale. Adell and Lupov make a
bet and ask Multivac if entropy can be decreased or inversed.

COMPLICATION (RISING ACTION)  Multivac answers: “INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL

ANSWER”. Time goes by and different people keep asking the same question to Multivac’s descendants,
which respond every time with the same “INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER”, although
increasingly verbose (“THERE IS AS YET…”).

CLIMAX  “Man” now exists as a single entity, an amalgamation of everyone’s consciousness. He asks
the now Cosmic AC the same question humanity kept asking over and over throughout the years: “How
may entropy be reversed?”. Cosmic AC returns the same old answer. Man proceeds to ask Cosmic AC to
collect more data and to keep working on finding the answer. For the last time, and before finally fusing
16 DURÁN

with it, the last mind asks AC: “Can this chaos not be reversed into the Universe once more?”. AC
responds: “THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER.”

OUTCOME (FALLING ACTION)  The universe dies and now man is one with AC, which exists only for
the sake of answering the last question. AC proceeds to spend a timeless interval correlating and putting
together all its collected data, until it eventually learns how to reverse the direction of entropy. AC
revives the universe, finally answering the question.

CHARACTERS
The main characters change with each setting change in time, but in essence there are always
humans/humanity and a computer/technology.

HUMANITY (ROUND CHARACTER) TECHNOLOGY (ROUND CHARACTER)

ALEXANDER ADELL AND BERTRAM LUPOV MULTIVAC

JERROD, JERRODINE, AND JERRODETTE I AND II MICROVAC / PLANETARY AC

VJ-23X OF LAMETH AND MQ-17J OF NICRON GALACTIC AC

(IMMORTALS)

ZEE PRIME AND DEE SUB WUN (DISEMBODIED) UNIVERSAL AC

MAN (TRILLION AGELESS BODIES WITH THEIR COSMIC AC

MINDS MELTED ONE INTO THE OTHER)

MAN IS FUSED WITH AC (OMNIPOTENT AC)

PLACE OR SETTING
The story is set in the future, beginning at the year 2061. The first section is set on earth in the
underground chambers of Multivac housing (May 21, 2061). The second section is set on a spaceship
(1.000 years later). The third section is set somewhere in the Galaxy (20.000 years later). The fourth
section is set on the ether of the Universe (75.000 years later). The subsequent sections are set on
hyperspace (more than 1 trillion years later, 10 trillion years later). The last section is set at the end of
space and time.

MOOD AND ATMOSPHERE

The mood is neutral, combining some well-known situations with some technicisms, but ironic and witty
at the same time. The atmosphere is light-hearted at first, but later on it begins to become more somber
and slightly apathetic. The author creates an atmosphere full of uncertainty, anxiety and curiosity.

SYMBOLS

CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH DIVINITY / PARALLELISMS WITH THE BIBLE  The entire course of the story,
depicted by several stories, are meant to represent one stage closer to divinity for humanity. In the first
story, humans are on Earth. In the next, they’re in space. Then outside the galaxy, then disembodied
(minds), and finally, as merging with the AC and becoming the ultimate computer. By this, Asimov could
argue that to reach divinity, one has to leave their humanity behind. He could also be arguing that the
cycle of existence itself begins and ends with a bang.

↓↓↓

LET THERE BE LIGHT  Words famously found in the Bible. In the story, God is really a mixture of
humanity and the technology it created, meshed together as one, after years and years of evolution.
Upon finding an answer, AC begins the universe once again, with the Big Bang, knowing well that
everything will end once again, in some distant future, and then repeat the cycle. To Asimov, this is the
17 DURÁN

cycle of existence, the explosive beginning, and the reflective end. Judging by the fact that Humanity
merged with AC, who then made the Big Bang, we’re both the creator, and the created. We are all one
and the same –Humanity– and as one collective being, we are in everything we’ve created, asked,
answered, and been.

TIME AND TECHNOLOGY  We create the Machine. With time it evolves and perfects itself. The
passage of time is represented by the change of materials it needs to better itself.

CHARACTER’S NAMES  Chronological portrayal of degeneration of individuality.

THEMES
THE END IS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING NEW  To Asimov, the ending of something was
always the beginning of something else. It can also be taken as we must all try and fail, succeed only to
lose it all in the end, then do it again, as we are destined.

STYLE
The author uses a whimsical and relaxed tone to tackle deep philosophical questions. The story consists
mostly of dialogs, with clear and concise descriptions. It also contains typical Sci-Fi elements and
vocabulary mixed in with everyday speech.

POINT OF VIEW
THIRD PERSON (OMNISCIENT)  The narrator reports exclusively on characters’ actions and thoughts.
It’s a direct narration of events as they unfold.