What Makes a Good Short Story - 2457 Words

What Makes a Good Short Story and How Successful is R.K. Narayan in Portraying the Character of Swami in the Short Story ‘A Hero’? Nadine Gordimer – ‘Short story writers see by the light of the flash; theirs is the art of the only thing we can be sure of – the present moment.’ This is a quote from short story writer Nadine Gordimer; referring to how the art of short story writing is to get straight to the point and write everything as it is. This is an art and those who cannot perfect it should admire it instead. Edgar Allan Poe – ‘In the whole composition there should be no word written of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the pre-established design; and by such means, with such skill and care, a picture is at†¦show more content†¦This is an example of changing the reader’s emotions in a matter of a few seconds and it has a positive effect on the feelings towards the story. The story has to have a fast pace to it, meaning that there are no slow starts or moments of the book where the reader can put it down. This means that there should be something humourous, exciting or out of the ordinary that will keep the reader gripping the book and hoping that the story will never end. R.K. Narayan uses irony cleverly in his short story to keep up the fast pace and to keep the reader smiling. The best example of irony R.K. Narayan uses is the actual title of his short story, ‘A Hero’. This is due to the fact that throughout the story there are two examples of boys who are not heroes, but are quite hilariously the opposite: cowards. At the start of the story Swami’s father reads to him an article from his newspaper, reading ‘News is to hand of the bravery of a village lad who, while returning home by the jungle path, came face to face with a tiger’ and then the article goes on to describe the fight the boy endured with the tiger and his flight up a tree, where he stayed for half a day till some people came that way and killed the tiger. This boy was by no means a hero, but a coward who just survived his encounter with a tiger by climbing up a tree and with luck some people came along, who managed to kill the tiger. The second example of his not-so-much ‘a hero’Show MoreRelatedWhat Makes Up A Good Fiction Story? In A Ficti on Short941 Words   |  4 PagesWhat makes up a good fiction story? In a fiction short story the reader wants to be drawn in and connect with the story being told. As the reader we are looking for action, anticipation, or even go on an adventure with characters throughout the story. We also want to be able to bond with these characters so that it feels as if we are experiencing their journey or struggles with them, even if it is fictional. According to Joseph Kelly’s introduction to his textbook, The Seagull Reader: Stories, hisRead MoreLiterary Elements found in Flannery O ´Connor ´s Story: A Good Man Is Hard to Find810 Words   |  3 Pagesor what has happened to others. This helps others to comprehend the perspectives of the author’s understanding toward an incident that one might experience. For instance in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, she uses many literary elements to express her views over most of her stories. O’Connor expresses h er views in her short story, â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† by using the literary elements of point of view, irony, and setting. O’Connor first expresses her views in her short story, â€Å"A Good ManRead MoreA Good Man By Flannery O Connor Essay1049 Words   |  5 Pages1302.03 31 March 2015 A Good Man is Hard to Find In â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find, the author, Flannery O’Connor states many points in this short story. It is to be said that O’Connor is a very religious, catholic, in fact (Vol. 2 pg. 97). O’Connor has stated her religious views in most of her fiction stories. O’Connor was also known for her stories on violence. Readers sometimes find O’Connor’s fictions to be weird with such turning points in her stories. â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† has manyRead MoreSummary Of My Hands Were Trembling 960 Words   |  4 Pagesout of mind. I imagined the worst case scenario. I just could not press the confirm button. My essay was not good enough. Maybe I can tweak it some more to make it better. I need a good grade, and this will not get me there. Self doubt filled my body as I sat at the computer desk anxiously trying to upload my short story to turnitin.com. Many people thought that the short story assignment would be fun and inno vative. However, many students found it to be more of a struggle than a walk inRead MoreSummary Of My Hands Were Trembling 960 Words   |  4 Pagesout of mind. I imagined the worst case scenario. I just could not press the confirm button. My essay was not good enough. Maybe I can tweak it some more to make it better. I need a good grade, and this will not get me there. Self doubt filled my body as I sat at the computer desk anxiously trying to upload my short story to turnitin.com. Many people thought that the short story assignment would be fun and innovative. However, many students found it to be more of a struggle than a walk inRead MoreA Good Man Is Hard To Find Analysis743 Words   |  3 PagesFlannery O’Connor’s short story, â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† we find out that the title indicates of what the story is about. The title actually came from the lyrics of a song written by Eddie Green in 1918. The title of â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† by Flannery O’Conner is quite ironic really. The reader expects to eventually find a good man in the story, but is quite surprised at the ending of the story. The title A Good Man is Hard to Find is expressed clearly in this story by introducing a varietyRead MoreA Formalist Approach On A Short Story1694 Words   |  7 PagesPASS Michael Wraa Professor Joyce Heyman English 110 15 February 2015 A Formalist Approach to a Short Story There are so many different things one can learn from reading a story. Stories vary in length but it seems that your appetite for reading will gauge the kind of stories you elect to read. People who enjoy long thought out complex reading will enjoy much longer published works than what a short story has to offer. However there is a large population in the world of people who do not want to spendRead MoreLiterary Art : Edgar Allan Poe1195 Words   |  5 Pageswhen writing a short story or even a detective story. He used the tragic events of his childhood, and used that for â€Å"fuel† to create the plot lines in his stories. He used the dark and somber events of his childhood and turned it into literary art to be remembered for many years to come. Instead of Poe taking his dark childhood out on other people, he put it into words, stories with so much effort put into it. Poe wanted people to follow certain guidelines when writing a short story; if you did notRead MoreLife Choi ces In Flowers For Algernon, By Ray Bradbury853 Words   |  4 PagesWho we do or do not become will determine in lifes previous events. In all the short stories, the author puts in how the character feels and what there like. In the short stories of â€Å"Charles,† by Shirley Jackson, â€Å"Flowers For Algernon,† by Daniel Keyes, and â€Å"The Drummer Boy Of Shiloh,† by Ray Bradbury. To begin with, in the short story of â€Å"Flowers For Algernon,† by Daniel Keyes, life choices, importance, and success from the pass will effect the present. The life choices in an individuals lifeRead MoreSimilarities Between Edgar Allan Poe And Cask Of Amontillado1638 Words   |  7 Pagesperfecting his style of writing in short stories. His short stories, all usually dealing with the concept of death, relates back to his childhood, linking to his past experiences. As a small child, Poes father had abandoned his family, leaving his mother to take care of him and his sister. When Poe turned three, his mother had passed away due to tuberculosis. Exposed to death at such a young age, it connects to his writing style and how he incorporates death in his stories. Throughout the course of his