Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Definition of Short Story 1
1.2 History of Short Story 2
Chapter 2 Elements and Techniques of Short Story 13
2.1 Elements 13
2.2 Techniques 21
Chapter 3 How to Read Short Story 29
3.1 Look at the Plot 32
3.2 Analyze the Characters 32
3.3 Identify the Setting 33
3.4 Examine the Point of View 34
3.5 Identify the Themes 34
3.6 Analyze the Tone 35
3.7 Discuss Symbolism and Allegory 35
3.8 Focus on Irony 36
Chapter 4 Major Critical Approaches 37
4.1 Foralist Criticism 38
4.2 Historical Criticism 41
4.3 Psychological Criticism 42
4.4 Sociological Criticism 45
4.5 Feminist Criticism 46
4.6 Reader-response Criticism 49
4.7 Cultural Studies Criticism 50
4.8 Deconstructionist Criticism 52
4.9 Biographical Criticism 54
Chapter 5 Selected Readings of English and American Short Stories 57
5.1 Oscar Wilde and The Happy Prince 57
5.2 Thomas Hardy and The Son's Veto 73
5.3 Virginia Woolf and The New Dress 96
5.4 Katherine Mansfield and The Fly 110
5.5 James Joyce and Araby 120
5.6 William Somerset Maugham and The Ant and the Grasshopper 131
5.7 D.H. Lawrence and The Horse Dealer's Daughter 140
5.8 H.H. Munro and The Open Window 167
5.9 Doris Lessing and A Woman on a Roof 173
5.10 Edgar Allan Poe and The Purloined Letter 190
5.11 Nathaniel Hawthorne and Young Goodman Brown 219
5.12 O.Henry and The Gift of the Magi 244
5.13 Mark Twain and Luck 254
5.14 Kate Chopin and The Story of an Hour 261
5.15 Jack London and The White Man's Way 267
5.16 Sherwood Anderson and Mother 280
5.17 Willa Sibert Cather and Neighbour Rosicky 294
5.18 E.Hemingway and Hills like White Elephants 342
5.19 William Faulkner and A Rosefor Emily 351
5.20 Bernard Malamud and The Magic Barrel 367
5.21 John Updike and A＆P 394
5.22 Alice Walker and Everyday Use for Your Grandmama 407
Bibliography 422