Chapter One Setting 1
Washington Irving and"Rip Van Winkle" 3
John Steinbeck and"The Chrysanthemums" 19
Chapter Two Character 31
Langston Hughes and"Early Autumn" 33
Isaac Bashevis Singer and"Gimpel the Fool" 37
Chapter Three Conflict 52
Katherine Mansfield and"The Garden Party" 54
Ernest Hemingway and"A Clean,Well-lighted Place" 70
Chapter Four Theme 76
Nathaniel Hawthorne and"The Minister's Black Veil" 78
D.H.Lawrence and"The Rocking Horse Winner" 92
Chapter Five Point of View 107
James Joyce and"Araby" 110
William Faulkner and"A Rose for Emily" 118
Chapter Six Plot 130
Virginia Woolf and"Kew Gardens" 132
Donald Barthelme and"The Glass Mountain" 141
Chapter Seven Style 147
Mark Twain and"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" 149
W.S.Maugham and"The Luncheon" 157
Chapter Eight Figurative Devices 163
O.Henry and"The Gift of the Magi" 166
John Cheever and"The Enormous Radio" 173
A Glossary of Terms 185
Bibliography 203