Jane K. Marshall
I. PRIMARY SOURCES FOR THIS UNIT
Caletri, Charles J., Jennings, Frank G., ed.,
Stories
, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1957.
(Source of: “Bill’s Little Girl”, “The Blanket”, “The Father”, This fine short story collection provides stories of varying levels of sophistication.)
Farrell, Edmund J., ed.,
To Be
, Scott Foresman and Co., Glenview, Illinois, 1976.
(Source of: “The Lie”. This is a fine textbook of stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Arranged thematically.)
Farrell, Edmund J., ed.,
Realities in Conflict
, Scott foresman, and Co., Glenview, Illinois, 1976.
(Source of: “The Somebody”, “A Turn With the Sun”, “A Minority”. This textbook is second in the “Fountainhead” series, and follows
To Be
. Arranged in a similar manner.)
Hughes, Langston, ed.,
The Best Short
Stories by Negro Writers
, Little, Brown and Co., Boston, 1967.
(Source of: “Miss Cynthie”, “The Almost White Boy”, “The Blues Begin”. This excellent collection of stories by black authors includes stories from the 1860s to the 1960s.)
Kneer, Leo B., ed.,
Focus
, Scott Foresman and Co., Glenview, Illinois, 1969.)
(Source of: “The Kitten”. This book is first in a series prepared for high school students with reading problems.)
Pritchett. V.S., ed.,
The Oxford Book
of Short
Stories
, Oxford University Press, New York, 1981.
(Source of: “The Runaway”. This excellent collection of stories includes various works by superb writers of many times and places.)
II.SELECTIONS FROM THE SHORT STORY SEMINAR
(from Professor Snead’s annotated reading list)
Boynton, Robert,
Introduction to the Short Story
, Hayden Book Co., New York, 1965.
(Boynton and Mack analyze a number of famous and not-so-famous works along the lines of plot, character, point of view, tone, setting, and theme. A valuable guide to interpretative categories.)
Brooks, Cleanth, Warren, Robert Penn,
The Scope of Fiction
, Loisiana State Press, Baton Rouge, 1936.
(Similar to Boynton and Mack’s book, with, however, more pertinent and incisive comparisons between stories discussed. Stories from several countries.)
Burns, Elizabeth and Tom,
The Sociology of Literature
, Penguin Books, Baltimore, 1973.
(Suggests interesting ways to broaden the concept of the short story into an appreciation of its function within society. Thirty-three essays on the interrelation of art to economics and social action. May help answer the basic student question: ‘what does this have to do with me?’)
Gibson, Donald, ed.,
Black and White
:
Stories
in
American Life
, Washington Square Press, New York, 1971,
(Rich anthology, drawing on notable black and white writers.)
Hersey, John,
The Writer’s Craft
, Knopf, New York, 1973.
(Excellent collection of essays, interviews, and lectures by writers on style, theme, the process of writing, and the aim of fiction. Particularly recommended for teachers of creative writing.)
Lubbock, Percy,
The Craft of Fiction
, The Viking Press, New York, 1957.
(Published in 1921, Lubbock’s was a landmark book on the analysis of literature as an art form, paying close attention to matters of ‘omniscience’, ‘story’, and ‘audience’.)
Voss, Arthur,
The American Short Story
, University of Oklahoma Press, 1973.
(Probably the best and the most intelligent of these here listed works, (period studies of the American short story), with chapters on Irving, Hawthorne and Melville, Poe, Hart and Twain, Crane, Anderson, and regional writers, among other chapters, all of them lucidly described and evaluated.)