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Fun With A Stranger by Richard Yates Analysis
Some short stories exist mainly as character studies. Fun With A Stranger (1962) by American author Richard Yates is one example. The story paints a portrait of a particular kind of old-fashioned school teacher. The reader feels empathy for everyone involved, from the young pupils to the teacher herself.
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Kiss Me Again, Stranger by Daphne du Maurier Short Story Analysis
“Kiss Me Again, Stranger” by Daphne du Maurier (1952) is as supernatural as a story gets without actually being supernatural.
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The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg Analysis
The Stranger (1986) is the seventh picture book written and illustrated by popular American storyteller Chris Van Allsburg.
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TV Study: Stranger Things (2016)
Stranger Things is a Netflix series created by the brilliantly named ‘Duffer Brothers’, out this year but set in 1983. Though I suspect strong ‘recency bias’, season one scores a very high 9.2 on IMDb. **CONTAINS ALL THE SPOILERS** The show feels like a mixture of Twin Peaks (with the missing kids and small community), Freaks…
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Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro Short Story Analysis
“Dance of the Happy Shades” is the titular short story of Alice Munro’s first collection, first published in 1968.
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The Home Girls by Olga Masters Short Story Analysis
“The Home Girls” is a short story by Australian writer Olga Masters (1919 – 1986), and the first story of Masters’ 1982 collection, also called The Home Girls. I’m interested in Olga Masters partly because her fiction wasn’t published until she was in her 50s. Then, when she was published, she won a bunch of…
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Loneliness in Art and Storytelling
Edward Hopper was a master at depicting loneliness with paint. The sense of isolation is achieved with colour and composition. Eyes don’t meet, or not at the same time. Body language is closed off. Figures are small inside vast spaces, their heads far from the top of the canvas. They gaze from windows as if…
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Short Story Study For Writers
In the 1880s Brander Matthews said that short stories should be spelt with a hyphen to distinguish between two different forms, which reminds me of the picture book vs picturebook debate. A short story is a story that is short. A short-story proper derives from the Romantic tradition and has its beginnings in myths and legends.…
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Disgust
Why would a storyteller or artist want to elicit disgust in their work? And if they want to do it, how do they typically do it?
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Children of the Corn by Stephen King Short Story Analysis
What is it about corn? Sure, Stephen King can make anything creepy, and so he does in “Children of the Corn”. But long before Stephen King filled his first diaper, humans have been very wary of… yes, corn.
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Raven and Crow Symbolism
What does the raven symbolise in art and literature? Also, how do different cultures view ravens, and how are ravens different from crows?
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Things To Know About Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960)
Released in 1960, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is a significant film in the history of cinema. This psychological thriller made a lasting impact with its unique storytelling and innovative cinematic techniques.
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An Ideal Family by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“An Ideal Family” is a 1921 short story by modernist writer Katherine Mansfield. This is a young Mansfield writing about the tiredness of ageing as an elderly man who feels disconnected from his family.
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The Hitch-hiker by Roald Dahl Short Story Analysis
“The Hitch-hiker” is the second short story in Roald Dahl’s 1977 collection The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. This story was originally published in the July 1977 issue of the Atlantic Monthly. Find it also in Dahl’s Eight Further Tales of the Unexpected, a section of The Collected Short Stories of Roald…
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Six Years After by Katherine Mansfield
“Six Years After” is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, first published in 1923 after the author’s death. Find it in The Doves’ Nest and Other Stories, alongside other works considered incomplete.