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Deep Holes by Alice Munro Short Story Analysis
“Deep Holes” is a short story by Alice Munro. You can find it in the June 30 2008 edition of The New Yorker. I’m very much reminded of Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer and the real life of Christopher McCandless. But “Deep Holes” is not the story of the son — it’s the story…
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Cumulative Plots and The Fifth Story by Clarice Lispector
“The Fifth Story” (1964) is a work of microfiction by Ukraine-born Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector (1920-1977). I tend to analyse short stories by looking at their dramatic arc, but what of a story like this? Surely “The Fifth Story” does not fit traditional ideas of what makes a complete narrative. I also love when I read a…
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Alice Munro, Queenie & Coercive Control
One remarkable thing about Alice Munro: her ability to see aspects of psychology which only drew public attention decades later. In “The Bear Came Over The Mountain” we have a beautiful character study of a philandering man and, his self-justification for wrong-doing and what has since been called sexual solipsism. In “Queenie” Munro paints a…
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Flowering Judas by Katherine Anne Porter Short Story Analysis
“Flowering Judas” is the standout short story by Pulizer Prize winning Katherine Anne Porter, included in a collection published 1930 when Porter was 40. This short story reminds me of “A Dill Pickle” by Katherine Mansfield. Both stories are clearly about the way in which women are socially acculturated into providing emotional labour for men,…
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The Leader of the People by John Steinbeck
The Red Pony (1933) by John Steinbeck is described as an episodic novella, or interconnected short stories. “The Leader of the People” is the final work in the four interrelated stories in The Red Pony (1937, 1945). I really enjoyed this story from The Golden Argosy collection (as recommended by Stephen King), as it still…
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Dump Junk by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“Dump Junk” is a short story by Annie Proulx, included in the Bad Dirt collection (2004). This is a revisioned fairytale based on The Magic Porridge Pot and similar. Proulx’s shorts stories in many ways allude to, cite, and subvert a number of myths, legends, fairy tales, and folktales converging as common cultural patrimony. Annie…
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What Kind Of Furniture Would Jesus Pick by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“What Kind of Furniture Would Jesus Pick?” (2003) by Annie Proulx is the story of Gilbert Wolfscale, whose rabid devotion to his ranch drives off his wife and sons. You can read this one online. SETTING OF “WHAT KIND OF FURNITURE WOULD JESUS PICK?” This story reminds me of Larry McMurtry’s Hud, probably because it’s…
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Man Crawling Out Of Trees by Annie Proulx Short Story Analysis
“Man Crawling Out Of Trees” is a short story by Annie Proulx, included in her Bad Dirt collection (2004). Many of the stories in this collection are in the tall story, brutal, regional, humorous tradition, and readers who don’t share Proulx’s sense of humour haven’t connected to these stories as well as they connected to…
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The Symbolism of Trains In Literature
Why are trains so useful to storytellers? In stories, trains play a functional role, getting your characters from one place to another. But there’s more to it than that. Perhaps we encounter storytellers on trains more than in any other place.
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A Dictionary of Witch Words
The definition of witch changes over time. The word witch dates from around 800 AD. It originally referred to men who practise witchcraft but 200 years later referred to female magicians and sorceresses. Later it meant women who were meant to cooperate with the devil or other evil spirits.
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The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“The Doll’s House” is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, set in New Zealand, written 1922. This is Mansfield’s most accessible story, and a good introduction to her work. Its main themes are seen across children’s literature as well. Unlike stories such as “The Garden Party” and “Bliss”, the reader is not required to fill…
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The Wind Blows by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
On the surface level, “The Wind Blows” by Katherine Mansfield is a coming-of-age short story about an adolescent girl (Matilda) who wakes up one morning, nervous and tense. While the wind blows outside, she gets ready for her music lesson. Before she leaves she has a minor disagreement with her mother. She has her music…
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The Fly by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“The Fly” is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, published 1922. CONNECTION TO MANSFIELD’S OWN LIFE Mansfield wrote “The Fly” in February 1922 as she was finding her tuberculosis treatment debilitating. She died in January of 1923, soon after its publication. Thirty-four seems young to be contemplating old age, and to write about an elderly…
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The Trip by Ezra Jack Keats Analysis
The Trip by Ezra Jack Keats was first published 1978, which makes it 40 years old. This picture book is an excellent example of photography as motif, but using a peep show box instead.
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The Nightfish by Helen McCosker Analysis
The Nightfish is an Australian picture book written and illustrated by Helen McCosker. Published in 2006, this children’s story makes a good counterpoint to There’s A Sea In My Bedroom (1984).