ENG 110 Week Four Short Fiction by de Duras, Johnson, King Readings Claire de Duras, Ourika Pauline Johnson, “A Red Girl’s Reasoning” Thomas King, “A Coyote Columbus Story” Short Fiction telling the truth with lies (fiction) a constant theme in the reading this semester Fiction (in this case, short fiction) doesn’t necessarily reveal itself on the first, casual reading fiction isn’t necessarily easy entertainment “Introduction to Fiction” (44) “But literally fiction offers more than entertainment, making us think while engaging our imaginations. A short story that we can treat as a serious work of art will not yield all of its subtlety at first glance; in order to understand and appreciate its author’s achievement fully we many have to examine its components- its plot, characterization, point of view, theme, setting, style, and symbolism - noting how each part contributes to the story’s overall effect.” a short story “ought to be a unified artistic creation, as carefully shaped as a sonnet” (42) Edgar Allen Poe’s definition: (see slides) other definitions, characteristics: a brief, concise piece of fiction that is more pointed and more economically detailed as to character, situation, and plot than a novel less complex than novels fewer characters than a novel, usually with a single problem, conflict, or central incident more than 1000 words but less than 20 000 c. 500 -c. 50 000 words usually less than 5000 words can be read in one sitting can be read in 30 to 120 minutes longer short stories sometimes called novelettes or novellas original in oral narrative; focused, comes quickly to its point often an abrupt beginning (in medias res) conclusions can also be abrupt like a poem, it relies on a compression of expression (economy), making a virtue rather than a liability of that which is not said Glossary rdanieg raed wrod wlohe cluod
