Short Story Unit: ENG 2DI
Core Short Stories: The following stories will be studied in class in the order found
below, approximately one per period:
 “The Sniper” GRS, p 40
 “Lather and Nothing Else” SL, p 375
 “You Are Now Entering the Human Heart” GRS, p 52
 “The Black Dog” GRS, p 68
 “A Company of Laughing Faces” GRS, p 73
Independent Reading List: The following stories are to be read independently. Students
are encouraged to think critically about these stories; analyze each in a similar fashion to
how we study the core stories in class. All stories are found in Global Reading Safari.
Part of the evaluation for this unit will be based on these stories.
 “Letter to God,” p 16
 “Princess and the Tin Box,” p 28
 “Pita of the Deep Blue Sea,” p 45
 “Winter Oak,” p 57
 “Heartache,” p 94
 “The Riddle,” p 130
 “ Young Man’s Folly,” p 168
 “The Censors,” p 201
Sample Analytic Paragraph for “The Sniper”
The use of third person limited point of view in Liam O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper” is
effective because it creates suspense in the short story. Near the beginning of the story, the reader
is informed that the sniper is exhausted from being at his post on a rooftop all day. He eats a
sandwich, drinks some whiskey and, somewhat dangerously, lights a cigarette. “Almost
immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet on the roof” (40-41). The unexpected
incident is reliant upon there being no knowledge of the second sniper. Later in the story, after the
sniper has been wounded by the next bullet, he conceives of a plan to kill his enemy. He fakes his
own death by placing a cap atop his rifle. The enemy sniper shoots it and stands up, thinking that
his opponent has been killed. The sniper, “took a steady aim. His hand trembled with eagerness.
Pressing his lips together, he took a deep breath through his nostrils and fired. He was almost
deafened with the report and his arm shook with the recoil” (42-43). The suspense reaches its
climax as the reader wonders whether the sniper’s ruse will succeed; the result is not known until
the smoke clears and the sniper sees his dying opponent (43). Again, suspense is created by not
knowing the result of the altercation until the sniper himself knows. The author uses his choice of
narration to one final advantage with the ironic twist at the end of the story. “When the sniper
reached the laneway on the street level, he felt a sudden curiosity as to the identity of the enemy
sniper whom he had killed…Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his
brother’s face” (43-44). Third person limited narration makes the final twist possible; otherwise
the reader would know the identity of the sniper’s enemy, diffusing all of the irony. The narrow
perspective of the narration in “The Sniper” is similar to what is often called the `fog of war.’
Liam O’Flaherty’s choice of point of view in the story creates much suspense and is very
appropriate for exploring the theme of the horrible realities of war.
Point of View: Four Different Narrative Types
Point of View (hereafter POV) is the frame of reference, voice and central consciousness
of a story, novel or essay.
 It is the most important decision an author makes because that decision governs
everything the author chooses to convey.
 POV determines the way by which the reader perceives ideas, details, images, etc.
 It must never be confused with the author him/herself.
There are four basic types of POV, though it is not unheard of for these to “bleed” into
one another in a given literary work.
First Person
 main character tells the story
-major character
 frequent use of I outside of quotation marks
From “Action Will Be Taken” (Global Reading Safari, 31)
Probably one of the strangest interludes in my life was the time I spent as an employee in Alfred
Wunsiedel’s factory. By nature I am inclined more to pensiveness and inactivity than to work, but now and
again prolonged financial difficulties compel me – for pensiveness is no more profitable than inactivity –
to take on a so-called job.
First Person
-minor character
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minor character (one who “happens to be there”) tells the
story
frequent use of I outside of quotation marks
From “Island” (Global Reading Safari, 105)
The police brought him to the hospital. He had been wandering around on the streets for weeks. He
had no food; no shelter. He looked like a bagman. The weather too was getting cold. The winter had its first
snowfall. The police became worried when one night they found him sleeping in a bus stand. He looked
pale and weak. They thought he may freeze to death.
“Admit him doctor and look after him,” one of the police officers had suggested.
“Do you want to be admitted?” I asked him.
“No thanks. I am not sick.”
Third Person
-limited
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narrator tells story
thoughts and feelings of one character are revealed
single perspective
From “The Shining Mountain” (Global Reading Safari, 179)
“Pagma-La, “ he said, “I called you after a shining mountain so that you would stand tall and be
proud. Pagma-La,” he said, “Scotland has enough ordinary Morags and Janets already.”
And he pinned a picture of the Shining Mountain on her wall, and told her that one day they would
climb it together.
For Pagma-La’s father was a famous mountaineer. She would come home from an ordinary school
day and there he would be on the BBC news, planting the Union Jack on a far, far mountain peak. She
would sit on an ordinary bus and hear people say, “Now there’s a hard man, there’s a hero.”
So Pagma-La dried her tears and vowed never to be ordinary and disappoint him
Third Person
-omniscient
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all-knowing narrator tells story
thoughts and feelings of all characters may be revealed
multiple perspectives
From “A Rupee Earned” (Global Reading Safari, 206-207)
Now, the blacksmith’s son wanted very much to come into this inheritance, but he was so lazy he
hated to bestir himself to perform the small task his father required. Besides, he did not know how. What a
cruel thing, to have to earn a whole rupee when he had never earned a single anna since the day he was
born! But a paternal word is a stone mountain, and as a stone mountain is not removed, a paternal word is
not changed. His father had spoken.
The doting mother of this good-for-nothing youth could not bear to see him suffer. When she found a
convenient moment…
Using Quotations
Quotations are an integral part of analytical writing. In the point, proof &
discussion method, quotations are most often the foundation of each proof. Listed below
are the four most common ways that quotations are used; all the examples come from the
short story “You Are Now Entering the Human Heart.” On a separate sheet of paper,
interpolate a quotation in the same way for each in a sentence of your own.
1. Quotations of four or fewer typed lines are placed within quotation marks and
are incorporated directly into the text.
When the attendant holds out the snake, the narrator begins to feel sorry for the teacher whose “face was
pale” (53). He (the narrator) sees that a crisis is about to occur.
or
When the attendant holds out the snake, the narrator begins to feel sorry for the teacher: “A city woman.
Never handled a snake in her life. Her face was pale” (53). He (the narrator) sees that a crisis is about to
occur.
2. Quotations of more than four lines are set off from the text and indented without
quotation marks.
When the attendant holds out the snake, the narrator begins to feel sorry for the teacher:
She must be near retiring age, I thought. A city woman. Never handled a snake in
her life. Her face was pale. She just managed to drag the fear from her eyes to someplace in their
depths, where it lurked like a dark stain. Surely, the attendant and the children noticed? “It’s
harmless,” the attendant said. He’d been working with snakes for years (53).
He (the narrator) sees that a crisis is about to occur.
3. To shorten long quotations, use ellipses (…) to indicate that a word, phrase, line
or paragraph has been omitted from the quoted passage. Incorporate a quotation
with an ellipse directly into the text.
When the attendant holds out the snake, the narrator begins to feel sorry for the teacher. He notes, “She
must be near retiring age, I thought. A city woman. Never handled a snake in her life. Her face was
pale…’It’s harmless,’ the attendant said. He’d been working with snakes for years” (53). He (the narrator)
sees that a crisis is about to occur.
4. You may also wish to put a quotation in your own words. This is called
paraphrasing. You must still acknowledge the citation.
When the attendant holds out the snake, the narrator begins to feel sorry for the teacher. He sees that, as a
city person, she is unaccustomed to things like snakes and is very nervous. He (the narrator) sees that a
crisis is about to occur (53).
Elements of the Short Story: ENG 2DI
Overall Elements
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Specific Elements
Title: Short story writers need to make
every word count, including those in the
title. Look for clues to a story’s plot,
Plot: The series of incidents that
mood, atmosphere or theme.
produce a dramatic story with a
Introduction: Short stories typically begin
beginning, middle and an end.
by disclosing some information about
character and/or setting that will set the
Atmosphere/ Mood: The overall
background for some type(s) of conflict.
emotional impression of a short
story. The author creates
Complicating Incident: An event or
atmosphere/ mood by creating a
series of events occur that involve one or
strong sense of place and time.
more types of conflict. “Drama” begins
with the complicating incident.
Point of View: The perspective
Rising Action: Further conflicts,
from which a story is told. See next subsequent to the complicating incident,
page for more details.
occur, usually to the protagonist, creating
more drama and suspense.
Theme: Often, the reason an author Climax: The rising action builds up to the
writes a short story is to make some climax, which is the most suspenseful
philosophical point about life. This moment or the height of the action in the
central or controlling idea in a
short story.
story, which can sometimes be
Denouement: When the story is being
quite subtle, is known as theme.
concluded, the author ties up any loose
ends. Often, elements such as the theme
will become evident in the denouement.
Sub-Elements
Characters:
 Protagonist: The main character in
a short story.
 Antagonist: The character who
struggles with the protagonist.
Setting:
 Includes elements of both place and
time.
Conflict: There are many different types
of conflict. Four common are:
 Character vs. character
 Character vs. society
 Character vs. nature/environment
 Character vs. self