Troy University
Troy, AL 36082
WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES
Provide students with a general overview of a few short story writers who have greatly influenced literary culture. Encourage students to develop an appreciation for literacy and literature. Encourage students to think critically about the various themes that writers address in their creative works.
Ambition
Beauty Betrayal Courage Duty/honor (filial piety) Fear Freedom Happiness
Jealousy
Loneliness Love Loyalty Perseverance Prejudice Suffering Truth
FAMOUS SHORT STORY WRITERS & THE THEMES THEY COMMONLY APPLY
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Those who suffer most cry out the least. -- The Oxen and the AxleTrees
Why use animals to teach about human character?
Perhaps Aesop intended to indicate that people often do not see their own inhumanity or inhumane behaviors nor can they see that sometimes they behave as subordinant species and not as ones with the aptitude / rational ability to walk as the dominant species in the earth.
Aesops Fable
The North Wind and the Sun
The Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger. Suddenly they saw a traveller coming down the road, and the Sun said: "I see a way to decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveller to take off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger. You begin." So the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the traveller. But the harder he blew the more closely did the traveller wrap his cloak round him, till at last the Wind had to give up in despair. Then the Sun came out and shone in all his glory upon the traveller, who soon found it too hot to walk with his cloak on. Moral/Theme: Kindness effects more than severity or Gentle persuasion works better than aggressive force.; Power of Rhetoric (general subject)
View video adaptation of this fable by clicking here: YouTube Aesop's Fables: The Sun and The Wind or go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7LTG-fy-mc&feature=related (2 min)
Poes psychologically thrilling tales examining the depths of the human psyche earned him much fame during his lifetime and after his death. He was also an exceptional poet who wrote Annabel Lee and The Raven.
He is said to have transmogrified death in his works. (Change into something strange, odd, grotesque)
He used the style of Gothic fiction with a sense of the uncanny. (Gothic fiction is a form of Medieval romance with an undertone of mystery/darkness/fear/supernaturalism. Setting/architecture is very important to creating a gothic tale full of drama and suspense. Very edgy (ledges and shadows and looming overhanging) features mark gothic architecture.) His tales were called grotesque, arabesque, and terrifying, with recurring themes of being buried alive and coming back from the grave.
To listen to an audio recording of Bartleby the Scrivener, go to http://www.archive.org/details/bartleby_s crivener_1107_librivox or click on the following: Internet Archive: Details: Bartleby the Scrivener
Herman Melville
Wrote about life as a sea of turbulence and adventure. Wrote about the presence of justice and injustice in the world Wrote about the flawed and unjust character revealed in humans. Wrote about the rhetorical power of passive resistance and civil disobedience.
Images: yahoo.com
Kate Chopin
Listen to Story of an Hour (track 17) at Internet Archive: Details: Kate Chopin The Storm, The Story of an Hour, and Other Stories or go to: http://www.archive.org/details/KateChopin _SelectShortStories
http://vulpeslibris.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/ss11.jpg
Flannery OConnor
Short Stories: A Good Man is Hard to Find (story collection title also) The Lame Shall Enter First Everything That Rises Must Converge (short story collection title)
Raymond Carver
Images: yahoo.com
Carvers Common Themes: -- Average Americans contend with economic and social struggles to hold their ground. -- Humor (laughter) is a survival tool. -- Work is a drudgery to human life.
THE END
Please complete the academic seminar evaluation form to receive your workshop credit.
Return form to SSS staff in 109 Shackelford Hall Annex. Thank you for your participation.
Rebecca Money, SPR 2009