Transcript The Realist Short Story

O’Henry
The
Realist Short Story
Flash Fiction & the Short Story
Expressions
Influences
The
& Adaptations
Caliph And The Cad
Discussion
 Depictions
of ordinary people as types –
shopkeepers, con-men, aristocracy, etc.
 Short
story as most popular form of
Realism – presenting 1 Idea in 1 Story
 Often
used with Humour & focus on lower
classes in Cities & Towns in America as
part of Vernacular Narratives in Papers
 Short
short-story or Flash fiction – very
brief story – word count at most 1,000 –
concise work published by magazines
 Authors include: Aesop, Chekov, O’Henry
 Growth during Realism period & more
popular in Internet age
 Why is Flash Fiction so Popular?
 Banana
Republic
 Baghdad-on-the-Subway
 “A
straw vote only shows which way the
hot air blows.”
 “Life
is made up of sobs, sniffles, and
smiles, with sniffles predominating.”
 Influenced
by: ‘One Thousand and One
Nights’ and the ‘Anatomy of Melancholy’
 Considered greatest American realist
short story writer for Gift of the Magi, etc.
 O’Henry
award series for best short story
 A Retrieved Reformation into MGM film –
Alias Jimmy Valentine (1928)
 ‘A
Study of New York types’ (lower and
upper classes) with Situational Irony in
title and protagonist – Corey’s interaction
 O’Henry
wit in title and story – ‘Baghdad
Caliph’ and ‘Caliph and Cad’ – ironic?
 Surprise
ending in Vernacular New York
language with key theme of friendship
Read
the following Short Story and
think of the following questions:
 Is
this story realistic or not?
 Why does it end with reconciliation?
 How does it compare to ‘A Retrieved
Reformation’ in language & plot?
 Do you think this is Flash Fiction?
 How does ‘The Caliph and the Cad’ compare
to ‘A Retrieved Reformation’ in terms of
Language, Plot, Ending, Morals
 How does the Language of the Realist short
story compare to that of Regionalist literature
such as Huckleberry Finn?
 What are the Similarities & Differences
between Romantic & Realist Literature?
 O’Henry
Quotes
 http://www.qotd.org/search/search.html
?aid=4415
 Realism in American Literature
 http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit
/realism.htm
 O’Henry’s Story of Himself
 http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=F30B1EFB3E5A12738DDDA
D0894DC405B898CF1D3
 Modernism and the Lost Generation in the
Roaring Twenties:The Great Gatsby
 Read
Chapter 3 in the Great Gatsby and
focus on how the effects of Modernism
are presented and how Language is used.