ENG215H1 Lecture Notes - Margaret Atwood, Allister, Alice Munro
Document Summary
Short story definition: brief work of prose fiction less than 10,000 words. Poe defined crow"s tale as a narrative read at one sitting from 1/2 hour to 2 hours and is limited to which every detail is subordinate. Why limit how the short story works. More about what genre can"t do than what it can do. 1901 american writer followed up poe"s exposition and published philosophy of short story to justify poe"s points. Only achieved to show ss is limited. Emphasizing single effect, person, only solidified critical reaction to genre. Anonymous review in newspaper: smaller, simpler, easier, less important form of novel. 1964: story must have single concentration of purpose and 2-3 important scenes. Contemporary critics (1980"s onwards): ss are complex. Alice munro, margaret atwood, allister mccloud intimacy with first person writing, but don"t know her name or age recounting her marriage from the beginning. Network of love b/w parents, husband, etc. give more meaning to story.
