Active Reading of American Short Stories

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Introduction

Reading is often a passive process; reading the text provides all they require and does not anticipate contributing much to the reading experience. On the other hand, active reading actively participates in the reading process by reflecting on what they read, asking questions, questioning ideas, and making judgments. Active reading is an excellent way to prepare for the discussions and writing that will take place in college literary classrooms. Active reading will also be helpful to a person long after their official classroom study of literature has ended since it helps to comprehend and appreciate the works you read. This work was written to review books and answer essential questions related to their plot.

The Conflict

The conflict in a tale, the fight between opposing forces that arise as the action unfolds, heightens readers’ attention and participation. This conflict is a battle between the protagonist, the primary character in the tale, and the antagonist, who is someone or something who opposes the protagonist. The antagonist is not always a villain; most frequently, it is a figure that represents a different point of view or supports a different course of action than the protagonist. The antagonist is often not a person but a scenario or event confronting the protagonist. In specific stories, the protagonist may be pitted against a supernatural power, or the fight may take place entirely within the character’s imagination. It might be a moral dilemma, such as deciding whether to remain at home and care for aged parents or escape and start a new life.

Stages of Plot

The storyline of the work examines one or more conflicts, progressing from exposition through complexities to climax and, eventually, resolution. According to Kirszner and Mandell, “the plot is shaped by causal connections—historical, social, and personal— by the interaction between characters, and by the juxtaposition of events” (124). During the exposition of a tale, the author provides the necessary information to comprehend the events that follow. The exposition usually kicks off the tale by setting the scene, introducing the key characters, and maybe hinting at the significant events or conflicts. The story’s conflict emerges via complexities as the storyline advances, finally leading readers to the story’s conclusion. The tale may feature numerous crises as it progresses. A crisis is a high point in a story’s action, a significant point of stress or significance. The culmination is when a story’s decisive action or event occurs and is the point of highest tension or importance.

Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin was the child of a wealthy Irish-born businessman and his royal Creole bride, Katherine O’Flaherty. She married Oscar Chopin, a Louisiana cotton dealer, when she was nineteen, and they moved to New Orleans and then to a farm in central Louisiana. Kate Chopin penned “The Story of an Hour,” a short work depicting a woman’s dramatic emotional transformation after learning that her husband had died. Chopin’s composition is primarily about a desire for more rights for women. Chopin’s observations of her nature show her rejection of “postures of femininity.” In the nineteenth century, men desired a youthful and tranquil bride. Chopin expresses a demand for more autonomous women in this poem, saying that mistreated femininity is the simple fact that society didn’t enable them to be on the same level as men.

Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is a writer who grew up in England and now resides in Minnesota. Gaiman is a screenwriter, movie director, and essayist who has written several highly praised stories, novels, and graphic fiction for children and adults. His work, which focuses on fantasy and science fiction, has been translated into a number of languages. “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” revolves around Enn, a timid guy who attends a party with his crazy friend Vic. By dating girls at a party, guys explore matters that affect their lives. This process is directly related to the plot, thereby advancing it to the end.

Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith, also known as Sadie Smith, was born in London and is the author of four novels as well as short stories in media such as the New Yorker, McSweeney’s, and Granta. “The Girl with Bangs,” by Zadie Smith, is set on a college campus in the early 2000s. Charlotte Greaves, the heroine, was approximately twenty years old and had bangs that made the narration insane. Charlotte had an untidy appearance and was not the brightest person in the room. She is represented as a fully-fledged human in the macrocosm. According to the description, she is a lifelike figure in regular life, filled with frequent incidents. She is also regarded as intense because of her ability to identify, vary, or be undecomposed to the situations.

Tim O’Brien

Tim O’Brien is often referred to as a writer whose works are on the shortlist of important Vietnam War literature. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is an excellent meditation on conflict, memory, creativity, and storytelling’s healing potential. O’Brien’s art conveys his emotions and memoirs more effectively than simple memoirs since the texts have been redone for the general reader without losing the plot of what is happening.

Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson is well renowned for her subdued horror and spooky stories. She moved to Bennington, Vermont, with her husband, literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, but the locals never welcomed her. “The Lottery,” written just after WWII, addresses concepts like community brutality, individual vulnerability, and the consequences of blindly following tradition. The best description for a story would be that it is a parable about the perversion of democracy since it shows people’s attitudes towards each other regarding freedom of action.

Alice Walker

Alice Walker was the smallest of eight babies born to cotton sharecroppers Willie Lee and Minnie Tallulah Grant Walker. In the third year of her marriage, Walker reverted to her maiden name to commemorate her great-great-great-grandmother, who had traveled from Virginia to Georgia with her two children. Walker’s renaming is in keeping with one of her literary aims to help individuals identify with their relatives. “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker, is a tale about an impoverished African-American family and a disagreement about legacy. The term “legacy” has two connotations in this short tale. One definition of legacy is family heirlooms, thoughts, and traditions passed down through the generations. The African-American culture is represented by the other sense of the word “legacy.” Dee feels that “legacy” refers to African culture, and she refuses to acknowledge her ancestors’ background until it is fashionable.

Raymond Carver

Raymond Carver is one of the generation’s most essential and widely read authors. He drew inspiration for his novels from everyday events that were seen in a new light. The central irony of “Cathedral” is a speaker who unthinkingly dismisses blindness while unaware of his own visual limits. The speaker can see with his eyes but is unaware of his limits.

Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates’ short tale “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” has been widely anthologized. Oates claimed she wrote the story after listening to Bob Dylan’s song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” and she presented it to him. “Death and the Maiden” was the original title of the tale. The appearance against the truth, the personification of evil, and self-sacrifice are the central themes of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Both Connie and Arnold have a two-faced personalities, displaying one side when required and suppressing the other when not.

Amy Tan

“Two Kinds” is a short tale from Amy Tan’s novel “The Joy Luck Club.” Jing-mei (June) Woo’s youth is chronicled in this short narrative, as are the consequences of her mother’s high hopes for her adulthood. Two themes run through the story: the American Dream and the conflict between moms and daughters. Mrs. Woo, like many other immigrants, delights in America’s guarantee: Jing-mei can be anything she wants to be with hard effort and a little luck.

Conclusion

Reading is typically a passive activity in which the reader receives all of their information from the text and does not expect to contribute anything to the reading experience. Active reading is a fantastic approach to preparing for debates and writing in college academic classes. The conflict in a story, the battle between opposing forces that emerge as the action progresses, draws readers in and engages them. The work’s plot explores one or more conflicts, going from exposition through complication to climax and resolution. Throughout the entire essay, answers were given to important questions related to the plot of the works.

Works Cited

Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Nelson Education, 2016.

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