"The Lady with the Pet Dog" - Anton Chekhov
"The Lady with the Dog" is a short story by Anton Chekhov first published in 1899. It tells the story of an adulterous affair between a Russian banker and a young lady he meets while vacationing in Yalta. The story comprises four parts: part I describes the initial meeting in Yalta, part II the consummation of the affair and the remaining time in Yalta, part III Gurov's return to Moscow and his visit to Anna's town, and part IV Anna's visits to Moscow. Vladimir Nabokov declared that it was one of the greatest short stories ever written.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING
1. FIRST RESPONSE. Consider the following assessment of the story: "No excuses can be made for the lovers' adulterous affair. They behave selfishly and irresponsibly. They are immoral - and so is the story." Explain what you think Chekhov's response to this view should be, given his treatment of the lovers. How does this compare to your own views.
2. Why is it significant that the setting of the story is a resort town? How does the vacation atmosphere affect the action?
3. What does Gurov's view of women reveal about him? Why does he regard them as the "inferior race"?
4. What do we learn about Gurov's wife and Anna's husband? Why do you think Chekhov includes includes this exposition? How does it affect our view of the lovers?
5. When and why do Gurov's feelings about Anna begin to change? Is he really in love with her?
6. Who or what is the antagonist of the story? What is the nature of the conflict?
7. What is the effect of having Gurov as the central consciousness? How would the story be different if it were told from Anna's perspective?
8. Why do you think Chekhov does not report what ultimately becomes of the lovers? Is there a resolution to the conflict? Is the ending of the story effective?
9. Discuss the validity of Gurov's belief that people lead their real lives in private rather than public: "The personal life of every individual is based on secrecy, and perhaps it is partly for that reason that civilized man is so nervously anxious that personal privacy should be respected?".
10. Describe your response to Gurov in Parts I and II, and discuss how your judgment of him changes in the last two parts of the story.
11. Based on your understanding of the characterizations of Gurov and Anna, consider the final paragraph of the story and summarize what you think will happen to them.
"Barn Burning" - William Faulkner
"Barn Burning" is a short story by the American author William Faulkner which first appeared in Harper's in 1939 and has since been widely anthologized. The story deals with class conflicts, the influence of fathers, and vengeance as viewed through the third-person perspective of a young, impressionable child. It is a prequel to The Hamlet, The Town, and The Mansion, the three novels make up the Snopes trilogy.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING
1. FIRST RESPONSE. Who is "Barn Burning" about? Explain your choice.
2. Is Sarty a dynamic or a static character? Why? Which term best describes his father? Why?
3. Who is the central character in this story? Explain your choice.
4. How are Sarty's emotions revealed in the story's opening paragraphs? What seems to be the function of the italicized passages there and elsewhere?
5. What do we learn from the story's exposition that helps us understand Abner's character? How does his behavior reveal his character? What do other people say about him?
6. How does Faulkner's physical description of Abner further our understanding of his personality?
7. Explain how the justice of the peace, Mr. Harris, and Major de Spain, serve as foils to Abner. Discuss whether you think they are round or flat characters.
8. Who are the story's stock characters? What is their purpose?
9. Explain how the description of Major de Spain's house helps to frame the main conflicts that Sarty experiences in his efforts to remain loyal to his father.
10. What do you think happens to Sarty's father and brother at the end of the story? How does your response to this question affect your reading of the last paragraph?
11. How does the language of the final paragraph suggest a kind of resolution to the conflicts Sarty has experienced?
"A Rose for Emily" - William Faulkner
"A Rose for Emily" is a short story by American author William Faulkner first published in the April 30, 1930 issue of Forum. The story takes place in Faulkner's
fictional city, Jefferson, Mississippi, in the fictional county of Yoknapatawpha County. It was Faulkner's first short story published in a national magazine.
fictional city, Jefferson, Mississippi, in the fictional county of Yoknapatawpha County. It was Faulkner's first short story published in a national magazine.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING
1. FIRST RESPONSE. How might this story be rewritten as a piece of formula fiction? You could write it as a romance, detective, or horror story - whatever strikes your fancy. Does Faulkner's version have elements of formulaic fiction?
2. What is the effect of the final paragraph of the story? How does it contribute to your understanding of Emily? Why is it important that we get this information last rather than at the beginning of the story?
3. What details foreshadow the conclusion of the story? Did you anticipate the ending?
4. Contrast the order of events as they happen in the story with the order in which they are told. How does this plotting create interest and suspense?
5. Faulkner uses a number of gothic elements in this plot: the imposing decrepit house, the decayed corpse, and the mysterious secret horrors connected with Emily's life. How do these elements forward the plot and establish the atmosphere?
6. How does the information provided by the exposition indicate the nature of the conflict in the story? What does Emily's southern heritage contribute to the story?
7. Who or what is the antagonist in the story? Why is it significant that Homer Barron is a construction foreman and a northerner?
8. In what sense does the narrator's telling of the story serve as "A Rose for Emily"? Why do you think the narrator uses we rather than I?
9. Explain how Emily's reasons for murdering Homer are related to her personal history and to the ways she has handled previous conflicts.
10. Discuss how Faulkner's treatment of the North and South contributes to the meaning of the story.