What is a short story?

After this semester, this class has really changed the way I view storytelling and defining what a short story actually is. We have looked at many different types of storytelling through different mediums which they are told. We studied story telling through regular short stories such as children’s stories (Fantastic Mr. Fox and Fairy Tales), and we also looked beyond the normal “short story.” We looked at story telling through short shorts, poems, comic strips, art work, sculptures, long stories, short video clips, documentaries and just recently TV episodes. Story telling is everywhere and short stories are told in dozens of ways. What actually makes a short story a short story though, and how it is defined, is tricky.

The definition of a short story is “a story with a fully developed theme but significantly shorter and less elaborate than a novel.” This statement is of course true, and is what many people do think of when asked. But after taking this class and looking at short stories in such detail, I believe it is much more complex than that. This definition makes someone think that a short story is a fairy tale or children’s story, well to me at least, but not all short stories are fairy tales, or children’s books. Artwork, poems, videos, documentaries, etc, all can present plot lines and develop a theme therefore creating a short story. You can find short stories in almost any piece of writing or art if you really look.

In the beginning of the semester we looked at Fantastic Mr. Fox as well as fairy tales. These stories of course illustrate short stories with their plot lines, archetype characters, antagonists trying to get at the protagonist, etc. Everything one thinks of when we think of “short story.” When this was presented to us in the beginning of the semester I thought that pieces like this were the only ones classified as short stories.

We then went into a bit more depth when looking at Aimee Bender and Rick Bass’ writing. These authors both wrote short stories as well but a little harder to follow. These stories really made you think and get a deeper meaning of what was going on. Both stories had to do with lovers in difficult relationships and created a short story for the reader. Next, we looked at Lydia Davis’ short short poems, and Carson McCuller’s writing. These stories also required in depth reading, analysis, and a lot of thinking, but I enjoyed them. Personally, I really liked “The Fish Tank” and “The Other”. Although these stories did not present us clear characters or a setting, we are shown a story and there is a purpose as well as a theme to each piece.

Next, we looked at Junot Diaz and Lorrie Moore’s stories. These authors also had a different style of writing. Their stories were written by the narrator writing to the narrator, as if the narrator had experienced it before hand and was giving the narrator advice. As well as the other mentioned authors, these authors presented short stories, but not in such a cliché way. Their style of writing may be a little different but still write compelling pieces that can be defined as short stories.

Moving from writing to artwork, we looked at a lot of pieces from multiple different artists. While analyzing and close reading these pieces of artwork, we looked for aspects of short stories we previously depicted in the other pieces. Such as setting, tone, characters, plot lines, theme etc. Although the story may be a bit more difficult to see or understand pieces of art are most likely representing a story and sending a message to the audience. This being said artwork is definitely a form of telling short stories.

One of the last forms of storytelling we looked at were documentaries and TV episodes. The documentary we looked at “Being Elmo” told the story of his life in a factual way with interviews and real life scenarios he went through. I would not consider this a short story. This is a documentary of his life and how he grew up to pursue his dream; this does not present a plot line or characters like the other short stories we looked at. The TV episodes we have recently been looking at in class are also other forms of short stories. Similar to the other pieces of work, they contain characters, plot lines, themes, etc; all factors of short stories.

I have definitely realized throughout this semester that there are many ways one can identify a short story. I would agree with the previously mentioned definition. A short story is a developed piece that is trying to get a message across, it is just significantly shorter than a novel or book. Although a short story is short, that does not mean it lacks depth or meaning though. Some of the shortest stories we read this semester had the deepest hidden meanings and were the most complex. On the other hand, some of the longer stories we read were drawn out and meaningless. Overall, short stories can be found in multiple forms and are not just limited to the well-known fairy tales or children’s stories.

Being Elmo

 

After watching the documentary Being Elmo I saw a lot of differences between storytelling in this documentary and storytelling in other forms such as other movies, short stories and art. In the documentary Being Elmo, Kevin Clash tells his story of being the voice of Elmo and a brief autobiography of his life steps to get to the place he is at.

In documentaries, they tell stories with interviews, dramatization of things that took place, old photographs and video clips, and often have a narrator. After watching Being Elmo, I realized that this documentary included all of these things. The person that the documentary is about, Kevin Clash, is one of the main sources of information and main part of this documentary. He comments on his personal experiences, how they affected him, his opinions and insight, his dreams, his talent, etc. There is nothing better than hearing the information straight from the source. In some documentaries, they are about people who have died so you cannot interview them personally about their life, which is a little more difficult. Being Elmo also included interviews from Kevin’s parents, family, co-workers, friends, employers, etc. These interviews also help the viewer get insight to the person’s life from a different view and you get to hear their opinion of them. Another thing this documentary had was pictures and video clips of from when Kevin was growing up, establishing his puppeteer career. This helped show the growth of his career and life, and the different things he went through to achieve his dream. Dramatizations of scenarios in his life were also put in, for example when he first met Jim Henson, they showed a staging of the scene to show the audience what the scenario probably looked like and how it felt for him to be there. The documentary was narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, which helped keep a nice flow to the film. All of these aspects put together put together a great documentary that I really enjoyed watching. Personally, it was really interesting to see the ins and outs of puppeteers and how the put on shows.

When comparing this documentary to other storytelling forms we have studied this semester, I saw a lot of differences. When comparing it to another feature film, other films do not use interviews and flashback pictures to tell the story; they have characters and plot lines. Short stories also tell stories through plot lines, characters, and theme. The strategies are a lot different in short stories, regular movies, and documentaries and it was interesting to see the difference when watching Being Elmo.

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Knock 

           The blinding sun reflected off of her face as Emily Osment pulled the creamy-white curtains to a close. It was the first day of January, a new year. A clean slate, she thought to herself as she pulled her golden locks into a messy pony tail and sighed—time to clean up. As she struggled to get out of bed, she opens her bedroom door and looks around her apartment. The house was trashed, the celebration of New Years the night before turned out to be a success. All of the guests arrived, there was plenty of food and drinks for everyone, and the colorful decorations looked absolutely elegant, complimenting her large, modern New York City abode.

But no matter how the party turned out, how much fun the guests had, how much she tried to take her mind off of Joseph, it seemed impossible. She wished things with him would go back to normal. It had been just a couple of weeks since the split, although, she felt like it had been months; long and agonizing days, picking at her slowly and painfully.

She wiped the sleep off of her eyes as she walked past the living room and into the kitchen. Carefully, she put on a pot of coffee and grabbed a sponge. After wiping down the counters, the almost-silver granite glittered in perfection. Finishing off the kitchen she threw the red plastic cups in the garbage filling it to the top and swept the remaining crumbs of junk food off the floor.

The living room was worse, red cups covered the floor, some still sitting on the furniture half filled with liquid. Bowls of snacks in various spots around the room, some spilled over making even more of a mess. Torn down streamers and popped balloons cornered her favorite room of the house, layering the extent with distress. Emily let out a large sigh, shutting her eyes and holding her head in hopes to take away the ache. “Everything’s a mess without you,” She whispered to herself, referring to not only her trashed house, but her twisted and broken heart.

Emily continues to clean, slowly but surely recognizing the rug and uncovered furniture. She almost enjoys the silence and being alone. Suddenly, she hears a faint knock at her door across her apartment. Confused as to who it could possibly be, she questions if she should even bother to answer; probably a friend of a friend coming to search her apartment for a misplaced clutch or phone they lost the night before. She continues to clean; hoping whoever it is will just go away. Then, another knock, “Emily?” she heard as she looks up from her broom and toward the door. The voice is familiar and warm; masculine and seems concerned. She slowly leans the broom against her couch, now curious as to who is at her home. The door peeks open, the person behind it becoming impatient, he lets himself in. Emily looks down at the hand on her doorknob as he turns it to enter and without question, realizes who it is.

Sweet Texas Angel

For the last story to read, I picked Sweet Texas Angel. Sweet Texas Angel is about Kay, a student who abandons nursing school to become a household helper. Every Saturday, she visits her very sick mother who has lost her memory and takes care of her as well. Kay feels extreme pressure with so much on her plate. Along with taking care of several people, Kay has one night stands and builds a sexual relationship with the father of the family she is taking care of, Lee. Lee is a married business man, but this does not stop him, or Kay. Lee shows no remorse in his adultery with Kay. He shows full interest in her while leaving his wedding ring on, not feeling any guilt. Kay has an abortion before meeting Lee but this also does not seem to alter her views on being with Lee or hold her back. As a reader, I saw Kay as a character yearning for attention, whether it was from the wrong person or not. Kay knew how wrong it was to sleep with Lee and how much it would destroy and hurt the family, but did it anyway.

I believe McGlynn touches upon many themes in this story. First, he observes sacrifice. Kay sacrificing her nursing career as well as aborting her baby. This story also ties in a lot of religion which I believe connects to sacrifice, as well as sin and fate. The theme of religion creates many questions for me as a reader whether or not to connect “everything happens for a reason” to this story or were these things obstacles for Kay. For example, Kay “sins” with her relationship to Lee. But, she did not plan on dropping out of nursing school, but because she did it led her to Lee. Was leading her to Lee fate, or was it a sin for her to avoid? Was God testing her?  

McGlynn leaves his readers with a lot of questions, which is thought-provoking, but then again frustrating. We as readers all interpret the story differently from what we have experienced in our own lives. Personally, these stories are very long and drawn out and I do not really like how the author leaves us questioning and almost creating our own story.

Remember Love

Jody Lisberger’s collection of stories “Remember Love” was extremely interesting and captivating to me. The stories we were assigned to read and discussed in class so far have been really different from other things we have read so far. I enjoy these stories because they are about situations that people in life do experience such as divorce, friendships, relationships etc. Jody puts realistic and mature thoughts into her writing.

All of the stories unite in a way of complicated truths behind the stories that might not be seen normally but through Lisberger’s writing she brings them to the surface. For example, “The Bush Beating” focuses mainly on a rape that occurred in the meadow but throughout the story we infer that the father has had sexual motives toward his son as well as maybe being gay himself. She presents a problem to us and then as a reader we find out other background information about the characters and reasons why maybe the initial situation happened in the first place.

Personally, I really enjoy how each story has twists and different plot lines linked together into one. As a reader, this made me more excited to keep reading and find out what would happen next and what aspect would link to another. For example, in “In The Mercy Of Water” Kate is struggling with seeing her crush flirt with her friend. Something most of us as readers can relate to, jealousy. You would think the friend would then apologize and not talk to the boy anymore but we learn her friend is struggling with her sexual orientation as well as parental issues, nothing to do with Kate’s crush. But, all of these problems stem from an innocent jump and end up connecting to one another and going full circle in the end. This is what I find intriguing about Lisberger's writing.

Something I found to be challenging as a reader with this collection are the deep topics she does bring up. I find them exciting to read and they definitely keep my attention but some topics can be difficult to read. The rape, divorce and touchy subjects are hard to read due to the great detail she puts into her writing when describing the setting and scene. As well as the fact that a lot of the things she talks about are situations that people have experienced in their own lives. Maybe not personally going through a divorce, or experiencing a rape but something similar like witnessing parents struggle with their relationship for example.

Jody Lisberger: "Crucible", "Bush Beating" and "The Mercy of Water"

Jody Lisberger, the author of “Remember Love”, was born is Stamford, Connecticut in the 1950s. She grew up in Ithaca, New York. Initially, Lisberger studied anthropology at Smith College in 1975 , then got her MA in English at Boston College, followed by receiving her Ph.D. in English from Boston University. In 1997, Lisberger started a MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College. Lisberger has taught full time at Holy Cross, Tufts University, Harvard University, and Brown University. She has taught literature, drama, feminist theory, fiction and creative nonfiction. She currently teaches Women Studies here at the University of Rhode Island. What we as a class are looking at right now is her prize winning fiction “Remember Love”.

I just read the three stories “Crucible”, “Bush Beating” and “The Mercy of Water.” I personally enjoyed all three, mainly “Crucible”. Lisberger’s writing is extremely detailed and descriptive. As cliché as it sounds, you do not want to put the book down because she keeps you wondering what will happen next. She is heavy on creating a picture and analyzing the characters situations and thoughts. She creates suspense in the story by linking separate stories all together into one. Doing so, this makes the stories very complex and interesting, as the reader relates the different aspects to one another.

For example, in “Crucible” the story is about a Mom and Dad watching their daughter in her high school play. Although the entire stories setting is at the play, throughout the story you learn a lot about the parents relationship with one another as well as the mother’s analyzing the play as it relates to her own situation. Their daughter, Julia, plays an adulteress in her school play, Abby. As Sheila, Julia’s mom, watches the play she cannot believe her eyes as Julia is caressing another actor’s face as well as indulging in the plot. “Please let it drop and shield these two. My daughter doesn’t know these things. She’s acting. It’s a play. You’re supposed to act.” (page 14) Sheila then begins to connect the play to her current relationship status with her husband, Tom. She herself was cheating with a man checking their house of radon in the air. Seeing the play made her think of her mistakes and how her future with her husband will play out.

A scene that really added suspense to the story and was interesting to me was when Sheila goes to look for Julia after the play. She goes to find her to congratulate her on how well she did and she is not with the rest of the actors. Sheila is pointed toward a doorway, and is hesitant to go in. Thinking she is in there with her fellow actor that she had intimate scene with in the play. She ponders on this for a while and Lisberger creates great suspense for the reader as to what could be behind that door. We soon learn that Julia is doing nothing but innocently getting dressed, (page 21-23). Although we are built up with uncertainty and doubt in Julia as a “whore” of a character, the scene ends with her doing nothing wrong. I really enjoy Lisberger’s style of writing and her detail to the characters thoughts.

Maus and The Fun Home

I just read the two stories “Maus” and “The Fun Home”. Both stories are written as comics, sequential drawings that have word bubbles to express the characters voices to tell the stories. The first story was about a father and son having a conversation about the flashbacks the father had about his time as a prisoner of war. This story had a lot of Jewish slang in it that made the tone of the story stand out. You could tell the father had broken English, some of his sentences did not make sense and he often snuck in random Jewish words. Also, all of the characters names in this story were Jewish; for example Vladek, Mala, Anja. The characters reference the Jewish tradition Bar Mitzfah’s (blocks on pg 61) and the Jewish event Parsha’s Truma (blocks on pg 59). These depth of the culture in this story works well with the images because it helps to set the mood and get you into the time period from when the father was flashing back too. Ultimately, the tone in this story is that of an older man telling a story with an accent as well as broken language giving the listener a different sense of the story. For example, when an old Spanish woman is telling you a story you get the thick culture tone behind her voice and the story seems to have a different mood too it.

Next the second story “The Fun Home” was about just the opposite, a not fun home. The story is told by a girl, Allison, who is mainly writing about her and her father’s relationship. She begins by explaining a time when she was doing airplane with him and in the story you quickly realize the type of relationship they have and what kind of father he is. You can see how uninterested he is to be playing with his daughter. Quickly, he tells her to go get a vacuum to vacuum the rug, and to get a tool for him to fix something. This immediately sets the mood for the story to an emotionless and uncomfortable plot. Soon, we learn that her father is not so much a family man but a perfectionist that wants to make his life seem as perfect as possible, perfect house, perfect family. Throughout the story we learn that Allison’s father beats his children, as well as has sex with her brothers and in the end, kills himself. But during the story he still goes to church, is a school teacher, and keeps his house in good shape, trying to appear as “perfect” as possible. I believe the pictures worked well with this story as well as the first one. The images of the Dad show how mean and unconnected he his. He never seems to make eye contact with the other characters, always has a mean face on, etc. A block that stuck out to me was on page 17 where the family is taking a picture to show how perfect they are yet no one is smiling or interacting with one another showing no emotions. This was interesting to me.

This story is different than the first story “Maus” due to the way it is written. It does not have a lot of dialogue, mainly it is written as a story and the text is above each picture, where in “Maus” the story is told through the characters dialogue with few narration texts. These stories definitely were different due to the way they were written. Although they were both well written and did a good job of setting the mood and describing settings and characters, having the picture with the word was also interesting as a reader. I don’t often read comic strip stories but I enjoyed these two stories.