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Use the readings here to help you establish a firm understanding of the plot and major themes of each work or collection of stories. The story overviews should provide ideas for further research. The theme explanations often include other works of literature on the same theme. Resources are grouped by author. Scroll through or use the navigation menu to jump to a specific author.
Raymond Carver - Cathedral
- Overview of Cathedral short story collectionFrom: Short Story Criticism, Vol. 236
- Overview: "Cathedral"from Short Stories for Students Vol. 6
- Technique and Sensibility in the Fiction and Poetry of Raymond Carver byCall Number: Ebook Central
Publication Date: 2002Starting on page 154, the section on the short story Cathedral in chapter 7, "Isolation and Withdrawal: The Still Bleak Prospects for Carver's Characters in Cathedral"
Criticism:
- From Castle to Cathedral: The Architecture of Masculinity in Raymond Carver's 'Cathedral'The Journal of Men's Studies(Vol. 2, Issue 4), May 1994, pp. 343-351
- Fleeing the Wasteland of Alcoholism: Alienation, Recovery, and Hope in Raymond Carver's CathedralStudies in Short Fiction, vol. 37, no. 1, Winter 2012, pp. 43–58
- 'The possibility of resurrection': re-vision in Carver's Feathers and CathedralStudies in Short Fiction, vol. 28, no. 1, Winter 1991, pp. 31-39
James Baldwin - Sonny's Blues
- An Overview of "Sonny's Blues"from Short Stories for Students Vol 2.
- Sonny's Blues: Overviewfrom Reference Guide to Short Fiction
Understanding James Baldwin by Call Number: Ebook CentralPublication Date: 2019Links to page 86. Discussion of Sonny's Blues is on pages 86-93
- James Baldwin ReviewOpen access journal dedicated to the study of James Baldwin and his works.
- Jazz in LiteratureTwentieth-Century Literary Criticism
Criticism:
- Music and RevelationShort Story Criticism, vol. 286, Originally published in James Baldwin and the Short Story, Pickwick, 2018, pp. 118-151.
- 'To Keep from Shaking to Pieces': Addiction and Bearing Reality in 'Sonny's Blues'Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, vol. 229, 2010. Originally published in The Languages of Addiction, edited by Jane Lilienfeld and Jeffrey Oxford, St. Martin's Press, 1999, pp. 175-192.
- The Powers of Darkness in 'Sonny's Blues'Short Story Criticism, vol. 98, 2007. Originally published in CLA Journal, vol. 43, no. 4, June 2000, pp. 443-453.
- The biblical foundation of James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues'Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature, vol. 59, no. 2, 2007, p. 109+
Joyce Carol Oates - Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
- Overview: “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”From: Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them, Vol. 4: World War II to the Affluent Fifties (1940-1950s)
- Overview: "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"from Short Stories for Students Vol. 1
- “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”from Short Story Criticism Vol. 234
Criticism:
- Existential Allegory: Joyce Carol Oates 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Dedria Bryfonski, vol. 11, Gale, 1979.
- In Fairyland, without a Map: Connie’s Exploration Inward in Joyce Carol Oates’ ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’Short Story Criticism, edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 234, Gale, 2017
- 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?' and Cold War HermeneuticsShort Story Criticism, edited by Jelena O. Krstovic, vol. 121, Gale, 2009. Originally published in South Central Review, vol. 22, no. 2, Summer 2005, pp. 95-109.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman - Yellow Wallpaper
The Yellow Wallpaper by Call Number: Ebook CentralPublication Date: 2017Ebook of the short story available through library subscription
- Overview: "The Yellow Wallpaper"from Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them Vol. 2: Civil Wars to Frontier Societies (1800-1880s)
- Overview: "The Yellow Wallpaper"from Short Stories for Students Vol. 1
- Marriage in the Short Storyfrom Short Story Criticism Vol. 139
Criticism:
- A New Woman's Journey into Insanity: Descent and Return in The Yellow WallpaperNineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, edited by Kathy D. Darrow, vol. 228, Gale, 2010
- 'Overwriting' the Rest Cure: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Literary Escape from S. Weir Mitchell's Fictionalization of WomenShort Story Criticism, edited by Janet Witalec, vol. 62, Gale, 2003. Originally published in Critical Essays on Charlotte Perkins Gilman, edited by Joanne B. Karpinski, G. K. Hall & Co., 1992, pp. 144-158
- Reader, Text, and Ambiguous Referentiality in 'The Yellow Wall-Paper'Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, edited by Thomas J. Schoenberg, vol. 201, Gale, 2008. Originally published in The Captive Imagination: A Casebook on "The Yellow Wallpaper", edited by Catherine Golden, Feminist Press, 1992, pp. 307-318
- “I am getting angry enough to do something desperate” THE QUESTION OF FEMALE “MADNESS”chapter from "The Yellow Wall-Paper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman : A Dual-Text Critical Edition, edited by Jean, Shawn St., Ohio University Press, 2006
Edgar Allan Poe - The Cask of Amontillado
- Overview: "The Cask of Amontillado"from Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them Vol. 2: Civil Wars to Frontier Societies (1800-1880s)
- "The Cask of Amontillado"from Short Story Criticism Vol. 261
- Temperance in Nineteenth-Century Literaturefrom Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism Vol. 196
- Buried Alivefrom Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying Vol. 1
Criticism:
- The Motive for Murder in 'The Cask of Amontillado'Short Story Criticism, edited by Jelena Krstovic, vol. 111, Gale, 2008. Originally published in Rocky Mountain Review, vol. 58, no. 2, Fall 2004, pp. 47-62.
- On Memory, Forgetting, and Complicity in "The Cask of Amontillado"Edgar Allan Poe Review, vol. 15, no. 2, Sept. 2014, pp. 194–204
- Ironic Double in Poe’s The Cask of AmontilladoStudies in Short Fiction, vol. 13, Fall 1976, pp. 447–453
- Killing the Aristocrats: The Mask, the Cask, and Poe's Ethics of S & MEdgar Allan Poe Review, vol. 12, no. 1, Spring 2011, pp. 42–58
Toni Morrison - Recitatif
- Overview: "Recitatif"from Short Stories for Students Vol. 5
- Recitatiffrom Short Stories for Students
Criticism:
- Maggie in Toni Morrison's "Recitatif": The Africanist Presence and Disability StudiesMELUS, Vol. 36, No. 2, Toni Morrison: New Directions (SUMMER 2011), pp. 71-88
- Revised Memories and Colliding Identities: Absence and Presence in Morrison's "Recitatif" and Viramontes's "Tears on My Pillow"MELUS, Vol. 32, No. 2, Thresholds, Secrets, and Knowledge (Summer, 2007), pp. 133-150
- RACIAL IDENTITIES REVISITED: TONI MORRISON’S “RECITATIF”Litteraria Pragensia, vol. 21, no. 41, June 2011, pp. 22–33
- "What the hell happened to Maggie?" Stereotype, sympathy, and disability in Toni Morrison's "Recitatif"Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies(Vol. 5, Issue 2), July 2011, pp. 137-154
Jamaica Kincaid - Girl
- Overview: "Girl"from Literature of Developing Nations for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Literature of Developing Nations Vol. 1
- Rhythm and Repetition: Kincaid’s Incantatory Listsfrom Jamaica Kincaid, Twayne's United States Authors Series
Criticism:
- Linguistic-Literary Camouflage in Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl"IUP Journal of English Studies, vol. 13, no. 2, June 2018, pp. 81–87
- Jamaica Kincaid and the Canon: In Dialogue with Paradise Lost and Jane EyreMELUS, vol. 23, no. 2, 1998, pp. 65–85
- The Rhythm of Reality in the Works of Jamaica KincaidContemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Jeffrey W. Hunter, vol. 137, Gale, 2001. Originally published in World Literature Today, vol. 68, no. 3, Summer 1994, pp. 466-472
- Jamaica Kincaid and the Resistance to CanonsContemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Jeffrey W. Hunter, vol. 137, Gale, 2001. Originally published in Out of the Kumbla: Caribbean Women and Literature, edited by Carole Boyce Davies and Elaine Savory Fido, Africa World Press, 1990, pp. 345-354
William Faulkner - A Rose for Emily
- Overview: "A Rose for Emily"from Gale Online Encyclopedia
- A Rose for Emily: Overviewfrom Reference Guide to Short Fiction
- A Rose for Emilyfrom Short Stories for Students
- Southern Gothic Literaturefrom Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism Vol. 142
Criticism:
- Atmosphere and Theme in Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily'Short Story Criticism, edited by Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila Fitzgerald, vol. 1, Gale, 1988. Originally published in William Faulkner: Four Decades of Criticism, edited by Linda Welshimer Wagner, Michigan State University Press, 1973, pp. 192-198
- Another Flower for Faulkner's Bouquet: Theme and Structure in 'A Rose for Emily'Literature Resource Center, Gale, 2021. Originally published in Notes on Mississippi Writers, vol. 7, no. 2, Fall 1974, pp. 34-38.
- A romance to kill for: homicidal complicity in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 36, no. 3, 1999, p. 251+.
- Gender and authorial limitation in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"Mississippi Quarterly, vol. 47, no. 3, 1994, p. 391+
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
- Brief summary of Marquez's A Very Old Man with Enormous Wingsfrom the Gale Online Encyclopedia
- Overview; "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"from Short Stories for Students Vol. 6
- Magical Realismfrom Short Story Criticism Vol. 148
Criticism:
- Assumptions of Reality: Low Fantasy, Magical Realism, and the FantasticJournal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 11, no. 2 (42), 2000, pp. 164–172
- Márquez's 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings' and Bambara's 'The Lesson'Short Story Criticism, edited by Jelena Krstovic, vol. 107, Gale, 2008. Originally published in The Explicator, vol. 64, no. 2, Winter 2006, pp. 118-121.
- "The Short Stories" from Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Critical CompanionA chapter devoted to 5 short stories. Scan through to the sections on "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"
Linda Brewer - 20/20
- Types and Functions of Foregrounding in the Contemporary Flash Fiction StoriesFrom: SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics(Vol. 16, Issue 4)
- Short-Short FictionFrom: Short Story Criticism (Vol. 61. )
- The Remarkable Reinvention of Very Short FictionWorld Literature Today, Vol. 86, No. 5 (September/October 2012), pp. 46-49
- Microfiction: What Makes a Very Short Story Very Short?Narrative, Vol. 20, No. 1 (JANUARY 2012), pp. 87-104
- The Arbitrariness of "20/20" VisionEnglish and Drama Review at NYU, September 29, 2021
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