(_Atlantic Monthly_, August, 1899)
1. _a._ Do you detect in this story any purpose beyond that of
recounting a series of happenings? If so, what? _b._ If you were to
write the story, would you think it prospectively a difficult thing to
arouse interest in a dog? _c._ Has that been done here or not? _d._ If
so, what are some of the author's devices and how successfully employed?
2. _a._ What is the artistic purpose of the first two paragraphs? Why
does the author delay so long in telling us that she is writing of a
dog? _b._ Does she let her own feeling for the girl and dog appear or
not? If so, is it obtrusive or not? Effective or not, as your markings
indicate? _c._ Are there any incidents in the story that a reader might
for any reason be unwilling to accept? _d._ If so, how is the handling
such as to disguise the difficulty or not, as the case may be?
3. _a._ What devices are employed to make us interested in Adah? _b._
Are we made to feel that her dependence upon the dog is natural and
deserving of sympathy or not, and if so, how? _c._ Are the incidents so
managed as to maintain interest in the expectation of the denouement or
not? _d._ Does the story seem to have sufficient unity of purpose and
plan or not?
4. _a._ What symbols do you notice that you have employed most largely?
_b._ Is the story written in the way of direct statement or of
suggestion? _c._ For what frequent purpose would you say that the writer
employs _F_2_? _M_3_? _M_2_? _d._ Can you say in what the art of the
story especially consists? _e._ What would you probably have thought of
the story were its art less delicate and sure?
GENERAL OUTLINE QUESTIONS FOR STUDY OF STORIES IN CURRENT MAGAZINES,
ETC.
1. _a._ Upon what is the interest of the story especially dependent?
_b._ Are the incidents presented rapidly and coherently, or slowly and
disconnectedly? _c._ Is there a clearly defined plot or not? _d._ Does
the plot have a climax of entanglement, or does it fail in developing
this feature of the story interest?
2. _a._ How is character presented? _b._ Are the characters well chosen
for their reactions among themselves? _c._ Are the things they do and
say continually consistent or not? _d._ Are they sufficiently
individualized to escape the appearance of the conventional and to hold
interest?
3. _a._ Does the story state facts and happenings merely, or does it get
hold of vital sensations and revive them? _b._ If so, in what ways does
it seem to do that? _c._ In general does it seem to you subjective or
objective in method?
4. _a._ How much of the interest of the story is in the development of
the plot and how much in the stirring of vital sensations, including
sympathetic moods? _b._ Does the development of the story center about
any idea or attitude toward life? _c._ What excellences and what faults
do you find in the story?