This book may be used in four ways. First, it may serve as an
appetizer. Even the casual reading of good literature has a
tendency to create a demand for more. Second, it may be made the
basis for discussion and comparison. By using these stories, the
works of recognized authors, as standards, the student may
determine the value of such stories as come into his home. Third,
these selections may be studied in a regular short-story course,
such as many high schools have, to illustrate the requirements and
the types of this form of narration. The chapter on "The
Requirements of the Short Story" will be found useful both in this
connection and in the comparative study of stories. Fourth, the
student will better appreciate and understand the short story if
he attempts to tell or to write one. This does not mean that we
intend to train him for the literary market. Our object is
entirely different. No form of literature brings more real joy to
the child than the story. Not only does he like to hear stories;
he likes to tell them. And where the short-story course is rightly
used, he likes to write them. He finds that the pleasure of
exercising creative power more than offsets the drudgery
inevitable in composition. A plan that has been satisfactorily
carried out in the classroom is here briefly outlined.
The teacher reads with the class a story in which plot furnishes
the main interest. This type is chosen because it is more easily
analyzed by beginners. The class discusses this, applying the
tests of the short story given elsewhere in this book. Then a
number of short stories of different types are read and compared.
Next, each member of the class selects from some recent book or
magazine a short story he enjoys. This he outlines and reports to
the class. If this report is not satisfactory, the class insists
that either the author or the reporter be exonerated. The story is
accordingly read to the class, or is read and reported on by
another member. The class is then usually able to decide whether
the story is faulty or the first report inadequate.
Next the class gives orally incidents that might or might not be
expanded into short stories. The students soon discover that some
of these require the lengthy treatment of a novel, that others are
good as simple incidents but nothing more, and that still others
might develop into satisfactory short stories. The class is now
asked to develop original plots. Since plots cannot be produced on
demand, but require time for the mind to act subconsciously, the
class practises, during the "period of incubation," the writing of
dialogue. For these the teacher suggests a list of topics,
although any student is free to substitute one of his own. Among
the topics that have been used are: "Johnny goes with his mother
to church for the first time," "Mrs. Hennessy is annoyed by the
chickens of Mrs. Jones," "Albert applies for a summer job."
Sometimes the teacher relates an incident, and has the class
reproduce it in dialogue. By comparing their work with dialogue by
recognized writers the youthful authors soon learn how to
punctuate and paragraph conversation, and where to place necessary
comment and explanation. They also discover that dialogue must
either reveal character or advance the story; and that it must be
in keeping with the theme and maintain the tone used at the
beginning. A commonplace dialogue must not suddenly become
romantic in tone, and dialect must not lapse into ordinary
English.