Short Stories of Various Types
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Various >> Short Stories of Various Types
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"American, Sir!"
1. What type of story would you call this?
2. The setting of the main incident brings before you what part of the
Great War? Were any of your friends in that country? In the ambulance
service anywhere? Locate on the map the places named in the story.
3. Find in the story some of the dramatic, graphic scenes that John has
sketched for his uncle. See how well you can fill them out and express
them. Why would this story make a good play?
4. What three people does Mrs. Andrews make real and likable to you?
Does Uncle Bill conceal his real character? Of what other character in
this book does he remind you?
5. Some of you may be able to write a stirring story of the brave deed
of some real or imaginary ambulance driver for the Red Cross in Italy
or France during the Great War.
John G.
1. What gives you the thrill in the story "John G."?
2. Does this story of Miss Mayo's gain or lack in interest, because it
is founded on fact?
3. Who would you say was the main character or real hero of the story?
4. Where in the story would you say was the most critical and the most
interesting point?
5. Could this incident make the foundation for a good moving picture
scenario?
6. Write either a story or a scenario of an exciting and dangerous
adventure in which a dog or a horse is the hero.
Friends
1. In what are you most interested in this story?
2. Is the setting of the story in the school or at home?
3. Do Mrs. Mowgelewsky and Morris seem like any living persons you have
known?
4. Do you think the children in the first grade would like Miss Bailey
as a teacher? What makes her a lovable person?
5. How do this story and others by Myra Kelly that you may have read,
show that she sympathized with and understood these American children
of foreign birth?
A Camping Trip
1. Does the interest of this story lie more in the nature or
out-of-doors setting, or in the action or plot?
2. Note the number of birds mentioned in the story. How many of them do
you know?
3. What are some of the beautiful or poetic pictures of nature given by
the author? Did the scenes have any effect on the imagination and
feeling of these real boys and add to their enjoyment?
4. Have you ever had a camping experience? In what ways was your
experience like that of the boys in this story?
5. Write a story of a camping or other out-of-doors trip in which the
characters have some narrow escape and which contains some description
of nature.
The Thread without a Knot
1. Has the recent World War made any difference in the current idea in
America that only foreign universities, art schools, and works of art
are of any real value? Why did Mr. Harrison good-humoredly assent to
this really false idea, when he was seeking higher education?
2. When does the story become really interesting to you? Why?
3. What American characteristics does Mr. Harrison illustrate?
4. Although the English girl's story is not told directly, can you
gather what she thought of the young American? Does it remind you of
what the French people thought of our American boys when they went to
France during the recent war?
5. What characteristics of the English does the frank American bring
out in his talk with the English girl?
6. What was the motive of the young American's conduct toward the
English girl? Why was the American blameless, or _do_ you blame him?
7. Is the slang this young man uses characteristic of Americans in
general?
Chu Chu
1. Where is this story located? What are some of the things that give
it the atmosphere or flavor of California?
2. Is "Chu Chu" anything like "John G."? Tell the likenesses and
differences between the two horses. Which do you admire more?
3. Why are there so many Spanish words in this story?
4. Do you think Consuelo is like other Spanish girls you have read or
heard about? In what ways is she different from American girls?
5. Is the love story, or the action of the horse, the most interesting
incident in the story?
6. Read the Introduction and see what Bret Harte added to the idea of
the short story. Does it apply to this story?
Feathertop, A Moralized Legend
1. What do the words "moralized legend" mean? What _is_ the moral of
the story?
2. This is a fanciful story. Do you like it as well as "The Gift of the
Magi" or "A Reward of Merit" in which there are real people?
3. Does Hawthorne show his personality and boyhood training in this
story as much as Mr. Garland showed his in "A Camping Trip"? (See
biographical sketches.)
4. What do you think was the word that Feathertop whispered in Mr.
Gookin's ear?
5. Which do you think more difficult to write, a story wholly from the
imagination like "Feathertop," or one from experience like "A Camping
Trip"?
The Red-Headed League
1. Do you think this a good detective story? What makes it better than
the cheap ones you perhaps have bought at the news stands?
2. What do you know about Sherlock Holmes? (See biographical sketch of
Conan Doyle.)
3. Where did the most thrilling moment come? Was this the place where
you saw how the story was going to turn out? What might you call this
point?
4. Relate a mystery from real life that you have heard of or read in a
newspaper that is just as hard to find out about as those Conan Doyle
explains in his stories.
5. When Sherlock Holmes explains how he knew things about people, as,
for instance, how he knew that Wilson was a Freemason, does it all seem
simple enough to you? Why then are there not more good Sherlock
Holmeses?
6. Relate some sly bits of humor you find in the story.
The Inconsiderate Waiter
1. What kind of humor is shown in this story? Is it different from "A
Reward of Merit"?
2. Is there anything touching in the story?
3. What do you think are the real qualities of the narrator of this
story? Why does he try to conceal his real self?
4. What do you think was Mr. Barrie's purpose in making this waiter of
an exclusive English club show himself to be a real human being?
5. After you have read the biographical sketch of Mr. Barrie, see if
you can discover anything in the story that shows his personality.
The Siege of Berlin
1. What is it that holds your attention in this story, is it the
character of the fine old soldier, the story itself, or both?
2. What qualities of a soldier does M. Jouve show to the last?
3. What noble qualities does war bring out in the women of a nation, as
revealed by the granddaughter of the old soldier?
4. What recent attack on Paris does this one make you think of? In what
ways is it similar? How different?
5. How near did the Germans get to Paris in the World War?
6. What places mentioned in this story were strategic points around
which great and critical battles were fought during the World War?
7. Read the notes on this story carefully, and from what you have read
or can find out from soldier friends who were in the late war, see how
the battles of the Franco-Prussian War and the World War differed. For
instance, were the same people victorious in each case?
8. Write a war story, using the most thrilling incident you have heard
of the World War. Make the characters real and show some noble quality
in them, such as heroism, generosity, or human kindness.
The Silver Mine
1. In what ways does this story of a hidden treasure differ from other
stories of hidden treasure, such as "Treasure Island," for example?
2. Does the character of the minister as revealed in the story, so good
and fine, yet so plain and humanly near to his people, make you think
of any other minister you have known or read about?
3. How does the sacrifice of the minister influence the king to noble
action?
4. In what ways do these Swedish people differ in their faults and good
qualities or any of their human ways from the people of any other
nation?
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