Short Story Projects

[coreyleigh]

My students are working right now on some short story projects, and I have to say that I am entertained. We are reading a few Edgar Allen Poe stories, which I love equally because they are delightfully grotesque and they illicit great responses from some of my students. I am starting to get a few videos from my classes of "their" versions of the

Comments

[memphisbreeze]

When I went to that high school a couple of weeks ago, we sat in on a bit of an English class where they were having a lively discussion over whether the narrator of "A Rose for EMily" was male or female. One group kept saying to the other, "You are just stereotyping" before informing them that they were wrong anyway because no Southern female of that time period would have been allowed into the house anyway.

Maybe you can answer a question for me. Why is it that almost every story in high school (and middle school for that matter) literature books is scary/grotesque/macabre? Is that they only thing the editors think will grab students' attention? IS it the only thing that will grab students' attention?

Personally, I always hoped to find happy stories in those books instead of stories about dogs that died after biting people or flesh-eating rats that occupied an island and ate the light-house keepers. I realize some of these stories really are considered classic literature, but I always rather resented having to read them... but, then, I get excitingly vivid nightmares, so it was never a good thing to add to my possible scenarios. :)

B

[coreyleigh]

As far as I can tell with my literature book, most of the stories that we read are what was being written throughout the time periods. Our book is set out chronologically and basically (we have American Lit.) the most famous writings all had to deal with macabre topics. The Puritan were obsessed with the idea of the devil. Poe anD Faulkner just had issues. I think you can contribute it to the idea that most of the writers were having issues in their own lives, and during that time, it was what was sold. We did read some Thoreau and Emerson who are all about self-reliance. But for the most part, popular literature didn't take a turn for the bright side until moder writing (whick would be the 1930s-60s...ish).

I would have to say that I am opposite from you. I loved Poe growing up for the same reasons you probably didn't.

[memphisbreeze]

No, Poe I liked usually. And there were definitely some of the pyscological stuff I greatly enjoyed. The ones I had a problem with were the ones that showed too much grisly-ness. Although, thinking about it, as conflict does drive any good story, the grisly, emotional and macabre are going to probably top the list.

I guess my problem was that while many of these stories were in fact interesting, I was a product and big beliver in, happy-ever-afters.

I just wanted my Poe Disney-fied. Was that too much to ask?

;)