I definitely have enjoyed reading these short stories much more than the longer pieces we have read previously. Not only because of the short length but also because they are more open to the reader’s interpretation. I have to take a new approach when reading these short stories as opposed to a longer text. When reading stories like these I am forced to pay close attention to every word, being so brief, the author uses every word for a reason and if you do not pay close enough attention to the language you could easily misinterpret what is actually going on. On the other hand, In lengthier novels there is a greater amount of description and I am able to speed through the text skimming over some words while still maintaining a clear understanding of what is actually happening in the story.
In Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper and Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby, I was forced to examine the author’s every word carefully to understand what was actually going on in each short story. Lines like this one from The Yellow Wallpaper “I would not say this to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper." (Gilman 505) This quote is consistent with the idea we discussed in class that the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper was actually dead the entire story and narrating the story as a ghost. “I lie here on this great immovable bed—it is nailed down” (509) This quotation leads us to believe that she is already dead or buried alive in a coffin maybe and is another supporting example of how subtle and careful word choices in short stories can completely change the meaning of the text to something deeper.
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I agree that you have to pay close attention when reading these stories. In longer texts you don't need to pay as much attention to detail, but if you do that in short stories you could miss something and the ending might not make sense
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting what you said about The Yellow Wallpaper and your interpretation about the narrator because I would have never thought that just reading it to myself. I actually didn't start paying as much attention as I should have until the middle of the story, which is why I didn't get as much out of it as other stories. I usually start reading long stories and short stories the same way, but I soon saw that short stories are really different with how much attention you truly have to pay to them.
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