Introduction to Short Stories Essential Question

“All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury is one of those rare individuals whose writing has changed the way people think. His more than five hundred published works -- short stories, novels, plays, screenplays, television scripts, and verse -- exemplify the American imagination at its most creative. Once read, his words are never forgotten. His best-known and most beloved books, THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, THE ILLUSTRATED MAN, FAHRENHEIT 451 and SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, are masterworks that readers carry with them over a lifetime.

August 22, 1920 – June 05, 2012

Vocabulary

• Slackened - to become less active
• Surged - a strong wavelike forward movement
• Tumultuously - highly agitated

Watch video: All Summer in a Day

Story Elements to focus on…

• Resolution - Why do you think the author ends the story so quickly?
• Motive/Conflict - Why do you think the other characters react to Margot in a negative way? How does that reaction contribute to Margot’s main conflict?
• Tone - How does the author use word choice to make the reader feel stunned in the end?

Foreshadowing

• The use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest what action is to come.

“The Marble Champ” by Gary Soto

Gary Soto is a man who writes from experience. He grew up in one of the many barrios (poor Mexican American neighborhoods) of Fresno, California, and since the mid-1970s he has borrowed from that community to create an astonishing number of works.

Soto, however, does not see himself as strictly a Chicano author. True, in his over twenty books of poetry and prose for adults and in over thirty books for younger readers, he focuses on the daily trials and tribulations of Spanish-speaking Americans. But, through crisp, clear imagery and his true-to-life characters, Soto connects with readers of all ages and backgrounds.

*AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

April 12, 1952 -

Vocabulary

• Slivers - small, slender, often sharp piece, as of wood or glass, split, broken, or cut off
• Reluctantly - unwilling
• Entranced - to fill with delight or wonder

Theme

• What are some of the lessons that Lupe learns from her experience?
• How can these lessons be found in your own life?