Summer assignment 2016
English IV AP/IB
For this year’s summer assignment, you’re expected to read 15 short stories from The Art of the Story, edited by Daniel Halpern. You will be assigned 10 stories, then expected to select 5 additional stories from the anthology. Note: Each self-selected story must be 4 or more pages in length.
The ten prescribed short stories are: “The Keeper of the Virgins” -Hanan Al-Shaykh, “Wilderness Tips” –Margaret Atwood, “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” –Angela Carter, “The Old Man Slave and the Mastiff” – Patrick Chamoiseau, “Dharma” – Vikram Chandra, “The House Behind” – Lydia Davis, “Ysrael” – Junot Diaz, “The Twenty-seventh Man” –Nathan Englander, “Potrait of the Avant-Garde” –Peter Hoeg, “The Elephant Vanishes” –Haruki Murakami.
Halpern, Daniel.The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories. New York: Viking, 1999. Print.
The Art of the Story is frequently used in college literary courses and contains stories intended for mature readers. If you would like guidance in choosing stories that suit your sensibilities and/or literary interests, please email:
This assignment builds on knowledge gained in previous English courses, extending further into genre study – focusing on conventions of the short story (e.g. characterization, setting, point of view, structure, symbolism, etc.). Part A - answer questions over conventions of genre. Part B - choose one of prompts to answer, Identify a significant passage from the story to annotate and analyze, and write an insightful response. Part C - write a comparison between two stories, attending to conventions of the genre, when you return in August.
Parts A and B are due on the first day of school; part C is due approximately one week later.
A. Questions over conventions of genre
Drawing from the short stories you read, explore each of the following conventions. For each heading, select a short story and respond to the demands of the prompt; respond to the questions that are most relevant to the story at hand. Each response should be 100-150 words and should contain specific details and commentary connecting to author’s purpose. Ensure that you write about all 15 stories. In order to accomplish this, all categories should be addressed 2-3 times. Total word count for Part A is 1500 words minimum.
1. Characterization
Identify a significant character in the story and discuss ways in which the author develops the character. Is the character static or dynamic? How do other characters help in this development? How does setting affect characters and their actions? Consider foils, character interaction, description, and/or action.
2. Setting
In what ways is the setting meaningful or symbolic? Does the setting change or does it remain static? What is the effect of this change (or lack thereof)? How does a character’s interaction with setting illuminate a specific quality or trait in a character? What mood is established through description of setting? How does this relate to the overall meaning of the story?
3. Point of view
What point of view does the author use (1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person; limited, omniscient, limited-omniscient)? What is the effect and/or purpose of using this point of view? Does the point of view shift? If so, what effect does this have? How would the story change or lose some quality if it were told in a different point of view?
4. Structure
How is the story’s structure (in terms of chronology, sequence of events, flashbacks, diversions, shifts, etc.) meaningful? Does it follow a conventional, chronological pattern, or does it deviate from it? What is the effect of this choice? Are there changes in setting? How is the beginning significant? The end?
5. Symbolism
Identify a symbol and/ or motif in the story that can be linked to one of its central themes and discuss its significance. Does the symbol and/or motif change throughout the text, or is it static?
6. Meta Qualities
Does the story involve elements of storytelling within the story itself? Are there ways in which the author calls attention to the construct of the story? How does the narrator’s reliability have an effect on the story? How does reliability shape the reader’s interaction with the story? In what ways does the author or narrator have an awareness of himself/herself? Consider a poem, novel, play, or movie that addresses a similar theme and/or style, and discuss how the theme and/or style is explored differently because it’s told through a short story.
B. Passage Analysis (500 words)
Using one of the 15 stories you read, answer one of the following prompts. Identify a significant passage from the story to annotate and analyze in light of your selected prompt.
1. Analyze how the author uses techniques such as point of view, selection of detail, and irony to establish the relationship between two characters in the story.
2. Analyze how the author reveals the character of ______. In your analysis, you may wish to consider such literary elements as setting, symbolism, motif, metaphor, etc.
3. How does the author use the setting, or another element of the short story, to establish a central conflict or theme?
C. Compare and Contrast (800-1,000 words; due approx.. 1 week after the first day of school)
DO NOT ANSWER THIS OVER THE SUMMER.
Be prepared to answer one of the following questions in a well-developed essay at the beginning of the semester:
1. “Successful characterization involves taking the reader to the heart, to the inner core, of an imagined person.” In at least two works in your study, discuss by what means and with what degree of success authors have tried to “take you to the heart” of their characters.
2. Thought plot may be said, at its simplest level, to be a sequence of events, what truly distinguishes prose fiction is the use of narrative disruption: impediment, detour, diversion or digression. In at least two works in your study, how have writers created narrative disruption and to what effect?
3. Discuss the importance of the journey as an organizing structure in at least two works you have studied.