Analysis Of The Little Governess

In conclusion, the opening and closing sentences of the short story “The South” hold a fairly large significance on the reader’s understanding and experience of the events within the stories. The opening provides a cultural background and character development that adds to a prospective reader’s understanding of the story while the closing give a sense of ambiguity to the story and causes the reader to analyze the story more

(HOOK) The characters that are present in short stories can leave an imprint on one’s vision of literature for an eternity. (CI) These memorable characters have made an impact on the way I view literature, primarily because of the way that I have been able to relate to them. (GS1) One character is a powerful, but envious princess. (GS2) Another is an abandoned orphan who seeks for love and companionship through his honesty and openness. (GS3) A final character shows her aptitude for her passions, but often finds herself quarreling with those that are closest to her. (GS4) When I read the stories involving these characters, I see myself in their places. (GS5) I relate to a multitude of their traits and characteristics, whether they are positive or negative. (THESIS STATEMENT) I can best relate to the short story fictional characters of (I) the princess in Frank. R Stockton’s “The Lady, or the Tiger?”, (II) Jerry in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s “A Mother in Mannville”, and (III) Waverly Jong in Amy Tan’s “Rules of the Game.”

Beautiful imagery laced amidst a wondrous storyline, accompanied by memorable and lovable characters are all elements pertaining to enjoyable works of fiction. Tales that keep one up late into the night forever reading just “one more page” forever propelling the intrinsic imagination for a novel enthusiast. Yet, at times there are deeper meanings hidden between the lines. Symbols, analogies, and latent parallels all connecting to real life events and situations being portrayed by the author. Using literary theory can bring a more profound understanding of the reading material at hand, as well as unique insight as to what the author was feeling or intending to portray at the time of writing.

The world is a massive place full of endless literature, beginning from ancient scrolls to daily news articles, filled with many secrets, perspectives and surroundings that help connect literature to an individual’s daily life. Some writers use the skills of literary elements to express and discuss an event that has happened to them or what has happened to others. This helps others to comprehend the perspectives of the author’s understanding toward an incident that one might experience. For instance in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, she uses many literary elements to express her views over most of her stories. O’Connor expresses her views in her short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by using the literary elements of point of view, irony, and setting.

The narrator is portraying a woman who is looked down upon because of her mental illness, but women at the time were often seen as childish or too emotional. “Then he took me in his arms called me a blessed little goose,” (Gilman 5). The narrator’s husband, John, treats her almost like a father would treat a daughter. The narrator is belittled because of her inability to act like women at the time were expected to. “Victorian values stressed that women were to behave demurely and remain with in the domestic sphere,” (Wilson 6). During the 19th century, women were expected to simply care for the children and clean the house. Most of the time, women who aspired to do more than that were not considered respectable wives. “Because the narrator is completely dependent on her husband and is allowed no other role than to be a wife and a mother, she represents the secondary status of women during the 19th century,” (Wilson 5).

Ever since the invention of language, humans have been obsessed and intrigued with the aspect of storytelling. Each story, whether written or spoken, holds an important theme within its creative words and exciting plot. While each story is special and unique, over the course of history, different periods of literature have formed where authors tend to focus on similar themes and messages. One of which was the American Romantic era, where authors used their stories to challenge the boundaries of society, and delve deeper into what makes people inherently human, both the flaws and perfections. Some of America’s greatest works of literature were born in this period, like those of Poe, and Hawthorne. A very common literary theme during the romantic period was that of good versus evil, in both individual characters and society as a whole; this theme is especially evident in works such as The Tell Tale Heart, The Raven, and Young Goodman Brown.

Short stories have fully developed themes but appear significantly shorter and less elaborate than novels. A similar theme found in short stories “Winter Dreams” written by Scott F. Fitzgerald and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner included the social and environmental influences that encouraged and controlled the character’s life and decisions. In “Winter Dreams”, the main protagonist-- Dexter-- fell into a fixation over a young, whimsical blueblood, Judy Jones. His obsession led him to believe that Judy Jones reciprocated his feelings for her, leaving him bare and mortal-- despite prior beliefs. Following her father’s death, Miss Emily fell into a dark obscurity due to the pressure and compulsion of having to carry on the honorable family name. While using a unique point of view (first person peripheral), “A Rose for Emily” followed a mysterious and desirable woman named Miss Emily as her hometown tried to understand her peculiar ways and began to find her disgraceful. By comparing and contrasting these two literary pieces, a similar organization-- including the writers’ purpose and themes-- should become clear. By using literary devices-- such as point of view, dramatic irony, detail, and figurative language-- Scott F. Fitzgerald and William Faulkner conducted two short stories similar in aim and reasoning, probable for contrasting and comparing elements within the parallel writings.

Short Stories normally address issues in society at the current time of the story which these issues sometime end up being timeless issues that still occur in the current time period. For instance, in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman the story deals with the issue of postpartum depression in new mothers. While postpartum depression is still a very real and current topic in today’s society. Current society handles the issue differently than when the “The Yellow Wallpaper” was written. The difference in modern day and past society is contributed to the increasing knowledge of postpartum depression that has led to a new view for society, improved treatments, and a better approach for support from family. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”

Most stories are not just stories written to entertain the reader. Intentional or not, writers are often commentating on the world around them. Social commentary is interwoven in the fabric of novels, and it is often up to the reader to determine what they take away from any given work. Although written for entertainment’s sake, stories usually include the social or political views of the author and serve as a platform for their views to be made known.

Short stories often have various underlying themes and meanings to them and can often be compared to other stories to find those same meanings. Occasionally, you need to dig deeper to find these hidden meanings. The three short stories, A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield, and Everyday Use by Alice Walker all share some similar themes and ideas that require some digging to uncover and bring to the surface.

A single woman with a very narrow income, must be a ridiculous, disagreeable old made!’ (p. 68 – 69). She also adds that ‘single woman, of good fortune, is always respectable’ (p. 69). This shows what Emma’s thought about a woman with no fortune. One of the reasons for Emma’s view is that Jane is an orphan who is left with no fortune, which means that she needs to work for her living or marry a man who could support her living costs. Being a teacher or governess was one of the only occupations in which nineteenth-century single women like Jane Fairfax could earn a living. However, Jane shows hatred towards being a governess when she talks about governess as equal to slave trade. For example, in a conversation between Jane and Mrs. Elton, Jane says ‘There are places in town, offices, where inquiry would soon produce something-offices for the sale not quite of human flesh, but of human intellect’ (p. 235).

The classic American short story I have decided to delve into and discuss in these

Authors use stylistic techniques to convey meaning and to bring richness and clarity to their pieces of writing. In the short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” a man named Smiley is cheated out of a bet after he was so confident that he was going to be victorious. In the short story “Cannibalism in the Cars,” a train full of political figures is stopped by a severe snowstorm, preventing them from continuing their journey. In “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” and “Cannibalism in the Cars,” Mark Twain uses imagery, characterization, and foreshadowing in order to aid a reader's understanding of the stories.

Short stories can share themes, motifs, symbols, consequences, and plot lines, even if there is never any intention to share a common element between the stories. The stories can be written close together or in different decades and still be linked to the one another. They can also be worlds apart with different meanings in the end, but that does not stop them from having similar ideas expressed within them. The following three stories, “Lagoon” by Joseph Conrad, “The Rocking Horse Winner” by DH Lawrence, and “The Lady in the Looking Glass” by Virginia Woolf, are three totally different stories that share common threads that make them the stories that they are.

There are so many different things one can learn from reading a story. Stories vary in length but it seems that your appetite for reading will gauge the kind of stories you elect to read. People who enjoy long thought out complex reading will enjoy much longer published works than what a short story has to offer. However there is a large population in the world of people who do not want to spend days on end reading a novel that is several hundred pages long and takes days to convey a simple message. In fact, many people want just the opposite in their reading. Many readers want a story that is short, sweet, and to the point. Something that they don’t need to spend hours or weeks on end reading but instead can get the exact same message or meaning from instead of having to spend a ridiculous amount of time reading a much larger work. Authors often want readers use the Formalist approach when reading these short stories as authors use words to convey the same message or meaning in less text than a much longer published work with hundreds of pages, it does this by using the text itself as a canvas for creativity. The Formalist approach is a great tool when it comes to writing short stories, and its use in Good Country People by Flannery O’Connor is classic example of how the Formalist Approach can be so effective in such a short story. Authors are incredibly