“The Lesson” – Toni Cade Bambara
Miss Moore takes Sylvia and other neighborhood kids to an expensive toy store to teach the value of money and its unfair distribution in society. Sylvia, the narrator, uses rich, colorful language – colloquialisms, slang and curse words – to reveal inside information about the children’s lives, and that they not only hate Miss Moore and her “lessons,” but they actually get what she’s trying to teach them.
“Neighbors” – Raymond Carver
When the Stones ask the Millers to house sit for them, it becomes the Millers’ own “vacation” that sparks their sexual desire for each other, prompts them to shut out reality and reveals their jealously of the Stones. The Millers go through the Stones’ things, eat their food, drink their alcohol, take their pills and even try on their clothes.
“The Story of an Hour” – Kate Chopin
Irony abounds in this story as Mrs. Mallard celebrates the freedom that will come with her husband’s death, rather than grieves. Allusions to her weak heart foreshadow what happens when she learns that her husband is actually alive.
“A Rose for Emily” – William Faulkner
All that is known about reclusive Emily is hearsay: her strange behavior when her father dies, her relationship with a man from the North and her purchase of arsenic at the drug store. When Emily dies, the townspeople discover something gruesome in her bedroom, and we finally learn what she did with that arsenic.
“Araby” – James Joyce
A boy promises the older girl that he is in love with that he will bring her something back from a bazaar. The bazaar is closing by the time he gets there, so he can’t get the girl a present. The narrator is the boy all grown up looking back on an event that is colored with familial, religious and political symbols and images.
“A Hunger Artist” – Franz Kafka
The artist’s fasting is at first celebrated. When he joins a circus, people start to lose interest and his feat is unacknowledged.
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” – Flannery O’Connor
While on a road trip with her son and his family, an elderly lady tells her grandchildren about an old plantation and then convinces her son to turn down a dirt road to get to it. Her cat jumps out of its hiding place, causing the car to crash. An escaped convict comes to the family’s aid, and the unexpected ending reveals the true meaning of the title.
“First Confession” – Frank O’Connor
On the surface, this is a cute, humorous story of 7-year-old Jackie, who fights with his sister, hates his grandmother and is terrified about making his first confession. A closer look reveals that the narrator is likely this boy grown up reflecting on his past by showing disdain for women and religion.
“A&P” – John Updike
Sammy is a 19-year-old bored cashier until girls in bikinis walk into the store. He is immature and makes fun of customers and co-workers, and ogles the girls. When the store manager reprimands the girls for their attire, Sammy, highly offended, quits his job, hoping to be the girls’ knight in shining armor.
“Everyday Use” – Alice Walker
Dealing with heritage, culture and generation gaps, this story focuses on Mama and her two daughters, Maggie and Dee, who comes for a visit to inquire about a quilt that has been in the family for several generations. The story is packed with symbolism showing the many divisions that can exist in one family.
Many college students hate reading literature, but these 10 stories will help to change that.
