In this section, you will find the amazing short stories that own the power to change your behaviour in a positive direction.
A Malefactor is a very short story written by Anton Chekov. Denis Grigoryev, an “ exceedingly lean little peasant in a striped hempen shirt and patched drawers” is brought before the magistrate to stand trial. His crime is that Ivan Semyonovich Akinfov, a railway watchman, saw him engaged in removing a fastening nut from the railway line.
The story “Thank You Ma’am” is about a boy who tries to pick-pocket Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones but she catches him. She takes him back to her house, tells him to wash his face, give him food, some money and most importantly her advice. She teaches/tells him that she wasn’t perfect either in her childhood and doesn’t make it right for Roger to do the same. When the boy leaves he is so grateful and he couldn’t ever mutter a thank you or any thankful gesture of gratitude.
A Hero is culled from a collection of short stories called Malgudi Days. This is a story about a boy who is afraid to sleep alone but is forced to do so by his father. But at the end of the day he emerges as a hero. Apart from sleeping alone he also catches a thief.
Protagonist Ranga belongs to the village of Hosahalli, situated in the erstwhile Mysore state in South India. There are not many people in the village who speak English. Ranga, the son of the accountant, is lucky enough to have obtained city education. He’s continuing his studies in Bangalore.
“Gooseberries” is a brilliant short story by an iconic Russian writer Anton Chekhov. The story was written towards the end of Chekhov’s life, and was first published as the middle story of The Little Trilogy in 1898.
Introduction ‘An Astrologer’s Day’ by R. K. Narayan is a story deals with a day’s events in the life of a good for nothing fellow turned into an astrologer to earn his bread and butter. A single day brings in his drastic past back before him but being a smart fellow, he finely deals with … Read more
The Homecoming By Arun Joshi Introduction “The Homecoming,” one of Joshi’s most memorable stories, addresses the theme of an unsuccessful arrival of a young military officer who had just returned from the Bangladesh war to his hometown, most likely Delhi. It describes the failure of an individual, a war survivor, to establish meaningful contacts with … Read more
Q. Discuss the significance of Act I of The Merchant of Venice. Ans: The first act is significant in all Shakespeare’s plays. Thye first act introduces all the major characters of the play. Here, shakespeare has also introduced the main plot of the play alongwith the sub-plot. Antonio and Bassanio are good friends. Bassanio needs … Read more
INTRODUCTION In this lesson, we will read the short story, A Cup of Tea, by Mansfield, who, despite being a New Zealander, is now accepted in the domain of English writers. She found her forte in the short story which is often seen as the occasional by-product of the novel. We have, however, already discussed … Read more
INTRODUCTION This lesson will introduce you to “Odour of Chrysanthemums” one of the best stories of D.H. Lawrence. Best known for his novels, Lawrence was also an accomplished poet, short story writer, essayist, critic and travel writer. The controversial themes for which he is remembered (namely the celebration of sensuality in an over intellectualised world) … Read more
What is a Fable? This lesson aims to introduce you to the literary genre, namely, fable by dealing with three selected fables by Aesop. As discussed in the previous lesson, the fables serve as specimens of early short stories. Before we start discussing the three selected fables, we must understand what a fable is as … Read more
What is Short Story? INTRODUCTION Everyone loves a good story. You must have listened to your grandmother’s stories on cold wintry nights and felt happy or sad on hearing it. A story sometimes takes you to a world other than the one that you are living in and you are left fascinated by it. A … Read more
