MILLENNIUM EDITION

HEEP
SHORT
STORIES
(FOR KEY STAGE 4)

HEEP
Hounslow Ealing English Project

HEEP
SHORT
STORIES
(FOR KEY STAGE 4)
This is a book for teachers, which contains photocopiable pages for use in the
classroom together with ideas for approaching short stories with years 10 and 11.
There is also a list of recommended texts.
This book was compiled and written by:
Susan Casey, Jane Joyner, Bethan Marshall, Richard Marshall, Dave Martin,
David Meaden, Penny Seyfert, Carol Walls.
(Thanks also to Simon Fuller and Mick Levens)
Edited by: Jane Joyner, David Meaden and Bethan Marshall
Revised by David Meaden and Julie Milnes 2001
Copyright HEEP 1991

HEEP SHORT STORIES

CONTENTS
Page

INTRODUCTION
The National Curriculum

Outcomes

Ways In

APPROACHES TO INDIVIDUAL STORIES

The Werewolf by Angela Carter

10

Rats Do Sleep At Night by Wolfgang Borchert

14

Imagination Dead Imagine by Samuel Beckett

18

Examination Day - Henry Slesar

20

Author Study - Alice Walker

23

STRUCTURE
Reading Short Stories backwards

31

Narrative Voice

38

RESOURCES
Resources

44

Pages with borders may be photocopied

HEEP SHORT STORIES

INTRODUCTION
English teachers have traditionally turned to short stories as a literary form that is
more likely than others to be of immediate appeal to their pupils.
The confidence with which English teachers approach short stories is due in part to
the fact that they can be a total experience in one sitting. It is possible to select a
story that would appeal to the majority of pupils in almost any class - and if it
doesn't then a different kind of story can be picked for the next lesson.
Writers of short stories frequently focus immediately on a central character,
relationship or issue. Many pupils who become impatient with the slower pace of
novels find this aspect of short stories appealing.
Short stories can be a way of introducing pupils to pre-twentieth century literature
and literature from other cultures, as well as the work of a particular author. This is
often a way of introducing pupils to more difficult literature.
Discussions about structure, language, author's intention and the possibility of
different readings of the same text are often easier using a short story than another
literary form.

HEEP SHORT STORIES

THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM

The reading and discussion of short stories would enable a teacher to cover many
aspects of the programmes of study for reading, while ensuring that work in
speaking and listening, reading and writing is integrated.

EN1 SPEAKING AND LISTENING

The tasks suggested would enable the teacher to plan for the development of
knowledge, skills and understanding.
While some of the tasks would cover aspects of
1.

Speaking
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

structure their talk clearly

use illustrations, evidence to enrich and explain their ideas
use gesture tone, pace and rhetorical devices for emphasis
use visual aids and images to enhance communication
vary word choices, including technical vocabulary, and sentence
structure for different audiences
use spoken standard English fluently in different contexts
as some of the spoken outcomes of the tasks suggested and

2.

Listening
To listen, understand and respond critically to others as part of the working
process, the tasks enable the teacher to plan for outcomes focussing on

3.

Group discussion and interaction

To participate effectively as members of different groups, pupils should be
taught to:
a)
make different types of contributions to groups, adapting their speech
to their listeners and the activity.
b)
Take different views into account and modify their own views in the
light of what others say.
c)
Sift, summarise and use the most important points.
d)
Take different roles in the organisation, planning and sustaining of
groups.
e)
Help the group to complete its tasks by varying contributions
appropriately, clarifying and synthesising others ideas, taking them
forward and building on them to reach conclusions, negotiating
consensus or agreeing to differ.

HEEP SHORT STORIES

Teachers can also plan to cover the following:

7.

Breadth of study
During the key stage, pupils should be taught the knowledge, skills and
understanding through the following range of activities, contexts and
purposes.

8.

Speaking
The range of purposes should include:
a)
describing, narrating, explaining, arguing, persuading, and pupils
should be given opportunities to make
b)
extended contribution to talk in different contexts and groups
c)
presentations to different audiences

9.

Listening

The range should include

d)
discussions in which pupils respond straight away.
10.

Group discussion and interaction

The range of purposes should include:
a)
exploring, hypothesising, debating, analysing

EN2 READING
The tasks suggested enable the teacher to focus on the following areas:
1.

Knowledge, skills and understanding: understanding texts

To develop understanding and appreciation of texts, pupils should be taught:
Reading for meaning
a)
to extract meaning beyond the literal, explaining how the choice of
language and style affects implied and explicit meanings
b)
to analyse and discuss alternative interpretations, ambiguity and
allusion
c)
how ideas, values and emotions are explored and portrayed
d)
to identify the perspectives offered on individuals, community and
society

HEEP SHORT STORIES

Understanding the authors craft

g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
2.

how language is used in imaginative, original and diverse ways

to reflect on the writers presentation of ideas and issues, the
motivation and behaviour of characters, the development of plot and
the overall impact of a text
to distinguish between the attitudes and assumptions of characters and
those of the author
how techniques, structure, forms and style vary
to compare texts, looking at style, theme and language, and identifying
connections and contrasts

English literary heritage

Pupils should be taught:
b)
the characteristics of texts that are considered to be of high quality
c)
the appeal and importance of these texts over time.

3.

Texts from different cultures and traditions

Pupils should be taught:
a)
to understand the values and assumptions in the texts
b)
the significance of the subject matter and the language
c)
the distinctive quality of literature from different traditions
d)
how familiar themes are explored in different cultural contexts
e)
to make connections and comparisons between texts from different
cultures

6.

Language structure and variation

Pupils should be taught to draw on their knowledge of grammar and
language variation to develop their understanding of texts and how language
works

Teachers can also plan to cover the following:

8.

Breadth of study
The range of literature should include:
a)
plays, novels, short stories from the English literary heritage
b)
recent and contemporary fiction written for young people and adults
c)
fiction by major writers from different cultures and traditions

HEEP SHORT STORIES

EN3 WRITING
The tasks suggested enable the teacher to focus on the following areas:
Knowledge, skills and understanding
1.

Composition
Pupils should be taught to draw on their reading and knowledge of linguistic
and literary forms when composing their writing. Pupils should be taught to:

2.

Writing to imagine, explore and entertain

a)
draw on their experience of good fiction
b)
use imaginative vocabulary and varied linguistic and literary
techniques
c)
exploit choice of language and structure to achieve particular effects
and appeal to the reader
d)
use a range of techniques and different ways of organising and
structuring material to convey ideas, themes and characters
Writing to inform, explain, and describe
e)
form sentences and paragraphs that express connections between
information and ideas precisely
g)
consider what the reader needs to know and include relevant details
h)
present material clearly, using appropriate layout, illustration and
organisation.
Teachers can also plan to cover the following:
The range of purposes for writing should include:
a)
to imagine, explore and entertain, focusing on creative, aesthetic and
literary uses of language. The forms for such writing should be drawn
from different kinds of stories, poems, play-scripts, autobiographies,
screenplays, diaries.
d)
to analyse, review and comment, focusing on considered and
evaluative views of ideas, texts and issues. The forms for such writing
should be drawn from reviews, commentaries, articles, essays, reports.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The tasks suggested in the booklet do allow teachers to plan for the inclusion of
effective learning opportunities for all pupils.

ATTAINMENT

The attainment targets set out the knowledge, skills and understanding that pupils
of different abilities and maturities are expected to have by the end of each key stage.
At Key Stage 4, national qualifications are the main means of assessing attainment in
English. The booklet provides pupils with the opportunity to develop knowledge,
skills and understanding as they progress through the key stage.

HEEP SHORT STORIES

w OUTCOMES

Speaking and Listening: A range of talk activities can be generated by reading

short stories. These would vary from a general class discussion as to whether or not
a story was enjoyable, to a structured role play or a discussion around a list of
statements. Where pupils have read stories individually, they can work in pairs or
groups on a "Book programme" style presentation.

Reading: Reading short stories should improve pupils' skill and confidence as
readers, enabling them to tackle stories that previously might have appeared
inaccessible. Greater enthusiasm for reading will, hopefully, result from an
increased awareness of style, structure and genre.
Writing: Teachers should find it easier to study structure and narrative techniques
in the short story than in the novel because of the way they are constructed is more
visible. Pupils should then improve their initial responses to the style, character
presentation and narrative technique in a story, and also develop and control their
own story writing to greater effect. The variety of sustained pieces from any one
story might include:
F

Writing a story in the first or third person.

Writing a story using the same structure or setting as the one read.

Writing the story from the viewpoint of another character.

A newspaper account of an incident in the story.

An obituary for a character.

A letter from one character to another.

A diary kept by a character.

A factual/historical account of the period/place in which the story is set.

The same story told by different characters a year later.

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w WAYS IN
Although most short stories are taught singly or because they happen to be
published together in a single volume, it is worth considering other groupings.
Many stories included in our resources list work well in pairs or groups. The most
obvious reason for grouping stories is similar content, e.g. two stories about suicide,
a group of stories dealing with the relationship between children and parents. Our
chart should suggest possible groupings according to the construction of short
stories, e.g. two first person narrative stories, a group of stories with a twist at the
end, a story with a strong author's voice compared with a story with a strong
narrator's voice.
It is as valid to look at how a story is written as to look at what it is about. Indeed,
what a story is about depends on how it is told. It is impossible to detach the tale
from the telling. One way into work on short stories would be to construct a unit
which looked at the many ways in which a writer could choose to tell a story.
If one wished to tackle how a story is told by moving progressively through the
various methods at a writer's disposal, there is a way of doing this. Following a
model of how people learn to use language, which moves from interior monologue
(child talking to the air and not distinguishing between self and audience) to an
awareness of audience and subject matter and an internalising of monologue to be
found in the adult, one can propose a loose order in which short stories can be
studied.
Following such a model, one would begin with straightforward first person
narratives about the author's own experiences. Short stories told in the form of
letters, diaries or autobiographies follow on, as they are still first person narratives,
but demonstrating a growing awareness of audience. Biography acts as a pivot in
such a model because here you have the writer as observer-narrator and you move
from first person narrative to third person narrators who may not reveal their
sources of knowledge and may be unreliable. Studying stories told in this way is
obviously a more difficult proposition. It would be possible to order third person
narratives so as to start with straightforward examples and finish with a short story
where the identify of the narrator was unclear and the narrator's opinions were
untrustworthy.
Such a model could serve as a way of constructing a unit of work on short stories for
years 10 and 11 or a way of planning work on short stories throughout the English
curriculum.

HEEP SHORT STORIES

Approaches
to
Individual
Stories

HEEP SHORT STORIES

w The Werewolf - Angela Carter

"The Werewolf" is one of Angela Carter's explorations of the Little Red Riding Hood
Story, the better known one being "A Company of Wolves". Like that story "The
Werewolf" examines the role of the girl and the traditional picture of witches and
werewolves. The story could be examined from several angles, all of them
interconnected: stylistic, structural, genre, gender, morality, folklore.
w Teachers' Notes

Before reading the story, pupils, in pairs of groups, could brainstorm

their ideas and knowledge about werewolves and witches.

Read the first four paragraphs down to "Winter and cold weather".
Then ask the pupils to work in pairs on the tasks in the top box on the
next page (photocopiable).

Introduce the next phrase - "Go and visit grandmother, who has been
sick. Take her these cakes I've baked for her on the hearth stove and a
little pot of butter". Ask pupils to do the work in the second box on the
next page.

Read the rest of the story with the class.

Ask pupils to tell their version(s) of "Little Red Riding Hood".

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The Werewolf

1.

Decide what kind of story you think it is.

Highlight / select those words and phrases that
helped you make your decision.

2.

Predict what you think might happen.

3.

Does the title make a difference to:

i.

the kind of story you think it is?

ii.

what you think will happen?

If so, why?

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The Werewolf

Make a grid charting these differences

Angela Carter

Other Versions

the setting
the fight
the description of
the girl
the meeting with
the wolf
the meeting with
the grandmother

What are the effects of the changes that Angela Carter has made?

Copyright HEEP 1991

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The Werewolf

w Assignments
T

Take a fairy tale and rewrite it with a different setting or in a

different style.

In groups plan and record an interview with the main female

character in:
"The Werewolf"
"Little Red Riding Hood"

During your planning you may wish to consider the following issues:
-

What difference the name "Little Red Riding Hood" makes - the
fact that the girl in "The Werewolf" has no name?

How the two heroines differ?

What difference did it make that the werewolf was a woman?

Why do you think the protagonist in "The Werewolf"

prospered?

What happens to the protagonist?

What action she does/does not take?

What happens to her at the end of the story?

The character of the grandmother and your attitude towards

her

The idea of werewolves/witches.

The recording of the interviews could be played to the rest of the class.
Copyright HEEP 1991
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w Rats do sleep at night -Wolfgang Borchert

Wolfgang Borchert was born in Hamburg in 1921: he died in 1947 in
Basle. At the age of twenty in 1942, he was a private in the German
Army invading Russia. In 1942 he was wounded and repatriated and,
in the same year, spent six months in solitary confinement under
sentence of death for plain-speaking in private letters. His sentence
was commuted because of his youth.

After the war he had minor jobs in theatres and cabarets for a few
months, but his health was ruined and from the end of 1945 until his
death two years later he was confined to his bed with fever.
Borchert's post-war vision of Germany is a universal catastrophe seen
in the symbolic horror of the ruin of German cities. For him war is
simply the affirmation by mankind of a spirit of destruction in the
world in which "the last human creature with mangled entrails and
infected lungs will wander around unanswered and lonely under the
poisonous, glowing sun and wavering constellations, lonely among the
immense mass graves and the cold idols of the gigantic concrete
blocked devastated cities, the last human creature withered, mad,
cursing, accusing and his feasible accusation. Why?"

*Before reading

Before reading this story discuss what you think it might be about and
make a note of your ideas.

Copyright HEEP 1991

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Rats Do Sleep At Night

Group Work: Discussion

"Rats Do Sleep at Night" is a story about a young boy, Jurgen, keeping

guard over the body of his dead younger brother, buried under a pile
of rubble in a bomb attack.
In your group discuss the following:
T

Your predictions about what you thought the story would be

about before you read it.

Your reactions to the story after reading.

What atmosphere is created in the opening passage and how is

this created?

What are your first impressions of the man in the opening

section of the story? Does this impression change, and if so,
how? How would you sum him up as a character?

How does the writer present Jurgen? What feelings are aroused
in you as you read about his "guard duty"?

Discuss how the writer shapes his story from beginning to end.
Is there a connection? What is the effect? What do you think
the writer wants us to feel at the end of the story?

Copyright HEEP 1991

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Rats Do Sleep At Night

w Play Project: Group Work

In groups of about five, devise a short play script entitled "Rats Do
Sleep at Night". You will need to:

Work out a simple set design and seating arrangements.

Draw sketches for the costumes needed.

Make a props list.

Discuss the two characters: How old are they? What do they
look like? What sort of people are they?

Write in all necessary stage directions.

Write the script.

Two people from the group will take the parts of Jurgen and the old
man, a third will be the director. If you wish you may bring in your
own props and costumes.
Others from the group will be involved in:

Designing publicity posters for the performance.

Writing a preview notice in the School News Letter - look at

examples in the Radio Times first.

Designing and writing up programme notes.

Someone from another group should write a review of the scene for the
school magazine. Look in newspapers and magazines before writing
to get some ideas about how to write a review.
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Rats Do Sleep At Night

w Written Assignments
T

In your group write the next scene that you imagine might take
place. You may introduce new characters if you wish, but keep
these to just a few.

Re-read the story; using magazines try to find pictures that you
think resemble your idea of Jurgen and the old man. Cut them out
and stick them onto paper. When you are happy with your choices
go through the story once more making notes on each character.
Start with physical descriptions and move on to personality traits.

Basing your information on the pictures you have cut out and the
story itself, build up a description of each character, adding your own
ideas to flesh out the descriptions. Remember that descriptions of
people are always more interesting when examples of their
personalities are given or little anecdotes recalled about them.
Imagine that you are a relation or someone connected with the
character, i.e. sister/aunt/neighbour, etc.
T

In pairs re-read the opening paragraphs of the story. The writer

describes the bombed house as though it were a weary person.
This technique is called personification.
Do you think this is a good way to start the story? What
effect does it create?
Look at the rest of the paragraph. What atmosphere is
created by the writer and how does he achieve this?
Look at the final paragraph. Is it an effective conclusion
to the story? How is it linked to the beginning?
Now attempt to re-write the beginning and the end of the
story, using a different approach and creating a different
atmosphere.

Imagine yourself as the adult Jurgen who has come through the
experience of war as a child. You have decided to write some
memoirs for your grandchildren. Write about this episode in
your life before and after encountering the man with the rabbits.

Think carefully about what details you would want to include in your
story. What tone and style would be appropriate? Apart from the
facts of what happened what else would it be important to convey?
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w Imagination Dead, Imagine - Samuel Beckett

For Staff
One of the reasons for using this story is that it is very strange. Content and
structure are bizarre and raise interesting questions about the nature of story-telling.
Beckett's work has been the subject of an enormous critical response and the bleak
minimalism of his work has been considered the most rigorous exploration of
themes which have been central to much 20th century writing. The story is about the
death of the imagination - we are asked to imagine the death of the imagination. The
paradoxical nature of this structures the writing; it is the trying to write about
something which cannot be put into words, speaking without speaking. The
injunction to look, to imagine, is no accident. Beckett attempts to show the thing he
wishes to show, to image the thing he wishes to image, in spite of using words. Of
course, the medium of words betrays the injunction to show; he cannot just show;
even in this prose we are given glimmers of perspective, of interpretation, of the
imagination at work. Yet Beckett's art has been expressed as being a matter of
failing, trying again and then failing better. He asserts that the imagination
(interpretation via stories in his case) is unavoidable; he does this by working
constantly to write without imagination. Always he fails. But fails better!
In the work this strange project of Beckett is the focus. It sheds light on what stories
are, how they might be considered as something fundamental (in the sense of
unavoidable) to human beings, and what possibilities are possible for story-telling.

* Before Reading
1.

Theme of Imagination
In groups: Ask them to write a really imaginative story or description in 50
words, OR, in pencil, to draw a really imaginative picture.
Then ask them to take out all the imaginative bits and see what they've got
left, OR/AND write a story without using the imagination - make a picture
without using imagination. Then ask them:
i.

To talk about and then write down everything they connect with the
word 'Imagination';

ii.

Do they think imagination important?

iii.

Which task - drawing or writing, uses imagination most and why do

they think this?

iv.

Which bits of the body do you connect with the imagination?

They could present their findings as wall charts, diagrams or audio tapes.

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2.

Theme of 'Life After Death'

(Groups/Pairs)

Research the names of places various cultures have come up with - e.g.
heaven, hell, etc.
Describe some traditional views of life after death, perhaps as drawings or
diagrams.
Compare/contrast life and death - follow on question, e.g. what could you
take away from a living person without them being dead or vice versa.
3.

General Structure

(Groups/Pairs)

What do they expect in a story with this title?

What do they expect in any story?

Notes
Wall
Charts

Talk

* While Reading
Are expectations met? (Discussions)
The teacher may need to cue pupils in before reading, e.g. "Imagine someone who
has died, or has not yet been born, trying to describe the place she is in, what she
feels, thinks, etc." OR
"Imagine someone who has lost their imagination trying
to tell someone about what they are looking at".

* After Reading
Build a 3D scale model of the place described (or draw it). The writing precisely
describes it and the model will help focus the pupils on the issue of what the story is
about, why is it written like that, who is speaking the story? A written assignment
could be a follow-on in the style of Beckett from, "leave them there, sweating and
icy, there is better elsewhere".
Write a description of a place where the dead go from a specific point of view, e.g.
one of the dead
a visitor
the controller/owner/ruler
You might use diagrams to help, e.g. pictures from Dante or Hieronymous Bosch.
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w Examination Day - Henry Slesar

Read the story first, then carry out the tasks below:
1.

Complete the table below showing the clues which reveal that
Dickie is intelligent. See how many clues you can write in each
column.
His Appearance

What he says

What he is told
by his parents

Now, in groups of 3, role play a scene from the story where

Dickie interacts with his parents.
2.

The author has presented us with a society of the future. Make

a list of all the things in the story that tell us that this is set in the
future.

3.

What references to 'the Government' are there in the story?

4.

(a)

Make a list of each one.

(b)

Discuss, with a partner, what we learn about this

particular government.
Be prepared to report back to the class.

The attendant says, "The machine will take care of the rest".
Write the part of the story which is missed out, to show exactly
what you think happens to Dickie.
Start with the words, 'Complete this sequence. One, four, seven,
ten'

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Examination Day
5.

How do Dickie's parents speak to Dickie, and react to him, at

different parts in the story? Fill in the table below to chart their
behaviour towards him, showing what they say, how they say it
and how they act.

Occasion
a) At the breakfast
table

Mother

Father

b) While Dickie is
looking at the
rain

c) Birthday present
and cake time

'Misty' - vague
and distant but
very affectionate

d) Breakfast time on
exam day

e) In the Govermnent
Educational
Building

6.

What kind of government would want to dispose of highly

intelligent children? In groups, decide the policies of this
government and the reasons it would not want these children to
live.
Do you think all intelligent children would be disposed of? Can
you think of any exceptions?

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Examination Day

Assignment

Either: write a clear description of the government in the story,

showing its policies and methods of implementing that policy;
or: write a further story set in this world, with the same government
but different characters in a different context.
7.

a)

Write 'Rule 84, Section 5, of the new code using evidence

gathered from the story.

b)

Write 5 more 'Rules of the New Code'. Make them

appropriate rules which could have been written by the
particular government in the story.

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w AUTHOR STUDY - ALICE WALKER

The activities that follow are most based on 'In Love or Trouble', a collection of
stories written by Alice Walker (ISBN 0-7043-3941-2). Alice Walker writes for adults,
and teachers need to be aware that some of her other works deal with power and
relationships using quite explicit language. The suggestions below include some
detailed studies, e.g. particular stories, together with approaches that could be used
flexibly in classes according to the needs of individual students.
w The Flowers (From 'In Love and Trouble')
A very short and powerful story about 10 year old Myop, how she journeys from her
house one morning in summer for a walk, stumbles on the remains of a lynching and
leaves behind her childhood. There is a particularly effective use of setting and
symbolism.
p

Suggested activities

Each group is given a copy of the story without the title, except the first group who
have the story cut up into paragraphs.
1.

All of these paragraphs make up a short story. Read through each of them in
turn and decide as a group the correct order for the story. Be prepared to
explain your decisions.
Work out a title for the story.

2.

Your task is to prepare a powerful reading of this story to the whole class.
Read through the story several times and then decide how you will use your
voices (singly, many voices, speed, volume, etc.).
Work out a title for the story.

3.

Your task is to give a short talk to the class on what we learn about Myop
from reading the story. You will need to work together to gather all your
ideas, using the evidence from the story. Focus on her behaviour, personality
and attitudes.
Suggest a title for the story

4.

Focus on the last two paragraphs, and the final line. You are going to
concentrate on the effect that the writer has on the reader. Once you've read
the whole story, read through this section very carefully and then pick out
particular words or phrases that you think are important here. Can you
group together any of these words or phrases? (Highlighter pens and extra
copies of the passage, plus sugar paper would be useful).

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Suggest a title for the story.

5.

Read through the story a few times as individuals or as a group. Get each
person to write one sentence to explain what they think this story is about.
Pin up these sentences.
Are there any similarities?
Any unusual
interpretations?
Read it again and see if you can show in a diagram (your title for the story in
the middle, and lines from this for each of your suggestions) some of the
issues, themes or subject matter of the story. Be prepared to share these with
the class.

Each group would then report back with all of the shared research. It's useful to
begin with the reading. Different titles could also be explored.

Further Work

1.

Another Writer: Same Subject

Compare Alice Walker's 'The Flowers' with Richard Wright's poem 'Between
the World and Me'.

2.

Other Alice Walker stories: Wider Reading

Read as a class, or as a group, other Alice Walker stories that are linked by
either subject matter, theme or style. (See Chart 2)
For example: Similar use of setting: "The Child Who Favoured Daughter"
A very powerful story about a father who beats his daughter for her affair
with a white man. This incident echoes previous occasions when his wife and
sister were accused of a "crime" like this. The opening is particularly symbolic
with the reference to nature and to poetry; the ending, when the father
mutilates his daughter is very shocking.

3.

Other black women writers: Wider Reading

Read the poetry and prose of other writers, including:
Elean Thomas

"Before They Can Speak of Flowers"

Maya Angelou

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

"Still I Rise"

Zora Neale Hurston

"Their Eyes Were Watching God"

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4.

Audio-Visual Material
Black Voices:
Writers at Work

5.

A 30 minute English File programme, including Alice

Walker - reading from 'The Flower' and 'The Colour
Purple', Merle Collins, Sipho Sepalma and Lemn Sissay.
Six 25 minute videos including extracts from Maya
Angelou talking about and reading her work.

Designing Book Covers for the Stories

Remember to include the following:

Front Cover: Title

Illustration/Design
Author
Back Cover:

Blurb
ISBN
Publisher
Price

A commentary which explains the reasons for your choice (for example, the
colours or print you use) could make this into a detailed assignment.
6.

Poetry, Music, Pictures

Prepare a presentation to the class, that involves some or all of the above,
which reflects the mood or ideas of one or all of the stories.

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w How Did I Get Away with Killing One of the Biggest Lawyers in the State?
It Was Easy.

This story is characteristic of black women's writing where a character seeks to

survive against the traps of convention and a world of increasing isolation. Walker's
protagonist tackles the pressures of love, or rather lack of it, rape and death, and
walks away, leaving them behind in their chains in the past.
The nameless protagonist takes the reader through her past up to the point where
she kills, and gets away with killing Bubba, a white lawyer. We are introduced to
the world of America's underclass; here a single parent neglects her daughter
because she is forced to work long hours simply to make ends meet. The
consequence of the breakdown in communication between mama and her daughter
is that she accepts the 'love' from Bubba who uses her as his personal prostitute.
The protagonist is raped at the age of twelve and once again by Bubba the lawyer
when she is fourteen. The social climate strangles the victim to the extent that rape
is insignificant and largely dismissed by the young victim. She simply has no one to
turn to. Bubba befriends her with money and gifts to keep her quiet and to get her
to sleep with him.
After a tiring day of work mama finds out that her daughter is seeing Bubba and the
protagonist becomes the victim of domestic violence. The relationship suffers
further erosion and the only basis for communication is arguing about Bubba.
The protagonist and Bubba conspire to have mama admitted to an insane asylum;
they are successful and the institution takes its toll on mama's poor health. It is
when the protagonist wishes to take her mother out of the asylum that Bubba sees
mama as an obstacle. The protagonist wakes up. Mama dies. Seemingly locked in a
powerless position, she takes a simple step to exact revenge and kills Bubba.
w ACTIVITIES
p

Discussion

Discuss the title. Can you guess the gender of the character who is speaking
and that of the lawyer? Why do you think the lawyer was killed?

Read as far as "and Mama died. And I killed Bubba". Predict how Bubba
was killed and how the narrator got away with the murder.

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Ideas for writing:

Comment on the major themes in the story. Can you link these themes?
Show how the themes are interrelated.

What is the turning point in the story?

Describe the following relationships and state how they develop:

(a)
(b)
(c)

Give your reason(s).

The protagonist and mama

The protagonist and the old woman
The protagonist and Bubba

Outline and comment on three opposites in the story.

Does the story have an appropriate title? Give your answers by referring
closely to the text.

From " and mama died; and I killed Bubba", write an alternative ending to
the story. Aim to write this ending in the same style that Alice Walker uses.

w The Welcome Table

An old woman, forgetful and almost blind, is determined to attend the service at the
nearest place of worship, the big white church, lodged in the segregated setting of
the South. The story is centred around her relationship with God; this, for her, is
above and beyond the codes established by Southern convention.
With her mind engaged in private worship she brushes past the reverend and sits
shivering on the front bench of the cold church. As expected, there is no welcome
and the sight of her enrages the congregation. Her presence is seen as an 'invasion of
privacy, which they struggled to believe they still kept'.
The convention is that she must worship with her own people. As white fear is
revived, Walker scans through a catalogue of white perceptions of black people.
They are determined to hide behind convention and break her resilience; hence she
is cast out. This no doubt interrupts her worship. We leave the hypocrites sharing a
sermon on God's impartial love.
Once the old woman is out on the doorstep Walker marries the realist detail to her
imagination. She now sings a sad song until she realises that Jesus is coming
leisurely along the highway.
Jesus is exactly like the 'white' image on the picture that she has of him. She is told
to follow him, which she obeys, singing and gesturing excitedly step after step
without feeling the slightest touch of fatigue. On they walk as the ground becomes
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as cloud; and on and on they walk without stopping The old woman, seen
pointing upwards and smiling, looking at the sky, has fallen dead on the highway.
T

Group work:

Look closely at the use of language, for instance:irony; imagery; symbolism; diction.
Report back to class.

Group work:

Comparisons - dress of the old woman - white woman.

The real - the imagination.
Report back to class.

Discuss the power structures in the relationships between black and white.

Compare 'The Welcome Table' with 'The Good Samaritan' from the Bible.

Consider the message in the title with the words of the spiritual.

GENERAL ASSIGNMENTS
Any of the specific work on the stories could lead to a longer piece of work.
In addition:
T

Writing in imitation of her style: "Roselily". For example: using stream of

consciousness, as the words of the marriage ceremony make Roselily think
about her hopes and fears. You could use an assembly or a funeral to trigger
a character's thoughts.

Using features like changes in time order: "Really, crime doesn't pay." In this
story, the narrator is writing a diary from 1958 and 1961; however, the story
starts in the middle of this, and then goes back to the beginning.

Using a similar conversational style: "How did I get away with killing one of
the biggest lawyers in the State? It was easy."

Using a setting that prepares the reader for what is to happen, or one that
makes her totally surprised when the action changes. The flowers. With all
of these activities, it might be useful to role play the situation first.

An exploration of the ways that Alice Walker has portrayed some of the black
women characters in her stories. You could concentrate on a few people like:

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The mother in 'Everyday Use'

The wife in 'Her Sweet Jerome'
The student in 'To Hell With Dying'
Myop in 'The Flowers'
The old woman in 'The Welcome Table'
Rannie Toomer in 'Strong Horse Tea'
T

A script for a TV or Radio programme about Alice Walker.

Remember to think about the length of your programme, the audience that it
is intended for, and the kind of material you'd include.

A film version of one of the stories: you will need to think of one that would
lend itself to this. Work out a sequence and make a story-board, giving
details of what is seen, the camera angle and the sound. Perhaps you could
also include a commentary on what you were trying to achieve.

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Structure

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w Reading Short Stories Backwards

"I have already explained to you that what is out of the common is usually a guide
rather than a hindrance. In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be
able to reason backwards. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy
one, but people do not practise it much. In the everyday affairs of life, it is more
useful to reason forwards, and so the other comes to be neglected. There are fifty
who can reason synthetically for one who can reason analytically."
"I confess", said I, "that I do not quite follow you".
"I hardly expected that you would. Let me see if I can make it clearer. Most people,
if you describe a train of events to them, will tell you what the result would be. They
can put those events together in their minds, and argue from them that something
will come to pass. There are few people, however, who, if you told them a result,
would be able to evolve from their own inner consciousness what the steps were
which led up to that result. This power is what I mean when I talk of reasoning
backwards, or analytically."
"I understand", said I.
"Now this was a case in which you were given the result and had to find everything
else for yourself. Now let me endeavour to show you the different steps in my
reasoning".
From: "A Study in Scarlet" - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Teaching Notes

This unit of work was designed in response to a request for a way into a particularly
demanding short story in a collection used as an examination text. It involves pupils
working in pairs, trying to reconstruct the story from the last few paragraphs.
Following the first trial it has been used successfully with a variety of stories and
with year nine upwards. It can also be used with years seven and eight with an
appropriate text.
A note of caution: This approach is designed to be one of a repertoire and should be
used sparingly.
p

Selection of Text

So far, this approach has worked with every story with which it has been tried, but
there may well be stories that are insufficiently dense in their final paragraphs to
allow a satisfactory reconstruction. The best advice is to try it yourself. You will
also need to decide on the length of passage that you will give the pupils. None of
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passages that have been used in the trials have exceeded one page of the printed
text.
p

Introducing the Topic

One approach that has worked well is to tell the class that they are such experienced
readers that you are sure that they will be able to read a story backwards. They are
then told that what they will be doing will not, in fact, be reading from right to left
starting at the end of the story, but reconstructing a story of whatever length from
the last few paragraphs.
p

Pair Work

The extracts are then distributed, one for each pair. A group of three is possible but
this is not an individual activity. While they are reading, the other four sheets are
distributed. The class is then called back together and the four sheets are
introduced. "Spot the author" and "What is the time scale in your story?" are not
essential for this task but have proved to be helpful. They can also be used in
relation to pupils' own writing.
They are told that the sheets are for them to use to make whatever notes they wish.
They will not be collected in. They have between twenty and thirty minutes to
discuss in pairs what they think has happened in the preceding story. At this point
the most fascinating thing for the teacher to do is move around the room and
eavesdrop.
p

Whole Class Discussion

After the allotted time the class should be called together as a group and taken
through the sheets together. There will be disagreement and discussion on some
points but a consensus view is usually arrived at. The teacher should then tell the
class the story as they have reconstructed it. Most classes manage to get the story
almost entirely right, but, of course, it does not matter if they do not.
After praising them, try asking the following questions:
1.

What did you bring to the passage that enabled you to reconstruct the story?

2.

Could you have done this as well if you had worked alone, under
examination conditions?

3.

If you were set this passage as an unseen comprehension, can you think of
any questions that could be asked about it that you have not already
answered in your discussions?

In response to question 1, students will often talk about their personal histories as
readers and their variety of experiences in the wider world.
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No-one, so far, has answered yes to question 2, and no-one has come up with very
much in response to question 3, which should inform our approach to traditional
comprehension exercises.
You will find that the class will now be very keen to read the whole story.

Some Further Suggestions

Why not try this same exercise with:

(a)

A novel

(b)

A film

Are the results different? If they are, why?

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CAN YOU READ A SHORT STORY BACKWARDS?

Working with a partner, discuss the passage that you have been given, and use this
sheet to make notes.

List all the characters that appear or are mentioned.

What do you know about the main character?

What do you know about any of the other characters?

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4.

Which places are mentioned in the passage?

5.

Is there anything that tells you at what time in history the

story takes place?

Is there anything about the language that tells you when

the story was written?

7.

What do you think the story is about? What sort of a story is it?
(e.g. Science fiction, Romance, Detective, Horror etc.)
Give your reasons.

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SPOT THE AUTHOR

Where is the author in your story?
a.

Outside the story

b.

On the edge

c.

In the story

Example
Sarah had a
narrow escape
yesterday.

My friend Sarah
had a narrow
escape yesterday.

I had a narrow
escape
yesterday.

Outside

Edge

Inside

Now show where the author is in your story.

Outside

Edge

Inside

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WHAT IS THE TIME SCALE IN YOUR STORY?

It might be set
in the past

or in the
present

Past

Present

or in the
future

Future

It might start in the present, go back to an incident in the past and then return to the
present.

63
2

Past

61

Present

Future

There are many other possibilities.

Show the time scale of your story in the space below.

Past
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Present

Future
37

w NARRATIVE VOICE
Because of their relative density, short stories are particularly useful for close study
of linguistic features and literary effects. They present many opportunities to
consider the distinction between author and narrator and the different effects that
can be achieved by the choice of person in which the story is told. We had limited
our repertoire to first and third person until an astute student pointed out that there
is, in fact, a genre that uses the second person. In fantasy games and stories where
you can choose alternative plot directions, the reader is addressed directly.
"You are in a vast subterranean tunnel complex. By the guttering flame of
your candle you can see that the passage divides into two. To the left the floor
slopes steeply upwards, you can see nothing beyond a few yards. To the right
there appears to be faint glow in the far distance. You must choose."
The unit of work that follows is concerned with some of the many varieties of first
person narratives, but it would clearly be possible to adopt this approach for the
second and third person.

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First Person Narrative

A first person narrative is written as if the writer is directly addressing

you, the reader, and telling you the story. "I was on my way to work
when ". This does not mean that they are all the same. Read the
following four examples of some of the different types of first person
narratives.
1.

Where someone is telling you a story in which someone else is the

main character:
"When I was in the third year at Earlsfield Comprehensive, Stephen Symes was the only
one of my friends who wasn't any good at football. To tell you the truth he was about
the worst athlete in the school. He was also the brainiest kid in the class and you might
think that putting the two together would make him incredibly unpopular. But he wasn't.
He wasn't particularly popular but no one gave him a hard time. Perhaps it was because
he let other kids copy his homework or because he didn't flaunt his intelligence. In
fact, he was one of the quietest kids I've ever met.
The only time I ever saw him excited (apart from the incident with the vaulting horse)
was when our fathers took us to a cricket match at The Oval. Stephen lived one floor
below me in the flats and I had known him as long as I can remember, so I knew all sorts
of things about him that nobody else at school knew. Like his hobby."

2.

Someone is telling a story in which they are the main character:

Now we emerged from the cloud. I tapped the fuel gauge angrily, not wanting to believe
what it told me. The altimeter showed twelve thousand feet but a quick glance to port
and starboard told me that the dive had failed to restart the engines. I leaned across
to Carfax and shouted: 'I'm going to take her out to sea - we'll stand a better chance if
I have to ditch than we will here. He nodded.
We may, in fact, have been over the sea at that point but the cloud bank below us meant
that visibility was nil. I glanced at the altimeter - nine thousand feet.

3.

Where we don't necessarily take all that the narrator tells us at face
value; sometimes we know more than they do and can 'see
through' them:
I believe in keeping myself to myself and it's a pity more folk don't do the same. I've
no interest in their goings-on but you can't blame me for looking out the window, with
car doors slamming at all hours of the day and night. Three different men, at least, this
week and the language! 'Nosey old witch!' she shouted at me yesterday. As if I care
what she gets up to. And the walls are so thin I can't but hear it all. If you open the
cupboard door on the top landing you can hear every word from her bedroom.

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4.

Where it seems as though the narrator is actually holding a

conversation with us or with another character:
And a good evening to you, missy. Come in, come in. So you've not forgotten your old
friend then? Thank you for that piece of writing, yes, I read it last night. So you're
still writing those books of yours then? I'm surprised you've stuck at it - it can't bring
you in much money. Still, it's an honest way of making a living, not that it'd suit me. I'd
rather be doing something that's of some use to folk.
No, I don't mind if you turn that recording thing on, though I'm surprised you think I've
anything to say that's worth hearing. Yes, I've thought about what you asked and I
expect as I am the only one as knows the way across the marshes now, but there's no
good will come of dragging up the past. There haven't been smugglers around here for
years and those tunnels have probably collapsed through neglect.

* Now discuss with a partner to which of the four categories you think
that the following extracts belong:
A.

The judge looks directly at me and asks if I have anything to

say before he passes sentence.
"No, my lord, I have nothing further to add."
He starts to speak but I cannot follow him. My mind is
elsewhere. It seems so irrelevant. They found me guilty, why
can't he get on with it? It's not as though I haven't heard it
all before. It's a calculated risk in my line of business. You
get caught, you get banged up. I'm not complaining, I
knew what the odds were, but I hadn't reckoned on the
unexpected happening - the thousand to one chance that
had brought me to this courtroom "and I have no
alternative but to sentence you to life imprisonment".

B.

Yes, that's his coat hanging up behind the door there. I know
you must think I'm a silly old woman for keeping it; I should
have given it to a jumble sale years ago, but it's a comfort to
me. Yes, he was a big man, he had to stoop to come
through that doorway, and many's the time he'd forget and
fetch his skull a mighty crack. No, I don't mind talking about
him as he was then. It was how he became after the
accident that I don't like to think of. It was as if he'd suddenly
shrunk inside himself. I know that if he'd been able to talk
he'd have said that he didn't want to go on that way. No,
no, you've not upset me, dear, I'm just a silly old woman.

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C.

Tony's problem was that he was honest. He just did not

understand the social conventions. If someone says "no,
come on, tell me what you honestly think", you know that the
last thing that they want is the truth. Flattery, yes, downright
lies, yes, but the truth, never.
This simple fact of life seemed to have escaped Tony. What
you got from him was the simple unadorned truth, and he still
had the scars to prove it. He wasn't very successful with girls,
or if you really want the truth - he was a total failure. His
candid evaluations of their new clothes or hairstyles caused
tears if he was lucky and bruised shins if he was not.
In desperation, his parents came to an arrangement with
him. No, of course they didn't want him to lie, but he wasn't
to give his opinion about anything unless he was asked. That
seemed to work until the fateful night at the local dance hall.

D.

If you want to succeed in teaching, there's only one way to

deal with kids - show them who's boss. Go in strong at the
start and you won't have any trouble; let them take liberties
and you're finished. I've got no time for teachers who are
always moaning about this kid or that. "Really?", I say, "I
never have any trouble with them". And some of them - the
noise in their rooms.
What I like to do is look round the door and when the kids
shut up I pretend I've just noticed the teacher and say, "Oh,
I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were there". It always works a
treat.
Of course, experience, that's what counts and I must have
taught in nearly every school in this authority. All sorts of
schools, all sorts of kids. Black, white, brown, yellow, purple;
they're all the same to me. That business at the High School
was exaggerated. Some kids just can't take a joke. I mean,
if you were to make a joke about my appearance I wouldn't
get offended about it. I certainly wouldn't call it racism. It's
all about respect, isn't it?

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MAROONED
It was on the 91st day that he had spent on the island that he saw the
schooner drop anchor off the shore. He was high up on the mountain
hunting for wild goat at the time and he calculated that it would take him at
least half an hour to scramble back down to the beach.
As he descended he could see a boat putting out towards the shore. Twenty
minutes later he crashed through the last patch of scrub into the wide
expanse of sand. Torn and dishevelled, he staggered towards the lapping
waves, only to see the boat pulling strongly away from the shore.
Desperately, he shouted with all the force he could muster, but to no avail.
He fell to his knees, exhausted, as the schooner turned away and took on
more sail. A while later he was about to return to his cave when he noticed
what appeared to be a bundle of rags at the water's edge. Perhaps they had,
at least, left something for him. As he approached the bundle he suddenly
realised the terrible truth. There were now two castaways on the island.

w After you have read the story above, try to re-write it as a first person
narrative, in one of the four styles that you have examined on the previous
sheets. Choose the one that you think fits the story best. You might like to
try more than one version.

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Resources

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RESOURCES

These stories have been used and recommended by many teachers:

"The Lumber Room" - Saki (from "20th Century Short Stories", Harrap 0245530894),
7 pages.
Nicholas, a small boy, is not being taken on an outing with his cousins as a
punishment for being naughty. His aunt supervises him and forbids him to go into
the gooseberry garden. Nicholas steals the key to the lumber room and explores in
there. Later, he hears his aunt shouting. Suspecting that Nicholas had gone into the
gooseberry garden, she had gone looking for him and fallen into a rainwater tank.
Nicholas teases her by pretending that her voice is that of the Evil One, tempting
him into the forbidden garden and refuses to rescue her. A maid rescues her. The
outing turns out not to have been a success, unlike Nicholas's day, which he has
enjoyed immensely.
"The Case for the Defence" - Graham Greene (from "Loves, Hopes and Fears",
Longman Imprint 058233399), 3 1/2 pages.
A reporter attends a murder trial. The accused man was seen by several neighbours
but the key witness was Mrs. Salmon, whose eyes had met the murderer's as he left
the house of the woman who was subsequently found battered to death. Under
questioning, Mrs. Salmon is convinced that the man in the dock is the man she saw
leaving the house, until his twin brother is produced in court. Both men have an
alibi and the accused is acquitted.
As the twins leave the court, one is pushed under a bus. The surviving twin is left
mourning his brother and staring at Mrs. Salmon. The reader is left wondering, with
Mrs. Salmon, whether or not it is the murderer who is alive and free. Although
somewhat contrived, this is a short and gripping story, raising lots of interesting
questions about construction as well as content.
"You Should Have Seen the Mess" - Muriel Spark (from "Story 2", Penguin
Education 0140806571), 5 pages.
A fanatically clean and tidy teenage girl talks about her life from secondary school
days until now (when she is 17). The language is colloquial and direct and the point
of the story is the way that her character is revealed through her comments about
other people and places. The reader is infuriated by her narrow-minded obsessions.
"All Summer in a Day" - Ray Bradbury (in "The Unknown", English and Media
Centre).
This story is set on Venus where the children of the astronauts who have established
an Earth colony are in school. The sun appears on Venus once every seven years for
one hour. The children's yearning for the sun is described through the reactions of a

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girl named Margot. She is bullied by the other pupils and locked in a cupboard by
them. The teacher arrives to take the children to watch the sun rise and set, and
Margot is forgotten until after the event, when the horrified children release her.
The story is about expectation, disappointment, and unintentional, unthinking
cruelty.
"Computers Don't Argue" - Gordon R. Dickson (from "Story 3", Penguin
Education 014080658X), 14 pages.
The story is told through a series of computer punch cards, record cards, notes and
letters. Walter A. Child is wrongly billed for "Kidnapped" by R.L. Stevenson by the
Treasure Book Club. He refuses to pay fines issued through the computer and the
matter is referred to solicitors and the courts. Further confusions caused by the
police and their computer leave Walter Child convicted of the kidnapping and
murder of Robert Louis Stevenson. Despite the efforts of his solicitor, Walter Child
is sentenced to death. The Governor of Illinois issues a pardon but this is rejected by
the computer and returned, thus failing to meet the deadline for the execution. The
final irony is the computer's warning to the Governor of possible arrest and
prosecution for "misusing a service of the State Government".
"Satan On My Track" - Julius Lester (from "Long Journey Home", Longman
058222277X), 27 pages.
Set in a plantation just after the end of the American Civil War, the story describes
how blacks were cheated of their freedom by unscrupulous, racist landowners. Both
tension and great excitement result from the arrival of Rambler, a travelling blues
guitarist of great skill and presence. Despite the offer from Lucille to settle down,
Rambler sets off after his one night stand, knowing that to settle down would
enslave him like the others.
"A Chip of Glass Ruby" - Nadine Gordimer (from "Six Feet of the Country",
Penguin).
An Indian woman is imprisoned by the South African police for engaging in political
activity in support of the struggle by black people against the pass laws. Much of
the story focuses on the character of Mrs. Bamjee as we see her interact with political
activities, her children and her husband. In the end she is arrested and goes on
hunger strike.
"The Raid" - John Steinbeck (from "Short Stories of Our Times", Harrap,
0245564071).
Two men, members of the American Communist Party, are preparing for a political
meeting in a hut by a railway track. Dick, the older man, knows the ropes and helps
the younger man, Noot, to overcome his fear of the prospect of an impending attack
from a hostile group of men. After the attack, Dick and Noot talk about their injuries
in a prison hospital. They do not blame or hate their attackers; they blame it on the
"system".
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"Tom's Sister" - Bill Naughton (from "Late Night on Watling Street", Longman
Imprint 0582233674).
Bill begins work in a local mill, where he meets a fellow worker called Tom, who
tells him about his sister. Bill becomes increasingly emotionally involved with the
idea of meeting Tom's sister, but is devastated to discover that Tom lives with his
father and four brothers and that the sister is a complete fantasy.
"The Destructors" - Graham Greene (from "20th Century Short Stories", Harrap
0245530894).
T leads a gang of boys who take a house apart, brick by brick, leaving it to be finally
flattened when a lorry innocently pulls away the remains under the amazed gaze of
the owner. Why T feels the need to destroy, and how he manages to organise his
gang, are interesting ideas for discussion.
"Through the Tunnel" - Doris Lessing (from "Short Stories of Our Time", Harrap
0245529942).
A lonely 11 year old boy, on holiday with his widowed mother, sees some local boys
diving and playing in a small, rocky bay. He longs to join them, and finds that they
have discovered a way of diving down, swimming through a tunnel in a barrier of
rock and emerging on the other side. Although he is not offered their friendship, he
determines to emulate their achievements and spends many agonising hours trying
to hold his breath under water and to find the tunnel opening in the rock. He
becomes obsessed with the importance of his efforts, and the time eventually comes
when he must try and swim through the tunnel. He does succeed, but almost
drowns in the process - he has a terrible nose bleed, and afterwards can summon no
enthusiasm to go on his own to this particular bay.
"Vendetta" - Guy de Maupassant (from "The Storyteller 1", Ward Lock Educational
0706234936).
A widow's only son is murdered. The murderer escapes from Corsica to Sardinia.
The widow Saverini sheds no tears but promises to avenge her son's death. With no
relatives to help her, she wonders how she can kill her son's murderer. She finally
thinks of a way by using her dog, "Frisky". It is a rather gruesome, bloodthirsty tale
but very powerful, with many issues to discuss.
"The Pedestrian" - Ray Bradbury.
Set in a different time, Leonard Mead find himself at odds with the cosy
complacency of his neighbourhood in the face of what looks like a totalitarian police
state. His evening walk, while everyone else is mesmerised in front of their
television sets, ends with his sudden arrest by a driverless police car.

HEEP SHORT STORIES

46

"Appeasement" - Rabindranath Tagore (from "Short Stories from India, Pakistan

and Bangladesh", Harrap 0245535713).
Copinath Sil's wife, Giribala, is isolated from the outside world, living on the top
floor of a three-storied house. Her isolation, save for the company of her
maidservant, and her enforced idleness, mean that she is completely absorbed by her
own beauty. She becomes, in time, jealous of her husband's infatuation with an
actress and as he spends increasingly long periods away from home with his friends
at the theatre, Giribala decides, with the help of her maid servant, Sudho, to visit the
theatre to see this actress on stage. Eventually she applies for and is successful in
getting the leading role in a play at that theatre. Gopinath Sil cannot cope with the
realisation that he has seen his wife in such a public role. His outburst at the
performance means that he is banned while "the entire city of Calcutta went to feast
its eyes of Giribala's acting".
"Kurt B.P. Mungo and Me" - Roger McGough (from "In the Glassroom", Cape
0224013173).
Three characters negotiate with the author about how the story should proceed.
They complain about the weather that has been written in and that they haven't been
portrayed as public school-boys. After trying to apprehend a handbag snatcher,
they are mistakenly charged with the crime themselves and sentenced to thirty years
imprisonment. They object, and the writer leaves them to consider a number of
possible alternative endings to the story.
"A Message from the Pigman" - John Wain (from "Short Stories of Our Time",
Harrap 0245529942).
Five year old Eric lives with his mother and her new lover, Donald - his father
having moved out. The boy is puzzled by his parents' separation as no-one bothered
to explain to him why his father needed to move out. They thought he was too
young to understand. The Pigman, whom Eric has always feared as a strange half
monster, calls for the refuse bucket. Eric is too scared to admit his fear to his mother.
When forced to confront the Pigman he finds him a normal person, not someone to
be afraid of. He decides, with his new found "adult" perception, that the way to
tackle problems and fears is to face them head on and he asks his mother why his
father can no longer live with them. She fails to respond seriously or to understand
his need for a straight answer and treats it as a cute, sweet question. Eric ends up
disillusioned and disgusted with all grown-ups. The story is told in the third person
but from Eric's point of view. KS4 pupils enjoy the story and get the point. It could
be grouped with other stories to do with: child's eye view - presentation of children
in stories - growing up - parents and children.

HEEP SHORT STORIES

47

"Werewolf" - Angela Carter - ("Contemporary Short Stories 2," Oxford) 2 1/2 pages.
This story is one of Angela Carter's explorations of the Little Red Riding Hood story,
like the better known "A Company of Wolves". In "Werewolf" parallels are drawn
between the grandmother and the wolf at the end of the story and the traditional
pictures of witches and werewolves are raised for discussion.
"Rats Do Sleep At Night" - Wolfgang Borchert (from "The Man Outside" - Jupiter
Books Calder & Boyars), 3 pages.
This is a story about Jurgen, a young boy keeping guard over the body of his dead
younger brother, buried under a pile of rubble in a bomb attack. Jurgen is
particularly afraid of rats getting at the body. A man talks with Jurgen and seems to
have persuaded him that rats do sleep at night so that the body can be safely left.
"Examination Day" - Henry Slesar 3 1/2 pages.
This is a story, set in the future, where all children who become twelve have to
undergo an intelligence test. Dickie Jordan's parents are worried about his
forthcoming test. Dickie is a boy who asks questions constantly. Mr and Mrs Jordan
accompany their son to the Government Education Building. After the test they are
told that Dickie's intelligence was high and ask how they want his body disposed of.

The grid on the next page shows the main features of the stories mentioned in this
Resources Section to enable you to select stories for a variety of purposes. For
example you might wish to highlight the differences between a strong writer's voice
and a strong narrator's voice or to focus on a story with an interesting structure.

HEEP SHORT STORIES

48

TOM'S SISTER (NAUGHTON)

STRUCTURE

ATMOSPHERE/MOOD

ISSUES

SITUATION

3 3

3 3 3
3

RELATIONSHIP

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

HUMOUR

OPEN ENDED

TWIST AT THE END

INTERESTING TIME SEQUENCE

CHARACTER BY ACTION

3 3

THROUGH THE TUNNEL (LESSING)

CHARACTER BY COMMENT

STRONG WRITER'S VOICE

STRONG NARRATOR'S VOICE

THIRD PERSON NARRATIVE

FIRST PERSON NARRATIVE

THE RAID (STEINBECK)

3 3

VENDETTA (DE MAUPASSANT)

KURT B.P. MUNGO AND ME (McGOUGH)

3 3 3 3

SATAN ON MY TRACK (LESTER)

THE IDEALIST (O'CONNOR)

3 3 3 3

3 3 3
3

3
3 3 3

3 3

3 3

MESSAGE FROM THE PIGMAN (WAIN)

EXAMINATION DAY (SLESAR)

3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3

RATS DO SLEEP AT NIGHT (BORCHERT)

3 3

THE WEREWOLF (CARTER)

3 3

IMAGINATION DEAD IMAGINE (BECKETT)

3 3 3 3

THE SNIPER (O'FLAHERTY)

CHIP OF GLASS RUBY (GORDIMER)

3 3

COMPUTERS DON'T ARGUE (DICKSON)

THE DESTRUCTORS (GREENE)

3
3
3 3

ALL SUMMER IN A DAY (BRADBURY)

3 3

THE LUMBER ROOM (SAKI)

3 3

HEEP SHORT STORIES

3 3 3

3 3
3

3 3 3 3 3
3

3 3
3

3 3 3

3 3 3

3 3 3

3 3

3 3 3

THE APPEASEMENT (TAGORE)

3 3

3
3

3 3 3
3 3

THE CASE FOR THE DEFENCE (GREENE)

3 3 3 3

3 3

THE PEDESTRIAN (BRADBURY)

YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE MESS

(SPARK)

3
3

3 3

3
3

3 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3

3
3 3

49