Short Stories From Flannery O Connor The Complete...

The selected short stories from Flannery O’Connor: The Complete Stories and Stories of the Modern South invite many types of criticism all of which require close reading which is essential for student learning. Combining stories selected from these two books with Reader Response criticism is an excellent way to introduce students to the art of literary criticism. Reader Response criticism provides students with the opportunity to combine reading for pleasure and reading with a purpose and the short stories written by William Faulkner, Caroline Gibson, Carson McCullers, and Eudora Welty contain themes of the gothic and grotesque which grab the reader and hold them spellbound until the end of the story, but somehow leave them wanting more.†¦show more content†¦Warren Akin IV believes that Rider â€Å"†¦ Has sympathetic qualities, so we do not want him to suffer. And when he does suffer, we see his responses as believable manifestations of grief† (398). Faulk ner and O Connor s use of the Southern vernacular creates a realistic feel for the reader. â€Å"The Brilliant Leaves,† by Caroline Gordon lures the reader into what appears to be a story about a lovely summer resort where a young man, Jimmy anxiously anticipates seeing his young lady again. The story implies that Jimmy is attempting to re-ignite a summer romance, but Evelyn seems less than enthusiastic and distracted. The meeting between the two feels stilted and uncomfortable and does not improve as the story progresses. Students can speculate as to the state of the relationship between Jimmy and Evelyn, by suggesting the reason that she does not want Jimmy to meet her train or why her physical responses shift from amorous to prudish and back again. She responds to Jimmy’s marriage proposal by telling him, â€Å"They wouldn’t let us †¦ we’re too young† (226). Then in the very next sentence, she tells Jimmy, â€Å"I’m perfectly crazy about you† (226). They walk together toward Bridal Veil Falls, which eventually leads to the accident where Evelyn falls from the rock on the waterfall. O’Connor also writes about a relationship that is deteriorating in â€Å"A View of the Woods,† Mr. FortuneShow MoreRelatedFlannery OConner and the use of grotesque character in Good country people and a good man is hard to find1226 Words   |  5 Pagescentury writing (Holman 61). Almost all of O Connor s short stories usually end in horrendous, freak fatalities or, at the very least, a character s emotional devastation. People have categorized O Connor s work as Southern Gothic (Walters 30). In Many of her short stories, A Good Man Is Hard To Find for example, Flannery O Connor creates grotesque characters to illustrate the evil in people. Written in 1953, A Good Man Is Hard To Find is one of O Connor s most known pieces of work and hasRead MoreA Late Encounter With the Enemy by Flannery O’Connor911 Words   |  4 Pagesinclude Works like Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Late encounter with the enemy† incorporates the idea of â€Å"investigating madness, decay and despair, and the continuing pressures of the past upon the present, particularly with respect to the lost ideals of a dispossessed Southern aristocracy and to the continuance of racial hostilities.†(Marshall 3). These ideas all share a common theme that O’Connor brings to the table in â€Å"A Late Encounter with the enemy, along with â€Å"The American South serves as the nation’sRead MoreEffectiveness of Juvenile Incarceration1357 Words   |  6 PagesTo Find† by Flannery O’Connor who is a Southern American novelist and short story writer, O’ Connor’s career expanded in the 1950sand early 60s, a time when the South was dominated by Protestant Christians.O’Connor was born and raised a Catholic. She was a fundamentalist and aChristian moralist whose powerful apocalyptic fiction is focused in the South.Flannery O’Connor was born March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia. O’ Connorgrew up on a farm with her parents Regina and Edward O’ Connor. At the ageRead MoreA Good Man By Flannery O Connor1795 Words   |  8 PagesEnglish 261 Final exam A Good Man is Hard to find in this Story Considered as one of the best short story authors in her era, Flannery O Connor wrote many short stories before her death in 1964. A faithful Catholic, religion was a primary theme in her works; she wrote mostly about southern life with religious themes recurring in her work. One of her most famous stories was the 1955 short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find. The story depicts the heartless execution of a family by a group of escapedRead MoreEverything That Rises Must Converge By Flannery O Connor1583 Words   |  7 PagesIn Flannery O’ Connor’s, â€Å"Everything That Rises Must Converge†, Julian’s resentment towards his mother becomes the cause of his own self-revelation. In a selfish attempt to teach his racist mother a lesson in morality, Julian does not sit with her on an integrated bus because It is his fantasy that she will be forced to sit next to an African American person. His wish comes true when an African American woman and her son get o n the bus and take a seat next to each of them. However, contrary to