Teachables: How to read a short story

This is inspired by a series of exercises that one of my students had to do at his school. Essentially, they were breaking down various short stories, and analysing the “meaning” behind each of them.

Till this day, I’m not too sure what examination module this was connected to, or if this was an exercise to build their creative or cognitive abilities.

All I know is that he struggled. A lot. I found myself trying to find ways in which to help him, as short stories are a bit more difficult to assess. They rarely have study guides attached to them, not much of a digital footprint, and beloved AI systems always seem to get the point, but through erroneous assumptions of narrative.

Quality, not quantity is the key

Cliche, but true. Short stories are essentially drawing your attention to a singular point - usually a perspective, if it is written well :)

So, enjoy the flow of the story, without worrying so much about where it is going till the very end. Since quantity is compromised, it usually feels abrupt, strange, or incomplete.

it should be - it is short for a reason. Context is almost always implied, or even omitted. It had to be inferred most of the time.

So, when approaching a short story, it may be best to think of it as a slice of life from somewhere. Random, extracted, and unresolved.

Finding your way through the details

So, if a good contextual foundation needs to be established, for you to have a clear idea of what is going on, looking at the details is going to be essential.

Example: sorry, just from the top of my head

A character gets on an overcrowded bus and hands his ticket to the bus conductor who scowls at him. He looks down at his hand, his skin, and reflects.

So, the analysis could quickly be:

Overcrowded bus - perhaps, living modestly

Bus ticket - from an era before

Scowls + Skin = perhaps racial prejudice

Ta-da…

Like that :) Have a class with me to see how best to perfect this inferential skill.

Of the brain goes into overdrive and you start thinking about Jim Crow America, remember, just pick up more clues to really establish if it is. If not, go minimal with your inference.

If the character says, “howdy,” then - you have a good chance at establishing that it is based in America.

See, they don’t have time to tell you the context, and it takes away from the beauty of it being bite-sized, so you have to navigate accordingly. Every piece is more or less intentional in a smaller space, like a poem.

Inferring the point from the pieces

From here, once the technicalities are starting to get smoothened out mentally, then you can start to look at the emotive angles of the story.

So, going back:

He looks down at his hand, his skin, and reflects.

Notice the character’s reaction to the scowl. We already inferred that the scowl is racially motivated. So, how does the character react to this prejudice. It’s not a scowl anymore, but the discrimination, isn’t it?

All we get is that he “reflects” - that’s it.

So, go with what it isn’t. He doesn’t get angry, he doesn’t get sad, he doesn’t move, he simply looks at his skin and thinks… or realizes? Or, is reminded? He didn’t actively think of it before.

So, he is socially non-reactionary, but rather, he is personally introspective.

What is the point in that?

Social and racial discrimination + non-reaction + being reminded… of his place in society… =

Point: even though you are human, the world will always put you in a category and treat you accordingly

Something like that.

It’s a skill, and short stories are a wonderful way to sharpen that.