Need some short story ideas

[Chris in PA]

I am finishing up literature with my 9th grade dd. We have started a unit on short stories and have read The Luck of Roaring Camp and The Lottery. The Lottery stirred up some very strong emotions in my dd. So, I am wondering if there are any short stories that aren't so dark? I am not sure I can throw another dark story at her. I was going to do Poe next but am hesitant. Can anyone help?????

 

Thanks

[AngieW in Texas]

Ransom of Red Chief (O'Henry)

The Necklace (de Maupassant) - not positive about spelling on the name

The Story of an Hour (Chopin)

A Blunder (Chekhov)

 

O'Henry actually has quite a few good short stories, but Ransom of Red Chief is my favorite.

[Kendall]

The Open Window by Saki

 

We enjoyed this one and my sons wrote an essay on it.

[Lori D.]

American

- Rip Van Winkle (Irving) -- folktale-like = http://www.bartleby.com/195/4.html

- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Irving) -- fun = http://www.bartleby.com/310/2/2.html

- Rappaccini's Daughter (Hawthorne) -- gothic, ironic/tragic = http://www.shsu.edu/~eng_wpf/authors/Hawthorne/Rappaccini.htm

- Young Goodman Brown (Hawthorne) -- gothic, ironic/tragic = http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/nh/ygb.html

- Luck of Roaring Camp (Harte) -- funny; sad = http://www.classicreader.com/book/810/1/

- Bride Comes to Yellow Sky (Crane) -- funny; bittersweet = http://www.unibg.it/dati/corsi/36065/10390-Stephen%20Crane,%20The%20Bride%20Comes%20to%20Yellow%20Sky.PDF

- Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (Bierce) -- twist ending; tragic = http://www.fullbooks.com/An-Occurrence-At-Owl-Creek-Bridge.html

- Story without an End (Twain) -- funny = http://www.verbanet.com.ar/lit03b.html

- Gift of the Magi (Henry) -- bittersweet = http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/Gift_of_the_Magi.html

- Ransom of Red Chief (Henry) -- funny = http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/RanRed.shtml

- A Harlem Tragedy (Henry) -- funny; biting commentary = http://www.literaturecollection.com/a/o_henry/222/

- The Lady or the Tiger (Stockton) -- the ultimate cliffhanger story = http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/LadyTige.shtml

- The Most Dangerous Game (Connell) -- fun, ironic adventure = http://www.classicreader.com/book/1317/1/

- Thank You Ma'am (Hughes) -- funny, bittersweet = http://acasiday.wiki.hoover.k12.al.us/file/view/Thank+You+Ma'am+text.pdf

- The Catbird Seat (Thurber) -- funny, ironic = http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1942/11/14/1942_11_14_017_TNY_CARDS_000189786

 

 

British

- The Golden Key (MacDonald) -- inspiring; bittersweet = http://www.george-macdonald.com/etexts/fiction/golden_key.html

- The Light Princess (MacDonald) -- funny; fairytale = http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Light-Princess.html

- Farmer Giles of Ham (Tolkien) -- funny

- Leaf by Niggle (Tolkien) -- bittersweet; inspiring

- Smith of Wooten Major (Tolkien) -- bittersweet; inspiring

- Rikki Tikki Tavi (Kipling) -- heroic adventure = http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/mongoose/www/rtt.html

- The Open Window (Saki) -- funny = http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/OpeWin.shtml

- The Monkey's Paw (Jacobs) -- creepy, but good = http://www.americanliterature.com/Jacobs/SS/TheMonkeysPaw.html

- A Scandal in Bohemia (or other Sherlock Holmes short story) (Doyle) = http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/ScanBohe.shtml

- The Blue Cross (or other Father Brown short story mystery) (Chesterton) = http://chesterton.org/gkc/murderer/bluecross.htm

- a Lord Peter Wimsey short story mystery (Sayers) = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Peter

- A Child's Christmas in Wales (Thomas) -- memoir = http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-child-s-christmas-in-wales/

 

 

World

- The Inspector General (Gogol) -- funny; biting satire = http://www.online-literature.com/gogol/inspector-general/

- The Nose (Gogol) -- funny; biting satire = http://h42day.100megsfree5.com/texts/russia/gogol/nose.html

- The Queen of Spades (Pushkin) -- mysterious = http://home.freeuk.net/russica2/books/pushk/spads/spads.html

- The Storm (Verne) -- mysterious

- The Necklace (de Maupassant) -- ironic, sad = http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Neck.shtml

- How Much Land Does a Man Need (Tolstoy) -- tragic; moral tale = http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a0859.pdf

Edited April 8, 2010 by Lori D.
added web links

[elegantlion]

subscribing for future reference. :lurk5:

[Chris in PA]

These are great ideas. Thank you all soooooo much! I am going to start with The Ransom of Red Chief tomorrow. I think she will really enjoy that one.:001_smile: