"That story was awesome!"
"When I finished the story, it felt like a slap in the face."
"We have to discuss this story!"
I'm not making those remarks up either. Those were the first words out of the first students into my College Comp class today.
The story they are referring to is by Tony Hunter. It is a well-written thriller called "Listen to the End."
Here's the first paragraph - and while it's not "Call me Ishmael" or "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times" - it's still pretty effective - and it establishes the mood right away -
"A flurry of wind sent the brown leaves tumbling end over end ahead of her along the dark, glistening pavement. Thin, cold drizzle, driven by the wind wrapped a clammy embrace round her hurrying figure and swirls of mist danced beckoningly around the street lamps, transmuting their normally friendly beacons into baleful yellow eyes. The tall Victorian houses frowned down disapprovingly on the small figure in the bright red raincoat as if the bright splash of colour offended their staid and sombre tastes."
We had just finished "The Lottery" yesterday and we had a great discussion about the meaning and craft behind the story.
I thought I'd assign Hunter's story to the class because it's not as 'deep' as Jackson's story, it is similar in its conclusion. Plus, I had responses from three critics all disagreeing on the story's meaning.
So I had them read it overnight and come in ready to discuss it. Then I'd give them the responses from the critics and see which ones they agree with and see how they interpreted the story.
It was pretty wonderful.
4 comments:
Cool thing to happen. I don't know the story, but intro excerpt demonstrates prose skill.
And apparently you have kids willing to read outside school!
I have a student trying to reference this story. Can you tell me if it appears in a collection and if so the bibliographic details?
Thanks
You have critics responses? If they are on-line can you please post a link. I love this story and have used it in class often but have never seen any 'official' responses to it.
The story "Listen to the End" appears in the text "Reading Fictions" which is part of the NCTE Chalface Series. In the exercise involving the story, the text lists three different critical responses to the story. The first thinks it's a classic suspense story. The second views the story from a feminism viewpoint and believes "This story is yet another of those nasty, prurient stories in which the reader is invited to join in a titillating masculinist fantasy of rape and domination." The third takes the story as an artful joke: a send up of the cliche suspense story.
I cannot recommend the "Reading Fictions" text enough. It's superb and a staple of my curriculum.
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