One of the well - known 18th - century short stories is 'The Rape of the Lock' by Alexander Pope. It's a mock - epic that humorously depicts the social scene of the time, focusing on a petty quarrel over a lock of hair. Another is 'The Devil and Tom Walker' by Washington Irving. It tells the story of a man who makes a deal with the devil. And then there's 'The Spectre - Bridegroom' by Washington Irving as well, which is a spooky and engaging short story.
Well, 'A Rose for Emily' by William Faulkner is a great 20th century short story. It tells the story of a reclusive woman in the South. Also, 'Hills Like White Elephants' by Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway's sparse style really shines in this story about a couple having a tense conversation. There are many more, like Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis' which is about a man who wakes up transformed into a giant insect.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown' is also a significant 19th - century short story. It explores themes of faith, sin, and the nature of humanity. The story follows Goodman Brown as he ventures into the forest one night and has a series of disturbing encounters that make him question the goodness of his community and his own faith. Additionally, Guy de Maupassant's 'The Necklace' is well - known. It's about a woman who borrows a diamond necklace to attend a high - society event, loses it, and spends years in poverty trying to replace it, only to find out at the end that the original necklace was a fake.
One of the well - known ones is 'Harrison Bergeron' by Kurt Vonnegut. It shows a society where everyone is made equal in the most extreme and absurd ways through handicaps. Another is 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson, which depicts a small town with a disturbing annual tradition. And George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' (although it can be considered a novella) is also important, as it uses animals to satirize totalitarian regimes in a dystopian context.
Some great 20th - century horror short stories include Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'. In this story, a small town has an annual lottery, but it's not what one would expect. The twist at the end is quite horrifying. Also, Richard Matheson's 'Prey' is a chilling story. It involves a small, malevolent doll that terrorizes a woman, playing on the fear of the unknown and the idea of something small being very dangerous.
One well - known 19th century French short story is 'The Necklace' by Guy de Maupassant. It tells the story of a woman who borrows a diamond necklace to attend a ball, loses it, and then spends years in poverty trying to replace it, only to find out in the end that the original necklace was a fake. Another is 'The Horla' by Maupassant as well, which is a rather eerie tale about an invisible being that haunts the narrator.
Some good ones include Franz Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis'. In this strange story, the main character wakes up one day transformed into a giant insect, and it's a great exploration of alienation and the human condition. Isaac Babel's 'My First Goose' is also notable. It shows the harshness of war and how people adapt to survive in military settings. And D. H. Lawrence's 'The Rocking - Horse Winner' is a thought - provoking short story that delves into themes of greed, family, and the search for luck.
Well, they often had a strong sense of moral instruction. 19th - century society placed great importance on propriety and morality, and women writers in their short stories would convey these values. Also, the language was usually quite refined. Writers were well - educated and their works reflected this, with elegant prose. And a lot of the stories centered around themes of love and marriage, as these were the main aspects of a woman's life at that time.
The 20th century Jewish short stories are often marked by a sense of displacement. With the diaspora and the upheavals of the century such as the Holocaust, many stories centered around the feeling of being uprooted from one's homeland. They also tend to have strong family themes. Family relationships were central in Jewish culture, and these stories showed how families coped with the changing times, whether it was economic hardships or social changes.
The 20th - century English short stories are known for their realism. They depict the real - life situations of different classes of society quite vividly. Some stories focus on the working - class struggles, while others on the upper - class decadence. Moreover, the language used in these stories can be very rich and varied. Writers were no longer restricted to the formal language of the past and incorporated colloquialisms and regional dialects. This made the stories more accessible to a wider range of readers.
One important 19th - century science fiction short story is Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar'. It's a disturbing tale that plays with the ideas of life, death, and the power of the mind over the body. Additionally, Jules Verne's works like 'A Journey to the Center of the Earth' in short story form if considered, is full of adventure and scientific speculation about what could be found in the Earth's core.