6-11-09 Class Reading

Reading pages 7-25 in the book and taking notes was rather time consuming. I ended up with around 6 pages of notes, and I write rather small (sloppy, but small). I started reading the book the day it arrived in the mail. Of course I couldn't help myself from opening it and familiarizing myself with the style in which it is laid out. Having been distracted by my grandson, I put the book down and didn't pick it up again until it was time to put it in my backpack for class.
I liked reading the introduction and learning about all of the different terms used to describe various short stories and their many parts.
Normally when I read a story I read it for entertainment purposes and do not analyze it. If a symbol jumps off the page, or I make a connection that is not readily apparent, I am pleased with myself. Seeing the different terms used to describe each part of a story gave me some new words to add to my dialogue.
The introduction is filled with terms describing different forms of short stories and what the individual parts of them are called. In the "Telling of the Tale" the author talks about the classifications of stories. He uses different stories as examples of the various types. After a brief history of those story types, he delves right into "The Short Story Genre".
The author relates that the origin of the short story is unknown. He does however credit the novella as being "one important influence". He follows the short story from "The Decameron" to more modern pieces of writing.
Throughout the introduction he uses the short story "Reunion" as an example of the various elements. I thought maybe he would include this story in the book, but I didn't find it. That being said, because he talked so much about it, I almost felt like I didn't need to read it. He described and analyzed it to death.
While reading this section, I was able to think back to what I normally read and apply the terms to different books by a wide variety of authors. He talks about there not being a new idea for plots, and that most stories are just retold over and over with different settings and characters. That also made me stop and reflect. I guess that's why I read a lot of the same types of books and mainly stick with the same authors.
I need to have a closed ending or closed denouement. What a great word, I wish I could remember without having to really think about it how to pronounce it. If I mistakenly pick up a story that has an open ending, I generally don't read that author again.
I can't wait to begin reading the short stories for the mini book club on Tuesday. I am not however looking forward to making notes and analyzing them.