Thursday, October 2, 2008

Short Story Opinion Blog

Similar to a Movie Review, your task is to answer the question: What is the best short story and why? without using a personal pronoun, such as "I" and "We".

Directions:
  1. Focus on the elements that makes your story superior to all others. Therefore, your writing should define the elements and focus on the author's ability to use them. Use at least two substantial reasons for your conclusion of why. Evidence is key.
  2. Respond to someone opinion. In at least two-three sentences, offer feedback to one of your classmates about their perspective. Make sure you are specific in your response to alert the audience to whom your are responding to. Also, remember that all comments should be in the spirit of education. Be nice.
  3. Bring both responses to class to debate your opinion.

86 comments:

Unknown said...

I think "The Lady or The Tiger" is superior to all the others because the author tries to interact with you because you get to pick the ending. Also because the author is making you use your imagination and he wants you to think of an ending depending on your imagination. He wants this because he doesn't want to chose the ending for you. Also because the irony in this story is far greater than any of the other short stories that I have read.

Unknown said...

From all of the short stories that Mr.Kendall's 9th grade advanced class has read, "The Lady and the Tiger" can be called as the best out of all of them. What makes this short story more superior to all the other short stories read so far, is the fact that in the end of the story, the author leaves you to decide whether the man lives or whether he dies. The story's irony and theme are harder to think of because throughout the whole story, it's just the author speaking to you. These elements of you choosing your own ending and making the theme and irony harder to think of make the story so much greater than all of the other stories. Also how the author uses these elements make it so much better.
-Y.G.

Josh G. said...

The best short story in the unit was "The Most Dangerous Game", for two reasons. One, this story offers clear and definite irony. The protagonist here is an established hunter who later becomes hunted himself. The use of this literary device is well applied and goes beyond any twist of fate the other stories offer. Two, this story offers the element of suspense, and in greater amount than the others. Throughout the whole story the protagonist is evading the antagonist, leaving the reader waiting and anticipating the future. For these substantial reasons, "The Most Dangerous Game" is the best short story.

Josh G. said...

I would agree with Yuma that "The Lady and the Tiger" is unique due to its unusual ending. Also, this does make it harder to determine other elements of the story.

Unknown said...

In our 9th grade advanced english class the short stories have gone from one theme to another. In general the best short the class has read is the Scarlet Ibis. This story portrayed many instances were one character would help another, but not for the other persons good. The main character only had pride to help his brother because he didnt want to be embarrassed by him. This short story had happy moments between the brothers, but even more sad moments when one leaves the other behind. This was a touching story but ended with situational irony. As a class everyone might agree this has been the best short stroy read during this unit.

~A.P

Unknown said...

Mr. Kendall's class has read some great stories in the past couple of weeks. The best story is "The Most Dangerous Game" due to a few reasons. First of all, the best and the most important reason is that the story clearly focuses on suspense and people seem to like that these days. Of course, the story contains a reasonable amount of irony. Another reason that makes this story strong and likeable is that the main characters engage in a conflict that requires both characters' strongest strength and ability. And due to this, no one can predict the outcome or the resolution and this builds even more suspense.
-SP

Unknown said...

I respect everyone's thoughts and opinions but I disagree with anyone who has stated that they favored "The Lady or the Tiger". In my opinion the story contains a boring climax. I was disappointed when the author left the resolution in his readers' hands. It's almost as if he wants us to do the most important work for him. The plot is very interesting.
Above all, the best is "The Most Dangerous Game".
-SP

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

The best short story that was read in English class was "The Lady or the Tiger." The story was descriptive and had an amazing ending, the reader got the choice of what would happen, the lady or the tiger, hence the title. The author, Frank Stockton, was able to condense the story into a few pages even though it would take a novel for others to write. One thing that made the story so good was the fact that the author was able to write the story using no dialog. He set the tone, mood, and setting in all descriptions. The use of no dialog made it so that the characters were mostly based on what the reader thought and to each reader the characters are different. Since the characters are different to each reader then the ending will be different to each reader, which makes the story so memorable. Another thing that made the story the best out of this unit is that the theme is hard to detect. There might not even be a theme. Or there could be millions of themes, depending on how each reader perceives the story and what there choice of ending is. Frank Stockton has made a unique and thought provoking piece of literature.

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Unknown said...

The best story is "The Scarlet Ibis". It offers clear irony, strong symbolism, and an insight into human nature. The symbolism that compares the ibis to Doodle, Doodle's struggles to the ibis' plight, and the comparison between the futile struggles of both Doodle and the Ibis are clearly defined. The irony is very strong and ties in with the symbolism and foreshadowing of the story. The irony is showing the how the futile struggles of both Doodle and the Ibis' were useless but affected those who witnessed them forever. The Scarlet Ibis has a good theme and insight into human nature. The protagonist/narrator only helps his brother Doodle to overcome his disabilities because he is ashamed of having a decrepit invalid brother. Overall, The Scarlet Ibis was definitely the best short story, Mr. Kendall's 9th grade class has read so far.

Unknown said...

I disagree with Yuma because I think the "Lady, or the Tiger?" is a decent story but the complete lack of dialogue and ubiquitous stock characters make it seem slightly slow and boring. I think that the irony is clearly defined but is not very interesting. The cliffhanger ending is well written, but the main body of the story could be better constructed.

Sarah said...

Out of all the short stories read in Mr. Kendall’s 9th grade advanced class, the best was "The Most Dangerous Game". This is because it was the most suspenseful. It was also a very different story, instead of a wild animal being hunted, a human was being hunted by a human. In this story the irony is clear, it is situational irony, because the readers would never expect a human to me hunted. The author did a great job tying all the events together, and having it make sense.
~Sarah

Emissary666 said...

The best of all short stories read in Mr. Kendall's 9th grade 4th period english class was the "Cask of Amontillado". Poe uses a matter-of-fact tone while describing the horrible process of walling another human being in to an alcove. To portray a character so unfazed by such evil and to carry it out over an insult creates fear in any sane human. Poe also narrates the story from the eyes of the villain protagonist, a point of view that is unsettling in the least. The villain protagonist in the story describes his hate and reveals his evil to the reader, only to unleash it unto Fortunato. "The Cask Of Amontillado" has been one of the best horror stories in history and is the best story read in class by virtue of that infamy.

Emissary666 said...

I disagree that with the many who claim "The Lady and the Tiger" to be the best short story read in class as the author shows no creativity, only laziness, in the stories plot and narration by leaving most details to the reader.

Anonymous said...

I agree with those who say that "The Most Dangerous Game" is very suspenseful. The author did a fantastic job at keeping the readers interested. The irony is also very good although I did suspect that after the jump on the cliff that it wasn't the last of Rainsford. I think it was one of the best stories we have read for suspense and irony. But I don't think the story was best overall.

Unknown said...

"The Most Dangerous Game" is the best short story we have read for English class. One of the reasons is because of the conflict between General Zaroff and Rainsford. Conflict is one of the most important elements in any story and the author Richard Connell uses it well to keep the reader riveted to the outcome. The conflict evolves from man versus nature, to man versus man. A second element in this short story
is foreshadowing. At the beginning of the story, when Rainsford and Whitney speak about hunting jaguars, they speak of "the fear of pain and the fear of death". This clue foreshadowed the fear that Rainsford later had while being hunted by Zaroff. Connell's clues build suspense as the ultimate hunt comes to its conclusion.

hunter said...

Out of all the short stories we read in class "The Necklace" was the best because you learn that lieing can lead to many horrible things for example in this story one lie makes the main characters poor and in debt for 10 years.The irony in this story is very good and relates to the theme. Most people think that lieing is easy to get away with and can't come back in hurt you, this story is giving you the advice not to lie because no matter how long it takes it will come back to haunt you.

Unknown said...

I agree with Yuma because he is right about the ending of the story. Also because I picked the same short story and I like how Yuma worded hid response. I also agree with Yuma when he says the author is like he wants to speak with you.
-tk

hunter said...

I disagree with sam that " The Cask of Amontillado" is the best short story we read because the dialogue and theme are hard to understand, which is the main reason why we read it in class. The dialogue has a lot to due with fancy words for graveyards and wine that anyone who doesn't have a huge interest in either one would not understand the story(such as myself and many other classmates).

Unknown said...

Although I agree with Jesse that "The Scarlet Ibis" has great symbolism, by itself symbolism doesn't make a great story. I could not build any empathy with the narrator's character, so I had
difficulty feeling involved in the story. It's just about a selfish brother's embarrassment and guilt.

Megan said...
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Ricky said...

The best short story that was read in English class was “The Scarlet Ibis”. This short story offers literal and figurative language, metaphor, simile, flash back, foreshadowing, symbolism and theme, which is more than the other short stories read, had to offer. Also when these “tools” where used it was clear and easy to understand, such as when the author gives some “easy” foreshadowing by, comparing Doodle to a dead red Scarlet Ibis, to show that Doodle will die and die in red blood. The best short story is one that uses most of the “tools” to create a short story {Scarlet Ibis}.

-HS

Nathan said...

Mr. Kendall's 4th period, 9th grade, Advanced class is the best, and the best short story they have read is absolutely positively irrefutably, up to the specific reader, and is an opinion. But the opinion of this member of the class which is typing this response, believes that "The Scarlet Ibis" is the best of the short stories. This is because the author made you care about the characters, and mostly doodle. The author created that link between the ibis and doodle, and that use of symbolism helps make a good story.
NDDB

Nathan said...

Also, I agree with Josh G., except for his response, there I agree with Sam. The short story "The Lady or the Tiger" was a little too open ended, but it was a good story as in useful, because it make for a good class discussion.

Megan said...

Of all of the interesting short stories that have been read, the best story of all is "The Scarlet Ibis". This story is the best because it has the best plot, when the story is read it feels like whoever is reading is actually there. There are so many details, but the best part of all was watching Doodle grow. "The Scarlet Ibis" is also very sad at the end, and the use of foreshadowing is very good, the comparison of Doodle and the scarlet ibis is sad, but also very unique. "The Scarlet Ibis" also has the best insight into life, "Sometimes in life, we regret our actions because of the pain it brought to others." "The Scarlet Ibis" truly is the best story.

Nathan said...

Also Also, I dont mean to be a tattle tail, but if Chris reads this fast, then I might sve him, he used "we", and also, Chris, even thought it is your opinion, "The Scarlet Ibis" was pretty easy to have empathy for, unless you are Sam B.

Shayna Linov said...

The short story "The Most Dangerous Game" was the most superior because of the characters and the mood in the story. The characters were the most interesting out of all the short stories and the plot was the most suspenseful. The two main characters in this story immediately grab the attention of the reader and then keep interest. Also, the author keeps the mood suspenseful by showing an eerie setting and describing ominous characters. Also there is a good use of irony. The reader would not expect an expert hunter to be the one hunted. These elements from the story make "The Most Dangerous Game" the best of the short stories.

Unknown said...

The best story is "Lady and the Tiger." This was the best story because you could decide what happened in the end. This left you to decide what you thought would happen. This made you think about what you would do in that situation and you didn’t get told the answer like other stories. All the other short stories had one ending while the Lady and the tiger had many possible outcomes. Also the story had a good plot and was easy to understand unlike the cask of Amontillado which was very hard to read. Overall I thought the Lady and the tiger was the best story out of the ones we've read.

Ricky said...

I disagree with Yuma who stated that the short story “Lady or the Tiger” is the superior short story. This is because in the short story “Lady or the Tiger” the author creates all the characters as stalk characters and uses no dialogue, which made the story a whole lot boring. Also the “cliff hanger” ending was not a good ending because since all the characters were stock characters, to draw a conclusion about how the story is supposed to end is difficult and unpleasing to the reader.

-HS

Katelyn said...

The best short story in Mr. Kendall's 9th grade advanced English class so far is "The Gift of the Magi". It is the best so far because it sort of has an expected ending but also like a unique ending. The disney movie version of this has always been really cute, and seeing that version before reading this book made the story more enjoyable. By seeing the movie firat you could relate to the story better. If you have seen the movie its easier to get a picture of the story. It also being pretty short makes it easier to read. For some books/ stories their really boring and with them being long makes you want to stop reading. When they are short you can rad them faster. With the author useing things that most people know what they are deffinately helps with the visual effect, and when you can picture some parts of a story it will sometimes make the story more enjoyable.

Megan said...

I disagree that "The Necklace is the best story because there really is no plot. I think that there is some good advice, but there is really no detail. I felt like an outsider in this story, in fact, there was really no background information.

Unknown said...

I agree with Halle that the "Lady and the tiger," was the best story we've read so far. The ending in it was really good and was different from other stories endings. Plus, I agree the no dialog made it easy to read.

Unknown said...

"The Necklace" is the best of the short stories that has been read so far. The story shows a great life lesson, that you should always be truthful. In "The Necklace", the main character lies about losing the necklace and ends up buying a replacement that she spent ten years paying off. Also the story is very ironic. The story uses dramatic irony because the main character spends ten years paying off the necklace when she then finds out that it is a fake and has no value. Irony can be a painful thing.
-Dylan B

Shayna Linov said...

I agree with Josh because he is using the example that a hunter is being hunted himself in The Most Dangerous Game and he is saying that this situational irony "goes beyond any twist of fate the other stories offer" and that this gives the story greater suspense. Also, he says the reader is always anticipating the future because of the dangerous situation the protagonist is in.

Unknown said...

I disagree with Teddy that "The Lady or the Tiger" is the superior short story. The story has all stock characters to move the plot along and the author gives no description of the characters. Also I disagree with the ending. I think that it should have an answer instead of leaving you thinking.
-Dylan B

Katelyn said...

I agree with Hunter that "The Necklace" was one of the best stories we have read in this unit so far. I also agree with the statement he made "Most people think that lieing is easy to get away with and can't come back in hurt you".

Unknown said...

The best short story that Mr. Kendall's 4th Period English Class read was "Scarlet Ibis" because it compares two different characters, Doodle and the Scarlet Ibis, in a way that you have to think about. This short story had a strong theme, symbolism, and it showed irony. Another reason why "Scarlet Ibis" was the best short story that was read was because the symbolism between the Scarlet Ibis and Doodle was creative and allowed you to have to think about the short story more than just having to read it. This short story also allows you to have many emotions towards it, because you feel happy that Doodle learns and grows and doesn't die like they expected but then at the end when Doodle does die you feel very sad. Overall "Scarlet Ibis" was the best short story read.

Ellen D said...

The best short story that Mr. Kendall's class has read over the past couple of weeks in "The Scarlet Ibis". "It is the best story because of the author's use of situational irony, foreshadowing and the way they portrayed the main character, the older brother (narrator). The ending to the story was a twist of fate, but to some was expected because of the foreshadowing with scarlet ibis that had died out in the family's backyard. The bird had died after it made such a long journey like Doodle had and in the end Doodle also died. Also the author made the older brother's personality unique. The story was interesting and enjoyable to read, that is what makes it superior to the others.
E.D

Ellen D said...

I disagree with the people who said that the "The Cask Of Amontillado" was the best story. It was very confusing and hard to read and understand. Personally I don't think that the characters were described well enough to understand them.
E.D

Unknown said...

The most superior story we have read in mr. Kendall's english class is easily The Cask of Amontillado. The authur does a great job of using irony. Such as dramatic iron when we know that Montresor holds a grudge with Fortunato and is going to do somthing bad to him when Fortunato has no idea of this. Throughout the story the authur thrills you with many forms of iron, twists and turns, and other unexpected things on the way. That is why The Cask of Amontillado is by far the best story that has been read in english class.

-K-dog

Unknown said...

I agree with Megan, not only that "Scarlet Ibis" was the best short story that we have read, but also that we can feel as though we are actually there when we read it because it has such great detail. I also agree with her that the comparison between the Scarlet Ibis and Doodle is very unique.

Unknown said...

During this debate of which short story was the best, i agree with megan. I thought everyones thoughts were true for themselves and they showed it. I agree with megan because i also felt like i was in the story, or that i could have gone back for Doodle. This story also made a clear piont that anything can happen when you really try hard enough. This is why i agree with megan and i think this story is truly the best.

~AP

Unknown said...

I disagree with all who say that Lady or the Tiger? is the best story we have read. It is by far the most feeble, the author provides us with little background information and does not describe the characters well. The story is completely bland and on top of that leaves us hanging.

-K-dog

Sarah said...

I agree with Shayna, "the Most Dangerous Game" was the most superior. The characters in this story where the most interesting. Also the mood is a big part of the story, it keeps the reader locked in.

haley said...

Out of all of the enjoyable short stories, The Scarlet Ibis was the best by far. The story portrayed the ability to help another, love, and saddness. The main character was always helping out his little brother. He tried to build up his brothers self confidence and pride. Although he was helping him, he was doing it so he himself would no longer be embarresed of him. When he leaves his brother behind and then realizes he had fallen and died he realizes somthing. He realizes that you should appreciate what you have. To never be ashamed of something so valuble, because one day it could be gone. The story was touching and interesting. It concludes with a heartbreaking ending using situational irony. I agree with Yuma. The Lady and the Tiger was also a very interesting story. The story has a unique ending. The auther leaves you guessing what will happen next. Which does make other elements of the story confusing and hard to understand.
-HC

Unknown said...

The best short story read by Mr. Kendall's 9th grade English class is "The Neckless". It was the best story because it really used situational irony strongly. When the reader finds out right at the end of the story that the neckless the main characters spent ten years of their life paying for is actually fake and not worth much at all. It is also ironic that the neckless the character borrows to make herself more beautiful actually ands up making her old and ugly.
S.R.

Laura said...

Poe's, The cask of amontillado, was by far the best short story we have read this year. The story is packed with descriptive language, irony, suspense, and an eerie, thrilling mood. Although hard to read, Poe captures every element of the catacombs and puts them to words as he greatly describes aspects of the story so that they seem real. Irony bursts from the story, as Montresaur leads Fortunado to his death. It expresses verbal irony, such as when Montresaur wishes Fortunado good health, and toasts to his "long life", it expresses dramatic irony, because throughout the entire story, with how we know Montresaur will kill Fortunado in the end, but Fortunado does not know of his doom. The whole story we are waiting in suspense for Montresaur to kill Fortunado, but as we wonder how and when, the suspense builds and builds until Montresaur finally leaves Fortunado to die.

-Laura S.

Laura said...

I do not agree with the people who said The Lady or The Tiger was the best story. I thought it was a good story, and I acknowledge how people said it had an interesting unique ending, which it did, yet the Cask of Amontillado was still the best. The Lady or the Tiger had weak irony, and droned on and on, while the Cask of Amontillado was packed with irony and was intense and exiting.

-Laura S.

Unknown said...

I agree with what Josh said about how the author uses clear instances of irony. Although I do not think it uses irony as well as "The Neckless", but I do think he is right about the way "The Most Dangerous Game" uses irony.

Unknown said...

"The Cask of Amontillado was the best short story due to the use of irony and the way the charaters were brought to life. They way that Poe used irony in almost every paragraph really made the story interesting, exciting, and come to life. Another reason that "The Cask of Amontillado" was the best short story was because the way that Poe brought the characters to life was by either the way that they were seeking revenge or in the way that they were so arrogant about being the best wine expert in the land. All of this was incorperated into the story making "The Cask of Amontillado" the best short story of all.

Quentin said...

Out of all the stories, the best one was “The Necklace”. It had the best irony of all of the stories and it clearly demonstrated several important life lessons. Two of the main ones are that vanity and dishonesty will almost always result in the destruction of people’s lives. The person who lies often ends up regretting it, as Mme. Loisel did at the end of the story. Irony was a big part of “The Necklace”. The main character, Mme. Loisel, lies about losing a necklace that her friend let her borrow. As a result she is in debt for ten years trying to pay back the money she borrowed to buy a new necklace. When she sees her friend again, Mme. Loisel tells her everything about losing the necklace. Her friend then tells her that the necklace wasn’t worth half of what Mme. Loisel paid for a replacement. Telling the truth could have prevented a great deal of pain and loss of money.

Quentin said...

I disagree with anybody who said that they liked “The Lady or the Tiger”. In my opinion “The Lady or the Tiger” had bland and uninteresting characters that lead unoriginal lives. I disliked the way that the story ended by asking you to decide the climax. The stereotypically handsome prince walks into the arena and you must decide whether he faces a gruesome death or something, in the princess's opinion, even worse. It had an utterly unsatisfactory ending.

Unknown said...

The best short story ever written is The Gift of the Magi. The use of irony in it was absolutely excellent. In the story the character of Della tries so hard to find the perfect gift for her husband, Jim. However Della has no money so she is forced to sell her hair. Della uses the money to buy a chain for Jim’s pocket watch. She arrives home only to find that Jim sold his watch to buy combs for Della’s hair. So the gifts contradict each other. Nether person can use their gift because they are accessories for items they sold. That, in the literary world is known as situational irony.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I disagree with all who say The Most Dangerous Game was the best story. There were many unneeded characters, it had almost no irony and centered on a dark topic. Also I do not like hunting to begin with.

Erik W. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Erik W. said...

The best story we read was Scarlet Ibis. It is amazing that so simple a situation, such as a season's change, can bring so many details to the story. The author's use of symbolism in the story makes you consider the quality of life and what our true motives really are. The ibis, trying to get to land in the middle of a storm, dies and paints a very bleak picture. It tells us that through our ambitions, we may cause our own undoing. Though the protagonist only helps his brother to avoid humiliation, he truly does want him to succeed in becoming "normal". But his driving motive, pride, forces him to cause his brother's death.
The author also uses metaphors to show the changes in nature around the characters. It creates a mood and tone for the story, making it almost tangible.

Erik W. said...

I disagree with those who said that "The Most Dangerous Game" was the best short story. It did have good use of irony, but it did not have good descriptions to make the story more "real". It alienated itself from the other stories because it did not make enough description of the land, the people, and the mindset of the time. it was just straightforward and choppy, just telling the "facts".

Diwesh Poudyal said...

Out of all the short stories we have read in class, "The Necklace" was by far the best. It had a very strong plot and enjoyable characters. "The Necklace" also taught a very good life lesson and is the only story that was not very predictable. The irony is also very well set up in this story, and can drag the reader's attention very quick.

Diwesh Poudyal said...

I dissagree with the people that said "The Lady or The Tiger" because the plot was a bit too simple. The lesson learned from the story wasn't all that great either, and like someone else said, the stock characters dont make the story very interesting.

Danielle Gervais said...

The best short story by far, was The Scarlet Ibis because, the author foreshadowed the future events in a suspenseful way. The use of the season fall to hint that death was to come, was great. The plot alone was strong, and emotional. The use of irony was also pretty clever, seeing how both the Scarlet Ibis, and Doodle, died under a tree, from being pushed just a bit too far. The story was filled with a plethera of heartbreaking moments, however it also had some touching moments.

Danielle Gervais said...

I disagree with anybody who claims that "Lady or the Tiger" was the best short story because, the ending is somewhat of a cliffhanger, it leaves you undecided. You could believe in your mind that she chose the lady, or she chose the tiger, but you will never truely know the authors opinion.

sean said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sean said...

"The Necklace" is the most superior of all the short stories in the unit. This is because it uses very crisp and clear irony at the end of the story where the protagonist finds out that the necklace from way back ten years ago was a fake. It is also superior because it has a very well drawn out and important theme. It tells us that lying is wrong, and in this story it really shows a bad outcome of hiding the truth.

In response to theodore I believe that having a cliffhanger at the end of "The Lady or the Tiger" is a bad thing; and not a good thing. We should get to hear the authors say in the matter and not just be left to ponder on our own

- sean c

Luke D said...

During the past few weeks, Mr. Kendall's class has read a few short stories. Out of all of them, the best was clearly the Most Dangerous Game. Throughout the story, it keeps the reader in suspense, which is a key factor in stories these days. Another reason is the irony involved, that makes the story amusing. Last of all, the characters were well developed, their skills and personalities are perfect for this story, and create a good conflict.

Luke D said...

In response to other people's thoughts, I disagree with anyone who said that "The Necklace" was the best story. I thought that the story was rather boring, and the resolution was less interesting than I would have hoped. It was almost a 'I told you so' kind of thing. By far the best story was "The Most Dangerous Game"

Emma Cornell said...

Mr. Kendall’s English class read six short stories. Out of those stories the Most Dangerous Game was the most exciting. The most dangerous game is definitely superior to the others mainly because the plot kept interest throughout the story. Also in addition to that the author used irony very well. Suspense was a major part of this story. Even at the end you're left wondering what will happen next.

Emma Cornell said...

I disagree with all the people who said that the lady or the tiger was the best. I like to know what happens next and with this story you were just left hanging. I also think that the author is telling a story and leaving it like that makes me think that it is an unfinished piece of work.

Ayumi Yoshida said...

The best short story was "The Gift of Magi". This story is superior to the other short stories because this is the only story in all the short stories read in the 9th grade advanced class that has a happy ending. Also it gives a good irony that makes the story pleasing at the end.

Manny Morais said...

I think the best storie we read was the scarlet ibis. I liked it a lot because it was beautifully written and it used a lot of different litterary devices. I thought it was interesting how the story used the seasons to represent life. I also liked the use of irony. Dramatic irony being you knowing more than the characters. Also when Doodle died he looked like the dead scarlet ibis. The story also had an interesting comparrison more than appearence between the scarlet ibis and doodle. The scarlet ibis despite of its efforts and trying died. Doodle also tried really hard and despited its efforts died in the storm too. In conclussion The scarlet Ibis was the best story because it had the best plot and was the best written.

Manny Morais said...

I disagree with anybody who picked the most dangerous game as the best story. I thought the story had a good plot and i liked the idea of it but, I thought the story could have executed better. I thought it was the worst written out of all the stories we read.

Helen Dawit said...

The best short story that we have read so far in Mr. Kendall’s Advanced English class is The Most Dangerous Game. This is because this story had more of an intense conflict to it. Also at times the author would keep you hanging or foreshadowing things that were going to happen. For example, General Zaroff started to talk to Richard about how hunting animals became boring and wasn’t much of a challenge as it used to be. This foreshadowed when he finally told Richard that he changed to hunting people instead.
Another reason why The Most Dangerous Game was the best short story that we have read out of the other five was because it contained people on the verge of dieing, and in most stories it obviously means that the people reading it would never be bored.

Helen Dawit said...

I think that the people who said that "The Necklace" was the best short we read, was wrong. In fact I think that it was the worst short story that we have read because at the end of the story it wasn't much of a dramatic ending. It was more of a dull and boring ending. I also think that if it was better it could have been the best story.

hannah said...

The best short story that Mr. Kendall’s 9th grade class has read so far is “The Scarlet Ibis”. One of the most impressive elements of the story is the first paragraph, where the author describes a late fall scene to foreshadow the tragedy and loss in the story. Another interesting element is the personality of the narrator, how it appeared to his parents and everyone else that he was helping his disabled brother out of generosity and love, and yet the real reason is just for pride. This element of the story seems to very accurately portray the “shades of gray” in every person; how no one is either all good or all bad, and how people’s perception of a person’s personality might not be what they are really thinking and feeling. The other two interesting elements of the story are the way the author uses symbolism and irony. The symbolism of the scarlet Ibis in the tree outside the narrator’s house. How the Ibis traveled a long way and exerted the best of its abilities only to die after reaching its destination, ties closely into Doodle’s life. The use of Irony is also important; how the narrator was always ashamed of his brother’s disabilities, and never really appreciated him, and eventually pushed him too far, resulting in his death. The narrator never realized how special his brother was or how much he loved him until he died.
-HC

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

I agree with people who think that "The Necklace" is the best short story. One of the main reasons for this is that the theme of the story is to always be truthful. This is a great life lesson that many people need to learn and understand. In the beginning of the story, the main character borrows her friends necklace and end up losing it. Instead of simply admitting to her friend that she lost it accidentally, she lied and told her that it broke and that she was getting it repaired. But in reality she was searching for a replacement neclace very similar to the one she lost. By the end of the story the main character ends up losing her beauty because of her desire to be beautiful in the beginning.

Unknown said...

I disagree with people who think that "The Cask of Amontillado" is the best short story read so far. It was an enjoyable book, but it was hard to follow and understand. The characters were too undeveloped and that made the story that much harder to follow.

Derek Richardson said...
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Derek Richardson said...

Out of all the short stories we read i believe The Most Dangerous game was the best> It had exceptional use of irony with the hunter becoming the hunted. Also the author develops the characters so well that the events bring on another level of meaning all together. The Final reason i liked this story is purely for its suspense and action filled plot.