The following list is composed of the stories which are best for structural study.

- “A Simple Act of Piety”
- “The Sacrificial Altar”
- “The Water-Hole”
+ “The Great Auk”
- “Boys Will Be Boys”
- “The Gay Old Dog”
- “The Knight’s Move”
- “In Maulmain Fever-Ward”
+ “A Jury of Her Peers”
+ “The Cat of the Cane-Brake”
- “The Bunker Mouse”
+ “T. B.”
+ “‘Ice Water, Pl——!’”
- “Get Ready the Wreaths”
- “Mr. Eberdeen’s House”
- “The Willow Walk”
+ “‘A Certain Rich Man—’”
- “The Path of Glory”
+ “The Waiting Years”
- “Solitaire”
+ “The Yellow Cat”
- “Down on Their Knees”
- “Ching, Ching, Chinaman”
+ “The Bounty Jumper”
+ “None So Blind”
+ “Half-Past Ten.”

The plus signs are prefixed to the titles of stories which present the action in a closely circumscribed time and place. Study the stories to which the minus sign is prefixed to see how the authors have managed an extended period of time and place, or of either. On what phase of the action has emphasis been placed? How has each author achieved unity of effect? Notice the definite plot stages in these narratives marked by excellence of structure. Although the technique of every writer may differ from that of every other, yet in his story he will see to it, consciously or unconsciously, that high points, “lights,” or climaxes occur. It is a far call from the Roman biga to the modern automobile; but wheels, body and motor attachment characterize each as a vehicle. From Poe to the present, the short-story vehicle has had, and will continue to have, certain type features.

The titles should be studied for their attractiveness, originality, suggestiveness and bearing on the story.

The title may be:

  1. The name of the chief character—“Onnie,” “Chautonville.”
  2. An epithet applied to the chief character—“The Great Auk,” “The Bunker Mouse.”
  3. A place—“Mr. Eberdeen’s House,” “The Water-Hole.”
  4. A suggestion of—1. An objective theme or idea—“The Excursion,” “The Wake.” 2. A subjective theme or idea—“The Sacrificial Altar,” “Boys will be Boys.”
  5. An allusion expressed fully, in part, or conveyed by implication—“Vengeance is Mine,” “The Path of Glory.”

One of the most difficult titles to create is that which has a veiled suggestion, some bearing on the story that is clear or significant only after the story has been read; e.g., “Get Ready the Wreaths,” “The Interval.”

Group the stories according to dominant motives, observing with what frequence certain universal motive-themes occur. For example, the sacrifice motive is found in the following: “The Sacrificial Altar,” “Onnie,” “The Emperor of Elam,” “The Gay Old Dog,” “The Knight’s Move,” “The Bunker Mouse,” “Making Port,” “The Sun Chaser,” “Heart of Youth,” “A Certain Rich Man,” “Zelig,” “The Menorah,” “The Bounty Jumper,” “None So Blind.”

In each of the stories just named, what feeling or power prompts the sacrifice? What is the sacrifice? What is the effect of the sacrifice on the one making it? On the one for whom it is made? On the reader? On the final story-impression?

Study the following as the best examples of realism: “The Excursion,” “Ma’s Pretties,” “Lonely Places,” “The Silent Infare,” “The Big Stranger on Dorchester Heights.” What difference, structurally, do you observe between these narratives and those developed by the more “romantic” writer?