20. Would any parts of the story be improved either by shortening or by expanding? Be specific.
21. Does the story arouse in you any particular feeling, or mood?
22. What are the especially strong points of the story?
23. Write a general appreciation, using about two hundred words.
24. What is the final impression the story makes upon you?
NOTE
Nine distinct methods for the study of a novel are outlined in the appendix to The Study of a Novel, by Selden L. Whitcomb. Some of these may be applied to the short-story. Some excellent study methods and questions are given in The Writing of the Short Story, by Lewis Worthington Smith.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Excellent and comprehensive works, dealing more especially with the English novel, are: The English Novel, Sidney Lanier (Scribners, 1883, 1897); The Development of the English Novel, Wilbur L. Cross (Macmillan, 1899); The Evolution of the English Novel, Francis Hovey Stoddard (Macmillan, 1900); A Study of Prose Fiction, Bliss Perry (Houghton-Mifflin, 1902); The Study of A Novel, Selden L. Whitcomb (Heath, 1905); The Technique of the Novel, Charles F. Horne (Harpers, 1908); Materials and Methods of Fiction, Clayton Hamilton (Baker-Taylor, 1908).
[2] Good collections arranged historically are, The Book of the Short Story, Alexander Jessup and Henry Seidel Canby; and The Short-story, Brander Matthews. The former contains lists of stories short and long grouped by periods.