Madera Union High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Madera, CA)

Page 25 text:

SPURT EN UR ECU UATEVOTOUN LUE CCLOUSTUTTNTU SEEGER LON TNNT SS - (Py. ait TRAM CULT AAR Development of the American Short Story. LOIS NEWMAN (Prize essay of the “Independent” contest) Mankind has always loved stories. Primitive man. told tales to his children which were passed down from generation to generation. The wander- ing minstrel of the mediaeval ages told of the heroic deeds of valiant warriors and sang senti- mental songs. The Greeks and Romans told and wrote beautiful stories based on their conception of the deities. The stories that were told then were non-centralized tales. They were simple of plot, slow of action, and devoid of character study. There seemed to be no definite form or rule for writing them, but they were written in a slow. easy style. At first, stories were told only for amusement and instruction, then story-telling became an art with a set body of rules and technique, and men wrote about the way stories should be composed. Definitions were made and elements named. Steadily the tale developed, each great author adding a characteristic, until the outcome is the short story of today. The modern short story is a narrative which is short, and has unity, com- pression, originality, and ingenuity. By com- pression we mean that nothing is included that can be left out; by originality, that it is new in plot, outcome, point, and theme; by impressionistic, that it leaves to the reader the reconstruction from hints gathered from the setting and details. The aim of the short story is to produce a single narra- tive effect with the fewest possible means, and yet have the same emphasis. Under Edgar Allen Poe the short story took definite form, for his contribution was structure and technique. He cared more for artistic effect than he did for moral, and consequently wrote on subjects of gloom and terror, wherein the method of suspense was used to good advantage. Nathaniel Hawthorne brought the story to a new stage of development by putting a char- acter in certain circumstances and then working out the results. There is complete harmony in all points, and single effect in character, plot, de- tails, and atmosphere. Bret Harte first called attention to local color, by which is meant the peculiar customs, scenery, and surroundings of any kind which mark off one place from another. Frank R. Stockton first wrote for ingenious surprise, while O. Henry gave freedom from re- straint, with pith, point and easy humor, a style which has won wide popularity. There has been an increased demand for the short story and the number of periodicals has mul- tiplied. There has been an evolution from the easy-going tale to the highly centralized narra- tive of single effect. In the short story are bio- graphic interest, humor and pathos, romance and realism, symbolism and impressionism. It is of value geographically, for by vivid descriptions of certain sections of countries and the life therein, clear pictures are conveyed to the mind. The short story is based on elemental subjects, the emotions which every human experiences: love, fear, anger, jealousy, ambition, sympathy, hate, and self-sacrifice. To quote: “There has been a development from the vague and far-away to the actual—toward that higher realism that is a sym- pathetic understanding of life.” The characteristics of the American short story are brevity, single effect, finality, verisimilitude. so 7

Page 24 text:

unusual ability to perform all the latest steps in aesthetic dancing to Carl Meilike. I, Maurine Griffin, earnestly believing myself to be sane, do hereby bequeath my talent for talk- ing nonsense to Lois Newman. My wonderful alto voice, I leave to Cora Stevens. I, Marie Dromey, believing myself to be partly insane, do hereby leave my clear and logical argu- ments on the present-day situation to Lyall Van- derburg. My arguments may be presented on any convenient occasion, such as when you don’t know your history lesson. I, Mabel Trinidade, believing myself to be en- tirely sane, do hereby leave my good nature and amiability to Ethel Williams. I, Marguerite Donovan, knowing myself to be almost insane, do hereby leave my enviable collec- tion of nicknames to Mae Owens with the hope that she may bear them with patience. (SEAL) (Signed) CLASS OF 1917. sani Shupe Rises to the Occasion Giggler’s Sextette

Page 26 text:

and direction of every part to a pre-established design. The development of the American short story can best be shown by examples of stories writ- ten by the most famous short story writers. A forerunner of the present short story was Washington Irving’s “Rose of the Alhambra,” an unemphatic, non-centralized type of narration which preceded the short story of today. It is a tale, with slow action, devoid of character study, and written in a flowing, easy style. Irving, how- ever, brought the tale to a high standard of ex- cellence. Although he wrote of the historic and supernatural, his stories are closely related to the facts of life. They show a remarkable orginality of expression, melody, and charm. “The Ambitious Guest” by Hawthorne rises above the tale in that it is a character portrayal. It is a picture of ordinary human life with its am- bit ions and hopes which fate overcomes. A weird, foreboding atmosphere permeates the whole story. a sense of pervading ill that causes suspense. Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” is a grue- some mediaeval tale full of color and sound, a step higher than other tales, but withal a tale. Bret Harte’s “Outcasts of Poker Flat” is a realistic, romantic story of crude western life which approaches nearer to the modern short story. It has local color and single effect and situation. It is also a character portrayal, and shows that there is some goodness even in a bad character. The plot of Stockton’s “The Lady or the Tiger ?” is ingenious, clearly and briefly presented, and It is a semi-barbaric story, but cleverly planned. adds to the short story an exciting interest and suspension that is almost painful. It works up to the climax very deliberately and then leaves the reader to decide the whole question for htn- self. 0. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” is distinctly a modern short story which shows a wide observa- tion of men, women, and books. The style is free and easy, with an originality and personality all its own. It is quick, vivid, and sympathetic. and abounds in slang and coined words. Char- acter illuminates the whole story, a fact that never appeared in tales, and at the end is a surprise. “A Wasted Day” by Richard Harding Dayis is a story of modern city life, realism and ro- mance combined. It is exeellent in technique, with the events foretold by character, realistic in detail, and idealistic in theme. But Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s “Revolt of Mother” is the typical American short story with all that it embraces. The plot is simple, but pow- erful, with character overtopping other qualities. It depicts unconventional, original human nature in the crude state. The life on a New England farm is shown well with very little description. It is an appeal to humanity against selfishness and inconsiderateness. Thus, passing down through the ages, the short story, like a snowball, has gained in form, strength and momentum, has developed from the unpre- tending little tale to the pretentious American short story with all its notable characteristics. Toe-Biters—Help ee