What is a Short Story?
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- Start Date: 18 Oct 2025End Date: 18 Oct 2025Sat (Daytime): 10:30 - 16:30In PersonFull fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00
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What is the course about?
This in-college course examines some of the best practitioners of the short story form: such as Edgar Allan Poe, Dorothy Parker, Arthur Conan Doyle, O’ Henry, Saki, Katherine Mansfield, Damon Runyon, JG Ballard, and Donald Barthelme.
We’ll consider its history, development, and widening appeal. We’ll explore the magazine market and its popularity.
We'll explore how short stories have been defined against other types of short narrative.
What will we cover?
We will begin with a range of examples of short narratives: myth, folk tale, fairy tale, parable, legend, tales, exempla, embedded narratives, nested tales, digressions, and fabliaux.
We will shift focus to 19 century forms from Poe, and Conan Doyle, moving on to the Modernism of Mansfield and Joyce.
We’ll consider the twist in the tale from O’ Henry, Damon Runyon, and Roald Dahl, witty stories from Saki and Dorothy Parker, moving to Speculative Fiction from JG Ballard and Post-Modern stories from Robert Coover and Donald Barthelme.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Appreciate the challenges and rewards of the genre
- Understand how the genre is distinguished from other short fiction
- Identify a range of narrative devices used in short stories
- Discuss marketing, distribution and reception of short stories.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
You do not have to have studied literature before. An enthusiasm for short stories, an open-mindedness towards different approaches to interpretation, and a willingness to listen to the views of others is essential.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
There will be a mixture of tutor presentation and small-group and whole-class discussion. We will study key passages from each text in class. Key extracts will be provided in advance of the class.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
Key extracts will be provided in advance of the class by the tutor. Please try to read them beforehand to get the most out of the day.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
The tutor will be teaching a longer course - HLT294 The Birth of English Tragedy starting on 23 September 2025. Look for other other Literature courses at www.citylit.ac.uk under History, Culture and Writing/Literature.
Alexander has taught advanced Literature and English Language for over twenty-five years. A Former Head of English, Alexander currently teaches Literature courses to adults at The Questors Theatre, Ealing, and to students at a 6th Form College in Kensington. He has been writing a book on the critical reception of JG Ballard, worked at three top ten 6th Form Colleges, and trained A level teachers how to teach ‘Critical Discourse Analysis’. He holds an MA distinction in Shakespeare Studies, a PGCE, a first in English Literature BA (hons.), and a DipEngl in English Language. An FRSA, he brings a passionate commitment to life-long learning, to making connections between disciplines, and to creating supportive and engaging learning environments.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.