Short Story Lesson Plans: 5 More Short Stories for Teaching Irony

January 18, 2016 By

Regular readers of this blog are aware of my fascination with Ender Wiggin, Lennie Smalls, and sports teams from the state of Ohio. What they may not be aware of is my fascination with irony. In fact, I once stayed up late into the night figuring out how everything in life is ironic, which is […]

Filed Under: Cask of Amontillado, Lessons, Literary Analysis, Open Window, Short Stories, The Lottery, The Monkey's Paw

Conflict in Literature: 7 Great Short Story Upsets

October 14, 2015 By

In honor of the Rhinos 2-0 upset victory in the Henderson Parks and Rec U10 soccer league, I bring you the seven greatest upsets in literature. Before we get to our list of the greatest short story upsets of all time, I want to make sure you get something useful for your classroom: Understanding Conflict […]

Filed Under: Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe, Jumping Frog, Literary Analysis, Most Dangerous Game, Pit and the Pendulum, Short Stories, Sound of Thunder, Through the Tunnel, Yellow Wallpaper

Three Stupid Characters in American Literature

October 12, 2015 By

In honor of Columbus Day, I remind you of the following, courtesy of The History Channel. For nearly a decade, Columbus lobbied European monarchies to bankroll his quest to discover a western sea route to Asia. In Portugal, England and France, the response was the same: no. That’s right. Portugal, England, and France missed an […]

Filed Under: Books, Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe, Literary Analysis