In a mere 2½ – 3 ½ pages, “Business Deal” and “The Story of an Hour” put the short in short story. But does brevity equate to narrative simplicity? Isn’t there more to these narratives than just “what happens?” Could a one-sentence summary fairly or adequately capture these narratives’ subtleties, nuances, and complexities? Let’s find out.
Part 1) Write your best, most compelling one-sentence summary of each of the two narratives.
Part 2) Write your best, most compelling one-paragraph summary of each of the two narratives.
Part 3) In 2-4 paragraphs, discuss the experiences you had carrying out Parts 1 & 2. Some questions and topics to consider:
- Which of the one-sentence summaries proved to be the trickiest or most challenging to write? Why do you think that was the case? What aspects of the narratives did feel like you had to include or had to leave out?
- How do your one-paragraph summaries compare to the one-sentences summaries? What types of content or detail from the narratives did you find yourself choosing to include in the longer summaries? Why? Do you think one-paragraph summaries turned out “better” or “more effective” than the one-sentences summaries? How so?
0 comments