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ENG 255 Thematic Listing of Stories

Many titles listed here are optional reading and not included in the current text; see the Course Schedule for required reading. You may identify additional themes in these stories.

Adolescence and Initiation

Bernice Bobs Her Hair
Soldier’s Home
Almos’ a Man
Big Boy Leaves Home
Barn Burning
The Grave
Paul’s Case

Search for Identity

Almos’ a Man
Big Boy Leaves Home
Barn Burning
Desiree's Baby
Soldier’s Home
Paul’s Case
I’m a Fool

1955

Man and Woman
(also Role of Women)

The Birthmark
The Revolt of "Mother"
The Yellow Wallpaper
Jury of Her Peers
Desiree's Baby
The Storm
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
Hills Like White Elephants
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall
This Blessed House

Spiritual Values

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall
Revelation
The Reach
This Blessed House

1955

Crime and Punishment

Jury of Her Peers
Parker Adderson, Philosopher
Desiree's Baby
Barn Burning
Big Boy Leaves Home
Hunters in the Snow
The Lottery
The Blue Hotel

Free Will and Determinism

Parker Adderson, Philosopher
The Blue Hotel
Babylon Revisited
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall

Parents and Children

Almos’ a Man
Babylon Revisited
Barn Burning
Boxes
Desiree's Baby
Paul’s Case
Rappaccini’s Daughter

Death, Alienation, and Loss

The Coup de Grâce

Parker Adderson, Philosopher

The Blue Hotel

Babylon Revisited

Bartleby the Scrivener

Hills Like White Elephants

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall

Paul’s Case

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Reach

Communication and Prejudice

The Passing of Grandison
Desiree's Baby
Big Boy Leaves Home
Revelation
Hunters in the Snow
Boxes
Cathedral

Hypocrisy and Greed

The Blue Hotel
Babylon Revisited
The Greatest Man in the World
Revelation

Individual and Society

The Passing of Grandison
The Yellow Wallpaper
The Lottery
Barn Burning
Haircut

Forms of Violence

The Blue Hotel
Big Boy Leaves Home
Haircut
The Lottery
Hunters in the Snow

 

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