Reading and Understanding Short Stories

Oftentimes people assume there is one and only one "meaning" that a story has. This is not true. Stories can have more than one meaning; however, this does not mean that stories can have unlimited meanings. The meaning of a story must fit the story: it must be plausible (probable/believable given what the story is about) and reasonable (arguable based on evidence which can be supported by the elements of the story).

Interpretations grow out of

• facts contained in the stories;
• the background, experience, history, and culture of the writer (his or her world views/world context);
• the conventions of literary texts; and
• the background, experience, history, and culture of the reader (his or her world views/world context).

An interpretation develops as the reader

• analyzes how the elements of the work individually function;
• analyzes how the elements of the work interact to create a single impression or to move toward a common goal;
• analyzes how the ideas contained in the work either contradict or reinforce the reader's ideas about the world;
• is challenged in his or her efforts to understand and appreciate the work; and
• is moved by the language and drama of the work.

The goal is to find the emerging pattern within the work that all of the individual elements of the work are building towards.

Steps to writing an analysis

Students should

• Begin by reading the work through once at a normal pace (like reading something for pleasure).
• Record their feelings after they finish the story and briefly describe what the work seems to be about.
• Read the story again, but slowly and write out a summary of the work in "plain sense" words.
• What is happening?
• What is this about?
• What is important or at stake?
• What is the significance and purpose of the title of the story?
• Read the work again, making notes of
• Things that seem significant,
• Things they don't understand,
• Things that are repeated,
• The use of various literary conventions (c.f., allusions, symbols, alliteration)
• Things that reveal or connect to world views and world contexts (c.f., class issues, gender issues, historical references)
• look for a pattern of relationships within their notes. How do the things in the notes fit together? Do the notes suggest a particular way of looking at this work?
• Make a list of all the things that seem to fit together into a particular way of looking at the work.
• Combine items on the list that go together, and list the items in an order that makes sense and helps in understanding what the work seems to be saying.
• Convert these notes into an outline.
• Write out a draft that explains the meaning of the work following the outline
• Rewrite the draft to make it smoother, clearer, and grammatically correct (which may require multiple rewrites).

For more on how to understand and analyze fiction, see
Oregon State Guide to Fiction, OSU School of Writing, Literature and Film