Book summary
Studying the Short-Story summary
- 8 min read
- 10 key ideas
A boy weighs a silver watch against his father's name in one of sixteen stories that show how fiction is built.
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Studying the Short-Story at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 7 h 15 min5 h 45 min fast, 8 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 103,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Studying the Short-Story in short
Studying the Short-Story argues that a form can be learned by looking closely at examples. Esenwein defines the short story as one incident, one chief character, one crisis and one unified impression, and he separates it from the tale, the sketch and the novelette. Poe's 1842 theory stands behind that definition.
What Studying the Short-Story is about
What makes a story short, and what makes it a short story? Those are not the same thing, says J. Berg Esenwein, and Studying the Short-Story is his attempt to show the difference. He gathers sixteen stories from France, Britain and America, and prints notes in the margins that name each device as it appears.
The stories fall into eight groups, from action and mystery to character and psychology.
Who it’s for. Students, teachers, and writers who enjoy examining how stories are built will love this book, as will readers who like French, Scottish, and American tales with notes and questions that deepen the pleasure.
The 10 key ideas
Key idea 1 · free to read
Learn the short story by taking it apart
Esenwein builds this volume as a laboratory, with the story in the middle of the page and the working notes in the margin. His earlier book, Writing the Short-Story, explained the form, and this one supplies stories to study.
The notes are the heart of the method. Beside the opening of Mateo Falcone, a note points out that the Corsican customs decide the fate of the characters. Other notes mark the first plot incident, the second, the third, and separate them from contributory incidents that could be changed without harming the plot.
Some stories are printed with blank margins and the label For Analysis, so the reader writes the notes. Each section ends with questions and a list of ten more stories of the same type. Read with a pencil, and the craft becomes visible.
- 2Start free to read
A short story is more than a short tale
Is a short story anything more than a story that is short?
- 3Start free to read
Poe set the standard of single effect
Esenwein traces the short story back to the first person who told a strange adventure and added a little invention.
- 4Start free to read
Action stories show the mind through deeds
Esenwein says all outward action is the sign of an inward condition.
- 5Start free to read
Mystery stories reward reasoning about the reasoner
Esenwein says our love of mystery is matched by an urge to solve it.
- 6Start free to read
Emotion works best when it is suggested
Esenwein says the inner life is best shown through outer action and not through lecture.
- 7Start free to read
Humor springs from surprise and incongruity
Esenwein says humor has two main ingredients, surprise and a feeling of incongruity.
- 8Start free to read
Setting can decide the fate of characters
A story of setting, Esenwein says, gives surroundings a vital influence on the characters' natures or destinies.
- 9Start free to read
Impressionism builds a story to leave one mood
Impressionistic stories, Esenwein says, put tone above incident.
- 10Start free to read
Character is tested by crisis and by thought
Esenwein explains that a character study shows people by putting them under strain.
Read all 10 key ideas now
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Check yourself
What distinguishes Esenwein's short story from a tale?
Right. “His definition is that a short story is a brief, imaginative narrative with one incident and one chief character, whose plot is compressed so as to leave a single impression.”Not quite. “His definition is that a short story is a brief, imaginative narrative with one incident and one chief character, whose plot is compressed so as to leave a single impression.”
Why do the police fail in The Purloined Letter?
Right. “The police fail because they assume every hidden thing is hidden as they themselves would hide it.”Not quite. “The police fail because they assume every hidden thing is hidden as they themselves would hide it.”
How does Esenwein recommend revealing a character's inner life?
Right. “Esenwein says the inner life is best shown through outer action and not through lecture.”Not quite. “Esenwein says the inner life is best shown through outer action and not through lecture.”
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Questions about Studying the Short-Story
What is the difference between a short story and a tale?
Esenwein says a tale is a chain of incidents with no real climax, while a short story is a tree: one incident, one chief character, a crisis and a single impression. A sketch shows character without plot.
Which stories are in Studying the Short-Story?
They include Mateo Falcone, A Lodging for the Night, The Purloined Letter, The Monkey's Paw, The Last Class, Without Benefit of Clergy, The Ransom of Red Chief, The Outcasts of Poker Flat, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Piece of String, Markheim and On the Stairs, among others.
What are the eight types of short story in the book?
The eight groups are action and adventure, mystery and fantasy, emotion, humor, setting, impressionism, character studies and psychological studies. Each opens with an essay on the type, and each ends with questions and a list of ten more stories to read.
Cite this page
“Summary of Studying the Short-Story: the key points in 3 minutes.” Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/pages/studying-the-short-story-summary.
Library of Alexandria. (2026). Summary of Studying the Short-Story: the key points in 3 minutes. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/studying-the-short-story-summary
“Summary of Studying the Short-Story: the key points in 3 minutes.” Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/studying-the-short-story-summary.
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title = {Summary of Studying the Short-Story: the key points in 3 minutes},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/pages/studying-the-short-story-summary}
}
Cite this edition
Studying the Short-Story. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/studying-the-short-story.
Studying the short-story. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/studying-the-short-story
Studying the Short-Story. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/studying-the-short-story.
@book{anonymous2026studying,
title = {Studying the Short-Story},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/studying-the-short-story}
}
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