This is a concise yet comprehensive treatment of the American short story that includes an historical overview of the topic as well as discussion of notable American authors and individual stories, from Benjamin Franklin’s “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker” in 1747 to “The Joy Luck Club”. This is a concise yet comprehensive treatment of the American short story that includes an historical overview of the topic as well as discussion of notable American authors and individual stories, from Benjamin Franklin s The Speech of Miss Polly Baker in 1747 to The Joy Luck Club . Preface vii Part 1 Introduction 1 Part 2 Historical Overview of the American Short Story 9 The American Story to Washington Irving 12 The Age of Romanticism 20 Realism and Naturalism 26 American Modernism 39 The Contemporary American Short Story 46 Part 3 Notable Authors of American Short Stories 55 Washington Irving 57 Edgar Allan Poe 62 Nathaniel Hawthorne 67 Herman Melville 71 Mark Twain 76 Bret Harte 82 Henry James 86 Kate Chopin 91 Stephen Crane 96 O. Henry 101 Sarah Orne Jewett 105 Charles W. Chesnutt 109 Willa Cather 115 F. Scott Fitzgerald 120 Ernest Hemingway 126 John Steinbeck 132 William Faulkner 139 Jamaica Kincaid 144 Tim O Brien 150 Louise Erdrich 156 Part 4 Great American Short Stories 163 Benjamin Franklin, The Speech of Polly Baker 165 Ruri Colla, The Story of the Captain s Wife and an Aged Woman 168 Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle 172 Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown 177 Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado 180 Herman Melville, Bartleby, the Scrivener 184 Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, The Two Offers 189 Hamlin Garland, Under the Lion s Paw 192 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper 196 Henry James, The Real Thing 202 Kate Chopin, Désirée s Baby 206 Ambrose Bierce, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge 210 Stephen Crane, The Blue Hotel 214 Frank Norris, A Deal in Wheat 218 Edith Wharton, The Other Two 222 Willa Cather, A Wagner Matinée 226 Jack London, To Build a Fire 230 Jean Toomer, Blood-Burning Moon 233 F. Scott Fitzgerald, Babylon Revisited 236 Ernest Hemingway, Indian Camp 241 John Steinbeck, The Chrysanthemums 245 Eudora Welty, Petrified Man 249 William Faulkner, Barn Burning 253 Flannery O Connor, The River 257 Tillie Olsen, Help Her to Believe [ I Stand Here Ironing ] 261 Raymond Carver, Cathedral 265 Louise Erdrich, The Red Convertible 269 Susan Minot, Hiding 273 Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club 277 Tim O Brien, Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong 281 Jamaica Kincaid, Columbus in Chains 285 Judith Cofer, Nada 289 A Glossary for the Study of the American Short Story 293 Selected Books for Further Study of the American Short Story 303 Index 307