In this story by Brenda Wilkinson, a school friend helps a young a girl deliver her baby in her upstairs bedroom while a house-full of guests celebrate her “Sweet Sixteenth” birthday downstairs. The baby’s father wanted her to keep it; she wanted a termination but waited too long. The next morning, she secretly takes the baby to a hospital, claiming she found it on the street. Fortunately, the truth comes out and the prospect of family shame encourages her to keep the child, which she now loves. Themes include naivety, choices and consequences, deception, abortion, friendship, social image, and motherhood. More…
The Man of the Crowd
This story by Edgar Allan Poe opens with a man in high spirits after recovering from an illness sitting in a London coffee shop watching people go by in the street. He is absorbed in classifying them by occupation and social class until a “decrepid old man” with a fiendish expression unlike any he has seen before commands his attention. Curious, he follows the old man for twenty-four hours, learning nothing other than that he seems to want always to be part of a crowd. Themes include social class, obsession, curiosity, hidden secrets, urban alienation and loneliness. More…
The Queen of Spades
This entertaining, quite witty story from Alexander Pushkin shows how greed can overcome our better judgement when presented with a seemingly easy way to make money. A young soldier spends hours watching his fellow officers gamble at cards. He never joins in because he can’t afford to risk his small savings. When he learns that an old socialite knows a secret strategy that always wins at faro, he devises a heartless plan to learn it. He begins to gamble using her information, winning and doubling the bet each time. Unfortunately for him, the old socialite has the last laugh. More…
The Last Leaf
This story by O. Henry is one that most who read it never forget. Two young women trying to make a living as artists share an apartment in New York City. One of them becomes very sick, and believes that she will die when the last leaf falls from an ivy plant on the wall opposite her window. An unlikely figure (an old, alcoholic, failed artist who rarely has a nice word for anyone) helps to save her. However, his act of kindness comes at a very high cost. Themes include friendship, defeatism vs. hope, compassion, sacrifice, art. More…
The Ransom of Red Chief
In this story by O. Henry, two bumbling swindlers kidnap a boy to raise money for their next scam. Unfortunately, they choose the wrong victim. Not only is the boy hyperactive and uncontrollable but, poorly treated at home, he enjoys camping out with them so much that he doesn’t want to return. Through various persona (including the warrior Red Chief), he drives the men to distraction … so much so that when his father refuses to pay their ransom, they pay him to take the boy back. Themes include crime, parental neglect, misjudgement, imagination and make-believe, violence, poetic justice. More…