Introduction
The title and general character of this collection of short stories need some ex-
planation. Each of the six stories may be qualified as “English”, because the language
used in them is “British English”. In addition, they are all notable examples of the
modern short story, representing outstanding literary quality as well as modernity of
theme and form. It was especially James Joyce and Katherine Mansfield who greatly
contributed to the creation of the modern
English short story, whose authors no longer attempt to make daily life more
entertaining by inventing exotic plots. Instead, modern story writers have tended to
base their narratives on their own experience; here the focus is much more on the less
spectacular aspects of life, on the significance underlying what is apparently trivial.
The result of such perceptive writing is perfection of form, harmony of theme and
structure, and precision of style to reveal the subtleties of the human mind and of
human behaviour.
In selecting the fiction for this course, not only the literary merit and modernity of the
stories were considered, but also the didactic purposes of a course in reading fiction.
For example, besides established classics (Joyce and Mansfield) and highly esteemed
contemporaries (Wain and Sillitoe), Alun Lewis and Roald Dahl also provide both
good writing and an illustration of narrative technique. The themes of these six
stories seek to appeal to and motivate the adolescent student, who himself is
increasingly confronted with the complexities of human life. In this phase of his life,
he is making far reaching decisions about his own life, which is made up of successes
and failures, of opportunities and frustrations. These stories convey the fact that life is
a continual challenge to the individual, through childhood, youth, and adulthood; life
is a delicate balance of imprisonment and the opportunities of escape from it. In A
Message from the Pig-Man six-year-old Ekky is confused by the intricacies of adult
behaviour and is too young to understand it. The Burnell children, in The Doll's
House, have reached the point where they may question their family’s prejudices of
social status and respectability, with Kezia even ignoring the social barriers. Sillitoe’s
boy-narrator has experienced and understood the hopelessness of depression and
suicide and states his will to stay alive. Joyce’s Eveline is thrown into the inner
conflict of choosing between her family and a new life in a far-away country. The
Lapse by Alun Lewis is about the vain attempt to escape from everyday routine,
which, however, also provides comfort. And Dahl, in his humorous and ironic
treatment of this theme of imprisonment and escape demonstrates the unforeseeable
complications when the protagonist of the story tries to push his luck too far. The
Study Material in this collection is of particular importance for a successful course on
reading short fiction. The systematic increase of the students’ linguistic competence
and the rational acquisition of the methods of text analysis need to be carefully
graded and linguistically based. Therefore, this Study Material offers a variety of
guidance to help the student prepare for the complex stage of text interpretation.
The biographical notes provide concise information about the literary “background”,
the vocabulary lists are to make the reading of the texts as entertaining and
timesaving as possible. Moreover, additional linguistic exercises (revision or further
practice) and comprehension questions are all intended to ensure comprehension and
increase word power. Finally, the Glossary of Literary Terms should be a continual
source of reliable information in the field of correct terminology when working on or
discussing the structures and themes of these stories
