The short fiction readings are grouped according to narrative style with ancillary poetry readings chosen for either their narrative style or thematic relation to the stories. For each story or poem you read, please consider the following broad questions as a framework for your close reading. The individual guide questions provided for each story or poem will direct you to examine its more specific aspects.

• Why has the author chosen a particular narrative point of view?
  
• Why does the point of view suit the subject of the work?
  
• How can the reader differentiate between the narrator’s purpose and the author’s purpose?
  
• What role does irony play in each work?
  
• What literary elements and devices does the author use and to what effect?

Single Character Point of View is a third person narrative style that permits the reader to fully experience the protagonist's inside and outside views. Unlike an omniscient point of view, however, the author takes us only where this one character goes and permits us to know only what this one character is thinking. This focus on the totality of one character should prompt the reader to consider why there is only a single character point of view, and why the author has chosen that particular character. The answers to these questions provide the reader with a starting point for his or her analysis of the story.

Both "The Stone Boy" by Gina Berriault and "The Five Forty-Eight" by John Cheever are third person anonymous narrations that focus on a single character's point of view. Both stories ask the reader to consider how communication, or the lack thereof, between characters can affect the characters' perceptions of reality.

Compare the character of Arnold in the beginning of the story and at the end of story. In what ways has he changed? Why has this changed occurred? (Note: Avoid the simple answer.)


In terms of the single character point of view, how much are we allowed to see of Arnold's inner thoughts? Why does Arnold choose to withhold his feelinmgs from his family? How might this reflect on his character and in turn, provide the reader with a basis on which to judge Arnold's character?


Note the various characters' reactions to Arnold after he has killed Eugie. What motives might they have that would influence their perception of what's going on in Arnold's mind?


How does the song, "The Dangling Conversation" by Simon & Garfunkel relate to the community and Arnold in the story? By extension, what kind of statement do both works make about human beings and communication?


What is the full significance of the title, "The Stone Boy"?

John Cheever's story, "The Five Forty-Eight" asks the reader to take a look at the issue of communication and relationships by telling "the story of Blake, a middle-aged man, on his suburban train to disquietude. He is being pursued by a Miss Dent, whom he knows. Afraid, he’s sure that she plans violence, yet he tells us he’s an "insignificant man" whose briefcase holds no secrets. Gradually we learn he does have secrets, as he muses upon his loveless marriage, his adultery, his unhappy children. The latent danger he fears appears at last to take revenge on his mean spirit, and we ponder Miss Dent’s surprising choice of action." (American Library Association, 1984).

1. How does Blake change in the reader's mind? What aspects of his character take him from a sympathetic to a hated character?
   
   
2. How does the character of Miss Dent develop throughout the story? Does the reader change his or her evaluation of Miss Dent's character from the beginning to the end?
   
   
3. How does Cheever support his characterization of Mr. Blake and Miss Dent through the use of language and imagery? For example, the literary critic Patrick Meanor says that "the icy and detached Mr. Blake has absolutely no natural feelings for others, especially for pathetic, wounded souls such as Miss Dent, a name that symbolizes her damaged emotional condition." How else does the author create patterns of language and images that the reader can associate with each of the characters?
   
   
4. How can this story be read from a feminist standpoint? The time setting is the late 1950's. Could a man get away with this behavior today? Is Cheever a perceptive male author here in that Blake is "punished" for his actions? Is Miss Dent at all responsible for the situation she has found herself in?
   
   
5. How can this story be read as a social commentary? Although people like to think of suburbia as being a safe place to get away from problems, in this story Blake takes the "danger" or "problem" with him on the train.  What other commentary does the story make about suburban life and values, especially in relation to family dynamics?
   
   
6. What concepts of morality and justice are addressed in this story? How are these concepts reinforced by the ironic ending? Will Blake become a different person as a result of what happens to him?