Short Story Comparison
After reading “Once Upon a Time” by Nadine Gordimer and “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, we may begin to notice some subtle, yet distinct similarities between the two short stories. Upon completion of both, we as readers notice that the two short stories have three shifts in tone or mood. After several more readings, and looking even deeper for similarities, things begin to pop out. Though these things may seem small and unimportant at first, if the reader was to look deeper, he or she can begin to comprehend that both stories use plot devices and unexpected twists. We could tell that “Once Upon a Time” and “Story of an Hour” both use three part shifts, plot devices, and unexpected twists to help intensify each scene in their respective short stories; Along with that, the author of “Once Upon a Time”, Nadine Gordimer, is able to use these 3 devices more effectively than Kate Chopin.
Probably the most effective type of writing used in both stories are that they use three part shifts. Both stories actually use this technique in different ways, yet each story uses them almost just as effective as the other. In “Story of an Hour”, the three shifts in mood are as follows: sad, happy, sad. In “Once Upon a Time”, the three shifts in tone are: unsettling, happy, devastating. In “Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard is depressed because of how controlling her husband was. She often thought about how she wants her life to fly by so it could be over. Then, all of a sudden, she hears the news that her husband has died. She begins to have a panic attack, but it's actually out of happiness. Even saying she’s "free, free, free". This quickly turned from happiness back to sadness when her husband walks in alive and well. She almost instantly has a heart attack and dies.
Similarly, In “Once Upon a Time”, the storyteller who makes up the story in the beginning is restless and can not sleep. This sets up an unsettling mood which then contradicts the beginning of the story the restless sleeper makes. The next mood in the story is a happy and ecstatic mood. It describes a perfect family trying to live in a perfect little world. It almost sounds like a fairy tale, which is what the author wants. Quickly though, this turns to a devastating mood. The storyteller within the short story starts to describe the almost hellish atmosphere that the family is living in. It talks of robbery and the dangerous living conditions they are in. And to make matters worse, in the very end, their child, whom they were trying to protect, is killed by their own protection. These changes in mood help to strengthen and intensify each scene. This change in mood catches the reader’s eye by allowing the reader to become more interested when something new is happening. The reader will get bored with the same old same old, so the change in mood and style of text gets the reader interested again, which in turn strengthens the quality of each scene. “Once Upon a Time” is able to do this better because of the fact that the switches in mood are much more noticeable than in the other story.
Both “Story of an Hour” and “Once Upon a Time” are able to surprise the readers by implementing unexpected twists. These unexpected twists indeed help intensify each scene in their respective stories. “Once Upon a Time” uses a couple different instances. The first unexpected twist is when the narrator of the fictional piece says that he will never write a fairy tale story, yet when he starts off the story, it instantly sounds like a fairy tale. Granted it doesn't stay as a fairy tale for long, it was still unexpected that it sounded like one at first. That leads us into our next unexpected twist, the fairy tale sounding story quickly turns into a nightmarish scene of a story, with robbing and plundering. The next unexpected twist comes when the very things the parents install to help protect themselves end up not helping at all. They install an alarm system. The cat sets it off at all hours of the night. They install a wall around the house. The cat easily jumps on top of and over the wall. They put barbed wire on top of their wall, which leads into our final unexpected twist. The child ends up dying because of their improvements due to the fact that the barbed wire tangles and cuts the kid until he sadly dies, leaving the readers stunned and speechless.
The “Story of an Hour” also implements some unexpected twists, though not as many. The first twist that happens is when the reader finds out that the Mrs. Mallard is actually happy and relieved that her husband is deceased. That is definitely a twist that no one expected. The second, and actually last surprise twist consists of two shocking occasions that happen almost in a row. The first part is when Mrs. Mallards husband walks in the house, alive and well. Readers definitely did not expect that. Almost instantaneously, the final twist happens. Mrs. Mallard dies. Now one does not expect that at all, but there is some foreshadowing to this happening at the beginning when it is stated that she has heart problems. This helps to intensify the story because when something that the reader doesn't expect to happen, occurs, the reader instantly gets taken by surprise. It's a really good way to surprise readers. It also strengthens the story because unexpected twists generally make a story more interesting, if used correctly. Again, “Once Upon a Time” was able to implement these much more effectively than “Story of an Hour”. “Once Upon a Time” was able to use many more unexpected twists, and were able to captivate the reader much better than the other story.
Some are subtle, some are obvious, but either way, these surprises, unexpected twists and three part stories really do help strengthen and intensify the reading experience. They help to hook the reader and give them some “candy for their eyes”. “Once Upon a Time” and “Story of an Hour” are both able to use these ways to hook readers, but “Once Upon” a Time uses these techniques more effectively by implementing them more. The story also is much better at strengthening and intensifying the story. These stories mirror real life. They mirror the ups and downs of real life and even the unexpected occurrences in real life. Many things happen in our lives, and these stories are just trying to show that through these stories with unexpected twists and three part shifts.
Probably the most effective type of writing used in both stories are that they use three part shifts. Both stories actually use this technique in different ways, yet each story uses them almost just as effective as the other. In “Story of an Hour”, the three shifts in mood are as follows: sad, happy, sad. In “Once Upon a Time”, the three shifts in tone are: unsettling, happy, devastating. In “Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard is depressed because of how controlling her husband was. She often thought about how she wants her life to fly by so it could be over. Then, all of a sudden, she hears the news that her husband has died. She begins to have a panic attack, but it's actually out of happiness. Even saying she’s "free, free, free". This quickly turned from happiness back to sadness when her husband walks in alive and well. She almost instantly has a heart attack and dies.
Similarly, In “Once Upon a Time”, the storyteller who makes up the story in the beginning is restless and can not sleep. This sets up an unsettling mood which then contradicts the beginning of the story the restless sleeper makes. The next mood in the story is a happy and ecstatic mood. It describes a perfect family trying to live in a perfect little world. It almost sounds like a fairy tale, which is what the author wants. Quickly though, this turns to a devastating mood. The storyteller within the short story starts to describe the almost hellish atmosphere that the family is living in. It talks of robbery and the dangerous living conditions they are in. And to make matters worse, in the very end, their child, whom they were trying to protect, is killed by their own protection. These changes in mood help to strengthen and intensify each scene. This change in mood catches the reader’s eye by allowing the reader to become more interested when something new is happening. The reader will get bored with the same old same old, so the change in mood and style of text gets the reader interested again, which in turn strengthens the quality of each scene. “Once Upon a Time” is able to do this better because of the fact that the switches in mood are much more noticeable than in the other story.
Both “Story of an Hour” and “Once Upon a Time” are able to surprise the readers by implementing unexpected twists. These unexpected twists indeed help intensify each scene in their respective stories. “Once Upon a Time” uses a couple different instances. The first unexpected twist is when the narrator of the fictional piece says that he will never write a fairy tale story, yet when he starts off the story, it instantly sounds like a fairy tale. Granted it doesn't stay as a fairy tale for long, it was still unexpected that it sounded like one at first. That leads us into our next unexpected twist, the fairy tale sounding story quickly turns into a nightmarish scene of a story, with robbing and plundering. The next unexpected twist comes when the very things the parents install to help protect themselves end up not helping at all. They install an alarm system. The cat sets it off at all hours of the night. They install a wall around the house. The cat easily jumps on top of and over the wall. They put barbed wire on top of their wall, which leads into our final unexpected twist. The child ends up dying because of their improvements due to the fact that the barbed wire tangles and cuts the kid until he sadly dies, leaving the readers stunned and speechless.
The “Story of an Hour” also implements some unexpected twists, though not as many. The first twist that happens is when the reader finds out that the Mrs. Mallard is actually happy and relieved that her husband is deceased. That is definitely a twist that no one expected. The second, and actually last surprise twist consists of two shocking occasions that happen almost in a row. The first part is when Mrs. Mallards husband walks in the house, alive and well. Readers definitely did not expect that. Almost instantaneously, the final twist happens. Mrs. Mallard dies. Now one does not expect that at all, but there is some foreshadowing to this happening at the beginning when it is stated that she has heart problems. This helps to intensify the story because when something that the reader doesn't expect to happen, occurs, the reader instantly gets taken by surprise. It's a really good way to surprise readers. It also strengthens the story because unexpected twists generally make a story more interesting, if used correctly. Again, “Once Upon a Time” was able to implement these much more effectively than “Story of an Hour”. “Once Upon a Time” was able to use many more unexpected twists, and were able to captivate the reader much better than the other story.
Some are subtle, some are obvious, but either way, these surprises, unexpected twists and three part stories really do help strengthen and intensify the reading experience. They help to hook the reader and give them some “candy for their eyes”. “Once Upon a Time” and “Story of an Hour” are both able to use these ways to hook readers, but “Once Upon” a Time uses these techniques more effectively by implementing them more. The story also is much better at strengthening and intensifying the story. These stories mirror real life. They mirror the ups and downs of real life and even the unexpected occurrences in real life. Many things happen in our lives, and these stories are just trying to show that through these stories with unexpected twists and three part shifts.