What in your view makes the genre distinctive? Support your argument with reference to close readings of at least three stories. 2. What is a Chekhovian ending and why, in relationship to the history and form of the short story, does it matter? Support your argument with reference to close readings of at least three stories. 3. Why does the short story form lend itself so successfully to film adaptation? Support your argument with reference to one of the following combinations, using both the film and the story: a) ‘Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption’/ The Shawshank Redemption ; b) ‘Brokeback Mountain’/ Brokeback Mountain ; c) ‘Chance’/‘Soon’/‘Silence’/ Julieta. 4. The short story, particularly in the present, is often used to explore the most domestic of details, the most mundane of events. Why, for example, does Helen Simpson choose to write about a door and why does it matter and/or work? Support your answer with reference to at least three stories. 5. Focussing on the work of either Jhumpa Lahiri or Chimamanda Adichie, discuss the role of the short story in exploring one or more of the following issues: race, gender, dislocation, class. 5. How does the work of Lydia Davis challenge the short story form? 6. What is the future of the short story? Does digital technology constitute an opportunity or a threat?
