1. Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne

3. Why Read Short Stories? Short stories are reflective of America: - the fragmentation, chaos, and diversity of American life makes short stories a natural expression - eager, hasty, impatient country responds to the minimal time requirement of the short story

4. Elements of Short Story - short story should be able to be read in one sitting - (between 1/2 hour and 2 hours to read) - during that time, the reader is at the writer's control; free of external influences or interruptions - writer attempts to create a "single dominant effect - every word contributes to that "single effect"