Descriptive Annotation: An Introduction to Short Fiction - Annotated Bibliography Example

Descriptive Annotation: An Introduction to Short FictionAtwood, Margaret. "Happy Endings." Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer Compact: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006. 54 -56. Print.Mary and John are the characters of this short metafiction. Six different scenarios are presented but with only two characters in each one of them, John and Mary. Each of the scenarios starts out in the same way with the two characters meeting, and presents a possible path to follow in the pursuit for happiness.

Each time though, the same ending is attained; John and Mary die.Faulkner, William. "That Evening Sun Go Down." Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Bosto, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006. 415 - 427. Print.The story with the narrator as Quentin Compson, considers the life of Nancy, an African-American washer-woman in the southern states. Quentin is a son in the family where Nancy works. The story tells of the divide that existed between the African-Americans and the Whites during that period.

The divide between the two races was evidenced by their separation in the regions they lived in. The separation between them, Nancy referred to as the ditch. Over the ditch, Nancy was scared that her husband Judah lay in wait to ambush her. She, therefore, asks the Compson children to accompany her home. The children are inquisitive of the ditch that Nancy is afraid of but they do not get to see.Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants." Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction.

Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006. 539 - 542. Print.The story is set up in a train station in Spain that looks out to the Ebro valley. The characters are a man only referred to as the American, and his companion who is not named. He, however, refers to her as “Jig”. The two are sipping beer and liquor as they wait for the train to Madrid. Their conversation is initially made up of the woman’s comparison of the liquor to liquorice. They then start talking about an operation which is not explicitly described.

The man convinces the woman to undergo the operation but makes it seem like it is the woman’s prerogative. The woman is, however, not too willing to go through with the procedure, but reluctantly agrees to it. It is then that a female attendant arrives to bring the American two glasses of beer and announces that the train would be arriving soon. The American leaves to take out their bags but after a while out at the station, returns to the woman at the bar. He inquires as to how he she is and the woman says she is fine.

Steinbeck, John. "The Chrysanthemums." Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006. 1246 - 1253. Print.Set in the Salinas Valley in winter, the story focuses on thirty-five year old Elisa Allen and her husband Henry. The two have a formal relationship with one another with no obvious affection. Elisa is tending to flowers in her garden, and her husband has been out negotiating for the sale of some steers. Henry praises his wife’s skillfulness with flowers and she in turn praises him for his skill in negotiations.

Henry offers to take his wife out to town for dinner and a movie to celebrate the sale of the steers. When Henry leaves, a man drives up his old wagon and talks up Elisa. At first she is apprehensive about the man but when he tells her of one of his customers who plants flowers, she becomes accommodative. Before the man leaves, Elisa gives him some chrysanthemum cuttings to take to his customer. To her disappointment, she finds the cuttings thrown out in the middle of the road on their way to town for dinner with her husband.