Agree or disagree with the steven dunning article (i will attach the file) - Essay Example

Scrutiny of Steven Dunning’s article In his article, “Short Stories And Taste”, Steven Dunning offers a candid and profound analysis of two stories, “Appointment with Love” and “The Chaser”, in an endeavor to establish how the authors effectively used various stylistic devices in an effort to capture the reader’s attention and deliver the envisioned message. “Appointment with Love” by S.I Kishor describes lieutenant Blandfold’s first meeting with her longtime lover Ms. Hollis Meynell.

Blandfold frantically and enthusiastically waits for Hollis outside a telephone booth (Steven 675). Anxiousness takes the better part of him before she finally arrives having played a hoax with an old woman to dress like Hollis had promised. This was meant to see how Blandfold would react after meeting an old woman instead of the young lass he was expecting. He, however, acted prudently and won the challenge. “The Chaser” by John Collier elucidates Alan Austen’s endeavors with an old man selling charms (Steven 676).

The old man assuredly persuades Alan to procure a love portion and use it on his girlfriend to ensure that she will always want his chum, never divorce him. This paper offers an ostensible elucidation of how Dunning evaluates the values of the stories and critiques the authors’ flaws in the use of stylistic devices in their commensurate stories. Dunning terms Kishor’s narrative as “linguistically impoverished”. Dunning is strongly against the kind of language used by Kishor. He ends up asking various questions regarding Kishor’s diction; questions that remain unrequited.

For instance, “What human being has been ‘sustained unfailingly’ by the written words of a woman?” (Steven 677). He also vindicates that the ‘immense starred roof’, as used in the story, does not work. Kishor also stated that Hollis ‘more than replied’ to Blandfold’s letters including those that had not arrived. Dunning questions the amount of letters that were exchanged between the lovers and queries how one could ‘more than reply’ to letters. He finds Kishor’s diction as being defective, illogical and unrealistic throughout the narration.

Moreover, the story is stylistically inadequate and uneven (Steven 677). Dunning asserts that characterization in the story is perfunctory, and the thematic implications are distorted. In his analysis of “The Chaser”, dunning upholds that it is stylistically clean and well-organized. He states that the narrative scene is clear, and all that readers need to know and comprehend is available in a rather proficient manner. “Alan reveals himself through the lines he speaks and the questions he asks” (Steven 678).

Moreover, Collier provides entertainment through the well-drafted and stimulating questions about life. Moreover, “The Chaser” has imaginative acts that provide answers to the ending rather than offering a surprise ending that often leaves readers disgruntled (Steven 678). Taste is further attained through the use of the “The Chaser”, a title that reveals much about the underlying story. Although dunning’s analysis is logical to some extent, he flaws in his analysis and overly concentrates on the negativities without considering the special message that the authors intended to deliver through their diction.

I find taste in “Appointment with Love” since the style used by Kishor enthusiastically describes the excitement and agitation associated with meeting a lover for the first time. The vocabularies are grasping and fully drive the point home. What’s more, his vivid description of the lovers is marvelous. In “The Chaser”, Collier leaves readers with more questions than answers and uses a language that is rather plain and disinteresting. Work CitedSteven Dunning. Short Stories And Taste.

English Journal. 57 May 1968: 675-679.