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2/6/2022 Short Story Central – Journey to Dystopia

  • Writer: Sasha Wallace
    Sasha Wallace
  • Feb 5, 2022
  • 5 min read

My students love story time. Doesn’t matter that they are hormonal 8th graders who would much rather have phone time & Takis than nap time & milk – they still get jazzed for short texts. We arrange the desks in a circle, turn off all the lights, put the LED candles on, crank the A/C & take turns reading or using YouTube audiobooks. It’s very effective at creating a quiet, focused atmosphere to concentrate on plot events.


I’ve learned that the genres most likely to hold their interest & create spirited discussion are dystopian, horror, humor, or all three. Occasionally they’ll tolerate a sad, thoughtful piece in between gorging themselves on the violent misfortunes of others, but for the most part, they demand all things gory & bizarre. Here are just a few of the trick-bag stories I couldn’t teach without.


Short Story 1 (something new)

Title: The Paper Menagerie

Author: Ken Liu

Recommended for: Grades 8-10

Basic plot: Jack used to love his mother’s enchanted origami animals. But as he becomes a teenager & tries to fit in with his American peers, he becomes embarrassed by them & ashamed of his Chinese heritage. Jack pushes his mother farther & farther away, until the Qingming holiday makes him reassess everything he knows about family, love & culture.

Why I love it: This story gives me Ursula K. Le Guin vibes. It is that thought-provoking & biting. The author manages to effectively blend magical realism with a cultural identity crisis & it’s exceptionally well done. On top of that, he juxtaposes the horrors of war & famine with the horrors of bullying & being different. He captures emotions like shame, annoyance, remorse & desperation like a spider in a tasteful literary web. This story was the first work of fiction to win ALL of the Nebula, Hugo & World Fantasy Awards. You can clearly see why.


Every time we read it, my students always need a moment to process the many sensations it rouses within them. It isn’t a happy story, at all. But it’s important because it makes students stop & consider their own relationships to their parents, their languages, their holidays, their cuisine – the bits of culture that shape their identities. There’s a lot to relate to. Every student has been embarrassed by a family member at some point. Not all of them have handled it well. Reading “The Paper Menagerie” provides an outsider’s lens into an intimate family predicament. Socially, I hope it teaches them patience, compassion & fortitude.


During the advent of coronavirus, Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders were the target of hate crimes across the United States. Specifically, attacks on Asians & Asian Americans skyrocketed 145% in major cities during 2020 alone - & that’s just based on verified reports. It is so important to expose students to diverse texts at a young age, to teach them that aggressive & divisive behavior towards any demographic isn’t to be tolerated. I appreciate that this short story is one of very few that explores the struggle to fit in & find balance from a Chinese perspective, a rare treat in children’s literature.


Where can you find it? In book form, it’s actually a collection of short stories, available in paperback from Amazon, eBay, AbeBooks, Thriftbooks & OverDrive (cheapest $6.69 & up, used). Some Barnes & Noble stores would have this in stock in the fantasy section.


However, it is ALSO available online in its entirety (though I warrant that the text isn’t appropriate for middle school in its original form). You be the judge. In my own TeachersPayTeachers store, I have a packet for sale including my edited version of the story & several extension activities.


All my extension activity suggestions are included within the resource above.


Short Story 2 (something really creepy)

Title: The Landlady

Author: Roald Dahl

Recommended for: Grades 7-8

Basic plot: Billy Weaver has just arrived in Bath to start a new job. He takes a room at a boardinghouse with a rather eccentric landlady. But unfortunately, he seems unaware of the danger that awaits him.


Why I love it: Okay, it is grisly & will definitely get a rise out of your kiddo, but beyond that, the really creepy part is that something like this actually COULD happen. There’s nothing supernatural about it – no monsters, minimal violence, yet you can’t help but feel grossed out after reading it. I use this as a springboard into a discussion about stranger danger & trust. We list all of the examples of foreshadowing, of which Dahl is a master. We also build character webs of Billy & the landlady & I make each student write at least 5 personality traits for each.

It’s kind of inexplicable that Dahl, who is renowned for his gentle & wonder-filled books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or James and the Giant Peach, has such a dark side. But he truly was good at writing sinister. “The Landlady” first appeared in Kiss Kiss, Dahl’s collection of macabre short stories published in 1960. It was eventually adapted into an episode of Tales of the Unexpected, which Dahl himself has a cameo in. The film version lives up to its terrifying predecessor. Many of my students tell me they “can’t unsee it” after watching.


If your kiddo gets scared easily (or queasy), skip this until high school. If they like things like Coraline, CSI or Stranger Things, you’ve got the green light to proceed.


Where can you find it? Amazon, eBay, AbeBooks, Thriftbooks, OverDrive (cheapest $1.01 & up, used). Most Barnes & Noble stores would have this in stock.

Extension activity: I’d review types of irony first. The basics are as follows:


Irony = the contrast between reality & expectations.

Dramatic irony = the contrast between what a CHARACTER KNOWS & what the READER/ AUDIENCE KNOWS.

Situational irony = the contrast between what is EXPECTED to happen & what ACTUALLY happens.

Verbal irony = the contrast between what is SAID & what is MEANT.

Make sure to give your child an opportunity to provide their own examples of irony from movies or books they are familiar with. There are some great YouTube resources exploring irony using clips from The Lego Movie, among others, that may hold their interest while reinforcing the basic tenets.


Before reading the story, encourage your kiddo to answer this journal prompt:

We all know scary movies are incredibly popular, but scary books have been around long before film. How do you think writers of the horror genre successfully scare readers without the use of moving images & special effects? How do you think horror genre authors set the tone of their stories? Write your response in an academic paragraph.


After reading, have them answer these additional probing questions:

1. Explain how Billy’s POV is different from the audience’s.

2. Which line(s) from the text contain irony?

3. How does Billy’s POV increase the suspense in the story?


This is a good time to review inferencing - while reading, pause at various points throughout the story & do think-alouds. Ask your child what they think will happen next, why they think so, what this vocab word may mean, why the tea tastes like bitter almonds, why the guestbook only has 2 names from years ago, why the names sound familiar, etc.


It may also be fun to have your child design their own alluring Bed & Breakfast. Just as long as they aren’t using it for nefarious purposes!

“The Landlady” isn’t for everyone. I highly recommend taking it for a test-drive yourself before punting it off on your child. This is one, along with Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt", that I send permission slips home to parents before reading. However, should you venture into that terror-filled vista, I promise you, your child will never forget it.


Thanks for tuning in! Keep the pages turning until we meet again.


Love,

Sash

 
 
 

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