Lit2Go

American Short Fiction

by FCIT

American Short Fiction

This collection includes fine short stories from American authors including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, and Constance Fenimore Woolson.

Source: This book was compiled by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology and includes passages from multiple sources. Please refer to the passage pages for further source information.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
A superstitious schoolteacher comes to a mysterious end in the isolated glen of Sleepy Hollow.
Pigs is Pigs
Railway agent Mike Flannery wants to charge the livestock rate for a shipment of two guinea pigs. He refuses to accept the lower pet rate saying “Pigs is Pigs.” The grumbling customer complains to the railway company. Meanwhile while the guinea pigs reproduce and eat in Flannery’s stationhouse.
Rip Van Winkle
An idle villager experiences some strange events while taking a walk in the mountains.
Rodman the Keeper
“Rodman the Keeper” is a powerful tale that highlights the irreconcilable differences between Northern and Southern cultures, with dignity and sympathy allotted to representative characters of both worlds.
The Snow-Image: A Childish Miracle
Two children, Violet and Peony, construct a girl out of snow. This snow-image comes to life, however, their parents think she is a human girl and bring her inside where she promptly melts.
The Yellow Wallpaper
Following the birth of her child, the narrator is cared for by her physician husband at a country estate.
  • Year Published: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States of America
  • Readability:
    • Flesch–Kincaid Level: 8.4
  • Word Count: 48,385
  • Genre: Realism
  • Keywords: age, animals, dialect, fear, humor, idleness, imagination, love, marriage, new england, north vs. south, passage of time, postpartum depression, railroad, reconstruction, self-expression, supernatural, superstition, tradition, train, youth
  • ✎ Cite This
  • Share |