Margaret Atwood, Happy Endings

Link: Margaret Atwood, Happy Endings

• Print: Fiction, Short Story

Atwood's story provides multiple endings based on a simple plot line: "John and Mary meet."

Ray Bradbury, A Sound of Thunder

Link: Ray Bradbury, A Sound of Thunder

• Print: Fiction, Short Story

Bradybury's science fiction story begins in the year 2055.  The protagonist, via a time machine, pays to go on a guiding safari tour to hunt a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily

Link: William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily

• Print: Fiction, Short Story

Faulkner's non-linear narrative initially recalls the funeral of Emily Grierson (attended by the entire town). 

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Link: F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

• Print: Fiction, Short Story

Fitzgerald's story was adapted to a major motion picture movie in 2008.  The story's main character, Benjamin, is born with the physical appearance and cognitive skills of a 70 yr old man.  Benjamin Button ages backwards (turns gradually younger) as the story progresses.

Shirley Jackson, The Lottery

Link: Shirley Jackson, The Lottery

•  Print: Fiction, Short Story

Jackson's text was originally published in an issue of the New Yorker in 1948.  The story takes place in a small town of 300 who have an annual ritual know as "the lottery."

Ernest Hemingway, A Clean Well-Lighted Place

Link: Ernest Hemingway, A Clean Well-Lighted Place

• Print: Fiction, Short Story

Hemingway's text, first published in 1929, takes place in a cafe.  Waiters discuss the attempted suicide of an old man.

Jeff Landon, Clyde

Link: Jeff Landon, Clyde

• Print: Fiction, Flash Fiction

Landon's text details a relationship between the narrator and a newspaper delivery person, as well as the terrible news that appears on the front page of the paper.