THIS IS ONLY one page reading respond MLA needed to be done in less than 5 hours

Professor Kiefer

English Writing 301

15 Sep. 2014

Cultural Studies

When talking about literature most of the times we think in works like The Divine Comedy, or Don Quixote (Gardner, 170). We look for a good plot containing conflict, complications, rising actions, climax and falling action. Further, we expect to find at least a protagonist and an antagonist. Finally, we expect a thorough description of the setting. We then analyze or criticize the work using all these components. But what happens if a text doesn’t have all these components? Cultural critics try to broaden the canon by analyzing all texts; rather than, only traditional literary objects (Gardner, 171).

Tiny Giants: 101 Stories Under 101 Words by Jason Sinclair Long contain one hundred one mini stories. These stories don’t have the traditional literary objects we are used to find in a story. In fact, at first some of them might feel as if they were taken from another, more traditional story. One of the stories is titled The Innocent Man and following the title the story is only composed by one sentence. This sentence reads “Cornered, he lashed out, becoming the monster for which they searched.” (Long, 78). And even if we cannot find many of the traditional literary objects like climax or even a setting, we can interpret so much of this powerful sentence.

To start with the title The Innocent Man prepare us to expect the story to be about a man that is facing some kind of conflict. It can be that he committed a crime, or that he is being accused of something he didn’t do, or that he is feeling guilty of something. Then, the first word “Cornered” denotes that he is feeling trapped. Following “he lashes out” from here we now know that he is responding to the feeling of being trapped. Finally “becoming the monster for which they searched.” This last part explains so much. We see how this man starting being innocent, but as he felt cornered there was nothing else for him to do but to become what everyone else thought of him.

Long´s words are so powerful because in just one sentence there is so much meaning. Further, many people can relate to them. No one is born guilty, or as monster, but sometimes life doesn’t give you any choice but to become one. There is nothing different in the genes of a criminal; in fact, the only difference is the situations that he had to face. Long’s stories might at first sight look like incomplete stories lacking components, but when analyzing them you realize that every word has a deep meaning.

Works cited

Gardner, Janet E. Reading and Writing About Literature: A Portable Guide, 3rd Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. Print.

Long, Jason Sinclair. Tiny Giants: 101 Stories Under 101 Words. Sacramento: Ad Lumen Press, 2014. Print.