Whatever skill we acquire in the telling of incidents we can turn to good account when we compose stories which include several events. Of these longer narratives there are two common forms, the short story and the novel.

The short story, like the incident, is constructed to bring out clearly a single point, or to produce a single effect. The plot, or action of the story, should be original and striking. Whereas in the incident the characters may be mere names, in the good short story they not only talk but they live.

Compared with the short story, - which generally deals with one chief character, or one situation, - the novel is intricate. Pupils who wish to examine a novel as a work of art will find in Trent, Hanson, and Brewster's "Introduction to the English Classics," 1 and in the introductions and notes of editions prepared for schools, such aids as an analysis of the author's plot and a study of his method and of his characters.

1 Published by Ginn and Company.

Although the study of both forms of fiction is valuable, in learning how to write such stories as most of us are likely to produce, we naturally turn to the short story. The following volumes will be found to contain many interesting short stories:

Other good stories are mentioned in Exercise 501, below, and others in the book review under Exercise 610.

Exercises

499. Make a list of your favorite novels under two heads: (1) novels of incident; (2) novels of character.

500. Write a theme telling which of these two kinds you prefer, and why. Give illustrations.