Today, I chose to read the Valediction by Sherman Alexie and the Dostoevsky Sonnet. I definitely liked the sonnet better because I just think that it has more depth and it references timeless issues like racism. The Valediction gives us an idea of an impending falling out just from its title. I liked the simplicity and truth of it. It’s the kind of story that resonates with me and it would with anyone who’s lost a friend because of a plight. I think the story is a good story but its not a teller-proof story. Yes, it has a moral, a story about the consequences of choosing between yourself and your future and standing united with a friend. I don’t think it is a funny story at all and it has no jokes. It should be a teller proof story because of the solid moral message but I think this story is only profound because of the way the writer wrote it and the words and literary devices he used. In the Dostoevsky Sonnet, I loved the lineation used. Its a story in the form of a sonnet, so it doesn’t become dense and keeps the reader’s attention. The story is not something I can remember with all the important details as it just has many but it’s a beautiful real story I would love to read anytime. The subtle details the writer uses like referring to the girlfriend as ex-girlfriend from the beginning, a foreboding for their impending breakup. The cliche plot of the best friend stealing the girl doesn’t make this special but carries the story forward. The idea of wanting things in life but not getting most of them is what packed a profound punch. The importance of the loss of a friend which was valued more in this sonnet than the loss of the girlfriend, also made it favorable to me. The race issues addressed so bluntly and clearly, the use of definitions for terms that were part of the writer’s typical diction but I wouldn’t know of like “Jody”, and many other writing techniques used here made this sonnet a good one. I don’t think teller-proof stories exist because if a human doesn’t give a piece of literature a distinct voice, the message will never be the same to different audiences.
Short Stories – Are these teller-proof stories?
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