Short Stories for High School

This short story takes the reader on an emotional journey and was quite controversial when it was published in 1894 as The Dream of an Hour before being republished under this title in 1895. Most readers experience varying degrees of discomfort while reading this story, a testament to its power. This selection is an excellent entry point for a discussion about why feminist literature began to appear at this time and how people reacted. Here's our Study Guide

It's a beautiful summer day in a small American town, and the villagers are gathering for their annual lottery. Children collect stones. Neighbors chat pleasantly. Everything seems perfectly ordinary—until the final, shocking reveal. Published in The New Yorker in 1948, this story generated more letters than any other piece of fiction the magazine had ever published, with readers demanding to know: Where does this lottery take place? Can I watch? What does it mean? Jackson's masterpiece is a devastating critique of blind tradition, mob mentality, and the human capacity for violence when sanctioned by ritual. This is the most anthologized short story in American literature, and it remains as powerful and disturbing today as when it first horrified readers over 75 years ago.

This renowned tale, set during the American Civil War, is widely regarded as a masterpiece of short fiction. It follows Peyton Farquhar, a man about to be hanged, whose love for his wife and children fuels his vivid vision of escape. This story is accompanied by a useful Study Guide

A man and a woman sit at a train station in Spain, drinking beer and talking—but what they're really discussing is never directly stated. Hemingway's famous "iceberg theory" is on full display in this masterpiece of minimalist fiction: the surface conversation about trying new drinks and looking at hills masks a much deeper, more painful negotiation about their relationship and future. Every line of seemingly casual dialogue carries enormous weight. What are they really talking about? Why can't they say it directly? This story has been called one of the most frequently taught works in American literature, and for good reason—it demands close reading and rewards careful attention to subtext, symbolism, and what's left unsaid.

The narrator arrives at the decaying mansion of his childhood friend, Roderick Usher, who has summoned him with a desperate plea for companionship. Everything about the House of Usher seems wrong—the dark tarn reflecting its image, the oppressive atmosphere, Roderick's heightened senses and mysterious illness, his sister Madeline's cataleptic condition. As the story builds toward its horrifying climax, the boundaries between psychological terror and supernatural horror blur completely. This is Poe's masterpiece of Gothic literature, featuring his famous theme of premature burial and the ultimate collapse of both house and family. Essential reading for understanding American Gothic and Dark Romanticism, this story showcases Poe at the height of his powers—creating an atmosphere of dread so complete that the story itself feels like a descent into madness.

A family road trip takes a catastrophic turn when the grandmother's manipulation leads them down a dirt road—straight into an encounter with an escaped convict called The Misfit. What follows is one of the most shocking and theologically complex stories in Southern Gothic literature. O'Connor, a devout Catholic, crafts a narrative about grace, redemption, and violence that forces readers to confront profound questions about good and evil, faith and morality. The grandmother is selfish, manipulative, and racist—yet in the story's terrifying climax, something shifts. This is O'Connor's most famous and widely taught story, essential for understanding 20th-century American literature. Note:O’Connor used historically accurate but offensive vernacular to demonstrate the moral shallowness of her characters and culture; that may require some thoughtful classroom discussion.

A comprehensive study guide will be available soon.

If you have read The Story of an Hour then you probably understand that Ms. Chopin was willing to write about love and relationships in their entirety, embracing the complexities and mysteries of that realm. In this story she takes on the sensitive issue of infidelity. This is a story for more mature and advanced high school classes.

This is a story that works at several levels and is easily read as a sad and tragic morality tale about animal cruelty. For advanced readers, this story merits classroom discussion as a symbolic tale. Probably written in 1893, it's an interesting cross-section of literature and history that might be commenting on Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era. What if the dog, still dragging a rope, is representative of recently freed slaves? If we accept that symbolic starting point, who is the little boy? The mother, the father? And what does the story mean in that context? Use our Study Guide

Before Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll's House, he noted in 1878 that, "A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day which is an exclusively masculine society with laws framed by men and with the judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view." Glaspell drives the point home brilliantly in this short play, which she later adapted into a short story, A Jury of Her Peers.

At a party, a heated debate erupts: which is more humane—capital punishment or life imprisonment? A wealthy banker bets two million rubles that no one could endure fifteen years of solitary confinement. A young lawyer accepts the challenge. What begins as a philosophical argument becomes a profound meditation on the meaning of freedom, the value of knowledge, and the nature of human existence. As the years pass, both men are transformed—but not in the ways either expected. Chekhov's masterpiece asks: What is the true cost of our convictions? And what do we really value when everything else is stripped away?

Also consider The Lady with the Little Dog as an alternative Chekhov selection—a sophisticated exploration of love, marriage, and moral complexity.

"Ed had always been a practical man, when he saw something was wrong he tried to correct it. Then one day he saw it hanging in the town square."

Editor's Note: This is one of our favorite short stories; a powerful exploration of the dangers of conformity, societal apathy, and the fragility of individual perception. It raises questions about the limits of personal resistance in the face of societal pressure and mind control.

A Gothic short story set in a Puritan New England town, focusing on Reverend Mr. Hooper, who suddenly appears wearing a mysterious black veil over his face. The veil unsettles his congregation and community, leading to widespread speculation about its meaning and the possibility of secret sin. Hawthorne's story is one of the finest examples of Dark Romanticism. Why will no one ask Reverend Hooper why he wears it? Read our helpful Study Guide

A peasant farmer picks up a piece of string from the road—such a small, innocent act. But when a wallet goes missing at the market, suspicion falls on him, and no amount of truth-telling can save his reputation. Maupassant masterfully explores how quickly gossip hardens into "fact," how stubbornly society clings to false accusations, and how a man's entire identity can be destroyed by something as trivial as a piece of string. This darkly ironic tale reveals the cruelty of social judgment and the devastating power of rumor in small-town life.

Written in the shadow of World War I, this deceptively simple story explores the complicated relationship between grief, memory, and power. A successful businessman—"the boss"—whose son died in the war six years earlier, finds himself engaged in a strange, almost sadistic game with a fly that has fallen into his inkpot. What begins as an apparent rescue becomes something far more disturbing. Mansfield masterfully weaves themes of WWI grief, mortality, the fragility of memory, and the psychology of power and control. The story is laden with symbolism: What does the fly represent? Why can't the boss remember what he was thinking about moments before? The Fly rewards close reading and is an excellent choice for essays and classroom discussion—the longer you look, the more you discover.

A delightful mosaic of stand-alone, but related stories describing the development of a young man, George Willard, as he comes of age. The stories mark the significant episodes and relationships that have shaped his life and formed his character. The stories build toward the moment when he will leave Winesburg and his youth behind. Each story can be enjoyed independently, revealing flawed yet endearing characters in Anderson's naturalist style.

Coming Soon — This powerful story about two brothers in Harlem—one a schoolteacher, one a jazz musician struggling with heroin addiction—explores themes of suffering, music, family, and redemption. Baldwin's most anthologized short story and an essential text for AP Literature courses.

This is a fantastically funny short story collection from the Canadian author Stephen Leacock. Though largely lost to modern readers, it was once commonly said that "more people had heard of Stephen Leacock than Canada." If this one is not on your reading list, I advise you to negotiate with your teacher for some extra credit and read this one independently.

This sublime story is based on the true-life ordeal that Crane endured in 1897 when a ship he boarded for Cuba ran aground and sank off the Florida coast. A ten-foot long dinghy is a small boat for four men in calm water, it must have been rather harrowing in rough seas. While this is another man versus nature story, it focuses more on nature's indiscriminate carelessness, and I admire this narrative's understated style.

It is hard to comment on this story's content without spoiling its powerful effect on the reader, so I will refrain other than to recommend it for classrooms that are ready for mature discussions of sensitive topics. I think this story is best when previewed by the teacher, then assigned to the whole class for reading and a follow-up discussion.

Araby is a compelling short story with valuable lessons and revelations for the adolescent reader. It deals with the hazards of romance and follows a young man that has developed a crush on his friend's sister; "I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood."
Many readers consider Araby to be their favorite James Joyce short story, perhaps a precursor to Ulysses.

Two men who have hated each other for generations finally meet in a dark forest on a winter night—both armed, both ready to end their blood feud over a strip of contested land. But when a massive beech tree crashes down and pins them side by side, unable to move, they're forced to confront something far more dangerous than each other. What begins as a tale of bitter enemies becomes a masterclass in irony, with one of the most chilling twist endings in short story literature. The question isn't whether they'll reconcile—it's whether reconciliation will matter when the real interlopers arrive.

In this playful and funny short story, Mark Twain makes a humorous accounting of the differences between the sexes, writing first from Eve's point of view and then following up with Adam's point of view. This story is a gentle reminder that it's okay to lighten up and laugh at our differences.

"There is a point at which terror may turn to madness . . ." Physically, this story is set on the American frontier -- hint coming -- but that may not be where all the action takes place! The Boarded Window is a great story for in-class reading and discussion.

This story was adapted in the Coen Brothers' movie, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), in the vignette titled The Gal Who Got Rattled.