本書特色：
凝聚全國英語專業教學指導委員會主任何其莘教授數十年教學、科研及教材編寫經驗，是何其莘教授的又一次自我超越。
國界：彙集眾多中美名家的經驗與智慧，吸收國際先進理念，旨在提升本土教學水平。
傳統：打破以功能為主的傳統教材編寫模式，充分考慮當前教學實踐，創新教學方法和手段，突破文化特征，培養學生人文素養和文化意識。

本書為英語專業本科生選修課教材，也適用於非英語專業學生和自學者的文學閱讀與鋻賞。本書旨在通過對小說基本要素或技巧的講解，引導學習者體驗、解讀和品鋻英語短篇小說，領略作家的語感、文思和纔情，感悟作品所承載的審美價值、文化意蘊和社會歷史意義。

何其莘博士，北京外國語大學教授，博士生導師。1994年-2005年任北外副校長，現為中國人民大學外國語學院院長、教育部高校英語專業教學指導委員會主任、全國翻譯碩士專業學位教育指導委員會副主任、全國英語文學學會會長、全國有突出貢獻的中青年專家。
楊孝明博士，教授。畢業於西安外國語大學，後獲英國諾丁漢大學英語碩士學位、美國鮑陵格林州立大學英語博士學位。現為新澤西州海洋郡學院英語繫終身教授。

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Unit 1.Character
James Joyce: Araby
Katherine Masfield: Miss Brill

Unit 2.Plot
William Carlos Williams: The Use of Force
Shirley Jackson: The Lottery

Unit 3.Language and Style
John Updike: A & P
Ernest Hemingway: The Killes

Unit 4.Setting
William Faulkner: A Rose for Emily
Kate Chopin: The Storm

Unit 5.Point of view
Doris Lessing: The Black Madonna
Edgar Allan Poe: The Fall of the House of Usher

Unit 6.Symbol
Nathanial Hawthorne: Young Goodman Brown
Sherwood Andeson: The Egg

Unit 7.Irony
Flannery O'Connor: Good Country People
O'Henry: The Cop and the Anthem

Unit 8.Theme
D.H.Lawrence: The Hose-Dealer's Daughter
Alice Walker: Everyday Use

Unit 9.Experimental Technique
William Boyd: Beulah Berlin, An A-Z
Joyce Carol Oates: Unmailed, Unwritten Lettes

"Don't get up，" says Dee. Since I am stout it takes something of a push. You can see me trying to move a second or two before I make it. She turns， showing white heels through her sandals， and goes back to.the car. Out she peeks next with a Polaroid. She stoops down quickly and lines up picture after picture of me sitting there in front of the house with Maggie cowering behind me. She never takes a shot without making sure the house is included. When a cow comes nibbling around the edge of the yard she snaps it and me and Maggie and the house. Then she puts the Polaroid in the back seat of the car， and comes up and kisses me on the forehead.
Meanwhile Asalamalakim is going through motions with Maggie's hand. Maggie's hand is as limp as a fish， and probably as cold， despite the sweat， and she keeps trying to pull it back. It looks like Asalamalakim wants to shake hands but wants to do it fancy. Or maybe he don't know how people shake hands. Anyhow， he soon gives up on Maggie.
"Well，" I say. "Dee."
"No， Mama，" she says. "Not 'Dee，' Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!"
"What happened to 'Dee'?" I wanted to know.
"She's dead，" Wangero said. "i couldn't bear it any longer， being named after the people who oppress me."
"You know as well as me you was named after your aunt Dicie，" I said. Dicie is my sister. She named Dee. We called her "Big Dee" after Dee was born.
"But who was she named after asked Wangero.
"I guess after Grandma Dee，" I said.
'And who was she named after?" asked Wangero.
"Her mother，" I said， and saw Wangero was getting tired. "That's about as far back as I can trace it，" I said. Though， in fact， I probably could have carried it back beyond the Civil War
through the branches.
"Well，" said Asalamalakim， "there you are."
"Uhnnnh，" I heard Maggie say.
"There I was not，" I said， "before 'Dicie' cropped up in our family， so why should I try to trace it that far back?"
He just stood there grinning， looking down on me like somebody inspecting a Model A car.
Every once in a while he and Wangero sent eye signals over my head.
"How do you pronounce this name?" I asked.
"You don't have to call me by it ifyou don't want to，" said Wangero.
"Why shouldn't I?" I asked. "If that's what you want us to call you， we'll call you."
……