1. American Literature School of Foreign Languages Xue Ling

2. Writers for study Katherine Anne Porter Ernest Hemingway Eugene Glastone O’Neill Joseph Heller

3. Katherine Anne Porter Katherine Anne Porter (1890- 1980) was born in Indian Creek, Texas and educated at home, in private schools, and in an Ursualine convent. Though she began to write stories as soon as she could, she made no attempt to publish until she was past thirty.

4. Literary achievements First book of stories: Flowering Judas (1930) Collections of her short stories: Hacienda: A Story of Mexico (1934) Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939) The Leaning Tower and Other Stories (1944) The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter (1965), winning the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Novel: Ship of Fools (1962)

5. Stream of consciousness The narrative method whereby certain novelists describe the unspoken thoughts and feelings of their characters without resorting to objective description or conventional dialogue. The ability to represent the flux of a character’s thoughts, impressions, emotions, or reminiscences, often without logical sequence or syntax, marked a revolution in the form of novel.

6. Text analysis 1.General understanding of the story 2.Writing style: Stream of consciousness - interior monologue - dislocation of time - free association of thoughts 3.Theme

7. Questions to ponder What are the qualities the Granny possesses which help her live successfully? Does Granny have any weaknesses? If so, what are they? What are the major causes of Granny’s acute pain in her heart?