A taste of the world’s best short stories

Great stories.
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Free study guides for classic short stories and novels: themes, characters, symbols, quotes and endings explained in under 20 minutes, with flashcards and a quiz to make it stick.

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7 min · 1843 The Tell-Tale Heart Edgar Allan Poe Read the analysis → 7 min · 1905 The Gift of the Magi O. Henry Read the analysis → 7 min · 1911 The Open Window Saki Read the analysis → 8 min · 1894 The Story of an Hour Kate Chopin Read the analysis →

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Short stories 276 analyses American literature 195 analyses Under 20 minutes 127 analyses British literature 68 analyses Modernism 68 analyses

Featured today O. Henry

The Last Leaf

A dying young painter pins her hope of survival to the falling leaves of an ivy vine, never guessing what an old neighbor will do to save her.

Short storiesUnder 20 minutesAmerican literature

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“Some day I will paint a masterpiece, and we shall all go away.”— The Last Leaf

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StoryBites began with Karen Bernardo (1949 to 2021), who spent years explaining the short stories nobody else online bothered with. Her analyses are preserved here as she wrote them, at their original addresses.

Analysis by Karen BernardoThis Way for the Gas, Ladies and GentlemenTadeusz Borowski Analysis by Karen BernardoWhat We Talk About When We Talk About LoveRaymond Carver Analysis by Karen BernardoThe Rich BoyF. Scott Fitzgerald