Aspects of the growth and practice of the English short story

This thesis is based on the belief that the English short story deserves a more prominent position in the field of literary criticism, and on the aim to understand it as a distinct literary form. Though this study does not, in any way, pretend to fill that place, it is an attempt to understand the basic intentions of certain authors by an examination of the functions of the various elements which shape a short story. Such an end may best be achieved by the inductive method, by the use of concrete examples of writers whose work can be investigated, interpreted, and compared with others. The organisation of this thesis is based on that principle