Fiction Packet #2

This packet proved to be a nice contrast to the other fiction packet, because that the stories are much longer and are still effective and interesting.  I particularly enjoyed the Brian Evensan piece titled "Internal", as it proved that the sole purpose of a short story of that length is optimal for story telling over message conveyance.  This particular packet contradicted the first one in length, which allowed for more of a narrative to develop as opposed to small instances.  This allowed for there to be multiple parts within the story that acted as chapters in order to fluidly display the plot line.  I derived from this that shorter of pieces of writing act as a certain type of "poetry" in that it displays more sensory details and utilizes language in certain ways for an aesthetically pleasing effect.

I feel it is more appropriate in these types of stories to analyze the plot as opposed to writing style and conventions relating to language.  The story, "Internal" from Contagion by Brian Evensan was suspenseful and interesting.  The story revolves around an unnamed intern working under a Doctor Rauch and later a Doctor Kagen, who is told without explanation to observe the respective brothers of each doctor.  I particularly enjoyed the ambiguous ending, as I was lead to believe that the people in the apartment complex are all psychotic in some way, observing each other for some sort of sick sociology experiment.  The environment that the intern was immersed in changed the way the intern reacted to outside stimuli, becoming paranoid and wary of other's intentions.  At first, the intern came into the complex entirely sane, yet the intern dared not question Dr. Rauch.  The intern became relatively insane watching the Doctors' respective brothers, as the intern was quite paranoid of being watched and observed like the others.

The stories held more of a story line, more character development, and more of a rising action leading to the climax.  The most interesting aspect of the story I mentioned was the ability to hold suspense and lead to a longer narrative as opposed to a short synopsis of one particular instance.  These stories prove what a short story can be when they emphasize plot and character development.