• What was the main point of the article we read about short fiction: "The Remarkable Reinvention of Very Short Fiction"?
• What EVIDENCE did the author give to support this claim?

     The main point in of this article was to give a brief background of short stories, and describe what they are. The author gave examples of different people's works. There were also different types of short stories given, such as micros, nanos, suddens, and flashes. There were also examples of how there were short stories during the Roman, Greek, and Medieval eras. It also explains how these stories have a strong effect on the reader, even though they are short. The author relates this how people now days are accustomed to TV shows, and how they are short, and that this may be a cause for a shortened attention span. This means that they need to get a story or message, with the same effect of a normal length story, in a short period of time. A powerful effect in a small package, so to speak.

• How does this relate to the short stories we read from Sudden Fiction?    

     In the short stories we read, some of the authors told stories of their lives or someone else's life, or an event that happened over a period of time. Even though they gave a brief description of those events, they did it in such a way that you could easily understand what was going on, or what had happened. 

• In "Cannibals and Explorers" - a MICROSTORY - Ana Maria Shua makes a commentary about the behavior of European explorers and in the New World. What is she saying? How does the condensed form of the microstory enhance her message (see The Remarkable Reinvention of Very Short Fiction for ideas about the power of these mini-stories)?

     In Cannibals and Explorers, Ana Maria Shua is saying the cannibals want to be like the explorers, she says "the cannibals don the explorers' clothes." By this she is not talking about actual cannibals, but rather people that are trying to be like someone else who they believe leads a better life than them. She writes, "the cannibals consume those parts of the body they believe will instill in them the virtues they admire in their victims." I believe what she is saying is that they try to take the parts of other people they are trying to copy, and become those things, essentially pretending to be someone they are not, and living lives that are not theirs. 

     With this story being condensed, it leaves a lot of room for the readers to come up with their own conclusions as to what the meaning may be. However, it gives guild lines as to the path of thinking that she is presenting.

• How does Fernando Benavidez's story "Montezuma, My Revolver" related the history of conflict between Native Americans and Europeans to the present? Why is this significant?

     I believe the way it relates, is that with the conflict between the Native Americans and Europeans, the Europeans wanted the things the Native Americans had, so they forced them to give it up, whether it was by force or through treaties, which were later violated. The Native Americans obviously retaliated for the wrong done to them. This relates to the present because a lot of us have become accustomed to getting what we want, and if we do not, we take it. The way the story relates this, is that Cano kill his father, which is the same as the Europeans taking land from the Native Americans. However, the fear or guilt of what they had done drove them to be nice to them, but this fear eventually became so bad that they killed or attempted to kill the other, that way that would not come back to take revenge on them for what they had done.

• Don Quixote is a satiric Spanish epic critiquing Spanish military and chivalric ideals (and actions). It was written by Miguel de Cervantes in the 1600s (as Spain sent conquistadors to plunder the New World).  What do you think Juan Martinez is saying about the relationship between modern life and the past in "Customer Service at the Karaoke Don Quixote"? 

     I believe he is say that in the past the people worked hard for what they wanted, and that they did not want to give up their identities, who they are and who they wanted to be. However, in the modern day it is about pleasing your customers, and putting on a show, even if that is not who you are, as long as they are happy and you are making money, then it is okay. I believe he is saying, in a sense, that people in the modern day are losing or have lost their identities just so they can make money, they are doing something they love, without actually loving it.