Across the Curriculum with Detective Fiction for Young People and Adults

Implementation

My students will write a work of short fiction. As Tony Hillerman and Otto Penzler point out, "Most classic detective stories rely on a single clue, or gimmick, or bit of legerdemain, or realization (the "aha" moment); the rest is embellishment" (ix). A good, old-fashioned, detective novel creates a world and a populace for which the reader cares. Into this world a crime against society is introduced. This crime disrupts life and the ensuing story is concerned with the ramifications of the crime and the efforts made to thwart and apprehend the perpetrator. Inevitably order will be restored because, despite the villain's brilliance, he/she will make at least one small mistake upon which the "detective hero" will capitalize to bring about both the culprit's capture and a return to peace for the citizenry of this world. And, "because the entire denouement [of our story] relie[s] on the uncovering of that single element to complete the jigsaw puzzle, it is clear that many of those novels could . . . [be] told in short story form with no loss of cleverness by the protagonist" (Hillerman and Penzler ix - x). In the short story form, all of these features are retained but compressed. The short story, then, becomes the format that best lends itself to the initial efforts of my students.

Because the short story does not appear to be too daunting due to its length (my students tend to equate length with level of difficulty), the students will not be immediately intimidated by the task. But before they can be turned loose to try their collective hand, they must be provided with prime specimens of the genre to read, discuss, study and mimic. This is where the teacher — as facilitator — must nudge them in the desired direction. The point of departure will be a selection from an anthology of short stories that will serve as their reference and guide through the assigned subgenre. Some short story anthologies which meet this objective are Hardboiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories, Death by Pen: The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction from Poe to Paretzky, The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories, The Mammoth Book of Roaring Twenties Whodunnits: Murder Mysteries from the Age of Bright Young Things, The Mammoth Book of Short Spy Novels: Twelve Espionage Masterpieces, Mystery & Detective Fiction, and The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, (First and Third Annual Collection. The first anthology to which I will direct my students, however, will be Tony Hillerman's and Otto Pennzler's The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century. This anthology opens with O. Henry's "A Retrieved Reformation," a sort of redemptive story, which is a nice place to begin on the edge of a genre filled with the worst aspects of humanity.

Using "Reformation," the basic elements of a short story - setting, conflict, character, and theme — can be reviewed as a starting point to the unit. Particular attention will be given to emphasizing the difference between the subject and the theme. Ethnicity, gender, status, and social ills are common subjects for short stories. Students must be made to know that "these subjects allow the writer to comment upon the larger theme which is the heart of the fictional work" and include such universals as isolation and alienation, as well as anxiety, love/hate, relationships, family, initiation, friendship/brotherhood, illusion vs. reality, self-delusion/self-discovery, the individual vs. society, mortality, and spirituality. Once the distinction between subject and theme is made, the student is ready to consider the "Art of the Short Story" (http:// encarta.msn.com/text761559304___O/ Short_Story.html).

And as they consider the art of the short story, if the students see "themselves" in some of these examples, it is a bonus. For this reason, I will direct them to a sampling of texts concerning identity which include Alex Ferrera's and Jose Levy's Collateral Man; Paco Taibo's Frontera Dreams, Some Clouds, An Easy Thing, No Happy Ending, and Return to the Same City; Rex Burn's The Alvarez Journal, The Farnsworth Score, The Avenging Angel, and The Killing Zone; Elizabeth George's A Moment on the Edge: 100 Years of Crime Stories by Women; Barbara Neely's Blanche series; and Mystery Midrash: An Anthology of Jewish Mystery & Detective Fiction. They will then see that, in America, the "art" of detective fiction is eclectic and all-inclusive. "Diversity in America is everywhere," especially in the contemporary American crime novel (Pepper 1). The pages of these novels reflect America and our students. Therefore, the opportunity to study a genre that reflects those things our students find familiar is worthy of their consideration.

Further, when contemplating the art of the short story, the student needs to consider the writer's choice and employment of certain techniques. They must be reminded that these techniques include but are not limited to point of view, style, plot and structure, and a wealth of devices that serve to stimulate the senses, emotions, imagination, and intellect of the reader. They must be made to understand that the writer's wielding of these tools "determines the reader's overall experience" (http:// encarta.msn.com/text761559304___O/Short_Story .html). They must be made to know that one of the chief elements in insuring that the reading experience is enjoyable is the writer's style.

Our students know that diction is the choice and arrangement of words on a page. What they might not remember is that diction is one of the chief components of style. And, in detective fiction, style is all important. What stands out most in readers' memories is the voice of the narrator setting the tone of the story, painting a picture of the various characters and the prominent places in the story, and leading them from madness to method down Plot's path. Our students need to know that style is what makes readers willing to travel this path; it is the tether of words which is used to draw them along. Style is what keeps the reader biddable, agreeable, compelled and most pleasantly captive. It is what the student writer must master in order to make his/her stories not only readable and bearable, but also pleasurable. Its establishment is the student's penultimate goal. Though their ultimate goal is to complete the writings assigned; but if these writings do not "capture" the reader, it is all for naught. Therefore, the goal to develop interesting and recognizable styles is most important.

Though this goal of reaching a pinnacle where their style is uniquely theirs is often hard to attain, it is not impossible. The authentic register of the student's voice is made easier through form and structure, through plot. Plot can be simple and straightforward - the introduction, development, and resolution of a problem - or it can be enhanced and made less predictable through the use of episodes and frame stories, flashbacks and leaps into the future, or through subplots and double plots. Students must be taught that there are various devices like these available to complicate the story, and they must be directed in such a way that their prior knowledge of foreshadowing, abrupt transition, and surprise is brought to the forefront even as the knowledge of other methods like ambiguity, digression and juxtaposition is made available. In the wake of these lessons, it is incumbent upon us - the teachers - to see that our students recognize the need to use other literary devices, especially those of rhetoric, for contrast and emphasis. Paradox, metaphor, imagery, repetitive motifs, symbolism and irony are all powerful tools in the hands of writers and are no less so in the hands of our students. We, as teachers, should endeavor to ensure that they are used. In fact, in the detective genre, these devices become essential in the maintenance of a peculiar form of reality that keeps the reader from believing the tale is too farfetched or too far outside the realm of real life.

To capitalize on this precept, I will read excerpts from various novels, which highlight some of these devices, as a prelude to classroom discussions on the various subgenres of detective fiction. These novels will include, among others, the readings from the seminar: Margery Allingham's The Tiger in the Smoke, Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Franklin Dixon's The Hardy Boys: The Shore Road Mystery, Tony Hillerman's A Thief of Time, Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: The Secret in the Old Attic, Henning Mankell's The White Lioness, Walter Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress, Barbara Neely's Blanche Among the Talented Tenth, Sara Paretsky's Hard Time, and Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night. The students will be directed to make notes of the details they hear in the readings and to use the details to decide which device is being used in the excerpt. This will hone their listening skills and give them practice in both detecting details and using these details to solve the mystery of "Which device is it?" to support their choices.

To reinforce these lessons, the class will read Christie's Roger Ackroyd — basically as an out of class assignment — in three "chunks" of nine (9) chapters each. For each chunk, the student will prepare a S.P.R.E.A.D.S. sheet in order to pick to pieces the assigned segment. They will first Skim to deduce why the title was chosen, to pick out any obviously unfamiliar words and define them, and to determine the significance of the chapter headings. Then they will Predict what the novel is about and what will happen in it. Finally they will actively Read, taking notes of people and events they find of interest in the story. Following the reading of the story, students will Evaluate what they have read by asking three to five questions which indicate those things they found unclear as well as those things about which they would like to know more. Once they have asked their questions (which are to be answered in class discussions), they will Authenticate what they have read by Analyzing the assigned reading for author's purpose, subject(s), and theme(s). And, because it is unacceptable that these premises be based on air, the students will then provide specific Details (with page numbers) from the text which support the conclusions they have drawn. These S.P.R.E.A.D.S. will culminate with a mini-summary of the segments, which simply answers the questions Who(m)?; What?; When?; Where?; Why?; and How?, in an enumerated manner. The final products will serve to facilitate class discussions on the novel.