This page contains appropriate examples of short stories for college students in English. Every story is part of the English literary canon and is suitable for deep reading and studying the usual story elements: plot, point of view, character, setting, tone and style, theme, and symbol. Most of the short stories for college students on this page are well known, so you’ll be able to find a lot of explanatory notes on most of them to supplement your understanding, and many of them have links to a summary and analysis.
Many of the short stories for High School are also suitable for college students. For stories that are about college see: Campus | Academic
Short Stories in English for College Students
The short stories for college students with PDF links are noted below.
“What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” by Raymond Carver
Two married couples sit in the McGinnis’s apartment, drinking and talking about real love. They use their own, and second-hand experiences, to try to define it.
Get What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Free on Audible
Read “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” (Analysis & Themes)
“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
Mama is an African-American woman living in the Deep South with her daughter, Maggie. Her other daughter, Dee, an educated woman who’s drawn to a traditional African identity, is coming for a visit. (Summary & Analysis)
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
A woman’s husband, a doctor, confines her to the upstairs bedroom of their summer house. He diagnoses her with a “hysterical tendency” and “nervous depression”. She chronicles her confinement in her journal; the treatment doesn’t have a positive effect on her condition. (Summary)
This story can be read in the preview of The Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Stories.
“King of the Bingo Game” by Ralph Ellison
A black man sits through a movie, waiting for the bingo game to follow. He’s very hungry but knows he can’t ask to share anyone’s food, because things in New York aren’t like back South. He’s unemployed and has no money. He needs to win the bingo jackpot so he can take his sick wife to the doctor. (Summary & Analysis)
“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
A Southern spinster, Emily Grierson, has died. She had been a recluse, so the townspeople are curious about her and her house. The narrator recounts episodes from her life. (Summary & Analysis)
This story can be read in the preview of A Rose for Emily and Other Stories. (18% into preview)
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin
A woman receives the news that her husband has been killed in a train accident. She processes the news over the next hour, experiencing a range of emotions.
Read “The Story of an Hour” (Includes Summary & Analysis)
Get The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order free on Audible
“The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence
A middle-class woman, successful but perpetually short of money, lives with her two children. She is unlucky, but her son isn’t: when he rides his rocking-horse, he’s able to work himself into a state where he can pick the winner of a horse race.
This is the first story in the preview of Big Book of Best Short Stories.
“The Zebra Storyteller” by Spencer Holst
A Siamese cat learns to speak to Zebras, taking advantage of the shock of it to tie them up and kill them. (Summary)
This story can be read in the preview of The Language of Cats and Other Stories.
“Blue Winds Dancing” by Tom Whitecloud
A young American Indian man, lonely and disillusioned with college, leaves for home to be with his own people again. (Summary)
“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by Ernest Hemingway
The Macomber’s are an American couple on an African safari. They have a guide, Wilson, a professional hunter, who will lead their outing. It is revealed that Francis had panicked in an earlier hunt when a wounded lion charged at him.
This is the first story in the preview of The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway.
“20/20” by Linda Brewer
Bill and Ruthie are on a road trip. Bill finds her conversation simplistic; she refuses to argue anything. She says what she sees along the way. (Summary & Analysis)
“Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason
Leroy has been off work for four months since getting hurt. His wife, Norma Jean, supports them both by working at a drugstore. Leroy is glad to be home with his wife, but he’s worried that she’s drawing away from him—maybe his presence reminds her of their son who died as a baby.
This story can be read in the preview of Shiloh & Other Stories.
“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
In a small town, an old man with wings washes up on shore. There are many ideas about what he is and where he’s from. A couple takes him and locks him up on their property.
This is the eleventh story in the preview of The Big Book of Modern Fantasy. (78% into preview)
English Short Stories for College Students, Cont’d
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor
An extended family is headed to Florida for a vacation. The grandmother wants to go to Tennessee instead, so she talks about an escaped murderer—The Misfit—who is suspected to be on his way to Florida. Despite her efforts, her son Bailey is set on going to Florida.
This story can be read in the preview of A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories. (Kindle preview)
“The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant
Mathilde is married to a minor government official. They’re of modest means, but Mathilde has expensive tastes. When they get invited to a party, she borrows a necklace from a rich friend.
“Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield
A middle-aged woman takes a weekly Sunday walk. She likes to observe and listen to people, but she overhears something that upsets her.
“Cathedral” by Raymond Carver
A woman and a blind man have kept in contact for ten years, mailing tapes to each other. His wife has recently died, so he’s going to visit her family. On the way, he’s going to spend a night at the woman’s place with her new husband. Her husband isn’t looking forward to the visit.
Read “Cathedral” (PDF)
“In Broad Daylight” by Ha Jin
Two boys rush to the home of Mu Ying on Eternal Way. A crowd is gathering there, as Mu Ying is going to be paraded through town as a punishment. Grandma remembers the old way of punishing an adulteress and wants her to be executed. Mu Ying, surrounded by Red Guards, is led out through her gate.
“How” by Lorrie Moore
The narrator describes the progression of a relationship, with some possible variations, from the first meeting to its dissolution.
“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin
The narrator is a teacher in Harlem; he has managed to keep away from the bad influences around him. His brother, Sonny, is a jazz musician with a heroin problem. They haven’t stayed close over the years.
Read “Sonny’s Blues” (PDF)
“Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather
Paul gets suspended from his Pittsburgh High School. His father wants him to be a responsible wage-earning family man when he grows up, but Paul is drawn to a life of wealth and glamour, so he decides to go to New York.
Read “Paul’s Case” (PDF)
“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty
An elderly African-American woman, Phoenix Jackson, walks through the Mississippi forest to get into town. She encounters many obstacles along the way.
“Silence” by Tadeusz Borowski
A man is seized in a German barracks and dragged into an alley. The mob is broken up when they are warned of an approaching company of American soldiers.
English Short Stories for College Students, Cont’d
“The Garden of Forking Paths” by Jorge Luis Borges
A German spy knows that his cover has been blown and he’s being pursued by English authorities. He has vital information to communicate to his government, so he comes up with a plan: he finds a man named Stephen Albert in the phonebook and heads for his home.
Read “The Garden of Forking Paths” (PDF)
“Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Dexter Green is a fourteen-year-old caddy, working for pocket money. He quits one day when Judy Jones, a beautiful eleven-year-old, treats him as an inferior. Years later he goes into business and becomes a success. He has another meeting with Judy Jones.
Read “Winter Dreams” (PDF)
“Flowering Judas” by Katherine Anne Porter
Laura, an American, is in Mexico City after the Mexican Revolution working for the revolutionary cause and its leader, the socialist Braggioni. Braggioni indulges himself and tries to seduce Laura. Her religious and revolutionary ideals are tested.
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates
A rebellious fifteen-year-old girl encounters an older man in a parking lot. He later shows up at her place when she’s home alone to ask her to go for a ride with him.
Read “Where Are You Going . . .” (PDF)
“The Swimmer” by John Cheever
On a summer Sunday, Neddy is hanging out at the Westerhazy’s pool. They’re talking about how they drank too much last night. He realizes he could make his way home by swimming the length of the pools in his neighborhood.
“A Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka
A hunger artist—a professional faster—puts on public fasting exhibitions. The public responds enthusiastically at first, but eventually loses interest.
There are many other excellent short stories in English for college students. This page is just a sampling of short stories for college students, offered as a starting point.
If you want the latest literary anthology that all the cool students are reading, check out The Norton Introduction to Literature: Shorter 13th Edition. (Amazon) It has the usual selections from the English literary canon as well as some newer pieces.
If you’d like to browse some Norton anthologies, this page looks at some popular volumes.