20 Short Short Stories for AP Lit

I love to start the school year with a Flash Fiction Unit.  The brevity of these short stories make them a perfect way to begin the year.  They allow you to do a diagnostic of student skills very quickly and force kids to rely on their own skills rather than Mr. Google.  You can tailor a unit to any length, even just a day or two or have them these short stories for high school English on hand for emergency sub plans. This list of 20 Short Short Stories for AP Lit covers my favorite Flash Fiction short stories for AP Literature and beyond.

What is a Flash Fiction?

“What is flash fiction?” you ask. Flash Fiction is sometimes called sudden fiction, mircro fiction and micro stories. To put it very simply flash fiction a very short short story.  They range in length from 6 words to about 1500 words and often have a twist ending.  Flash Fiction are stories that you read in 10 minutes or less. I tend to use this term interchangeably with short short stories. All of these factors make them perfect for the high school English classroom.

Just a few reasons that a very short stories for AP Lit are a perfect way to start the year

Flash fiction are stories that you read in under 10 minutes.

This means you can study a story a day. My opening unit allows students to read 8 stories in 10 class periods, answering questions and responding with short writing along the way.

You can focus on one skill per story. 

This means you can really target a skill. At the beginning of the year, I do an AP Boot Camp with my students to refresh they analysis skills and definitions of certain terms I want to make sure they know. The terms and analysis skills include many of the AP Lit Essentials Skills for Unit 1 like characterization, setting, imagery and close reading skills like diction and syntax.

They only take a few minutes to read.

If a story only takes 6 minutes to read, even if you kids hate it, they know you will be moving on soon, so they don’t complain (too much). But if you stick the ones on my list, you won’t have this problem because these stories have been tests by many students over the years.

Flash Fiction often have twist endings.

Many flash fiction stories have a twist ending which makes them ideal for stories for high school students because they love when the ending seemingly comes out of left field. And because you can reread with them, you can take the time to show them how the author was setting them up for that ending all along. My favorite story for this is “A Country Cottage” by Anton Chekhov, just check out that jealous moon.

No homework.

Short short stores are quick and self-contained. As a result, you and your students can complete a whole story in just 40 or 50 minutes.

Quick writing assignment can follow quick stories.

Since the story only takes a few minutes to read, students don’t mind doing a quick written assignment. In our fast passed world students appreciate things that are quick.

Five Ideas for Flash Fiction at the Beginning of the Year

Doesn’t using Flash Fiction sound like the perfect way to start the year no matter what level you teach? 

Short short stories for AP Lit are perfect for teaching diction. With so few words, it’s easy to focus on that word choice and the impact of the words. Your students discuss specific words and how changing them would change the meaning of the story. Hemingway’s “Six Word Story” is perfect for this.

Use Flash Fiction to teach characterization. Most short short stories focus only on one or two characters which makes it easy to focus on character development. Julia Alvarez’s “Snow” is great for characterization.

Teach close reading skills. The brevity allows you to have students focus on rereading. You can direct them toward imagery and figurative language. I love “A Haunted House” by Virginia Woolf for imagery. There is a description of the rain that just sings.

Focus on Central Idea. I love to use short short stories to teach students how to write central ideas statements. With only a few characters and one basic conflict it is easy for students to pick out the central idea/theme. There is so much going on in “Sleeping” by Katharine Weber that it is perfect for discussing theme or central idea.

And one last idea for flash fiction, you can teach very focused writing skills like thesis writing or paragraph development.

Favorite Flash Fiction for High School

20 of my favorite short short stories for AP Lit and English 11 are:

Under 1000 words:

• “Six Word Story” (attributed to Earnest Hemingway):  a story of baby shoes and loss in 6 words.**
• “Sirens” (Franz Kafka):  The seductive voices of the night, but do they choose to seduce?**
• “The Continuity of Parks” (Julio Cortázar): a man reading a novel become wrapped up in it.
• “Birthday Party” (Katharine Brush): A couple “celebrates” a birthday at a restaurant. **
• “Snow” (Julia Alvarez): A young immigrant girl sees snow for the first time. (Get my lesson here. Included in Short Fiction Unit II Bundle.)
• “An Idle Fellow” (Kate Chopin): Two friends discuss what it means to the idle.**
• “A Haunted House” (Virginia Woolf): A couple go through their house noting how it used to be.**
• “Popular Mechanics” (Raymond Carver): A couple has a dramtic fight as the husband packs to leave.  (Get my lesson here. Included in Short Story Unit Bundle III.)
• “I Used to Live Here Once” (Jean Rhys): A woman visits the house she used to live in.
• “There Was Once” (Margaret Atwood): A satirical look at fairy tales.
• “Maud Martha Spares the Mouse” (Gwendolyn Brooks): Maud Martha chooses to let a mouse in her kitchen go.
• “My Name” (Sandra Cisneros): Esperanza considers her name. Read about one way that I use this story at the beginning of the school year.
• “Sleeping” (Katharine Weber): Harriet, a novice babysitter, stays with a baby who sleeps the whole time.

Under 1500 Words

• “The Story of an Hour” (Kate Chopin): Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband has died in an accident. (Get my lesson here. Included in Short Fiction Unit II Bundle.)
• “A Wireless Message” (Ambrose Bierce): Mr. William Holt gets an unusual telegram.**
• “A Country Cottage” (Anton Chekhov): A young couple enjoys a walk on during an evening of their honeymoon only to be interrupted. **
• “The Open Window” (Saki):  While a woman waits for her husband to return from hunting, her niece tells a visitor of the husband’s passing.
• “Roselily” (Alice Walker): A woman ponders her life during her wedding.
• “Eleven” (Sandra Cisneros):  Rachel gets a sweater for her birthday.
• “The Other Wife” (Collette): A couple has a meal at the same restaurant as his ex-wife. (Get my lesson here.  Included in Short Fiction Unit II Bundle.)

** The starred stories appear are available for purchase through my TPT store as part of my Flash Fiction Boot Camp for AP Literature.

Great Resources for Finding More Short Short Stories

My favorite place to find short short stories for AP Lit is the list of 75 Short Short Stories on the AmericanLiterature.com website. This list is by genre and includes a quick summary for each.

Another great list is You can additional lists on Very Short Stories for Middle and High School Students to Read Online on Owlcation. This list not only includes links to most of the stories, but gives the word count as well. Oh and just because it is listed in the middle school sections doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider these short stories for AP Lit or other upper high school course.

Additionally you can find more lists at Reedsy.com and Book Riot.

Make Teaching Flash Fiction Easy

If you are looking for ready to use lessons for short short stories for AP Lit check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store. And let me know what your favorite flash fictions stories are in the comments below.

And, if you are looking for other ideas that relate to brevity, how about The Power of One Word: The One Word Project.

Related Resources: Short Stories for AP Literature

How to Teach Literary Elements in a Short Story in an Engaging Way (The Teacher Rewrite)

More on Short Story Boot Camp AP Literature Style: 5 Amazing Reasons to Teach Short Story Analysis at the Start of the Year

Use AP Short Stories to How to Encourage Students to Master the AP Lit Thesis

Something a little longer? Try The Three Best Short Stories for High School

For the Fall or anytime: Eleven Scary Stories of Gothic in Literature for High School English

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Flash Fiction Short Story Bootcamp: AP Literature

Sandra Cisneros’s “Snow”

My students’ favorite: “The Other Wife” by Colette