ca's single claim to having originated a distinct
literary type. By following in prose his poetic philosophy--as stated in
"The Philosophy of Composition"--Poe produced such stories as "Ligeia"
and "The Fall of the House of Usher," which have little or no real
dramatic value, yet which are certainly not mere tales, for they have
plot- or story-value. As I have stated, in the case of the story of
atmosphere, such as these two of Poe's, the climactic ascension of the
particular emotional impression to the point of highest intensity
supplies much of the plot-or story-element of the fiction.

On the other hand, the dramatic short story, embodying a true plot, may
be said to have originated in France. The type was suggested by Poe's
work; the mere mechanical hint, that of a brief story, was received
eagerly by French writers, and the dramatic element, entirely altering
the fundamental character of the fiction, was speedily injected. The
result has been that the offshoot has entirely overshadowed the parent
stem, and this simply because there is so much more material for the
dramatic story than there is for the story of unity of emotional effect.
The story of atmosphere is most difficult to do well, so that relatively
few are published; it has no wide popular appeal, with the same result;
while the range of emotional effects is narrow that may be produced on a
reader by a work of fiction, that is, there is less material for the
story of atmosphere than for the dramatic story.

It is time now to notice a matter concerning which much glib statement
has been made, the "unity" and singleness of effect of the short story.
The usual remark of the writer or talker on short story technique is
that the ideal or typical short story will manifest the dramatic unities
of time, place, and action, and will produce a single effect. But it is
notorious that only relatively few stories do manifest the dramatic
unities, so the speaker or writer goes on to say most lamely and
indefinitely that the laws of technique must give way to the
requirements of any particular story. Grant me for the moment that the
dramatic unities are not essential to the perfect short story, that
Maupassant's "The Necklace" is as technically perfect a short story as
Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," and the viciousness of preaching thus
to the short story writer becomes apparent. The only definite thing he
is told, that the unities are essential to the perfect short sto