Stories of Ourselves Vol. 1

A selection of stories from Stories of Ourselves Volume 1 is set for the Cambridge International A Level Literature in English syllabus, to be examined from 2024-2026. Arranged in chronological order, it is an anthology of short stories from the 19th to 21st centuries. While all the stories are written in English, the writers come from all over the world, giving readers a multiplicity of viewpoints. There are stories from places as diverse as England and South Africa, the United States of America and the Caribbean.

Fifteen of these stories are set for study for exams from 2024-2026. Some initial guiding thoughts about them can be found by following the links below. These are not exhaustive interpretations, but commentaries designed to offer some insights and starting points for your own study.

Reading beyond those specifically set for study is strongly recommended – there are some fantastic stories here and wider reading is good practice for the Unseen section of Paper 2.

The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Son’s Veto Thomas Hardy

The Door in the Wall H.G. Wells

An Englishman’s Home Evelyn Waugh

The Prison Bernard Malamud

Billennium J. G. Ballard

The People Before Maurice Shadbolt

Five-Twenty Patrick White

Report on the Threatened City Doris Lessing

Games at Twilight Anita Desai

My Greatest Ambition Morris Lurie

To Da-duh, in Memoriam Paule Marshall