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    A Study Guide for Padgett Powell's "Trick or Treat"
    A Study Guide for Padgett Powell's "Trick or Treat"
    A Study Guide for Padgett Powell's "Trick or Treat"
    Ebook33 pages22 minutes

    A Study Guide for Padgett Powell's "Trick or Treat"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Padgett Powell's "Trick or Treat," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJul 15, 2016
    ISBN9781535841542
    A Study Guide for Padgett Powell's "Trick or Treat"

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Padgett Powell's "Trick or Treat" - Gale

      1

      Trick or Treat

      Padgett Powell

      1993

      Introduction

      Trick or Treat, a short story by Padgett Powell, originally appeared in Harper's magazine in November 1993 and later was included in the author's collection of short stories, Aliens of Affection (1998). Trick or Treat is a brief glimpse into the life of a frustrated and lonely housewife, Mrs. Hollingsworth, who allows herself to be seduced by a smart-mouthed twelve-year-old boy named Jimmy Teeth. Mrs. Hollingsworth is not only at odds with her life, but she also has a love/hate relationship with the South, where she lives. Trick or Treat won a 1995 O. Henry Award and was anthologized in the award publication, The O. Henry Prize Stories 1995.

      Powell is a renowned southern writer, having lived most of his life in Florida. Some would argue that Florida is not southern the way Georgia or Alabama are, but one reading of Powell's fiction may change their minds. He imbues his characters and settings with a distinctly southern tang which is not overdone but at the same time is impossible to ignore. Powell's work is both funny and emotionally evocative. Many critics have described his use of language as lush. His characters are just fantastical enough to entertain without being entirely unbelievable or unsympathetic.

      Author Biography

      Padgett Powell was born in Gainesville, Florida, on April 25, 1952, to Albine Batts Powell and Bettyre Palmer Powell, a brewmaster and a schoolteacher, respectively. He grew up in various cities in Florida and South Carolina. In college, Powell struggled with his English classes, opting for chemistry as a major. He graduated from the College of Charleston with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1975 and went on to graduate school at the University of Tennessee. Powell lost interest in school and left before he finished. He moved to Texas and became a

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