Assignment #3-Short Story Analysis
Title of the story resource: The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber (pg 9-43) of pdf
Rough Draft Due:
Final Draft Due:
Description of Assignment:
Analyzing a short story is fundamentally different than analyzing a poem because the short story allows for detail, complexity and story arcs that are often not the focus of poetry, which is closer to distilled language, highly stylized and condensed. The short story uses prose to create contradiction, conflict, subtlety and fully realized characters.
For this assignment, answer these questions about your short story: What are the big ideas at work? What does this story tell us about human nature? What are the principles this story asks us to contemplate? Use the literary devices outlined on pages 2-3 of The Dictionary of First Concepts handout to analyze the techniques used to create meaning in your story.
Literary devices
Plot
Point of view
Setting
Conflict
Characterization
Symbol
Theme
Allusion
Style
Irony
Organization:
The introduction should give some key background on the story and where it fits in the canon of the author’s works. Any historical details concerning the author or the circumstances surrounding the story’s creation should remain in the introduction or conclusion. The thesis should indicate the theme (big idea, principle or overall message of the story) and which literary devices you will use to analyze the story.
The body will identify where, how and to what effect your chosen literary devices work in your short story. Use quotes (but none longer than 2-3 lines at a time), paraphrasing and outside sources to root your essay in textual analysis. Organize the body so your analysis builds on each previous paragraph, giving us the basics first and ending on whichever element you feel is the culmination or unifying element of all the rest.
The conclusion should restate your thesis and examine any new understandings about the literary devices and themes that arise from analyzing the short story. What should we take with us about this subject? What have you uncovered in the short story that is worth remembering?
Requirements:
• MLA formatted with in-text citations and a works cited page.
• 3 pages (about 1000 words plus a works cited page), typed, double-spaced, 12pt font, Times.
• Three college-level sources in addition to your story,
either from a printed source or the college’s online databases. If you are unable to find sources this way, please contact me.
Your sources must come from
the library databases or from actual, printed sources like books or journals. I recommend you start by looking in the database called Bloom’s Literature or JSTOR. No other sources than sources found in the databases or from books will be acceptable.
Need an outline of the essay and the final draft of the story essay
Outline format
Introduction
Thesis statement
Points that describe each paragraph: Each section for each body paragraph should start with a topic sentence and then a list, bulleted or otherwise, of details, examples, quotes, insights, etc. that you plan on including in your essay.
