Paper One: Short Story Analysis

This assignment required students to write a formalist analysis of a short story. Through class discussion a list of elements to consider when reading fiction was generated and students were required to analyze the relationship between one or more of those elements and a theme of the work they chose. Sample thesis statements and outlines were generated during group work sessions, and revised in class before students began drafting their own essays. Class discussions included instruction on how to use and document quotation, paraphrase and summary, and how to create an MLA Works Cited page.

English 103

K. Shaw

Short Story Analysis (150 points)

Draft Due ; Revision Due

As part of our on-going discussion of the various types of literature, we will be examining many of the major elements of short fiction. We'll be talking about most of them in class and looking at how they work in several short stories. This assignment asks you to choose one of those stories and analyze the relationship between it's theme (central meaning or message) and another element of the work.

Tasks

1. Choose a story from the list below on which you think you will be able to write well:

Alice Walker, "Everyday Use"

James Joyce, "Eveline"

Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery"

Flannery O'Connor, "Good Country People"

2. Write a 3 to 5 page paper in which you describe the theme of the story you've chosen, and analyze how its writer uses one or more of the following elements to get their message across:

setting

character

point of view

plot

symbol

image

tone

Requirements:

1. You will probably need to begin your work by doing some of the pre-writing exercises we have already discussed in class -- brainstorming, clustering, outlining. Remember to keep this material, along with any drafts and notes you generate, and turn them in with your final draft.

2. Your final draft should be presented in black ink, on good quality white paper, double spaced, with one inch margins, and a separate title page on which you give the following information:

Name

Course and section number

Date

Title

Use a ten or twelve point standard font -- nothing larger.

3. You should use standard MLA documentation for your in text citations, and provide a works cited page according to the directions in The New Century Handbook.

4. Remember to turn in the in-class edits sheets you receive, along with the draft edited by your classmates, with your finished paper.

General Directions

This assignment will require you do some very careful critical thinking, first as you read and examine the story you've chosen, and later as you write about it. Don't expect to be able to "knock off" this essay in a single sitting. Our schedule provides you with almost three weeks to work on this assignment -- make sure you use that time wisely!

Before you hand in this assignment proofread and copy-edit your writing very carefully. Grammatical and typographical errors will lower your grade.

English 103.DC1

K. Shaw

Fall 2001

Guidelines for Peer Revision Exercises

For each of your major essay assignments this semester you will participate in a process called peer review, or peer revision, in which you will read and comment on the work of one of your classmates. This is an important part of the composition process and you will be graded on your performance as a reviewer.

The peer review process serves a number of useful purposes. It allows students to share ideas, information and skills. It allows students to compare and clarify interpretations of ideas, texts and assignments. And it gives students the opportunity to catch errors in presentation, mechanics and argument before submitting assignments for a grade. Please treat both the process and your classmates' work seriously and respectfully.

To complete peer revision exercises you will need both a partner to work with and a text to edit. Once you have read your partner's draft your instructor will provide you with a list of questions to answer. The answers you give will be your partner's main guides to revising their draft so try to be as helpful as you can. Class time will be provided for these exercises, but if you cannot finish in the time allotted you should make arrangements to meet to meet with your partner and exchange drafts before the assignment is due.

General Directions-Reviewer

1. Write your name at the top of the exercise in the blank labeled reviewer.

2. Write your partner's name in the blank labeled writer.

3. Answer the questions, making specific references to parts of your partner's draft, and being as helpful as you can.

4. Return their draft and your completed exercise sheet to your partner.

General Directions-Writer

1. Carefully read over your partner's comments about your draft.

2. Use their comments to guide your revisions.

3. Staple their comments to the back of your draft.

4. Keep this draft of your paper and your partner's comments--You will be expected to turn them in with your final draft.

English 103. Reviewer:___________

K. Shaw Writer:_____________

Paper One, Peer Review

Part One

1. Read the introduction of your partner's draft. Locate the name of the author, the story title and the theme they are writing about. Underline each of these elements. If you cannot find the information make a note telling them what they need to add.

2. Find and underline the thesis of your partner's draft. If they provide a separate mapping statement underline that as well. Using only these two sentences, sketch an outline of what you expect to find in the body of the paper.

3. Continue reading the essay, underlining the topic sentences or main ideas of each paragraph as you go. Each time you find a topic or idea that departs from the outline you sketched above make a note of it.

4. If you think the essay did a good job following the writers map, then explain why. If not, give the writer suggestions for how they could follow it more closely.

Part Two

1. Look at the specific information contained in your partner's draft. Which theme are they discussing? Which elements of the story are they using to support their opinion about it? (Characters, symbols, setting, etc.) On a scale of one to ten, how good a job do they do handling those elements? Give suggestions on how they could solve any problems you see.

2. Are there parts of the draft that you have difficulty following or understanding? What are they? Give suggestions on how the writer could make the confusing sections of their paper clearer.

3. If you needed to find information borrowed from the story, did the writer provide documentation so that you could do so? Use the LBH handbook to make sure they used the correct documentation format.

4. Describe the language used in your partner's draft. Is it formal enough? Underline at least two specific examples of informal language use and suggest alternative ways the writer could say the same thing.

5. If this were your paper what would you do to revise it before handing it in? Give the writer at least three specific suggestions for improvement.