short story analysis paper

Short Story Analysis Paper

Assignment: Write an analysis of a short story we have read, focusing on the use of one literary device.

To begin: Choose your short story.

"The Monkey’s Paw"

"Catch the Moon"
"A Child, a Dog, the Night"

"Two Kinds"

"False Gems"

"The Masque of the Red Death"

"As it is With Strangers"

My paper will focus on the following short story:________________________.

What literary device will you discuss in your paper? Listed below are the literary devices the short stories lend themselves to naturally. You do not have to use the given literary term. They are only suggestions.

"The Monkey’s Paw" foreshadowing, mood

"Catch the Moon" imagery, theme
"A Child, a Dog, the Night" imagery, theme

"Two Kinds" theme, character

"False Gems" theme, character, symbol

"The Masque of the Red Death" foreshadowing, mood, setting

"As it is With Strangers" theme, character

My paper will focus on the short story: _____________________________ and its use of ____________________________.

Form:

First paragraph—introduction

You must have an attention-grabber (question, quotation, short story, joke, definition of a word)

My tentative attention grabber: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

State your thesis (the main idea/point you will be writing about in the body of your paper)

Your thesis is proving how the literary device is used in the story.

My tentative thesis is:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Second, third, and (maybe) fourth paragraphs—body of your paper

Discuss specific lines, phrases, and ideas from the story. Make sure you don’t quote the whole story! Pick at least three or four significant examples/quotes from the story. Explain the examples/quotes and how they fit.

Last paragraph—conclusion

Restate your thesis

Do not write "In conclusion!"

General information:

Write in third person (no "I" or "you")
To quote from the story, choose significant phrases or words. Integrate the words into your sentences.

Instead of

Author Amy Tan shows what Jing Mei’s mother was like when she writes that Jing Mei’s mother "had a quiet, blank look that said she had lost everything" (Tan 56).

Try

Jing Mei’s mother expressed her immense disappointment with "a quiet, blank look that said she had lost everything" (Tan 56).

When using words from the story, they must be in quotation marks!

"quote from the story" (author page number).

two spaces period after parentheses

Form for your paper:

Typed, doubled spaced
Times New Roman font, size 12
Name, period number, date in right corner
Title

Do not include any of the following:

I think
This paper will be about
I will tell you about
What Amy Tan means is
This means that
In conclusion

You need a title for your paper. Don't just write the name of the story. The title shouldn't be underlined or in quotes.

Schedule for Papers:

If you are absent, you are still expected to stick to this schedule.

Friday, Oct. 8 work on papers in class
Monday, Oct. 11 type out rough draft in computer lab
Rough draft papers due end of class on Monday
Papers returned Tuesday, Oct. 12
Make final corrections, changes in computer lab on Thursday, Oct. 14.
Final Papers due Thursday, Oct. 14 or beginning of class Friday, Oct. 15.

No late papers will be accepted! No exceptions! Do not ask! Come to class prepared!

Grading for Rough Draft

Spelling, mechanics, punctuation, sentence structure /5

Correct use of quotations from the story /5

Following instructions

(title, DS, font, intro, conclusion) /5

body of your paper /5

Total points possible: /20