The Short Stories and Analysis of Literary Aspects

Choose any of the short stories and analyze a character, theme, motif, symbol, or any other literary aspect that you find interesting. Justify the importance of your idea concerning the text and relevant content. Discuss the significance of your idea concerning a theme that is presented in the story and how it enriches our understanding of the story.

First, identify the major themes of the story. Then begin analyzing or “taking apart” the story to uncover how the author develops his/her theme using particular literary elements. Provide an attention-getter, background information, and a thesis for literary analysis, which includes the author, the title of the work, and your points of analysis (preview). Focus on two or three key scenes/moments/details and explore those in depth rather than attempting to tackle the story as a whole. Make sure that you have identified the theme/idea you are addressing, Identified the literary element(s) used to develop that theme, and analyzed specific examples in the story that demonstrate the use of those literary elements (plot, setting, character, etc.).