English
Literary Analysis of Short Story
1. Select a story that you find made a strong impression on you.
Appointment with Love
The Necklace
The Lady with the Pet Dog
The Jockey
The Chaser
Dead End
Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?
Yellow Wallpaper
A Rose for Emily
2. Chart out the Plot in the Story
1.What part of the story is the Exposition?
2. What part of the story is the Conflict?
3. What part of the story is the Climax?
4. What part is the Falling Action?
4. What part of the story is the Resolution/Denouement?
You need to be able to do this to understand the movements in the story.
3. Decide which literary elements stand out to you in the story? (Choose Four)
Character & Characterization
Symbolism
Imagery
Diction
Figurative Language
Setting
Point of View
Theme
Irony
Style
Sensory Language
Tone
Mood
Internal v. External Conflict
4. How do the elements work with the Plot? EXAMPLE 1:The characterizing of the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper pushes the plot along because the reader believes she is the victim of her husband’s control until the climax where the reader realizes she was in fact destroying the room herself the whole time.
EXAMPLE 2:The various settings of The Lady with the Pet Dog work to illustrate the internal conflict of both Gurov and Anna as they actually have to escape their mundane lives in order to find happiness with each other.
EXAMPLE 3:The necklace in Maupassant’s The Necklace is a both symbol for the life Mine. Loisel always believed she deserved as well as a symbol of the illusion of wealth that Mme. Forestier portrayed and Mine. Loisel so gullibly believed.
I. Introduction paragraph with thesis statement: Several elements of plot in The Yellow Wallpaper support the theme of dismissing a woman’s mental health as fancy through isolation and lack of appropriate treatment.
II. Setting A. The isolation of the house the narrator is in provides a foundation of delusions she goes
through
III. Conflict A. The external conflict of her supposed “non sickness” as diagnosed by John versus the internal
conflict of the narrator feeling in fact very “sick” as declared on the first page of the story
IV. Characterization A. The narrator is characterized as sweet, obedient, and doting on her husband which creates
the climactic surprise to the reader when it is revealed she was destroying the room the whole time.
V. Symbolism A. The wallpaper itself was a symbol of the narrator’s chaos inside her mind. The more people
said she was okay, the more she tore the paper and destroyed the furniture.
VI. Conclusion
5. For each body paragraph, show evidence from the text. Develop your ideas with either:
1. Direct quotation 2. Summary 3. Paraphrase
from the story itself with appropriate MLA parenthetical citation (Author Last Name Page Number)
You should have at least one parenthetical citation per paragraph.
I. Introduction paragraph with thesis statement: Several elements of plot in The Yellow Wallpaper support the theme of dismissing a woman’s mental health as fancy through isolation and lack of appropriate treatment.
II. Setting A. The isolation of the house the narrator is in provides a foundation of delusions she goes
through
III. Conflict A. The external conflict of her supposed “non sickness” as diagnosed by John versus the internal
conflict of the narrator feeling in fact very “sick” as declared on the first page of the story
IV. Characterization A. The narrator is characterized as sweet, obedient, and doting on her husband which creates
the climactic surprise to the reader when it is revealed she was destroying the room the whole time.
V. Symbolism A. The wallpaper itself was a symbol of the narrator’s chaos inside her mind. The more people
said she was okay, the more she tore the paper and destroyed the furniture.
VI. Conclusion
Use direct quotation, summary, or paraphrase from the story you selected to support your ideas for each paragraph.
Each paragraph should have at least one parenthetical citation (Gillman p#)
6. After you have written your four body paragraphs, find an outside source.
The Short History of the Short Story
Why Literature
The Serious Writer’s Goal
Dana Goia’s review of Chekhov (that website also has many other authors reviewed)
The Importance of the Single Effect
On Defining Short Stories
On the Many Different Engines…
A website or article on the author’s biography
Some other outside source you find appropriate
I. Introduction paragraph with thesis statement: Several elements of plot in The Yellow Wallpaper support the theme of dismissing a woman’s mental health as fancy through isolation and lack of appropriate treatment.
II. Setting A. The isolation of the house the narrator is in provides a foundation of delusions she goes
through
III. Conflict A. The external conflict of her supposed “non sickness” as diagnosed by John versus the internal
conflict of the narrator feeling in fact very “sick” as declared on the first page of the story
IV. Characterization A. The narrator is characterized as sweet, obedient, and doting on her husband which creates
the climactic surprise to the reader when it is revealed she was destroying the room the whole time.
V. Symbolism A. The wallpaper itself was a symbol of the narrator’s chaos inside her mind. The more people
said she was okay, the more she tore the paper and destroyed the furniture.
VI. Conclusion
Where can you add the outside source to further provide evidence of your ideas?
Does the author biography impact setting, character, conflict?
Does an article of literary criticism provide further understanding on the elements or the plot or the short story genre itself?
You don’t need to do this for every paragraph, just once.
7. Works Cited page-MLA You will have at least 2 entries: your story and your outside source
Digital File posted on Blackboard or Other Learning System In-Text Citation
(Akram-Lodhi )
Works Cited Author: Last Name, First Name. "Title of Lecture/Article/Reading." Name of Course, Version, Day Month Year of Lecture. Blackboard or name of other course management tool.
Example:
Akram-Lodhi, Haroon. "Structural Adjustment and Development Dilemmas 1980-1995." IDST 1001h, PDF file, 2 Oct. 2016. Blackboard.
7. Works Cited page-MLA
A Page on a Web Site For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by an indication of the specific page or article being referenced. Usually, the title of the page or article appears in a header at the top of the page. Follow this with the information covered above for entire Web sites. If the publisher is the same as the website name, only list it once.
Lundman, Susan. “How to Make Vegetarian Chili.” eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html. Accessed 6 July 2015.
“Athlete's Foot - Topic Overview.” WebMD, 25 Sept. 2014, www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/athletes-foot-topic-overview.
7. Works Cited page-MLA An Article from an Online Database ( Electronic Subscription Service) Cite online databases (e.g. LexisNexis, ProQuest, JSTOR, ScienceDirect) and other subscription services as containers. Thus, provide the title of the database italicized before the DOI or URL. If a DOI is not provided, use the URL instead. Provide the date of access if you wish.
Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. “Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates.” Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, doi:10.1002/tox.20155. Accessed 26 May 2009.
Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 173-96. ProQuest, doi:10.1017/S0018246X06005966. Accessed 27 May 2009.
Click here for help with other kinds of sources: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide /mla_works_cited_electronic_sources.html