essay for short story miss brill's realization

Write an essay analyzing and interpreting one or two short stories. You may choose any stories from The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, 12th ed. Your essay should provide some interesting insight about the story, a way of understanding the story that might not occur to most people. Respond to one of the following three prompts:

(1) What is one of the main themes or ideas or messages of the story? How is this theme or idea communicated to the reader?

(2) What is one of the story's main effects on or likely responses from readers? The effect or response may be emotional, aesthetic, evaluative, etc. How does the story cause this effect or response?

(3) Explain something about the story that does not have an obvious answer and could be explained in different ways. For example, why does a character do something, or why did the author make a particular choice?

Whichever prompt you choose, discuss one or more of the following elements from the story to support your analysis: plot/conflict, characters, setting, point-of-view/narrator, symbolism, theme, style/tone, or irony.

You must support your interpretation with specific details from the story: quotes, summary, and paraphrase.

You must also use at least two sources of information or critical analysis in addition to the story you are discussing. One or more sources can come from The Compact Bedford, but at least one must be an outside source.

You should assume that your audience has read the story you are discussing; therefore, it is not necessary to summarize the entire story. Avoid simply repeating any of the example essays provided in the book, although you may cite any of the essays in support of your argument. You may incorporate any of the critical approaches (formalist, reader-response, etc.).

The essay must follow MLA format (12 pt. font, double-spaced, 1” margins, etc.), including a works cited list and in-text citations. The essay must be at least four full pages long (not including the works cited list). The essay will be graded on the following criteria:

- A specific, debatable thesis, and a consistent focus. - A clear, logical argument, avoiding logical fallacies. - Specific, persuasive supporting details. - Effective use of credible, relevant sources. - Counter-argument, as necessary. - Clear, effective organization, including focused paragraphs and smooth transitions. - Effective introduction and conclusion. - Stylistically effective and varied sentences. - Error-free grammar, punctuation, and spelling. - Correct MLA format and citation.

For essay

- Your essay should have a unique title. Do not title your essay something like "Research Essay #1" and do not simply use the title of the short story, although you can incorporate the title of the story into your title, for example: Loneliness and Delusion in "A Rose for Emily".

- If you are discussing the theme of the story, remember that a theme is not simply a topic; it should be a complete idea, a statement. What is this story saying about this topic?

- To improve the organization, explain important points early in the essay, and keep each paragraph focused on one idea (stated in the topic sentence) without repeating ideas later. Use transitions to connect ideas within a paragraph, or to connect one paragraph to another.

- Remember to clearly distinguish between the author and the speaker/narrator. Do not assume that a literary work is autobiographical unless there is a convincing reason to believe that it is.

- You can certainly connect the story to its historical/social context, but your essay should primarily focus on analyzing the story itself.