Guidelines for Short Story Essay #1

The Woman Writer

English 247.0909

Spring 2013

Dr. Van Slyck

Guidelines for Essay #1

A.      Plan to include biographical information about your writer in your introduction.  In class we will discuss how to write the introduction so you can move from biographical information to your thesis.

B.     The body of your essay will be based on a close reading of the story we discussed in class for that writer.  You will need to decide whether you are going to write about a) character, b) theme, c) symbolism, d) setting, or e) point of view.  Included here below are some guidelines for each of these approaches and examples.

1.     Essay about character:  character is revealed by speech, action (especially change in action), dress, setting, and by what other characters say about the individual.  Even an absent character can be a fully developed individual: consider the character of Minnie Wright in Trifles, for example.  How is she revealed in the play?  In particular, how are changes in her nature shown?  If you answer this question you have a thesis.

2.     Essay about theme:  what main idea seems particularly important in the work?  What values are embodied in the idea?  Is the idea associated with a major character?  For example, what ideas about marriage or relationships are explored through Mrs. Mallard in  “The Story of an Hour”?

3.     Essay about symbolism: what symbols can be located in the work?  How is a particular symbol related to a character or theme?  Consider, for example, the use of the egg, the shell, and the fragility associated with it in “The World’s Greatest Fisherman.”  Write a thesis statement about this symbol in the story.

4.     Essay about setting: does the author provide extensive visual detail throughout the story?  How is that detail related to character and/or theme?  Consider the use of setting at the beginning, middle and end of “Desire’s Baby.”  Write a thesis statement connecting setting to character or theme.

5.     Essay about point of view: point of view is most often first or third person, occasionally second person.  A second person narration can be addressed to an audience but is probably also directed toward the speaker herself.  Consider the narrator’s use of second person in Engel’s “Green.”  Why does she tell the story this way?  What is the effect on the reader, on the story itself, its theme?  Does it make the story more ironic, more distant, or more intimate? If the point of view is third person, is the story still filtered through a particular character (central intelligence)? Make a claim about point of view and support it.

Please see my handout on guidelines for strong writing.  All essays for English 247 should be 600 to 800 words (minimum).  You should include a heading in upper left corner (name, course, essay #, date, my name.)  The essays should be typed, double-spaced, using 12 point font, Times New Roman.  You should include a Works Cited entry with page numbers for parenthetical documentation using original page numbers; if the story is from an online source just the author’s name after quotation will suffice.  We will go over these details in class.