The “Writing about Literature” section of your Perrine’s Literature textbook (pp. 1–54) and the “Writing” section of Harbrace Essentials (pp. 1–12, 15–16, 18–21, 22–28) provide helpful pointers for writing your literary essay and for academic writing in general. Be sure that you have read these sections before doing any further work for this assignment. Take particular notice of the examples of fiction essays on pp. 38–43 of Perrine’s Literature textbook.
Choose 2 of the following short stories to compare and contrast in your essay:
- “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
- “The Destructors” by Graham Greene
- “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence
- “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- “The Prodigal Son” by St. Luke
Also, at least 1 of these elements of fiction must be the focus of your essay:
- Conflict/Plot/Structure
- Characterization
- Setting
- Theme/Authors’ Purposes
- Point of View, and/
- Tone/Style/Irony/Symbol/Imagery
If you need help focusing your essay, ask yourself questions that correspond to your chosen element(s).
Conflict/Plot/Structure (This is not a summary of the stories)
- What are the basic conflicts? How do these conflicts build tension and lead to major, complicated incidents and climactic moment(s)?
- What are the ways in which each major character experiences conflict (either with self, with other characters, or with the social and/or physical environment)?
- How are the conflicts resolved? Do the protagonists succeed in achieving their goals?
- Which character receives your deepest sympathy and why?
Characterization
- Who are the main characters in the stories?
- What are their outstanding qualities? Does the author give any indication as to how or why the character developed these qualities?
- What are the characters’ emotions, attitudes, and behaviors? What do these indicate to the reader about the character?
- Can the characters’ motivations be determined from the text?
Setting
- Where and when do the stories take place (remember to include such details as geographic location, time of year, time period, if the setting is rural or urban, etc.)?
- Do the settings make the stories believable or credible? How does setting impact the plot of the story, and how would the plot be affected if the story took place in another setting?
- Are the characters influenced by their setting? How might they behave if they were in a different setting?
- What atmosphere or mood does the setting create (for example, darkness may create a mood of fear or unhappiness while light or bright colors may create one of happiness)?
- Is the setting or any aspect of it a symbol, or does the setting express particular ideas?
- Does setting create expectations that are the opposite of what occurs?
Theme/Authors’ Purposes
- What is the major theme (or themes) of each story?
- Are the themes of the stories similar or different?
- How does the author convey the theme (or themes) to the reader?
- How do the stories’ themes relate to the authors’ purposes (some examples of author purposes are to entertain, to satirize, to realistically portray life’s problems, to analyze emotions and responses, and/or to communicate a moral message)?
- What unique style, techniques, or devices do the writers use to communicate their themes?
Tone/Style/Irony/Symbol
- How would you describe the tone of the piece?
- Does the tone correspond with the action occurring in the plot?
- What style does the author use (for example, one way an author might satirize is by including a lot of irony, hyperbole, and unrealistic scenarios)?
- How might the story be different if the tone or style were to be changed?
- Does the writer use irony or symbols to communicate the message?
NOTE: These questions are a means of ordering your thoughts while you collect information for your essay. You do not need to include the answers to all of these questions in your essay; only include those answers that directly support your thesis statement need to be included.
