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Writing WorkshopAnalyzing a Short Story
Assignment
Prewriting
Choose a Story
Analyze the Story and Develop a Thesis
Gather and Organize Support
Practice and Apply
Feature Menu
Assignment: Write a response to literature in which you analyze the literary elements of a short story.
Analyzing a Short Story
Have you ever felt so caught up in a story that you forgot the world around you? What made the story come alive for you? Perhaps it was a gripping plot or vivid characters.
In this workshop, you will take a close look at how a writer uses literary elements to create a unique work of art.
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To choose a story
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Choose a Story
• consider stories you have already read and enjoyed as well as those recommended by others
Note [End of Section]
• consider stories by authors whose other works you have enjoyed
Alice Walker’s“Everyday Use”
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Analyze the Story and Develop a Thesis
• Read your story once to get an overall grasp of it.
• Then, analyze how the author uses the basic elements of fiction to discover what makes the story unique.
plot setting characters
theme stylistic devices
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Analyze the Story and Develop a Thesis
Analyzing Elements of Fiction
Element Analysis Questions
Plot is the action or series of events depicted in the story.
• What is the conflict, or main problem, and who is involved in the story?
• What is the story’s climax—the most intense moment in the plot?
• How is the conflict resolved? Is the resolution logical?
• Do events happen in a predictable way, or does the writer build suspense by creating doubt about how the conflict will be resolved?
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Analyze the Story and Develop a Thesis
Analyzing Elements of Fiction
Element Analysis Questions
Setting is the time and place in which the story occurs.
• Where and when does the story take place?
• Does the setting affect the plot, the characters, or the mood or atmosphere of the story? How?
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Analyze the Story and Develop a Thesis
Analyzing Elements of Fiction
Element Analysis Questions
Characters are the individuals in a story.
• What are the major characters like?• What motivates the characters to
behave as they do?• Do any of the characters
change? If so, how andwhy?
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Analyze the Story and Develop a Thesis
Analyzing Elements of Fiction
Element Analysis Questions
Theme is an important idea about life.
• What important idea about life or human nature does the story reveal?
• Do other elements, such as plot or characters, play a role in the development of the theme? If so, how?
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Analyze the Story and Develop a Thesis
Analyzing Elements of Fiction
Element Analysis Questions
Stylistic devices are the techniques a writer uses to create certain effects in a work.
• Does the writer’s diction, or choice of important words, affect the tone of the story? How?
• Does the writer use imagery—language that appeals to the senses? What is the effect of such imagery on the story?
• Does the writer make imaginative comparisons through the use of figurative language—metaphor, simile, and personification?
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Analyze the Story and Develop a Thesis
Zero in on the element or elements that seem to dominate the story.
Identifying dominant elements
Plot
Setting
Character
Stylistic devicesTheme
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Analyze the Story and Develop a Thesis
Identify your main idea, or thesis, about the element or elements on which your analysis will focus.
• Draw a conclusion about the role of the focus element or elements of the story.
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Analyze the Story and Develop a Thesis
Draft a thesis statement that includes
Focus element: CharacterConclusion: The story’s power results from the vividness and believability of the characters.Thesis statement: In “Everyday Use,” Alice Walker’s vivid, believable characters stay in the reader’s mind long after the story is over.
• the story’s title and author
• your conclusion about the focus element or elements
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Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Gather and Organize Support
Support your literary analysis with
• key points that support your thesis
• supporting details from the story that provide evidence for the key points
Key Points
Supporting Details
• elaboration that links the details to the key points
Thesis Statement
Elaboration
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Gather and Organize Support
You may want to create a chart to map out your key points, supporting details, and elaboration.
Key Point Supporting Detail Elaboration
In the story Everyday Use by Alice Walker, the author creates a vivid picture of Maggie.
Walker compares Maggie to a lame animal who seeks attention and affection.
Walker’s description not only gives a vivid picture of Maggie’s physical appearance but also suggests Maggie’s timid nature and need for kindness.
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Gather and Organize Support
Your key points may suggest an organizational pattern for arranging your analysis.
Analysis of plot or character development
• Discuss key points in chronological order—the order in which they occur in the story.
First Second Third Last
Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Gather and Organize Support
Your key points may suggest an organizational pattern for arranging your analysis.
Analysis of theme
• Use order of importance to discuss key points. Begin with the most important point and end with the least important, or vice versa.
Most important
Least important
Least important
Most important
OR
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Analyzing a Short StoryPrewriting: Practice and Apply
Use the instructions presented here to choose and analyze a short story.
• Find a focus element.
• Develop a thesis statement.
• Support the thesis statement with key points, supporting details, and elaboration.
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