Literary Analysis

Literary Analysis Assignment
This assignment asks you to carefully examine one or two elements of fiction in one of the following selections
Flannery O’Connor “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
Tobias Wolff “Powder”

The elements of fiction that we’ve discussed and that are perhaps most accessible are:
Foreshadowing
Characterization
Setting
Theme
For definitions of these terms—revisit our short story cheat sheet, check out https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/education/upload/background-elements-of-literature_sr.pdf
or we can arrange for an e-chat or conference call—let me know your preference! 😊

The goal of this paper is for you to develop your close reading and analytic skills by zeroing in on how writers use particular details in their work to develop or speak to larger ideas. Your thesis should make an arguable claim about a particular element of fiction (or two) that shapes your reading of the story. The evidence presented in the body of your paper will consist of quotes (don’t forget to use ellipses […] when necessary to avoid block quotes), summaries, specific details (or word choices), and/or incidents from the story that you feel help support your thesis.

When you get to the drafting stage, revisit your outline and build upon it. Please recall that a literary analysis is not merely a summary. Assume that your target audience has read the text you’re analyzing; therefore, your essay should not relay every plot point. Instead, you should only refer to the sections of the text that you intend to use to support your thesis.

Additionally, a literary analysis is not a review. Your mission is not to tell the reader if you felt that the short story was “good” or “bad.” Here, these personal feelings are irrelevant and distracting.

If you’re wondering how to structure your essay, try this setup:

Use the first paragraph to introduce the text you are writing about: the author (first name, last name) as well as the title of the text. Please format the title correctly—titles of short works should be enclosed in quotation marks. Next, summarize the main story points in a few sentences. Lastly, state your thesis. Note: to start this paragraph you may consider using a question or posing a scenario to hook the reader’s interest. Do not use a definition.

The following body paragraphs will deal with the elements of the story that you intend to use to support your thesis. Be mindful of the fact that you are limited to working with two elements of fiction. Also, you’ll need to use evidence to support your claims.

A few notes of caution:
Do not digress in the body of your essay. If you choose to focus on “setting” and suddenly start writing about how characters are gendered, you will confuse your readers. Also, only about 15 to 20% of your paper should be direct quotes, and you’re limited to one block quote (a quote that is four lines or more).

The concluding paragraph reiterate your main points and help readers understand the big picture by describing the significance of your interpretation and by pointing out any additional questions that you still have, or inquiries that you feel should be addressed or pondered by future readers.

Remember: include in-text citations (in the form of page numbers—these are modeled in the samples we’ve looked at) and a Works Cited page (you may utilize MLA citation generators such as bibme.org)

You must have at least 3 full double-spaced pages written for peer review (May 6) to receive full credit. The final draft must be at least 4 full double-spaced pages (but no longer than 5 pages) due May 13.