Close Analysis of a Short-Story

Close Analysis of a Short-Story

This essay requires you to develop an argument based on close analysis of a passage or selection of no more than three passages from one of the short-stories that we’ve read for this week.

Guy de Maupassant, “The Necklace”

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/hochiminh/646441/vantt/The%20necklace.pdf

What this means is that you have to read a representative part of the text closely, explicate the language (i.e. what is it saying and why it is important) and, ultimately, place it in the context of the story as a whole. You’ll need to identity what the author is doing in this particular passage and why. The effectiveness of your argument will depend on the way in which you analyze, interpret, and discuss textual evidence to substantiate your claims. To ensure you’re not merely summarizing the story, consider the difference between the sets of questions below.

 

Refer to the document “Questions for Close Reading a Literary Passage” in Unit 2 Course Materials folder for more specific guidelines, additional resources, and examples of close reading. The same folder also includes a close reading of selected passages from “The Empty Family,” a short-story by Colm Tóibín.

 

You must include a minimum of five (5) short, but significant, carefully selected details (key words or phrases—not long lines) from the primary source.  Format the first page and in-text citations according to the MLA style. MLA formatting makes attribution easier. The References section should follow APA, which is the desired format for your discipline.  You are not required to do outside research for this assignment, but if you choose to, go for it, and remember to cite all secondary sources appropriately.  Use the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) for assistance with proper documentation.  Also see resources in our Course Materials folder and use Smarthinking.

 

Your essay must be 2+ pages (700+ words) and follow APA format.

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