Analyzing the Elements of a Short Story for an English Class When you read a story, and before you

begin writing an analysis, you should examine the various elements of the story and ask yourself specific questions: Read This Next Why A Degree In English Is Good For Business How To Teach Literary Elements in High School How to Analyze a Poem for a Paper in a College English Class 1.Setting: Where and when is the story set? Is the setting significant? If so, why? For example, Count Leo Tolstoys Master and Man is set during a Russian winter in a blinding snowstorm, and the weather is crucial because the entire story revolves around it. 2.Character: Who are the main characters? (Look beyond the obvious.) What makes these characters act as they do and say what they say? What is their motivation? How do other characters relate to them? Is there more to them than meets the eye? For instance, in Tolstoys story, the two human characters are important but so is the weather, and, for that matter, so is the little horse, and without any one of these four characters, there would be no story. 3.Mood: How does story make you feel: happy, nostalgic, revolted, or frightened, etc? How does the mood relate to the storys meaning? On the other hand, is the writer using irony, and if so, does this sense of incongruity help establish the mood? For example, as pointed out by Edward Proffitt, author of Reading & Writing About Literature, in Somerset Maughams Appointment in Samarra, Maugham uses dramatic irony to create a sense of divergence between what the servant believes and what the reader knows will happen (1990, p.155). 4.Symbolism: Does anything in the story an object, person, animal, detail, etc. represent something other than what it appears to be on the surface? If so, how does this symbolic representation function within the story? For instance, in Herman Melvilles classic novel Moby Dick, the giant white whale with which Captain Ahab is obsessed is not merely a whale but, according to various interpretations, either Mother Nature or the Lord God of Israel. 5.Style: Look at the writers sentence structure and vocabulary. Does he or she use long, convoluted sentences like William Faulkner or short, concise sentences like Ernest Hemingway? What about figurative language? Does the writer use analogies, similes, or metaphors? If so, for what purpose does he or she use them? 6.Theme: What is the underlying meaning of the story? Why do you think this? What evidence from the story supports your deduction? Remember, though, that readers often perceive different themes, and even when they see the same themes, they often have varying interpretations. For example, in Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour, one reader might broadly describe the theme as marriage while another might more specifically describe it as the constraints of marriage on individual freedom (Schwiebert, 1997, p.138).

In summary, you can write an effective literary analysis for a college English course as long as you actually read the story, playing close attention to its various elements, and then clearly and concisely express your interpretation of those elements. And remember this: Its perfectly acceptable for you to interpret a story differently from your classmates or even your professor just as long as you can provide ample evidence to support that interpretation Read more at Suite101: How to Analyze a Short Story for a College English Course | Suite101.com http://carol-rzadkiewicz.suite101.com/how-to-analyze-a-short-story-for-a-college-english-coursea286690#ixzz1o4IFUFG4