English

The stories are:A Good Man is Hard to Find, The Storm, Story of an Hour, and “Young Goodman Brown.

ASSIGNMENT:  For this paper, you should choose two stories assigned in class for your comparative analysis. Do not consult secondary sources or other previously written essays for ideas or theories. You may, though, refer to other short stories you have read to provide a contrast or comparison. You can also refer to a dictionary or information about short stories in your textbook and Learning Web handouts.

1. Select a theme you wish to explore, such as family, marriage, quest, betrayal, supernatural, sin, death, love, the relationship between men and women, appearance versus reality.


2. Choose two short stories that deal with this theme. You may need to read each story several times, taking notes as you go.


3. Go through each story and mark how the author uses narrative, character, setting, symbolism, other elements, to convey that theme. Then, write a comparative analysis of the two short story/stories; employ as many of the literary terms introduced in class and on the Learning Web.

 You must select AT LEAST TWO of the following techniques/ terms/elements/tools. Some of those literary terms are:

setting

plot

characterization

conflict

symbolism

point of view

irony

tone

stereotypes

exposition

rising action

falling action

climax 

foreshadowing           

flashback

protagonist     

1. Find evidence in the text to support your thesis, and organize the rest of your essay around these quotations and examples. Do not rely on generalizations about or paraphrases of the story to convince your reader, but provide specific evidence and discuss the importance of that evidence for your thesis. Please note: you should not insert huge chunks of quotes in your paper and count that against your minimum page length. Roughly 70% of the paper should be your own words and thoughts.


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3. Conclude your paper by summing up your argument so that the readers see that your evidence does support your thesis. (WITHOUT INTRODUCING ANY NEW IDEAS)