ENGL 1302 – Essay #2: Literary Analysis of Short Story.
Analysis: Write a literary analysis essay over one of the texts we have explored. You can write about any of the stories or plays we’ve read Instead of writing a plot summary or trying to cover too much information about the story, you should focus on one literary element in particular to analyze, such as characters, themes, symbols, or setting.
- You must choose one text we have read
- Your essay needs to have its own unique and specific thesis
- Carefully follow the guidelines for quoting and citing sources in MLA Format
- Use the present tense consistently when talking about literature
- Use MLA-style formatting and an MLA works cited page
Here are some possible topic ideas:
“Fiesta, 1980”
- Write an essay discussing how Diaz conveys the theme of family in “Fiesta, 1980.” Does family seem to be important in the cultural context of these Dominican families? What individual examples can you find of characters demonstrating their respect/reverence for the family? Is family more important to certain characters? If so, which ones? Be sure to include a discussion of Yunior and his views on family. Lastly, how is Yunior’s vomiting related to the family dynamic? Is it connected to his father’s infidelity, or is it merely a coincidence?
“The Thing Around Your Neck”
- Write an essay exploring the uncle’s idea of America as a place of ‘give-and-take.’ What have the narrator and her uncle given up to come to America? Have they made sacrifices? What have they given up personally? Culturally? And what do they get in return? Is it more than financial opportunity? Or, put another way, what does the financial opportunity represent to the narrator? Is she here merely to improve her own circumstances? Or does she also carry the responsibility of her family?
- Write an essay comparing and contrasting, along cultural lines, the narrator and her boyfriend. How are their worldviews different? How are they similar? What experiences have shaped their worldviews? Because of his background, what privileges and advantages does the boyfriend have that the narrator doesn’t? Are there any advantages the narrator has because of her background that the boyfriend doesn’t? Do their cultural differences ever serve as a source of conflict? Be sure to cite instances from the story and explain how a cultural gap contributes to their disconnect.
“The Paper Menagerie”
- Write an essay centering on the symbolic and metaphorical significance of origami in this story. Why is origami so important to Jack’s mother? Where did she learn it from? Why does she start making Jack paper animals when he’s a little boy? What culturally significant rituals do Jack and his mother perform with the paper animals? Why does Jack come to reject the paper animals and ask his dad for Star Wars action figures? What is significant culturally about Jack rejecting the paper animals and embracing the Star Wars action figures? Lastly, discuss the magical realism in the story. Is the mother’s magic real? Do these animals actually get up and move around? If not, how do you explain Liu’s depiction of these animals, particularly Laohu, as moving and interacting with Jack? If they’re not literally moving, how do we interpret their movement? What is animating them? And is there any hope at the end, after Jack reads his mother’s letter and carries Laohu home with him, purring?
“Redeployment”
- Write an essay exploring how the narrator has been psychologically changed by war. When he returns to Lejeune, how are his thought processes different from a civilian mindset? In what instances do we see him struggling to adjust to the slower, more relaxed life he used to know? Does he struggle to reconnect with his wife? If so, how? According to the narrator, how has his brain chemistry changed? Do the narrator’s experiences in war contribute to his decision to shoot the dog at the end of the story? If so, how?
Doubt
- Write an essay comparing and contrasting the three characters of Sister Aloysius, Sister James, and Father Flynn. How, in general, do they see people? Do they have a fundamentally good opinion of people or a fundamentally bad one? How does their worldview relate to their faith? What about their visions for the church/education? How do their ideas differ with respect to the church’s relationship to its parishioners? How do Sister James and Sister Aloysius differ in regard to their ideas of education and the teacher’s relationship to the students? Granted, if you take the perspective that Father Flynn is a predator, then he is far more “different” than Sister James or Sister Aloysius. Nevertheless, we see him interact with the boys in an educational environment. So be sure to include Father Flynn’s vision of education and how the teacher should interact with students. Does he adhere to strict professional guidelines? Or is he more informal? For all your observations, be sure to cite evidence from the play/film to corroborate your claims.
- The play/film is titled Doubt, and it is subtitled A Parable. Thus, the work is supposed to be a parable. So, write an essay discussing the play/film as a parable. What is a parable? What is its purpose? How can this play be interpreted as a parable? If characters in parables often symbolize certain values, what do the characters in this play stand for? What point is being made with the juxtaposition of Sister Aloysius and Sister James? And the juxtaposition of Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn? Be sure to discuss the role of parables within the play itself. What two parables do we hear from Father Flynn and how do they relate to the events in the play? Lastly, be sure to include a discussion of the idea of doubt. What is doubt? What different forms of doubt are people struggling with in this play? What is Sister Aloysius referring to at the end of the play when she says that she has “such doubts”?
