Analysis of a Short StoryAnalysis of a Short StoryIntroduction

A Writer’s Checklist

Selecting a story

Analyzing literary elements

Finding a focus

Crafting a thesis

Identifying key points and details

A Writer’s Model

Your Turn: Write a short-story analysis

IntroductionIntroductionDid you ever discuss a movie that you have just seen?

If so, you probably discussed some of the elements important to movies, such as special effects and plot.

The special effects in

that movie were so cool!

Yeah, but it was the

surprise ending that impressed

me.

Who would have thought the baby would

turn into a hamster!

IntroductionIntroduction

Similarly, you can take an in-depth look at a particular short story by analyzing the elements important to short stories.

Explain your thoughts and ideas about the story by writing a literary analysis.

A Writer’s ChecklistA Writer’s Checklist

When you write a literary analysis of a short story, you should:

Select a story that interests you, and actively read the story.

Analyze the author’s use of literary elements in the story. Find a focus for your analysis.

Identify key points and details to support your thesis statement.

Craft a thesis that states the main idea of your writing.

Selecting a storySelecting a story

When choosing a short story to analyze, think about the kinds of stories that you enjoy. Do you like mysteries, science fiction, or historical stories?

You can also choose a story by locating collections of stories by authors whose work you have enjoyed in the past.

Selecting a storySelecting a story

Read the story actively and think about your personal response to it. As you read, answer the following questions:

How do I feel about the characters, events, and situations in the story?

How do I feel about the story?

What will happen next?

What about the story is confusing?

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elementsAuthors manipulate various literary elements to create different effects. These elements are the building blocks from which short stories are made.

To analyze a short story, you must identify the literary elements being used and investigate the ways the author uses them.

plot

setting

characters

point of view

foreshadowing

irony

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elementsLiterary Element: Plot

The plot is the action or series of events in a story.

Jim and Della face the problem of wanting to buy each other Christmas gifts, even though they have very little money.

A story’s plot takes the reader from the starting point to the conclusion and includes everything that happens in between. For instance, you might summarize the plot of a story like this:

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elementsPlot includes conflict, or the problems that characters face, and a climax—the point at which the story’s main conflict is resolved. For instance, the climax of a story might be the point at which a boy finally sticks up for himself against the school bully.

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elementsAnalysis Questions: Plot

The following questions will help you analyze plot.

What important problems or difficulties do the characters face?

How are the characters’ problems resolved?

Do the events in the story happen logically?

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elements

Literary Element: Setting

The setting is the time and place in which the story occurs.

In “The Gift of the Magi,” O. Henry describes Jim and Della’s apartment as shabby and run-down. This helps illustrate that the main characters are struggling to make ends meet.

Setting provides important clues for understanding the people and events in the story.

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elements

Analysis Questions: Setting

Where and when does the story take place?

How do the time and place affect characters and events, cause a conflict, or set a mood?

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elements

Literary Element: Characters

The characters are the individuals in a short story.

O. Henry uses Della’s reflections on Jim to reveal key aspects of his personality, such as his quietness and strong character.

Authors reveal their characters’ qualities through characterization. These qualities can be revealed directly through description, thoughts, or feelings; or indirectly through characters’ dialogue.

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elements

Direct characterization: Landon had a talent for procrastination unmatched among his fellow students.

Indirect characterization: “I have never encountered an assignment that I can’t put off until the last minute,” Landon bragged.

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elementsAnalysis Questions: Characters

Does the main character change? If so, how and why?

What motivates the characters?

How are the characters’ qualities revealed?

What is the main character like?

Analyzing literary elements Analyzing literary elements

Literary Element: Point of View

The point of view is the angle from which a story is told.

The narrator reveals Della’s thoughts in this story. The point of view is third person.

When told from the perspective of a person outside the story, the point of view is called third person.

When told from the perspective of a character in the story, the point of view is called first person.

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elementsAnalysis Questions: Point of View

How does the point of view affect your response to the story?

Does the narrator speak with the pronoun I? This point of view is called first person.

Does the narrator reveal the thoughts of only one character? This point of view is called third person.

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elementsLiterary Element: Foreshadowing

The author’s discussion of Jim’s watch and Della’s hair early in the story hints at the important role these items will play in the outcome of the story.

A character might say, “I didn’t know how much I would regret those words in the days to come.” This statement suggests that an important event will happen later in the story, and it creates suspense for the reader.

Foreshadowing is a hint or suggestion of coming events.

Analyzing literary elements Analyzing literary elements

Analysis Questions: Foreshadowing

The following questions will help you analyze foreshadowing:

Does the author hint at events that might take place later?

What do these hints suggest about the outcome of the story?

If so, where and how?

Analyzing literary elements Analyzing literary elements

Literary Element: Irony

Irony is a surprising contrast between appearance or expectation and reality. Irony can be humorous or bitter, but it always makes us think.

Della and Jim find themselves in an ironic situation when they discover that the gifts they have purchased one another can no longer be used.

This difference between expectation and reality is a form of irony.

Analyzing literary elementsAnalyzing literary elementsAnalysis Questions: Irony

The following questions will help you analyze irony:

Do characters say one thing while meaning another?

Do characters encounter situations that do not resemble their expectations?

Finding a focusFinding a focus

After you have analyzed the literary elements of a story, you can begin to develop a focus for your work.

For example, you might choose a single literary element to study or consider the ways in which two elements work together.

plot

setting

characters

point of view

foreshadowing

irony

Finding a focusFinding a focus

Here are some ideas to help you find a focus:

I’ll focus on plot so that I can discuss O. Henry’s ironic ending to “The Gift of the Magi.”

Recall the ideas that went through your mind when you first read your story. This may provide a clue to insights to share with your reader.

Decide what you want to say about the elements of the story that you find most important. Your thoughts will become your main idea, or thesis.

Crafting a thesisCrafting a thesisNext, craft a preliminary thesis statement. It should identify the elements on which you will focus and give your main idea about those elements.

In “The Gift of the Magi,” O. Henry uses the plot’s ironic ending to highlight the story’s message about generosity and giving.

Identifying key points and Identifying key points and detailsdetails

An effective analysis contains key points that support its thesis statement. To identify key points for your analysis, ask yourself:

What types of information will I need to convince my audience of the ideas in my

thesis?

What contrasts are present in the story? What

are their meanings?

Identifying key points and Identifying key points and detailsdetails

You can also develop your key points by drawing an idea map that traces the step-by-step progression of your thesis throughout the plot of the story.

Beginning of story

Middle of story

Resolution of story

For instance, you could draw an idea map that shows the various steps a character takes in changing from selfish to selfless through the course of a story.

Identifying key points and Identifying key points and detailsdetails

Include supporting details to back up the key points that support your thesis.

As “The Gift of the Magi” begins, Della counts her money and worries about how little she has to spend on Jim’s gift.

• Paraphrasing: restating a passage in your own words

Three common methods for adding supporting details include:

Identifying key points and Identifying key points and detailsdetails

• Summarizing: stating the main points of a passage in condensed form

O. Henry describes Della and Jim’s apartment as inexpensive and run-down and explains their financial struggles.

When Jim returned, he “simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face.”

• Direct quotations: using the exact words from a story

Identifying Key Points and Identifying Key Points and DetailsDetails

Elaborate by explaining how the details you include support your key points.

Elaboration could also be used to explain why an event you summarize represents a milestone in a character’s development.

For instance, you might explain how a line from the story reveals a particular quality of the main character.

Identifying Key Points and Identifying Key Points and DetailsDetails

The organization of support in your analysis should follow this pattern:

Key point Specific story detail Elaboration

O. Henry trademark ironic twist

ending

Della cuts hair to buy chain for

Jims watch

Della’s hair is too short to

use hair combs Jim bought

Identifying Key Points and Identifying Key Points and DetailsDetails

You can organize your literary analysis in a number of ways. Your topic and the ideas you choose to support it may suggest a certain type of organization.

An analysis of a story’s plot typically lends itself to chronological order.

You may choose to organize the information in your analysis in order of importance.

A Writer’s ChecklistA Writer’s Checklist

Use the checklist as you look at the following Writer’s Model and as you evaluate your own literary analysis of a short story.

Select a story that interests you, and actively read the story.

Analyze the author’s use of literary elements in the story.

Find a focus for your analysis.

Identify key points and details to support your thesis statement.

Craft a thesis that states the main idea of your writing.

thesis statement

An important part of the plot in many of O. Henry’s short stories is an ending with an unexpected twist. In fact, these surprise endings became a signature feature of his work. One of his best-known stories, “The Gift of the Magi,” features an example of such an ending. In this example, O. Henry uses the plot’s ironic ending to emphasize the story’s message about giving and generosity.

first key point

support

O. Henry sets up the ironic ending of “The Gift of the Magi,” by beginning the story’s plot rather conventionally. He introduces the characters of Della and Jim and explains the key conflict of the plot: Della cannot afford to buy a Christmas gift that she feels is worthy of Jim. O. Henry then shows how Della confronts this problem, as she sells her beautiful hair in order to purchase a handsome chain for Jim’s prized watch.

elaboration

second key point

support

As the plot of “The Gift of the Magi” moves toward its resolution, O. Henry adds his trademark twist ending. After buying the watch chain, Della anxiously awaits Jim’s arrival at their apartment. She hopes that he will not be angry with her for having cut her hair. However, when he arrives home, we learn that Jim has sold his watch to buy an expensive set of combs for Della’s now-vanished hair. The expected conflict and resolution has been replaced with a different, surprising conflict and resolution.

elaboration

third key point

support

In this way, O. Henry uses the ironic ending to draw the reader’s attention to the message of his story. By showing that Della and Jim were willing to sell their most prized possessions for each other, he suggests that this kind of giving and generosity has more true value than the wealth or material possessions that the young couple lacked. As he points out in the story’s final paragraph, “Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the wisest.”

elaboration

conclusion

summary of key points

The ironic ending features prominently in the plots of many of O. Henry’s short stories. In “The Gift of the Magi,” the irony comes as the author slowly reveals that Della and Jim have both sold their most beloved possessions for the other’s sake. While this ending comes as a surprise for readers, O. Henry uses this plot device to draw readers’ attention to the message of the story--that giving and generosity are more valuable than money and possessions.

Write a literary analysis in response to one of the prompts below. Remember to use the Writer’s Checklist and the Writer’s Model as guidelines when writing your paper.

Your Turn 1: Write a short-story Your Turn 1: Write a short-story analysisanalysis

Select a short story that you have previously read and enjoyed. Re-read the story and write an analysis to explain the literary elements that make the story effective.

Select a short story that interests you. Write a literary analysis to examine the elements in the story. Discuss why the story is or is not effective.

The End