SHORELINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

English 258

First paper: Interpreting Short Stories

The "meaning" of a story can be elusive. Stories can also have multiple meanings and work on different levels. Your assignment is to explain meaning in one (or more) of the stories we have read. The meaning you explain—also called interpretation—should be plausible and reasonable. To make it plausible and reasonable you will have to put together an essay that persuades based on evidence supported by the elements of the story.

Be sure to consider the following things:

• facts within the stories
• the language of the story
• the elements of a story (plot, point of view, character(s), setting, theme(s), symbolism, tone and style)
• the writer’s background, experience
• culture and history of the writer
• the writer’s views
• the critical approaches taken to fiction (Formalist, Biographical, Historical, Psychological, Mythological, Sociological, Gender, Reader-Response, Deconstructionist, Cultural)
• your own background, experience, history, and culture

Be sure to use the notes you made in your reading journal

Requirements:

• Typed
• 5-7 double-spaced pages ("W" students 7-10 double-spaced pages)
• Standard, reasonable margins and fonts
• Name, class, quarter clearly stated
• Cite sources beyond text using Modern Language Association (MLA) standards
• Turned in on time

Essay will be evaluated based on the following concepts:

• Completion of requirements
• Thoughtfulness (see above)
• Standard writing criteria (focus, detail, organization, and clarity)