Eng.IV.H./Br. Byrd/Modern and Contemporary Lit. Analysis Assignment
General: Before Spring Break, we will dive into eight pieces (four modern or 20th century,
and four contemporary 21st century). The point of our reading is NOT to summarize plot,
but to analyze STYLE. To do this, please make use of the Literary Style Analysis Categories
website posted on the teacher page on Wednesday, March 25th. Part 1 is due on
Wednesday, April 1st before Break. Part 2 is due the Wednesday after Break.
Suggested Schedule of Reading:
Title
Page
Read for
James Joyce’s “The Dead”
Norton, p. 2635
Friday, March 27th
Ellis Sharp’s “The Writer”
Packet, p. 3
Friday, March 27th
D.H. Lawrence’s “Odour of
Chrysanthemums”
Norton, p. 2674
Monday, March 30th
Adam Lively’s “Voyage”
Packet, p. 50
Monday, March 30th
Katherine Mansfield’s “The
Garden Party”
Norton, p. 2745
Tuesday, March 31st
Robert Shearman’s
“Bedtime Stories for
Yasmin”
Packet, p. 75
Tuesday, March 31st
Jean Rhys’s “The Day They
Burned the Books”
Norton, p. 2757
Wednesday, April 1st
Charles Boyle’s “Budapest”
Packet, p. 107
Wednesday, April 1st
Part One: (Due Wed., April 1st)
For seven of the eight short story options listed above, choose one of the categories on the
Literary Style Analysis website questions to complete. You have to pair a different story to
a different category. So you could analyze the diction of “The Garden Party” and the
structure of “Budapest,” etc. Note, the titles of the short stories are put in quotation marks.
Use the last names of authors when needed. Type up your analysis in a clean MLA
formatting. No extra spaces. Yes, you ought to quote from the text and then cite the
quotation. “Quote…” (Shearman 76). (Although all stories are in anthologies, you need only
refer to the authors’ surnames.) Complete sentences, not bullet points. (Two pages at least.)
Part Two: (Due the Wednesday after Spring Break)
For the last of the eight stories (so the one you DID NOT use for Part One), answer all seven
of the analysis questions. Analysis should clearly come from all parts of the story, not just
from its beginning.
Eng.IV.H./Br. Byrd/Modern and Contemporary Lit. Analysis Assignment
Response Paragraph: The last thing you should add is the “so what?” Now that you’ve
looked at eight different works, how does the one you analyzed for Part Two measure up as
a modern or contemporary piece of literature? How did you enjoy it compared to the
literature we’ve studied so far in class?
Typed. Complete sentences. MLA formatting (citation, margins, etc.) Three-four pages.