ENG 2D Short Story Essay
Elizabeth Lawrence once stated, “There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colours are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.”
The main characters in the stories we have read all make a journey from the metaphorical garden Lawrence mentions into adulthood. In a five paragraph essay, discuss how each writer develops this “loss of innocence” theme.
In other words, you should write about how the author shows the character’s journey from innocence to adulthood.
Some elements you may consider are: what does the character learn?
How/why do they lose their innocence? Are there symbols of innocence? In what ways do the characters change?
Begin by brainstorming the stories, looking for a common thread between them all (use a graphic organizer like a mind map or chart). Once you have found a common theme, develop a working thesis statement. Remember that a thesis statement is an argument, (i.e. what do these texts show us?)
Steps: 1. Brainstorm a common thread.
2. Construct a thesis and have it approved.
3. Find passages from the text to support your thesis.
4. Write your thesis and quotations on your worksheet.
5. Outline your essay to prepare.
Possible questions:
Theme: death begets life.
In “loss of innocence” stories the protagonist is often confronted with their own mortality, (the fact that they will one day die). How do the authors in the stories you are exploring deal with this fact of life?

ENG 2D Short Story Essay
Theme: the point of no return.
How do the authors convince the reader that their protagonists will be forever changed by the experiences they have had?
Theme: stuff happens, or internal conflict versus external conflict.
In some stories, like “Sunrise on the Veld” and “For Everything There is a
Season”, the main conflict is external, whereas in other stories, like “Araby”, the main conflict is internal. How does this essential difference affect the protagonist’s “coming of age”, or does it?
Possible thesis points.
How does the author portray the protagonist’s loss of innocence through his or her use of characterization, setting, and conflict? Compare at least two of the stories we have read.
Both, “A Sunrise on the Veld”, and “For Everything There is a Season”, are effective loss-of-innocence stories although one protagonist is far more aware of his situation than the other one is. Compare how Doris Lessing and
Alistair MacLeod use plot, style, and point-of-view to achieve their objectives.
Pick three stories and compare the authors’ use of language and imagery to convey the change in their protagonist before, and after, the climax of each story.