The Author’s Craft: Literary Analysis in Short Stories
Your first major writing assignment for English I Accelerated is to write one paragraph
analyzing one of the short stories we read for class.1 First, choose one of these stories:
“Through the Tunnel,” “The Scarlet Ibis,” “I Stand Here Ironing,” “A Worn Path,” “An
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” or “Everyday Use.” Next, identify a major theme from the
story you chose and write it down. The next step is to consider the author’s craft and how the
author enhances the theme with different literary devices. List literary devices used by the
author that really strengthen the theme. Use all of this thinking and writing to make an outline of your paragraph by
choosing the three best literary devices and including details.
Outline Due Thursday, October 6, 2011
The outline needs to show the details you will use to demonstrate how three literary devices support the theme.
That means that each of the literary devices in your outline will have notes in the outline about how each literary
device enhances the theme. Also, you need at least two quotes in your outline (with page numbers noted).
Completed paragraph due Friday, October 7, 2011
UPLOADED to your blog in the Ning and attached to the assignment called “The Author’s Craft Essay”
SAVED in your U Drive at Maine East High School, in a folder called English 1
TYPED and handed in during class (12-point font, double spaced)
PERFECT WRITING – using the rules from “Writing about Literature”
 Topic sentence, supporting sentences, and conclusion sentence
 Perfect spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar
 Compound sentences!
 Quotes cited correctly
 Works Cited at the end, labeled “Works Cited”
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS (#1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, although all rules from “Writing about Literature” should be followed
throughout the paragraph)
Rubric – Proofread another student’s paragraph and write “yes” or “no” on each blank below. (“Yes” = good job, and
“no” = NOT sufficient. Circle the rule numbers (from “Writing about Literature”) that applies.
___ Title #5
___ Topic Sentence with TAG #1 and #11
___ Major theme identified (not a tangential one or a broad one; be specific)
___ 3 significant literary devices identified
___ Details about each literary device #10
___ Third person point of view
___ Sophisticated compound sentences with perfect punctuation
___ 2 quotes used #13, #14, #17
___ Correct format for citations #15 and #16
___ Works Cited #18
___ Present tense
___ Perfect spelling and grammar
___ Perfect punctuation #1 and #12
___ Perfect capitalization
1We
are writing only one paragraph for this assignment because we are focusing on support and elaboration within paragraphs. Writing a multi-paragraph essay is a
third-grade skill, but multi-paragraph essays for high school must have sophisticated body paragraphs that are filled with details, explanations, and examples. This
first writing assignment is an example of a superior body paragraph, and our next major writing assignment will include several of these sophisticated body
paragraphs.