Analyzing Contemporary Prose Writers: Literary Elements and Their Significance

Topic: Prose Writers for Today’s Era For this short paper, you will respond to the following question using a short story, essay or prose piece from one of the contemporary authors we have read in class. How did they construct this prose piece? What does it mean? How does this author’s story/essay speak to this particular era? Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to move from personal response to an in-depth interpretation of a narrative text by applying your knowledge of literary elements to a particular short story, personal essay or hybrid narrative. By reading this text closely, you will move beyond summary to analysis and evaluation of the text. You will examine how the text works within its narrative world and how it interacts the outside world. Close reading is thoughtful, critical analysis of a text that focuses on significant details or patterns in order to develop a deep, precise understanding of the text’s form, craft, themes, etc. Reach for interpretation in your analysis, looking beyond summary to your understanding of its deeper meanings. Elements to look for: 1. Characters: Who are the people in in the narrative? Who is the protagonist? Who are the antagonists, if any? What is their principal characteristics? Are they nuanced characters? Why do they feel real? What is their inner motivation? Why do they feel real or artificial to you? Provide specific examples. 2. Setting: Where does this narrative occur? What specific details does the author use to illustrate the feeling, the look, the smell, the taste and the feel of that place? What is unique about this author’s depiction of the setting? 3. Conflict: At the core of every character, there is a conflict. What are the forces working against this character, and how are they working against them? How does this manifest? This moves beyond that traditional depiction of character VS herself or character VS nature. Look for nuance, complexity, an inner landscape here. How is it written? 4. Point of View: Who is the narrator? Is this first person, second, third person limited or omniscient? Does it alternate? Why is the story told from this point of view? How would it be different in another character’s eyes? 5. Voice: Diction, with its emphasis on words, provides the voice of the work. The dictionary will illuminate new connotations and new denotations of words, while the sound of the voice will lend it a certain conversational, elevated or intimate tone. Why is this the voice the author used? What is the effect? 6. Structure. Divide the narrative into obvious sections, and look at the interrelation of these units. How do they develop? Again, what can you postulate regarding a controlling design for the work at this point? Does the form contribute to the meaning of the story? 7. Style. Look for any significant aspects of style—parallel constructions, antithesis, etc. Look for patterns, polarities, and problems, periodic sentences, clause structures. Look for alliteration, internal rhymes and other such poetic devices which are often used in prose as well as in poetry. Why would the author write in this way? Is it reflective of a particular character? Conflict? Setting? 8. Tone: What is the mood of the text? This is when you can discuss the emotional tenure of the piece. How does it feel inside the world of the narrative? How did the author create that feeling, mood or tone? 9. Figurative Language. Examine the narrative carefully for similes, images, metaphors, and symbols. Look for multiple meanings and overlapping of meaning. Look for repetitions, for oppositions. Consider how these figurative examples play into a pattern and/or points to theme. 10. Context: If your text is part of a larger collection, make brief reference to its position in the whole; if it is a short work, say, a poem, refer it to other works in its author's canon, perhaps chronologically, but also thematically. How does it fit into the larger literary moment? Why is this representative of our era?