Your next assignment is to write a critique of a short story. We are covering two in this class: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Destructors” by Graham Greene. These two stories are found at the links shown above. Your critique may not rely only on your own interpretation of the story you have chosen. You must find and consider literary criticism from outside sources and be able to refer to that literary criticism in your paper and to cite that use of outside research in the body of the paper and on a Works Cited page.
The Introduction
The purpose of the introduction to the critique is to introduce the reader to the subject. As in other essay forms, the introduction contains a movement from broad to specific followed by a thesis statement. Often the introduction will offer background information on the biography of the source’s author or give a perspective regarding the subject. For example, a paper on the short story might provide some background information to the reader to understand the historical context of the events being depicted in the work of art. As in any other essay, the final sentence of the introduction should be your thesis statement indicating what you think of the short story.
The Body
1. The first body paragraph is a summary of the short story being studied. In your summary discuss the four major parts of the short story: The plot (what happens in the story), the characters (names and descriptions of the key characters), Setting (when and where the story takes place), and narrative manner (this is the storyteller. The story may be told by the main character, by a minor character or by an uninvolved narrator)
2. The second part of the paper is an analysis of the theme. It is there that you will have to use the ideas of at least one literary critic. To do that, find a scholarly article about the story on the College Library Electronic Databases. Theme is not what happens in the story but what the meaning of the story is. In other words, theme is what the story is about. Do not look for a moral lesson. Instead, look for what issue or problem the author is attempting to consider. Your research article should be a great help to you in finding this information.
The Conclusion
The final part of the critique is your reaction to the story you have read. This is where the critique writer is given the opportunity to express his or her own views on the subject under discussion. For example, when writing a short story critique, mention the aspects of the story that you found most interesting, compelling, thought-provoking, or new. You might also mention negative aspects of the story that you found offensive, biased, poorly done, or in bad taste. In the critique, your opinion of the work being studied is important. Do you find the story interesting? Do you see truth in what the writer has said? Defend your point of view.