The Last Temptation
This assignment focuses on your ability to: learn how to identify the plot devices of a piece of
literature; craft your own creative piece with similar plot devices.
The purpose of completing this assignment is: as a student and a career professional, you will
need to read and summarize many different forms of literature. Very often, you will need to report out
on those summaries. This is a good practice in developing those skills
Prompt (What are you writing about?)
• After reading the short short stories in the unit, select one story to write an analysis of the
plot on. Answer the following question about that short short story in one paragraph:
What is the plot of the story? Include a breakdown of the sequence of events for the story.
How does the plot influence the overall story?
• Both “The Invisible String” and “Swan of the Gods” deal with the question of what connects
us to other people and to the universe? Be it strings we cannot see or stars that we each
look at throughout time, connections are one of the main things that drive human interactions
and help us navigate the world.
o Create your own short short story with a clear plot or sequence of events that
focuses on the invisible or visible connections that exist in the world. The story
should be no more than 500 words in length. You may organize the story into
however many paragraphs you would like, but please make sure not to go over 500
words. The subject of your short short story is entirely up to you, but please make
sure it is appropriate for an academic setting. Your story should have clear
characters, a conflict, and a resolution.
Instructions (how to get it done):
• Write your response that details the prompt above. Be sure to analyze one of the short
short stories and then create your own short short story.
Requirements:
• Your response should be two paragraphs (does not include the title page).
• Your response should have a properly APA formatted title page. The title page template is in
the Unit 1 resources.
• Please use proper APA format if you quote, paraphrase, or summarize the story by including
an in-text citation after the evidence and a reference listed on the References page. Also,
remember to use quotation marks if you include a direct quote.
• The paper should be double spaced with 1-inch margins. Choice of fonts: 11-point Calibri,
11-point Arial,12-point Times New Roman.
• Please be cautious about plagiarism. Make sure to use internal citations for direct quotes,
paraphrases, and new information.
