For each short story on the reading schedule, except for "The Cask of Amontillado," write a short paragraph applying a school of criticism (except for
Reader Response) as Schilb and Clifford do for "Counterparts" by James Joyce. Read the examples they give you carefully, and contact me if you are
confused about any of the schools of criticism. A student example of applying Reader Response to "Counterparts" is on pp. 286-87, but you are not
allowed to use Reader Response since most students are not able to examine their biases comfortably. If you think you might be an exception, and
you want to try Reader Response, you may send me a draft and I will let you know if it is acceptable. The list of short stories are the following:
“2BR02B”
“Balto"
“The Lottery”
“Birdsong”
“What You Pawn I Will Redeem”
Apply a different school of criticism to each short story; for example, if you choose New Historicism for “2BR02B” then choose Feminist for “The
Lottery,” and so on. Make it clear to me which story and which school you are using. I've included an example of how your document should look.
Please double-space. Journal ExamplePreview the document
The journal is designed to generate ideas for the Short Story Analysis. You are not making a specific claim in each paragraph, but simply exploring
ideas that use a particular school of criticism to analyze fiction. I strongly recommend that you read the sample student essay on pages 289-291 to
get an idea of what a claim and evidence look like when taking a particular school and applying it to a short story, which will be your goal after
completing the journal. Once you submit your journal, I will identify your strengths and weaknesses to help you make a decision about your Short
Story Analysis.
Journal length: 500 words (about 100 words per paragraph).