Essay #2: Short Story Analysis Paper Prompt: Choose a short story we have studied in class and write an analysis essay in which you argue that the author uses certain literary devices (such as plot, narration, setting, character, symbol, irony, etc.) to communicate the theme of the story, as you interpret it. Remember, a theme is not the topic or subject of the story. A theme cannot be expressed in a single word like "immaturity" or "love." Rather, a theme is a statement about the topic. Thus, you should be able to capture a theme in a single sentence. After you have thoroughly analyzed the short story, you will then need to evaluate how effective you believe the author is in communicating the theme. Directions: For the introduction, after writing a hook that engages your reader, you will need to provide the following necessary information in three to five crisp sentences: title of the short story, author's name (biographical facts, if relevant), and a brief summary of the story. Moreover, for the thesis, you will need to identify the literary elements you will be focusing on and connect them to the theme of the poem. (Remember, a theme is what the short story is trying to teach you about human nature or experience. A theme is not a topic or subject, which can be captured in a word or two, such as abortion or infidelity. Rather, a theme should be a one to two sentence statement that captures the short story's lesson). This is what the thesis should look like: “In Barry Ramirez’s ‘Interstellar,’ he uses symbol, metaphor, and metonymy to explore the theme that when we are young, we make impulsive decisions to impress others which, in turn, are embarrassing.” For the body paragraphs, you should focus on one literary element per body paragraph. You will need to provide quotes of the parts or lines of the short story you are highlighting with citations at the end of sentences. Here is an example: The narrator says, “In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (Updike 34). Then, you will need to break down or analyze the quotes and work to connect them to the theme of the work, as you have interpreted it. Additionally, for your body paragraphs, you are required to include quotes from at least three articles from scholarly journals found on an approved database (Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, or Gale) to support your position or highlight a position that you disagree with. (If you cannot find articles directly related to your short story, then you should seek and use articles on the topic of the short story). For the conclusion, you should evaluate how successful the author is in communicating the theme and, if relevant, give a personal statement about the topic. In other words, briefly discuss how you relate to the theme of the story. The paper should be 3-4 pages (not including the Works Cited list). The paper should be in MLA format: double-spaced, 1” margins, headers with your last name and the page number, 12 point, Times New Roman font, and a have Works Cited list. Any paper that lacks in-text citations and/or has sources that are fictitious or not verifiable will receive a 0. All works cited citations of online sources require a hyperlinked URL at the end of the citation.