Provide some important details from the author’s biographical information. When was the author writing? Where was the author writing? Is he/she writing to a particular audience?

ENGL Module 4 Short Story Analysis

• Title
o What were your first impressions upon reading the title? What kind of story did you think this will be?
o Were your expectations for the story subverted once you finished it?

• Author
o Provide some important details from the author’s biographical information.
o When was the author writing? Where was the author writing? Is he/she writing to a particular audience?

• Point of view
o 1st person (I, We), 2nd person (You), or 3rd person (He, She, It, They)
o Narrator (Who is telling the story?)
 Is the narrator an observer or a participant?
 Is the narrator’s knowledge limited or is he/she/it omniscient?

• Setting
o Time
 What date/year is the story told in?
o Place
 What city/country does this story take place in?
 Does this story take place in a real place or is it imaginary?
 Does the story take place in one location or do the characters move from place to place?

• Characters
o Protagonist (main character around whom the story centers)
o Antagonist (cause of conflict with the protagonist)

• Plot
o Conflict (What is the problem? Why is there a story to tell?)
 Is the conflict internal? (Man vs. self)
 Is the conflict external? (Man vs. man/society/nature/system, etc.)
o Rising action (How does the conflict start to develop?)
o Climax (What is the highest point of the ‘drama’ of the story?)
o Resolution (How is the conflict resolved? Is it resolved at all?)

• Symbolism
o What are the most prominent images that appear in the story? What do they mean? Are they repeated?