The Scheme of Story Analysis

Reading Independently

Preparation for the exam in Oral Practice will require a good deal of independent work and thinking. Below, you will find 15 short stories for independent appreciation. Read the short stories carefully, do a thorough vocabulary work and apply the tools and skills of analysis you have learned during the winter term. The suggested scheme of story analysis and After You Read questions will help you to focus on the most important points of interpretation and to understand the author’s message better.

1. Type of story Is it a science fiction/crime/love/psychological story?

2. A brief account of events (5 sentences)

3. Plot How are the events arranged?

What conflict is there at the core of the story?

What is the turning point?

Is the ending predictable/tidy/troubling/thought-provoking /surprising?

4. Setting Give examples of some elements and their function.

5. Narration Label the narrator and the effect created.

6. Description How effective is the author’s language?

Does the writer employ any figures of speech/emotive words? What effect do they create?

7. Characters Categorize the characters (major/minor/static/dynamic/complex /simple).

How does the author reveal what his characters are like? Is it through their statements and thoughts/the opinion of other characters/their actions/their names, environment, or does the author say directly what the characters are like?

Does the author employ implicit or explicit characterization?

Give examples of some personality traits attributable to the characters and provide evidence from the text.

8. Message Identify the theme of the story.

and theme Is it about love/friendship/parents’ love for their children/a person’s quest for happiness/bullying/sense of life/trials of life/ crime and punishment?

What is the central idea of the story?

What message does the author try to get across to the reader, in your opinion?

For example:

The author suggests that love can work wonders and people can change for the better when they are head over heels in love with somebody…

In telling the story, the writer hoped to drive home the thought that everybody has their own idea of happiness…

The writer communicates by this story the idea that parents' love for their children can be selfless and they always give their offspring a helping hand...

According to the story there are people who are shallow and narrow-minded because they react to appearances only. They react to the surface of things and people, not to their substance…

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