Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
The meaning of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'

"It isn't fair, it isn't right." These are the last words expressed by the victim in Shirley Jackson's short story 'The Lottery', which provides a unique but shocking perspective of the innate evil that is part of human nature. The story starts off by describing a town scene that could not be more commonplace or predictable. The descriptions provided by Jackson elicit a sense of familiarity and normalcy that convince the reader that the happenings of the story are possible and maybe even probable. The lottery in the story is seen as just another community event coordinated by Mr. Summers, along with "the square dances, the teen club, [and the] Halloween program." The tradition and routine of the lottery is indicated through the way that "the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock….

Achates McNeil
The use of first person narration in T. Coraghessan Boyle's short story "Achates McNeil" is profoundly important in the effectiveness of the story, and critical to the story's ultimate success. First person narration allows the reader to sympathize with the narrator's anguish, and to see the events of the story clearly through Ake's eyes.

In the story, Achates, or Ake (as he calls himself) gives the reader direct access his thoughts, feelings and experiences. He is directly speaking to us, and his insights tell the reader directly what to think about the events of his life and his attitudes about these events. Ake's personality directly plays into the telling of his story, and it is the flavor of his personality that is important in creating a meaningful experience for the reader.

The characterization of the protagonist in Achates McNeil is highly dependent on the point-of-view chosen by Boyle. In telling the….

Brownies is a short story showing the importance of point-of-view. The racial point-of-view of the young black girls in the narrator's Brownies troop is important because it influences how they interpret and respond to situations. Each group member's point-of-view within the group is also important because it influences them as leaders, intimidators, followers, allies and independent thinkers. Though "Brownies" could be read as a simple short story about a childhood memory, it actually addresses the importance of peoples' points-of-view.
"Brownies" is a short story about an incident that took place at Camp Crescendo when the author was a Brownie. The story certainly belongs in a book chapter called "Point-of-View" because the story gives us a group of young black girls' point-of-view. "The Brownies" is a youth organization for grade school girls who are younger than "Girl Scouts." All the girls in the author's Brownie Troop are black and some of the….

George Orwells short story "Shooting Elephant"
Henry Louis Gates' "hat's in a name" versus George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant"

Henry Louis Gates' essay "hat's in a name" and George Orwell's short story "Shooting an Elephant" both present central characters who are part of a minority group present in a society that is inclined to discriminate them. Orwell is the narrator in his short story and he discusses in regard to an incident in Burma where he is influenced to act against his principles with the purpose of having locals appreciate him. Gates is also the narrator in his essay, but his writing is actually meant to emphasize that it is perfectly normal to someone to feel angry as a result of being discriminated. Both of these individuals put across stories presenting themselves in worlds that they apparently do not belong to, but they use different strategies with the purpose of trying….

Edgar Allen Poe's 1843 short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" is about a young man who becomes mortally obsessed with an old man's creepy eye and ultimately kills him. Thomas Hardy's 1902 poem "The Man He Killed" is about a soldier who has become used to killing people just because they are on the other side of the war. Both of these narratives lend insight into guilt related to death, told by a person who is self-aware enough to tell the story in a first person narrative. Moreover, both of these stories have a similarly suspenseful tone that accompanies imagery of death and murder. Although one is a short story and the other a poem, Poe and Hardy also rely on a similar plot structure in which the narrator relates how and why he killed another man rather arbitrarily. In spite of these core similarities, there are also strong differences between….

Shourt story. The structure short story shuld include 1) Exposition 2)Complication 3) climax 4) Resoluttion on article Exposition, complication, climax stated, I continue short story explanation 800 words resolution .
"You're perfect! You're probably everything a normal man would wish for. But I'm not normal and I am not worthy of your love, my beautiful." He paused and raised his eyes as he was now facing her directly and sent chills through her spine as a result of his powerful gaze.

She was anxious about finding out what was wrong, but it was also as if she wanted to turn back time or wake up from a nightmare, as she kept repeating to herself inside her head "This is not happening, I must be dreaming and if I pinch myself everything will go away. This is the most important person in my life and he would not do something that would hurt….

Kate Chopin, author of "The Story of an Hour"
Kate Chopin was born Kate O'Flaherty in 1850, in St. Louis, Missouri (Clarke 1). Chopin's mother was of French extraction and the young Kate grew up in a bilingual household. Chopin's household was also bicultural, encompassing both the cultures of north and south: both supporters of slavery and anti-slavery advocates lived in Missouri; Chopin's family kept slaves and her half-brother fought on the Confederate side during the Civil ar (Clarke 1). Kate's father was killed in a railroad accident when she was young, a feature which Chopin was later to deploy in "The Story of an Hour" in which the heroine Mrs. Mallard falsely -- and with surprising joy -- believes that her husband has been killed in a train wreck (Clarke 1).

Chopin married her husband Oscar Chopin when she was twenty. After a tour of Europe, the Chopins settled in Louisiana,….

Cathedral
Raymond Carver's short story "The Cathedral" develops the theme of seeing the world clearly by using rich symbolism, irony, character development, and a postmodern tone and style. The blind man represents an unconventional mode of perception. ithout a fundamental sensory input, the blind man relies on alternative methods of acquiring information and especially of interacting with others. His sightlessness at first bothers the narrator, but by the end of the story, the narrator has become transformed by the experience of closing his eyes to receive the more dramatic wisdom within. Therefore, being blind ironically symbolizes being able to see.

Irony is a central literary element in "The Cathedral," allowing Carver to develop the core theme of how to perceive reality with honesty and vision. Interestingly, smoking pot ironically imparts a sense of clarity to the narrator and the blind man. The drug opens up pathways of communication between the narrator and….

Cora Unashamed
This short story by Langston Hughes weaves a number of tragic and regrettable stories -- and themes -- within the tapestry of the central story line. But Hughes also gives the reader a reason to believe that an African-American maid and cook can tower over white folks in tough times by the sheer will of her personality. The iconic poet and author creates a setting in which the images of black and white are distinct and psychologically, socially, and culturally juxtaposed in an interesting way that is also full of racial and social tensions. hen you write a story in which the protagonist is a member of the only African-American family in a small nondescript Mid-western town, who is employed as a maid and cook by an upper class white family, there are endless opportunities for conflict, irony, and even tragedy.

Approaching this story critically one has to also take….

Raymond Carver's short story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" (Carver, 1981) were to be encapsulated in a single statement: What we talk about when we talk about love is really a mirror to our personalities and our characters. This is more than evident in Carver's description of two couples' conversation during an afternoon spent drinking gin prior to going out to dinner. In fact, considering that love involves more than one person, the conversations in the short story may have nothing to do with love at all. It meanders (while retaining dramatic heights and depths) and then peters out to nothing because none of us (at least none of the characters) really know what love is.
The conversation involves two couples. The protagonist is Nick who is happily married to Laura; they are at the home of a cardiologist, Mel Guinness, and his wife Terri (Teresa).….

Like many other feminist short stories that emerged around the turn of the century, Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” sharply critiques patriarchal gender roles and norms. Called a “small feminist classic” by literary critics, “A Jury of Her Peers” was published in 1917, several years before women in the United States could vote in public elections. Glaspell’s story shows how women use whatever means possible to reassert themselves and take back their power. Feminist criticism takes an analysis of “A Jury of Her Peers” a step further by showing the multiple ways patriarchal power is meted out, but also subverted by conscientious actors. Protagonist Martha Hale and her friend Mrs. Peters accompany their husbands to a crime scene. Seeing that the perpetrator of the crime is an abused woman, Martha Hale and Mrs. Peters decide together to hide a crucial piece of evidence that would have incriminated Minnie.….

Short stories are poignant pieces of literature, as pithy and powerful as poetry but in a more straightforward and relatable package. Like poetry, a short story relies on literary devices like symbolism and imagery, characterization and setting, to convey the author’s themes. Also like poetry, the short story reflects the cultural and historical context in which it was written. While the canon of American literature is rich with examples of iconic, enduring short stories with the timeless qualities that have allowed them to rise to the status of being classics, there are a few that have risen higher than the others, and among those few there is one that is superior to all others. That exemplary short story is Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” which uses characterization, setting, and symbolism to capture the themes of faith and perseverance. In an exemplary short story, setting becomes like a character with a personality….

Sniper and CranesDespite being set in different contexts and time periods, "The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty and "Cranes" by Hwang Sun-won share similarities and differences in their portrayal of the theme of humanity, remorse, and perseverance.Both stories depict the effects of war on humanity and how it can lead to dehumanization. In "The Sniper," the main character struggles with the moral implications of killing another human being, highlighting the loss of humanity in times of war. The narrator describes, "The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse" (O'Flaherty, 1923). Similarly, in "Cranes," the old friends on opposing sides of the conflict share a moment of humanity and connection despite their differences, showing that even in war, people can still empathize with one another. The narrator notes, "The blood that had surged up in the old man's heart subsided once again. The two old friends felt tears….

Women in Society John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” and James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” tell two very different stories about two very different people—but both share one thing in common, which is each conveys a sense of what women in society are like. Steinbeck’s short story is naturally more sympathetic and empathetic, as the main character of the story is a woman, who is aching for affection and tempted to stray from her husband by a deceitful wanderer. James Thurber’s short story focuses mainly on a bored married man, who disappears into daydreams while awaiting orders from his wife. This paper will compare and contrast the portrayal of women in society by Steinbeck and Thurber and show how an aching disconnect exists between women and their men.
In “Walter Mitty,” Mrs. Mitty is depicted as somewhat of a boring old nag, constantly chiding her husband for his seeming aloofness. She….

Analysis of “Thanks Giving in Mongolia” by Ariel Levy The writer opens up the short story by reminiscing over the other trips and journeys she had made in other parts of the world. The bliss of the adventures while she wrote notes and the details of the journeys were her central points. She comes out as one who loves to celebrate and appreciate any little thing she had. She then goes on to focus on the main point of the story which was her trip in Mongolia during thanks giving. It started well, good arrival and reception, happy commencement of her coverage of the story on mining and the economy of Mongolia. However, things changes and she started developing discomforts. These discomforts from her pregnant condition ended up occasioning her miscarriage of the baby. She did not want to believe that the fetus would not survive and held onto the fetus,….

Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants” is, in many ways, a traditional Hemingway tale.  What we mean by that is that the story could be read in a somewhat misogynistic manner and one of the protagonists is some version of the great white hunter that plays such a recurring role in Hemingway’s stories. 

To determine a thesis for the essay, it is important to understand the short story.  First, the story is short.  In fact, it is only four pages long.  Second, the interactions in the story only cover a very short....

1. The symbolism of the caged bird in Maya Angelou's autobiographical work, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."
2. The theme of captivity and freedom in Harper Lee's novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird."
3. Analyzing the oppression and confinement of women in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper."
4. The symbolism of the birdcage in Henrik Ibsen's play, "A Doll's House," in relation to gender roles and societal expectations.
5. Comparing the experiences of the caged birds in Richard Wright's novel, "Native Son," and Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel, "The Handmaid's Tale."
6. Exploring the theme of captivity and liberation in Jean Rhys's....

**Literary Analysis and Criticism**

* **Compare and contrast the literary techniques and themes employed by two or more authors in their works.**
* **Analyze the structure, language, and symbolism in a literary work to uncover its deeper meanings.**
* **Examine the historical and cultural context that influenced the creation and reception of a literary text.**
* **Explore the psychoanalytic or feminist perspectives on a literary work and discuss their implications.**
* **Evaluate the significance and lasting impact of a particular literary movement or genre.**

**Rhetorical Analysis and Argument**

* **Analyze the persuasive techniques used in a speech, essay, or other persuasive text.**
* **Evaluate the logical reasoning and....

I. Introduction
A. Introduce the characters of Jerry and Armand in the short story "President Cleveland, Where Are You?"
B. Provide a brief summary of the story and its theme

II. Jerry
A. Description of Jerry's character traits
1. Kind-hearted and caring towards his brother
2. Resourceful and clever in finding solutions to their problems
3. Determined to reunite with their father

III. Armand
A. Description of Armand's character traits
1. Self-centered and rebellious
2. Impulsive and quick-tempered
3. Not as focused on reuniting with their father as Jerry

IV. Comparison between Jerry and Armand
A. Their approaches to finding President Cleveland
1.....