Fiction Essay Assignment Instructions
Respond to one of the following prompts in a 3-5 page fiction response essay. Your essay should be in MLA format, make use of support from the story or stories chosen (using quotation, summary and/or paraphrase) and should include citations in-text and on a Works Cited page.
Remember to avoid summarizing a story instead, focus on answering the question(s) and explaining why the quotes and passages youve chosen are significant. You do not need to consult research or outside sources for this paper. Please observe the highest level of academic integrity!
Choose 1 of these for your essay topic:
1. Consider two stories we have read that feature a narrator or protagonist who learns a lesson. Compare how the two respond to the challenges and opportunities presented to them in the story. In what ways are their lessons intended for the audience as well?
2. Choose a story with a first-person narrator. How does the narrators bias, personality, and reliability affect the story? Are readers given false or biased impressions of other characters? How does this impact the meaning of the overall story?
3. Compare two stories that focus on a similar idea or central topic. How do they use literary devices to create their themes? In what ways do they differ significantly? How do they each arrive at the same point in the end?
4. Write an essay examining how a story of your choosing makes a statement about a social issue (class, race, gender, ageism, cultural identity). What claim does the story seem to be making? How does it use literary devices to illustrate its point? What characters seem to be speaking on behalf of the theme?
5. Compare and contrast the themes regarding family relationships in two stories. What statement does each story make about family bonds? How does each story use literary devices to illustrate its theme?
Two stories that were read are “The Storm” by Kate Chopin and “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin.
