ENG 101 Analytical Essay: Close Reading Assignment Instructions

ENG 101 Analytical Essay: Close Reading of a Short Story

Unit Information

Course code: ENG 101
Course title: College Composition / First-Year Writing
Assessment title: Essay 1 – Analytical Essay on a Short Story
Assessment type: Individual written essay (literary analysis)
Weighting: 20–25% of final grade, which is typical for the first major essay in first-year composition
Length: 1,000–1,500 words, approximately four to six double-spaced pages
Due: End of Week 4 (refer to the course schedule for the exact date)

Assessment Description

For Essay 1, you will write an analytical essay that presents a focused and arguable interpretation of a single short story from the course reading list. Your task is to develop a clear claim about how one central literary element, such as characterisation, setting, symbolism, point of view, or narrative voice, contributes to the story’s overall meaning. You will support this claim through close analysis of carefully selected textual evidence.

Close reading is a foundational skill in first-year writing because it trains students to move beyond summary and toward interpretation grounded in textual detail. Studies of literature pedagogy show that students who learn to analyze how language, structure, and narrative choices operate within a text develop stronger critical thinking and argumentative writing skills across disciplines (Gibson, 2018).

Task Instructions

Step 1: Choose a Text and Focus

• Select one short story from the options provided in Week 2. Examples may include works by James Baldwin, Alice Munro, or Jhumpa Lahiri, depending on your instructor’s list.

• Choose one primary literary element as your analytical focus, such as character, setting, symbolism, or point of view.

Step 2: Develop an Analytical Thesis

Draft a thesis statement of one or two sentences that accomplishes the following:

1. Makes a clear and specific claim about how your chosen literary element functions in the story. For example, you might explain how setting shapes the protagonist’s decisions or how point of view influences the reader’s sympathy.

2. Moves beyond simple summary by offering an interpretation that a reasonable reader could debate.

Step 3: Plan and Organise Your Essay

Before drafting, prepare a brief outline that includes:

• An introduction that names the author and story, provides necessary context, and presents your thesis

• Two to four body paragraphs, each centred on a clear topic sentence that supports part of your argument

• Specific quotations and close analysis from the story in each body paragraph, with a goal of at least two quotations per paragraph

• A conclusion that brings your argument together and explains why your interpretation matters for understanding the story as a whole

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Step 4: Draft the Essay (1,000–1,500 words)

Write a complete draft that follows your outline and meets the length requirement.

1. Use present tense when discussing events and techniques in the literary text.

2. Integrate quotations smoothly using signal phrases and MLA in-text citation format, such as (Baldwin 42).

3. Explain each quotation with focused analysis that connects directly to your thesis rather than allowing quotations to stand on their own.

4. Maintain a formal academic tone, using third person or limited first person if permitted by your instructor.

Step 5: Revise and Edit

• Confirm that your thesis remains specific, arguable, and consistent throughout the essay.

• Check that each paragraph has a clear focus and logical progression.

• Edit carefully for clarity, grammar, punctuation, and correct MLA formatting in both the essay and the Works Cited page.

Formatting Requirements

• 1,000–1,500 words, typed and double-spaced

• Standard 12-point font such as Times New Roman with one-inch margins

• MLA-style heading, page numbers, and a descriptive title

• MLA in-text citations for all quotations and a Works Cited entry for the short story and any secondary sources used

Marking Criteria / Rubric

Criterion 1: Thesis and Argument (35%)

• High distinction: Presents a clear, specific, and arguable thesis that offers an insightful interpretation of the story and sustains a focused, logically developed argument throughout the essay.

• Pass: Thesis is relevant and identifiable but may be general, predictable, or unevenly developed.

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• Unsatisfactory: Thesis is missing, descriptive only, or unrelated to a sustained interpretation.

Criterion 2: Use of Textual Evidence and Analysis (35%)

• High distinction: Selects precise quotations, integrates them smoothly, and provides detailed close reading that explains how language, imagery, or narrative choices support the thesis while avoiding unnecessary plot summary.

• Pass: Uses textual evidence with some analysis, though quotations may be unevenly integrated or partially explained.

• Unsatisfactory: Relies largely on summary or opinion, uses minimal textual evidence, or offers little analysis.

Criterion 3: Organisation, Style, and Academic Conventions (30%)

• High distinction: Essay is clearly structured with an effective introduction, coherent body paragraphs, and a purposeful conclusion. Sentences are clear and varied, and MLA format is applied consistently and accurately.

• Pass: Organisation is generally clear, with some lapses in paragraph focus or MLA accuracy.

• Unsatisfactory: Essay structure is difficult to follow, contains frequent language errors, or shows little attention to MLA conventions.

One way the story develops its central conflict is through the narrator’s limited first-person point of view, which restricts readers to a single and often unreliable perspective. The narrator repeatedly misinterprets other characters’ reactions, and these gaps between what is said and what is implied encourage readers to question the version of events he presents. In a scene where he insists that “everyone laughed with me, not at me,” the surrounding dialogue instead suggests an uncomfortable silence followed by forced laughter, highlighting his anxiety about belonging. By filtering events through this limited lens, the story shifts attention from external conflict to the narrator’s internal struggle with self-awareness, encouraging readers to focus on tone and subtext rather than accepting his claims at face value.

 Learning Resources / References

• Fabb, N., and Durant, A. (2016). How to write essays and dissertations: A guide for English literature students (4th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315696391

• Gibson, M. (2018). Teaching close reading in the first-year literature classroom. Pedagogy, 18(2), 241–264. https://doi.org/10.1215/15314200-4358779

• Ryan, M.-L. (2019). Narration in literary fiction: A cognitive approach. Poetics Today, 40(4), 673–698. https://doi.org/10.1215/03335372-7787564

• Walk, K. (2018). Teaching the analytical essay: A scaffolded approach. The Writing Instructor. https://www.writinginstructor.com

• University of Georgia. (2022). First-Year Writing Handbook 2022–2023. Department of English, University of Georgia.

• Graff, G., and Birkenstein, C. (2021). They say / I say: The moves that matter in academic writing (5th ed.). W. W. Norton.