Step 1: Select an author from the short fiction unit.

Step 2: Decide which story to analyze.

Step 3: Write out the theme or meaning of the story (THESIS)

Step 4: List three elements of the story that contributes to an understanding of this theme.

Step 5: Develop each of those elements into multiple paragraphs, developing each idea fully, organizing them carefully, tying each piece together to illustrate the theme.

Step 6: Find two literary criticisms about your story through the library databases.  Search for those that include a discussion of the elements youve written on.

Step 7: Incorporate those articles into your own essay, paraphrasing ideas of other critics that support or enlarge your own points, always documenting carefully.

Step 8: Include a Works Cited in MLA format as the last page of your essay, which must list both the primary text and the secondary texts. See page 73 for an example of formatting.

Step 9: Keep copies of the secondary sources.

Step 10: Write in present tense and argue from third person point of view.

Introduction: In the rough draft, you will have seven or more sentences before the thesis sentence. For example, you may have a short plot summary, biographical information on the author, a critics overview of the authors writing, or information about the time period that relates to your story.  Sample student introductions on pages 48, 51, and 69 may help you generate ideas.