Short Stories

SIR WILFRED GRENFELL COLLEGE LEARNING CENTRE

General Questions for the Analysis & Evaluation of Short Stories and Novels
PLOT 1. Who is the Protagonist of the story? What are the conflicts? Arethey physical, intellectual, moral or emotional? Is the main conflict between good and evil sharply differentiated, or is it more subtle and complex? 2. Does the plot have unity? Are all the episodesrelevant to the total meaning or effect of the story? Does each incident grow logically out of the preceding incident and lead naturally to the next? Is the ending happy, unhappy, or undetermined? Isit fairly achieved? 3. What use does the story make of chance and coincidence? Are these occurrences used to initiate, to complicate, or to resolve the story? How improbable are they? 4. How is thesuspense created in the story? Is the interest confined to examples of mystery? of dilemma? 5. What use does the story make of surprise? Are the surprises achieved fairly? Do they serve a significantpurpose? Do they divert the reader’s attention from weakness in the story? 6. To what extent is this a “formula” story? CHARACTERS 1. What means does the author use to reveal characters? Are thecharacters sufficiently dramatized? What use is made of character contrast? 2. Are the characters consistent in their actions? adequately motivated? plausible? Does the author successfully avoid stockcharacters? 3. Is each character developed enough to justify his role in the story? Are the main characters round or flat? 4. Are any of the characters a developing character? If so, is his/her change alarge or small one? Is it a plausible change for him/her? Is he/she sufficiently motivated? Is she/he given sufficient time? THEME 1. Does the story have a theme? What is it? Is it implicit or explicit?2. Does the theme reinforce or oppose popular notions of life? Does it furnish a new insight or refresh or deepen an old one? POINT OF VIEW 1. What point of view does the story use? Is it consistent...