Assignment 1A: Writing about a Short Story

      As we discuss stories in class, we will clarify the terms "theme," "concepts," and "conflicts." In this paper, your objective is to select a story from the appropriate list and to write an analysis of it. Since it is impossible to give examples without referring to stories, you may want to read the following stories before proceeding: John Updike, "A&P" William Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily," Eudora Welty, "A Worn Path," Frank O'Connor, "Guests of the Nation," Flannery O'Connor, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," Katherine Porter, "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall."

      One possibility is to make your thesis a statement of the theme of the story. Your explanation (and the organization of your paper) should use the concepts we have been discussing in class. For example, a simple outline might look like this:

I. Intro & Thesis: The theme of Updike's "A&P," is that once you start something, you shouldn't stop.
II. Conflict
III. Characterization of Sammy
IV. Symbols
V. Conclusion

With this outline, the writer would use the second paragraph of the paper to explain the conflict in the story and how it supports the idea that Sammy, once he decides to quit, was correct in following through. The third paragraph would examine how Sammy's character supports the theme; the fourth would explore the symbols in the story that support the theme. The final paragraph would be the conclusion. The preceding outline suggests the form that your paper should take, but if a paper were actually written using that thesis and outline, it would get a bad grade. The reason is that the writer would have real trouble finding details of conflict, character and symbols to support the thesis. A major objective of this course is to improve your ability to use details (facts) to support a thesis. Note that the outline below provides numerous details to support the idea that the lesson learned in "A&P" is not very serious. Note also that that outline includes short quotations and page references which will be used in the paper to support each major point of the argument.

I. Teenagers often think that they are "grown-up," when they are not. Although Sammy thinks he has learned a lesson, he really hasn't because the girls for whom he has made his sacrifice are three little pigs.

II. People = Animals

A. "feathers" (147)

B. "Sheep" (148,150,151)

C. "Snort" (147)

D. "Pigs" (151)

III. A&P = stockyard

A. aisles ("walking against the usual traffic (not that we have one-way signs or anything)) (148)

B. Not Acme or Grand Union

C. "Great Alexandrov and Petrooshki Tea Company" (149)

IV. Physical Descriptions:

A. "chunky .. sweet broad soft-looking can" (147)

B. "chunky" (147)

C. "chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose" (148)

D. "black hair that hadn't quite frizzed right" (148)

E. "a chin that was too long" (148)

F. "making their shoulders round" (148)

G. "She came down a little hard on her heels,... putting down her heels and then letting the weight move along to her toes ..." (148)

H. "her narrow pink palm" (151)

V. Their suits

A. "dirty-pink -- beige maybe ... with a little nubble all over it" (148)

B. "nubbled pink top" (150)

VI. Where they go: "The girls had reached the meat counter and were asking McMahon something. He pointed, they pointed, and they shuffled out of sight behind a pyramid of Diet Delight peaches. All that was left for us to see was old McMahon patting his mouth and looking after them sizing up their joints." (149)

VII. Food

A. "Diet Delight Peaches" (149)

B. "a third thing, began with A, asparagus, no, ah, yes, applesauce!" (149)

C. "four giant cans of pineapple juice (what do these bums do with all that pineapple juice?" (150)

D. Lengel's cabbages (150)

VIII. Conclusion Sammy, of course, is not aware of the symbolism implicit in his story. He thinks he has learned a "serious" lesson. But a reader who has caught the key to the symbolism cannot take the story so seriously. For such a reader, the story is a reminder of all those "serious" moments, when, as teenagers, we thought we had learned "how hard the world [is] going to be." (151)

      Another possibility is to devote an entire paper to describing one of the characters in the story:

I. In Updike's "A&P," Sammy is an imaginative, young, and naive teenager.

II. Imaginative

III. Young

IV. Naive

V. Conclusion

In this type of paper, your thesis should list the main characteristics, and your paragraphs should be devoted to supporting each of them, in the same order in which you present them in the thesis. Characterization for the sake of characterization is usually not particularly interesting unless you have observed something about the character that is not obvious. The preceding paper would probably be short and receive a below average grade. Note, however, that the three points in the structure of its body (imaginative, young, naive) could be used well as sub-points to improve the third item in the outline presented above as an example of writing about theme. On the other hand, a characterization of Phoenix Jackson ("A Worn Path") or of Emily ("A Rose for Emily") would probably be more interesting. Phoenix is not just, like Sammy, the center of her story, but she is also the focus of its theme -- the writer wants us to realize that there are a lot of Phoenix Jacksons in the world. Because of this, her characteristics are more important than Sammy's. Emily's character is a good topic for a different reason -- not every reader will recognize her as a symbol of the Southern Belle, nor will every reader catch the implications of necrophilia. In other words, if you were to write a characterization of Emily, you would not be writing the obvious.

      An allusion is simply something that points to (alludes to) something else. When O'Connor, in "Guests of the Nation," names one of his characters "Jeremiah," an educated reader will note that "Jeremiah" is an Old Testament name. This becomes particularly important in the context of what Jeremiah does and says in the story. He is the one who wants the two hostages killed because the English killed four Irishmen. He is, in other words, seeking the Old Testament "eye for an eye." Another example of allusions are the frequent references to lamps in "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," which allude to the Biblical parable of the virgins and the lamps. In the parable, several virgins have brought their lamps and oil and are waiting for the bridegroom. Half of the virgins didn't bring enough oil for their lamps. Since they weren't prepared, they had to go get more oil. During their absence, the bridegroom comes and everyone goes in to the feast. When the unprepared virgins return, they are not allowed into the feast. The allusion therefore emphasizes the fact that, in spite of what she thinks, Granny Weatherall is not prepared to die. It also suggests why the bridegroom (Christ) did not come the second time. Writing an entire paper about allusions is extremely difficult for the simple reason that most stories don't have that many and, even if they do, the writer must be able to recognize them. It is, however, this very difficulty which makes explanations of allusions an excellent support, for example, for a paper which explains the theme of a work.

      Literary symbols are not an easy thing to grasp. The problem is that every word is a symbol: what makes literary symbols different? (When I can answer that question well, I'm going to take a semester off and write a book about it.) Many literary symbols are simply traditional. A rose is a symbol of love (partly because of its beauty and sweet smell; partly because of the thorns that accompany it). Because good literature often explores the meaning of life, there are many symbols for life and its parts:

Year Day Life

spring = morning = birth
summer = afternoon = youth
autumn = evening = older age
winter = night = death

Other traditional symbols of life are journeys (because many people consider life a journey) and candles (perhaps because of their light, warmth, and short duration in time).

      Many years ago, a student wrote a paper in which she claimed that many things were symbolic, but she never said what each symbolized. She missed the first rule in dealing with symbols: since a symbol stands for something else, you must explain what that something else is -- X is symbolic of Y. The second rule is that whether or not something is symbolic in a particular story depends on whether or not it fits (supports) a theme or characterization in that story. In my explanation of Updike's "A&P," I claim that Queenie's "narrow pink palm" is symbolic of a pig's foot. (See the outline for "Updike's Animals and People." But I make that claim only in the context of numerous other allusions to pigs (and other animals). If you want to deal with symbols, you should consider a third rule: be systematic. "Being systematic" means not jumping from idea to idea, but rather concentrating on one kind of thing at a time. If you note a color that you think may be symbolic, look for all the references to color. If you note a religious image, look for others. In arriving at my interpretation of "A&P," I started from my curiosity about a strange physical description: "chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose." Since I couldn't picture what that would look like, I searched the text for other examples of physical descriptions. As my outline indicates, I found a lot, and together, they form a consistent pattern equating animals with people and the three girls with pigs.

      A systematic approach will help you see patterns, and the ability to see and explain patterns is an important skill, and not just in literature. (Mechanics have to see patterns in malfunctioning cars; nurses have to see patterns in symptoms of patients; and the list goes on.) Writing about symbols is a good exercise in developing this ability. One student, for example, noted that "Bonaparte," in "Guests of the Nation," seems to be a symbolic allusion to the great French general. But the student stopped there, and didn't have much to write about. Another student, however, took a systematic approach and did a better job of thinking. She asked, "What is 'Bonaparte'"? Well, it's a name. Systematically examining the other names in the story, she arrived at the following:

Jeremiah > Old Testament, eye for an eye
Belcher > homebody -- eats and belches; verbally belches at the end of the story
Hawkins > hawk (bird of prey, attacks Noble); hawker = seller of cheap goods
Noble > noble character (ironic, he's not)
Bonaparte > French conqueror (ironic, he's not)

The preceding notes should suggest that, simply by being systematic, the second student has found more than enough material for an excellent paper. It will take a paragraph to explain and support the symbolism of each of the names. And that symbolism, together with the irony of the title, will easily support the claim that the theme of this story is that we kill each other in wars for the sake of abstractions (the "-isms" that Hawkins is hawking).

      One student trying to write a paper about the conflict in "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," described the conflict between the Grandmother and the Misfit and concluded that the Grandmother is good and the Misfit is bad. Good literature, however, invites us to go beyond the obvious. Even the title of this story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," suggests that this student had made a mistake. One reason for the mistake is that the student considered only one of the many conflicts we discuss in the course. A systematic approach suggests that, if you are considering conflicts, you should consider all the possibilities and not just the first that comes to mind. A systematic approach suggests that the story also involves the conflict between appearance and reality. Perhaps the Grandmother is bad and the Misfit is good? If you consider this possibility, you will find a significant amount of evidence in the story to support it. As a result, you would have an interesting paper that does not state the obvious. In writing about conflicts, the rule is "Start with the obvious, look deeper." Many stories revolve around conflicts between individual characters, but the thematic conflict can almost always be generalized. Although the conflict in a story may not give you enough material for an entire paper, a discussion of the conflict may give you a very strong section of a paper devoted to a story's theme.

      Although it is possible to write a paper using any one of the preceding suggestions, you will probably get the best results if you start by focussing on the first (explaining the theme) and use the others as support. However, depth is always better than breadth -- if, in the process of writing your paper, you find that you have a lot more to say about, for example, symbols than you thought you would, say it all, even if you have to cut everything else out of your paper.