Choose 2 of the following short stories to compare and contrast in your essay:
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
“The Destructors” by Graham Greene
“The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence
Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
“The Prodigal Son” by St. Luke
Also, at least 1 of these elements of fiction must be the focus of your essay:
Conflict/Plot/Structure
Characterization
Setting
Theme/Authors’ Purposes
Tone/Style/Irony/Symbol/Imagery
You will write a 750-word (approximately 3 pages) essay that compares and contrasts 2 stories
from the Fiction Unit. Before you begin writing the essay, carefully read the below guidelines for
developing your paper topic and review the Fiction Essay Grading Rubric to see how your
submission will be graded. Gather all of your information, plan the direction of your essay, and
organize your ideas by developing a 1-page thesis statement and outline for your essay. Format
the thesis statement and the outline in a single Microsoft Word document using current MLA,
APA, or Turabian style (whichever corresponds to your degree program); check your Perrine’s
Literature textbook, the Harbrace Essentials Handbook and/or the link contained in the Learn
section to ensure correct citation format is used.
Your submission must include a title page, a thesis/outline page, and the essay itself, followed by
a works cited/references/bibliography page listing any primary and/or secondary texts cited in
your essay.