Outside sources: For this essay, outside sources are required. Find at least two articles or critical analyses
related to one or more literary elements of your chosen reading set from “The Lottery,” “Araby,” “Sonny’s
Blues,” “The Yellow Wallpaper,” “The Things They carried,” and “A & P.” Use evidence from the articles you
find to help you support your argument and analysis.
The goal of this essay is for you to engage in a close reading of two short fiction pieces and analyze two or
more characters from those pieces of literature. Using one of the assigned reading sets, you will be considering
how the authors develop these characters and how these characters compare to each other in similar and/or
different ways. You should also consider where on Maslow’s Hierarchy these characters fit in relation to
Malsow’s theory of self-actualization; instead, however, you might prefer to look at specific inner characteristics
that you value and how those are manifested or not in your chosen characters. Please remember that you are
an important and necessary part of this conversation.
The process of comparative analysis here is not a simple listing of the ways that characters are the same or
different. For each point of comparison that you do provide, you must support that point with detailed
discussions of the techniques the author has used to develop that character. For example, themes,
background, settings, relationships with other characters, imagery, conflicts, epiphanies, resolutions, dialog—
both external and internal, point of view, mood, tone, and some of the techniques we learned from the Poetry
Unit all help authors develop their characters into complete, recognizable individuals. You have many
techniques to choose from here, but only use those that are relevant to your argument and analysis.
Sample Solution
