CRITICAL FICTION QUESTIONS
WRITTEN CRITICAL RESPONSES TO READINGS IN THE DARK DESCENT AND IN NIGHT SHIFT
INSTRUCTIONS: Whenever you
read prose fiction, pay attention to how all of the elements of fiction are functioning to
create the story/novel, and think of them as choices the author makes, not accidents. For
each fiction reading assignment in The Dark Descent and in Night Shift,
you are to answer ONE SET OF the following critical questions. THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL BY
CYCLICAL. If the first reading assignment is "The Colloquy of Monos and
Una," then you are to answer the 1st set of questions (Major Characters). When you
move to the next reading assignment, let's say "The Tell-Tale Heart," you would
move up a group of questions, answering the 2nd set (Minor Characters). If the third
reading assignment was "The Fall of the House of Usher," you would move up a
group of questions, answering the 3rd set (Setting and Atmosphere). If the fourth reading
assignment was "The Rats in the Walls.," you would move up a group of questions,
answering the 4th set (Point of View). As you might guess, the fifth reading
assignment would require you to answer the 1st set of questions again. So, with each
different reading assignment, you answer a different set of questions (1 moves to 2, 2 to
3, 3 to 4, 4 to 1, etc. ). Always provide examples from the work to illustrate your
answers, and document your examples. This kind of
assignment should not exceed two pages in total, and it should be
E-mailed or Faxed rather than dropped off (although that is an option, so long as the
deadlines are met). Remember, this homework is to be completed and turned in on time (see
your Weekly Syllabus) for every short story assignment in The Dark
Descent and Night Shift. I will not return this homework to you unless
you submit it online; instead, I keep hardcopy homework
for my records. 
Remember, if you do
submit your assignments in e-mail form, you are required to do a virus scan and
elimination prior to sending the assignment. See the Class Policies Page. If it appears to me from your answers that
you do not understand the assignment, I will be in touch with you. If you do not hear from
me regarding your answers, continue doing the homework as you have been. What I want to
see is that you are thinking analytically and writing critically. DO
NOT FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND THE NAMES OF THE SHORT STORIES WITH THE HOMEWORK.
ADJUSTING TO THE NOVEL
Should a novel be assigned, you would follow the same procedure as for different short stories. For each reading assignment in the novel, you would move up a group. The difference is this. Once you've established characters and situations in the novel, as you answer the questions, what you are looking for are changes in characters, motivations, situations, plot developments, etc. If you have any questions about that when the time comes, ask them.
THE QUESTIONS
HAVE YOU CHECKED THE BULLETIN BOARD FOR ANY
CHANGES IN ASSIGNMENTS?
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM THE STORY IS
ATTEMPTING TO DEAL WITH OVERALL?
**NUMBER YOUR ANSWERS CORRELATIVE TO THE QUESTION NUMBERS.
1. ANALYZING MAJOR CHARACTERS
NOTICE: For a character to be classified as a major character, some observable change in character or behavior must take place by the end of the story. Characters can be very important to what takes place in a story and still not be classified as major characters. A rule of thumb for you to use is this: if a character is not significantly "different" at the end of a story than he/she was at the beginning, then he/she is not a major character. Needless to say, the distinction between major and minor characters is not always clear.
1. Identify the major character(s) and explain the nature of any internal/external conflicts with which he/she is dealing.
2. Explain the nature of the relationships between the major character(s) and others in the story based on his/her attitudes toward them/ people in general/social expectations, etc.
3. Explain what motivates the major character(s): What does he/she want most of all, and how does this help to explain behavior and what happens to her/him/them?
2. ANALYZING MINOR CHARACTERS
1. Identify the minor character(s) and explain the nature of any internal/external conflicts with which he/she/they is/are dealing.
2. Explain the nature of the relationships the minor character(s) has with others (particularly with the major character(s)) based on his/her attitudes toward him/her/them/people in general/social expectations, etc.
3. Explain what motivates the minor character(s): What does he/she/they want most of all, and how does this help to explain behavior and what happens to her/him/them.
4. If there are no apparent minor characters in the reading, then answer the questions for major characters.
3. ANALYZING SETTING AND ATMOSPHERE
1. Identify the setting(s) for the story in place and time, and explain why that/those particular setting(s) might have been chosen for the story.
2. Identify the details of setting the author chose to isolate or emphasize, and explain why the author may have wanted to dwell on those particular details. Do any of the details suggest a typically "conformist" or "non-conformist" description of setting?
3. Explain what kind of atmosphere the author chose to create for this story (gloomy, dark, depressing, cold, naive, cheerful, optimistic, scientific, etc.) and why that atmosphere is/is not appropriate for what takes place in the story.
4. ANALYZING POINT OF VIEW
NOTICE: Unless the author specifically tells us that he or she is narrating the story we are reading, the Narrator in a short story is a character just like any other character in the story. In short, we should not and actually must not (in this course) claim that the Narrator's point of view is the author's point of view.
1. What kind of Narrator tells the story? Is the Narrator's information reliable? Of you think the Narrator is not reliable, explain why and what the author's purpose would be for using an unreliable Narrator.
2. Explain from whose point of view the story is being told. What kinds of information/knowledge does the Narrator make sure we know about, and what kinds of details does the Narrator choose not to tell us? Explain why the Narrator chooses to emphasize some details and brush aside the others.
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WEEKLY SYLLABUS