When reading the short story analysis essays that appear in this chapter, ask yourself the following questions:
What seems to be the writer’s main purpose—for example, to illuminate the story; to change or expand the way readers understand the story; or to impress readers with the writer’s insight and close reading?
What does the writer assume about the audience? The short story analyses from this chapter were written by students in a college course in which the entire class had read the same story. These writers assumed that their primary reader, the instructor, not only had read the story but also knew a fair amount about its context and the conversation surrounding it—enough, at least, to be able to judge whether the essayist had read the story with sufficient care and thought. In cases such as these, plot summaries and recitals of well-known facts about the short story and its author are not necessary.