EN 331 / TE 331 Advanced Composition

Week 1: Discussion #2; A short Literary Analysis (mini-essay)

So…What did you think of O. Henry’s story “After Twenty Years”?  Which of the two men was his favorite character (Remember that he was probably in prison for embezzlement when he wrote it!).  Is one of the men a better friend than the other?  Is Jimmy a low-down coward for reporting Bob to someone else rather than performing the arrest himself—or should Jimmy have warned Bob to get the heck out of New York?  How does O. Henry show the character of these men?  

Here’s your chance for a little bit of literary criticism.  You have an instructional video to review in case you needed a refresher on Literary Analysis.  I also included some resources in your textbook reading assignment that may help somewhat with your analysis.  This assignment is not a full-fledged essay (you already have one of those that is due next week), but this discussion post will give you a chance to write a short (1-3 paragraph–more if needed) review of a short story with a big punch—IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT.  I do not know why the thumbnail for this video shows up so many times!  This video has been featured for you in several places in Module 1.