Choose two stories and answer 7 questions

Read the following 4 stories with Steps 1 and 2 in mind.

"Hot Lady," by Charles Bukowski (Links to an external site.)
"The Compartment," by Raymond Carver (Links to an external site.)
"Indian Education," by Sherman Alexie (Links to an external site.)
(Links to an external site.)"The Things They Carried," (Links to an external site.) by Tim O’Brien (Links to an external site.)
(Links to an external site.)

STEP 1: Pick the 2 stories that affect you the most–whatever the reason. Then, for each story, answer the following questions in at least 5-7 sentences each. In doing so, challenge yourself to annotate and apply my advice from Creative Reading and Close Reading (as well as Close Reading–Student Examples with Teacher Feedback).

What do you find most intriguing about this story? Feel free to extemporize in your own way or focus on a literary element such as point of view, character, plot, setting, symbolism, or motif (reference Introduction to Story for specifics).
After reading Characterization and Character Study, how would you characterize one of these characters (either the protagonist or a secondary character–your choice)? What are their defining characteristics? Do you find them dynamic and sympathetic (versus static or unsympathetic)? How so?
Which pattern–Freytag’s Pyramid, The Hero’s Journey, or 1 of the 6 Arcs of Storytelling (identify which arc)–do you think the story exhibits the best and why? If you don’t think it exhibits one of these patterns, then explain what the pattern is.
Given how the story started, what is the significance of the end? What has changed–and what does this change portend or mean for the characters involved?
What theme or themes do you detect? Explain. Alternatively, speak to any symbolism, parable, epiphany, lesson, or moral. What’s the takeaway?
Quote an example of the author’s use of either repetition, variety, parallelism, sound, or adjective obsession–and explain why your chosen example illustrates this principle and makes the story more compelling.
STEP 2: Come up with your own speculative question for discussion AND attempt to answer it in at least 5 sentences. Be sure the question directly relates to one of the stories at hand (whether or not you tackled the story in Step 1) and is an open-ended discussion question rather than a fact-based question. To the latter point, it shouldn’t have a clear answer; instead, it should value exploration over verifiability and encourage conversation.

Summarize: there are 4 stories, the writer can choose two and answer 7 questions + create 1 question on both those two chosen stories.