Assignment 2
(EXCEPTIONAL ANSWERS)
Due 23 June 2025
, ENG1501
Assignment 2
Due 23 June 2025
Section A: The Short Story
1. Characteristics Distinguishing a Short Story from a Novel
The critical distinction between a short story and a novel is most acutely apprehended
through their disparate approaches to length, focus, and narrative scope. A short
story's inherent brevity necessitates an extraordinary economy of expression,
compelling the author to distill narrative essence into a highly concentrated form. This
concision, in turn, facilitates rapid reader assimilation of core thematic and narrative
structures, bypassing the extensive expository and developmental passages
characteristic of novels. Furthermore, the circumscribed focus of a short story typically
converges upon a singular, pivotal incident or an intense emotional epiphany, thereby
accentuating its immediate and profound impact. This narrow focus permits a precise
analytical engagement with the central concern without tangential diversions into
multifarious subplots or extensive character arcs. Finally, the restricted narrative
scope, often confining itself to a limited cast of characters within a singular setting or
compressed timeframe, profoundly simplifies the analytical endeavor, enabling a
deeper, more manageable scrutiny of character motivations and thematic profundity
within a constrained textual environment.
2. Differentiating Between First-, Second-, and Third-Person Narration
A rigorous differentiation between first-, second-, and third-person narration hinges upon
a meticulous analysis of the narrative voice and its concomitant perspective. First-
person narration, characterized by the consistent deployment of "I" or "we," intrinsically
immerses the reader within the subjective experiential and emotional landscape of the
narrator.