For this week’s Reader Response Essay, pretend that you are an Assistant Editor at The New Yorker, writing a review of the story in preparation for an Editorial Meeting. Your task is to explain your reasons for why the story should or should not be accepted for publication at the magazine. Imagine that you are submitting your Response Essay to the Fiction Editor, Deborah Treisman, which will be followed by a Staff Meeting. You already know that some of the other Assistant Editors love this story and are keen to publish it. Are you as well? Why or why not? In your mind, does the story need to answer the question, “what is the theme”?
In order to do this, consider the following:
1. The author’s uses of the “Elements of Fiction”: Consider one or more and show how the author’s choices help to deliver a great story. The main ones are:
Character
Plot
Setting
Narrative Perspective
2. You can also consider other techniques:
The story’s language: what makes this story “literary” and not just meh-level fiction. Look for aspects of language use that takes you by surprise, makes you think of something in a new and insightful way. (Or just puts an unexpected smile on your face).
Does the author use any motifs, tropes, or symbols? Are they effectively used?
3.What else makes the story “pop”? Humor? Irony? Plot twist?
4. Endings are always tough! Does this story have a good one? Why or why not?
5. Finish your response Essay:
See if you can identify the “So What” factor of the story. What did it make you think or feel? What issues, themes, insights were explored and finally, should it be published now, in the summer of 2021?
6.If you like, you can check out the earlier story “A Shinagawa Monkey” (2006) and discuss this one as a sequel.
Have fun with this. Just to clarify: Your Response Essay can be a rejection; either way it should be written in a way to demonstrate your analytical and persuasive writing skills.
Assessment Criteria:
How well does the writing address the prompt?
How well does the writing present appropriate parts of the text to support or illustrate claims and interpretations?
Does the writing include appropriate direct quotations from the text? How well are the quotes introduced, cited, and explained?
How well does the writing exhibit critical thinking and active engagement with the text?
MLA formatting
Does the writing express its ideas clearly and engagingly? Assess standards of grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. Must be written 12 point font and Times New Roman. Murakami, “Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey” Response
Turnitin™ enabled. Link to the Murakami, “Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey”: “Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey,” by Haruki Murakami | The New Yorker.pdf
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