Topic: Close Reading Assignment #2
Order Description
Essay
Gogol’s “The Nose”

Length: 3-4 pages, double-spaced, one-inch margins, Times New Roman font size 12
Title: Come up with a title for your close reading (in the same size font)

Write a 3-4-page analytical, argumentative essay that presents the interpretive framework through which you approached the short story. How did you make sense of the story’s absurdities? Did you identify a specific theme that the story was exploring? Did you note an underlying critique or social commentary being developed in the story?

Do not feel limited by the sub-questions above. They are there to prompt your thinking in the direction of the topic. Ultimately, you need to come up with an argument, presented in the form of a thesis statement, which will guide the organization of your essay. Support your argument with concrete evidence, presented in quotations, from the novel. Remember not to let quotations speak for themselves. Follow all evidence with close-reading analysis.