How "The Monkey's Paw" Uses Genre Elements to Scare--and Warn--Its Readers

This literary analysis identifies three main elements in W. W. Jacobs' classic short story "The Monkey's Paw" that place the text in the horror genre: plot, use of the supernatural, and theme. The student focuses on impact of these elements on audience and the story's message.

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Bridget's feedback:

"You've done a good job selecting the literary elements that place the story in the horror genre, and the use of specific examples from the text show your reader that you've engaged with the story itself. The discussion within each body paragraph is rather jumbled, however, and doesn't always relate directly back to the main idea as introduced in the topic sentence. For example, both the first and second body paragraph discuss foreshadowing, and the middle body paragraph (supernatural events) is much shorter than the other two, suggesting a weaker presentation. I suggest using reverse outlining to help approach organization -- you may find that shuffling around some of the ideas will help even out the body paragraphs and ensure the reader follows the discussion, which suggests but never quite explains how the story's main lesson fits into the horror genre: addressing this would really deepen the thesis.

While I appreciate the conversational approach to the extent that it suggests an enthusiasm for the story (one of my favorite old school horror stories!), I advise double-checking your prompt or any instructions to determine if this best suits the audience as defined by the assignment details. You may want to pitch a little more formally if, for example, the primary audience is academic (i.e., your instructor)."

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In-text citation:

(Kibin, 2025)

Reference list entry:

Kibin. (2025). How "the monkey's paw" uses genre elements to scare--and warn--its readers. http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/how-the-monkeys-paw-uses-genre-elements-to-scare-and-warn-its-readers-rJGEKVqz

Be sure to capitalize proper nouns (e.g. Egypt) and titles (e.g. Macbeth) in the essay title portion of your citation.

In-text citation:

("How "The Monkey's Paw" Uses Genre Elements to Scare--and Warn--Its Readers.")

Works Cited entry:

"How "The Monkey's Paw" Uses Genre Elements to Scare--and Warn--Its Readers." Kibin, 2025, www.kibin.com/essay-examples/how-the-monkeys-paw-uses-genre-elements-to-scare-and-warn-its-readers-rJGEKVqz

Footnote:

1. "How "The Monkey's Paw" Uses Genre Elements to Scare--and Warn--Its Readers." Kibin, 2025. http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/how-the-monkeys-paw-uses-genre-elements-to-scare-and-warn-its-readers-rJGEKVqz.

Bibliography entry:

"How "The Monkey's Paw" Uses Genre Elements to Scare--and Warn--Its Readers." Kibin, 2025. http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/how-the-monkeys-paw-uses-genre-elements-to-scare-and-warn-its-readers-rJGEKVqz.