This study guide will help you analyse the short story “Tell Me” by Zoë Sharp (2006). We will show you examples of elements in the text that will be relevant for your analysis. In these notes, we will focus on the summary, structure, characters, setting, narrator and point of view, language, theme and message, and we will help you put the text into perspective.
Zoë Sharp is an English fiction author, mostly famous for the Charlie Fox series of crime thrillers.
Further help
Do you want additional help with analysis of short stories? See our general guide for more:
Short story analysis
I denne vejledning får du Studienets hjælp til at analysere noveller (short stories) i engelsk.
Herunder kan du læse et uddrag af vores analysehjælp til teksten:
Title
The title of the story, “Tell Me”, reads like an invitation. The words are uttered by Crime Scene Investigator Grace McColl when she invites the teenage girl to talk about her life and offer some information that can help the investigation: “ ‘Hello,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m Grace. I’m going to be taking care of you now. Can you tell me who you are?’ ” (p. 39, ll. 26-27).
As the girl isn’t willing to reveal information about herself, Grace finds it hard to do her job. Furthermore, the words “tell me” are also uttered by the girl, who challenges Grace to show her how well she reads people: “The girl took her hand back and folded her arms, a challenge in her voice. ‘So, go on,’ she goaded. ‘If you’re so clever, you tell me. Who am I?’ ” (p. 41, ll. 10-12).
