Analysis

An analysis of the short story “Weightless and Hysterical” by Amanda Miska shows that the text has a chronological structure. The story focuses on the narrator’s life as a Christian girl hiding a secret from her best friend and struggling with the things she is supposed to believe in.

The main character is the narrator, a seventeen-year-old Christian girl. The narrative focuses on the relationship with her best friend, who is a lesbian, and with her boyfriend, who is older than her.

Several clues in the story hint that the setting is a town in Texas. The events take place in different locations, including the pregnancy clinic, the pet cemetery, and Mariel’s house. Each place helps the narrator focus on different aspects of her life.

The events are told by a first-person narrator, who is also the main character. This way, readers have access to the narrator’s point of view and discover her private thoughts and feelings.

The language used in the story is informal but heavily influenced by the narrator’s Christian background. In this light, several literary devices highlight the narrator’s struggle to understand the things she is supposed to believe in.

You can read a full analysis of the short story on the following pages.

Engelsk

Short story analysis

I denne vejledning får du Studienets hjælp til at analysere noveller (short stories) i engelsk.

Excerpt

Below, you can read an excerpt from our study guide:

Symbol

The shed where the narrator and Jordan meet in the cemetery symbolizes secrecy and mystery. The narrator enjoys the secrecy of a forbidden relationship, which makes her feel like a character in one of her grandmother’s forbidden romance novels. At the same time, the shed protects Jordan from “arrest” or the narrator’s dad “kicking [his] ass”, as the narrator ...