Haunting Olivia Rhetorical Analysis

Karen Russell’s “Haunting Olivia” is a story about acceptance, loss, guilt, retribution, imagination, and family, among other concepts. 

Read through this story carefully, annotating for important details that contribute to any of these concepts (or all of them) - you will turn in these annotations. Consider especially symbolism and other literary elements. You should also be looking up details of this text religiously; if it is an unfamiliar name or reference, look it up.

Due Monday, October 24th is a rhetorical analysis of this short story. This requires you to identify an argument (a thematic statement) that the author is trying to make through the work and analyze the effectiveness of the rhetorical strategies (symbolism, tone, euphony, allusion, parallel structure, etc.) used to make it. 

For the text, visit the New Yorker.