Question

: Analyze- What do you see?
Conclusion Critic: Pretend you are a literary critic analyzing the conclusion of a story. Choose either “The Monkey’s Paw” OR “The Cask of Amontillado” that you read in previous lessons. (If you need to, go back and re-read the story’s conclusion.) Write a short paragraph critiquing the conclusion of the story. Your critique should answer the following questions:

Was the ending surprising or did you predict what would happen?
How did the ending resolve the conflict and tie up loose ends?
What themes in the story are emphasized in the conclusion?
Would you recommend the story based on the conclusion?

Lastly, rate the story out of five stars. (If you want to give it less than five stars, delete the ones you do not want to keep.)
Your Critique:

Answer 1

The Monkey’s Paw’s ending is both predictable and powerfully unsettling: by the time the Whites use their final wish, most readers expect a disastrous reversal, but Jacobs still manages to make the moment viscerally suspenseful—the unseen wish and the abrupt silence leave the exact details to the imagination. The ending resolves the central conflict by removing the supernatural threat (Herbert’s grotesque return is ended) and ties up loose ends—there is no lingering mystery about the paw’s power, only the permanent consequences of having used it. The conclusion sharpens the story’s themes of fate versus free will, the corrosive effects of grief and selfish desire, and the ironical moral “be careful what you wish for.” I would recommend the story: it’s spare, eerie, and thematically tight, though its bleakness may not suit every reader. Rating: ★★★★