AP ENGLISH OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATIONS (Question 3)
Sample Question 1: In some works of literature the insanity (or a period of insanity) of a main character plays a central role. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and write an essay in which you discuss the mental illness of a central character and the specific ways in which that character’s illness relates to the larger themes of the work. Avoid plot summary.
Sample Question 2: “The struggle to achieve dominance over others frequently appears in fiction.” Choose a novel in which such a struggle for dominance occurs, and write an essay showing for what purposes the author uses the struggle. Avoid plot summary
Sample Question 3: In many works of literature, a main
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Choose a play with a major character to whom this statement applies and write an essay in which you consider the following points: what the character 's illusion is and how it differs from reality as presented in the play and how the destruction or perpetuation of the illusion develops a theme of the play.
1969: Setting is the physical environment in which action occurs. It includes time and place. In many novels and plays, setting is used significantly. For examples, the author may employ it as a motivating force in human behavior, as a reflection of the state of mind of characters, or as a representation of the values held by characters. Choose a novel or a play in which setting is important and write an essay in which you explain the uses the author makes of it. Choose your illustrations from works of recognized literary merit. Do not merely summarize the plot.
1970: Choose a character from a work of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you: briefly describe the standards of the fictional society in which the character exists, and show how the character is affected by and responds to those standards. Do not merely summarize the plot.
Also 1970: Choose a work of recognized literary merit in which a specific inanimate object (e.g. a seashell, a handkerchief, a painting) is important, and write an essay in which you show how two or three of the purposes the object serves are related
a. Is there some section that clearly lets the reader know what subject the composition is about and what the writer’s purpose is? If so, where does this section begin and end? In this section, can you find an answer to the central question that the text has been written in response to, or can you find an indication of the text’s central argument?
You could choose to explore whether (or how directly) cultural history changes the shape of literature or other forms of artistic expression, or
Discuss how language is used to describe the settings in texts, and explore how the settings shape the events and influence the mood of the narrative
2004 (Form A): Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel or play and, considering Barthes’ Observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
The Outsiders Essay – Describe an interesting theme from a text you have studied. Explain why this theme is interesting.
Things can happen in some places and the tale of them will be interesting. The same story laid in another city would be ridiculous. Setting situates the story`s events, characters and mood through place, time and weather. Without the different dimensions of setting, a story would not have the diversity to introduce new or changed characters, define their true identities, compare societies and reveal hidden emotions. Through Morrison`s Sula, setting is used as the key factor behind every event that occurred.
1970 Also. Choose a work of recognized literary merit in which a specific inanimate object (e.g., a seashell, a handkerchief, a painting) is important, and write an essay in which you show how two or three of the purposes the object serves are related to one another.
Write an essay that discusses three different significant symbols from the book. Explain the significance of the symbol, why it is symbolic and how over the course of the novel that symbol changes. Make sure to explain why the changes to the symbol are significant to the interpretation of the novel. (remember symbols can be both objects and characters)
Literary Analysis: The Literary Analysis was by far my best essay and the one I most enjoyed writing. The new critical thinking skills I learned in the first essay made writing this paper much easier. I also found the topics of the
Write a paper that explains how history is portrayed in a particular play emphasizing what a certain historical event, personage, or situation enables the playwright to communicate. Discuss what effect the playwright's transformation of historical reality has on an audience.
Trace three of the following threads through the novel. In two paragraphs for each explain the various literary effects of each of the threads and how each is related to the theme. Use quotations from the novel to support each analysis.
Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel or play and, or considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole.
Nearly every character in the play at some point has to make inferences from what he or she sees, has been told or overhears. Likewise, nearly every character in the play at some point plays a part of consciously pretending to be what they are not. The idea of acting and the illusion it creates is rarely far from the surface -
Three specific examples of how setting influenced the actions and attitudes of the characters are: The isolation from a civilized world, the mysteries of an unfamiliar place, and different social types being forced to live with one another. How these examples are to be proven will be developed in the following paragraphs.
This essay will discuss the part that illusion and reality plays in developing and illuminating the theme of Shakespeare's The Tempest. This pair of opposites will be contrasted to show what they represent in the context of the play. Further, the characters associated with these terms, and how the association becomes meaningful in the play, will be discussed.