Essay Prompts

1979. Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of recognized literary merit who might on the basis of the character's actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.

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.

Of them, Hamlet and Twelfth Night are perfect examples of both. A comparison between them could be of interest because their common points demonstrate that, however differing their genres are, Shakespeare’s plays essentially illustrate what it is to be human[1] . [2]

This chapter states that there is no such thing as a truly original work of literature; books are always based off of works before them. This further develops into the idea that there is only one story,

2011: In a novel by William Styron, a father tells his son that life “is a search for justice.” Choose a character from a novel or play who responds in some significant way to justice or injustice. Then write a well-developed essay in which you analyze the character’s understanding of justice, the degree to which the character’s search for justice is successful, and the significance of this search for the work as a whole. 2010: Palestinian American literary theorist and cultural critic Edward Said has written that “Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home: its

Write a composition based on the novel you have studied discussing the basis for and impact of individual choices. What idea does the author develop regarding choices?

that thus deem’. ‘as the fame runs’. His work is a literary exercise in the dramatic

The two plays that I chose to read are, Death of a Salesman and Fences. While reading these two plays and examining the father and son from both stories, I found a special connection with both of them with personal life experiences and stories. While comparing and contrasting these characters, I discovered great insight through other peoples life experiences with failure and success. Although Death of a Salesman is a more tragic story and Fences is more of a coming of age story, the relationships between the characters are similar.

Have you ever wondered about what is going x your future and that your choices have consequences that can be good or bad. The choices reflect and let me tell you some stories about the choices. In the book contender, it was a person named Alfred and he chose to box for a living and his life had turned around he wasn’t living in poverty , or dealing drugs. He has a better life and now he has a better life.

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

In Leif Enger’s “Peace Like a River,” the most important scene/symbol in the entire novel is the opening scene with Reuben being born and his lungs are all messed up from the start. Throughout the entire novel his lungs are brought up again and again. Reuben has asthma and breathing is a real struggle for him and if there’s anything he’d ever want in his life is a good, it’s a sufficient pair of lungs that won’t fail him. He essentially has no lungs to begin with, and it would be a miracle for him to get that precious pair of working lungs.

TOPIC: Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Choose a novel or play that contrasts two such places. Write an essay explaining how the places differ, what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.

To begin with, in this play the author unfolds family conflicts that involve its characters into a series of events that affected their lives and pushed them to unexpected ways.

Amanda Stevenson IB Literature 2 Independent Reading 16 October 2014 9. Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Choose a novel or a play that contrasts two such places. Write an essay explaining how the places differ, what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.

For centuries, William Shakespeare has been a beacon of storytelling genius. He has the ability to tell timeless stories that can be classified within the genres comedy, tragedy and history. Proving as relevant today as they were 500 years ago, these stories conform to certain elements that define what genre the story falls under. Comedies such as The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet and Histories such as King John and Henry V have all played a relevant role in defining the genres Shakespeare writes