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2024, Set 1. Many works of literature feature a character who may be reluctant to make a decision, unable to make a decision, or is resistant to doing so. This indecision can have broader implications for that character or other characters. Such implications may include changes to a character’s relationships, social and/or financial stability, well-being, or another aspects of the character’s existence. Either from your own reading or from the list below, choose a work of fiction in which a character delays or avoids making a decision. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how the impact of this indecision contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole.
2024, Set 2. Many works of literature explore a character’s sense of lacking something important in life. The character perceives an unfulfilled need which may be emotionl, spiritual, financial, or something the character does not understand or cannot articulate. Either from your own reading or from the list below, choose a work of fiction in which such a feeling is explored. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how the character’s sense of an unfulfilled need contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole.
2023, Set 1. In many works of literature, characters choose to reinvent themselves for significant reasons. They may wish to separate from a previous identity, gain access to a different community, disguise themselves from hostile forces, or express a more authentic sense of self. Either from your own reading or from the following list, choose a work of fiction in which a character intentionally creates a new identity. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how the characterÕs reinvention contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole.
2023, Set 2. Many works of literature feature a rebel character who changes or disrupts the existing state of societal, familial, or political affairs in the text. They may break social norms, challenge long-held values, subvert expectations, or participate in other forms of resistance. The characterÕs motivation for this rebellious behavior is often complex. Either from your own reading or from the list below, choose a work of fiction in which a character changes or disrupts the existing state of societal, familial, or political affairs. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how the complex motivation of the rebel contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole.
2022. Many works of literature feature characters who accept or reject a hierarchial structure. This hierarchy may be social, economic, political, or familial, or it may apply to some other kind of structure. Either from your own reading or from the list below, choose a work of fiction in which a character responds to a hierarchy in some significant way. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how that character’s response to the hierarchy contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole.
2021. In many works of fiction houses
take on symbolic importance. Such houses may be literal houses or unconventional
ones (e.g., hotels, monasteries, or boats).
Either
from your own reading or from the list below, choose a
work of fiction in which a literal or unconventional house serves as a
significant symbol. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how this house
contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole.
2020. No question.
2019. In his 2004 novel Magic Seeds, V.
S. Naipaul writes: “It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That’s
where the mischief starts. That’s where everything starts unravelling.”
Select
a novel, play, or epic poem in which a character holds an “ideal view of the
world.” Then write an essay in which you analyze the character’s idealism and
its positive or negative consequences. Explain how the author’s portrayal of
this idealism illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole.
2018. Many works of literature feature characters who have been given a literal or figurative gift. Then
gift may be an object, or it may be a quality such as uncommon beauty, significant
Social position, great mental or imaginative faculties, or extraordinary
physical powers. Yet this gift is often also a burden or a handicap. Select a
character from a novel, epic, or play who has been
given a gift that is both an advantage and a problem. Then write a well-developed
essay analyzing the complex nature of the gift and how the gift contributes to
the meaning of the work as a whole.
2017. Select a novel, play, or epic poem
that features a character whose origins are unusual or mysterious. Then write
an essay in which you analyze how these origins shape the character and that
character’s relationships, and how the origins contribute to the meaning of the
work as a whole.
Choose
a novel or play in which a character deceives others. Then, in a well-written
essay, analyze the motives for that character’s deception and discuss how the
deception contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
2016, Form B. In The Defense of Poesy (1595), Sir Philip Sidney asserts that the purose of imaginative literature is
2014. It has often been said that what we
value can be determined only by what we sacrifice. Consider how this statement
applies to a character from a novel or play. Select a character that has
deliberately sacrificed, surrendered, or forfeited something in a way that
highlights that character’s values. Then write a well-organized essay in which
you analyze how the particular sacrifice illuminates the character’s values and
provides a deeper understanding of the meaning of the work as a whole.
2012. “And, after all, our surroundings
influence our lives and characters as much as fate, destiny or any supernatural
agency.”--Pauline Hopkins, Contending
Forces
Choose
a novel or play in which cultural, physical, or geographical surroundings shape
psychological or moral traits in a character. Then write a well-organized essay
in which you analyze how surroundings affect this character and illuminate the
meaning of the work as a whole.
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.
2011,
Form B. In The
Writing of Fiction (1925), novelist Edith Wharton states the following: Choose
a novel or play that you have studied and write a well-organized essay in which
you describe an “illuminating” episode or moment and explain how it functions
as a “casement,” a window that opens onto the meaning of 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 essential sadness can never be surmounted.” Yet
Said has also said that exile can become “a potent, even enriching” experience.
Select
a novel, play, or epic in which a character experiences such a rift and becomes
cut off from “home,” whether that home is the character’s birthplace, family,
homeland, or other special place. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the
character’s experience with exile is both alienating and enriching, and how
this experience illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole.
2010,
Form B. “You can leave home all you want, but home will never leave you.”
—Sonsyrea Tate
Sonsyrea Tate’s statement suggests that “home” may be
conceived of as a dwelling, a place, or a state of mind. It may have positive
or negative associations, but in either case, it may have a considerable
influence on an individual. Choose a novel or play in which a central character
leaves home yet finds that home remains significant. Write a well-developed
essay in which you analyze the importance of “home” to this character and the
reasons for its continuing influence. Explain how the character’s idea of home
illuminates the larger meaning of the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.
2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that
represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In
literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge
literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an
essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about
the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
2009,
Form B. Many works of literature deal with political
or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political or social
issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary
elements to explore this issue and explain how the issue contributes to the
meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
2008. In a literary work, a minor character, often
known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the
distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example,
the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight the
weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which
a minor character serves as a foil for the main character. Then write an essay
in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major
character illuminates the meaning of the work.
2008,
Form B. In some works of literature, childhood
and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of
wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror.
Focusing on a single novel or play, explain how its representation of childhood
or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.
2007. In many works of literature, past events can
affect, positively or negatively, the present activities, attitudes, or values
of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with
some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in
which you show how the character’s relationship to the past contributes to the
meaning of the work as a whole.
2007,
Form B. Works of literature often depict acts of
betrayal. Friends and even family may betray a protagonist; main characters may
likewise be guilty of treachery or may betray their own values. Select a novel
or play that includes such acts of betrayal. Then, in a well-written essay,
analyze the nature of the betrayal and show how it contributes to the meaning
of the work as a whole.
2006. Many writers use a country setting to establish
values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be a place of
virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance. Choose a novel or play in
which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in which you
analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole.
2006,
Form B. In many works of literature, a physical
journey – the literal movement from one place to another – plays a
central role. Choose a novel, play, or epic poem in which a physical journey is
an important element and discuss how the journey adds to the meaning of the
work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
2005. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to
possess “That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.”
In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then
write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity
and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot
summary.
2005,
Form B. One of the strongest human drives seems
to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character
in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or herself
from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to
demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance
the meaning of the work.
2004. 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 answers.
Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding
of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
2004,
Form B. The most important themes in literature
are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or deaths take place. Choose
a novel or play and write a well-organized essay in which you show how a
specific death scene helps to illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole.
Avoid mere plot summary.
2003. According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic
heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem
the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to
be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be
instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.”
Select a novel or play in which a tragic
figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an
essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure
contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.
2003,
Form B. Novels and plays often depict characters
caught between colliding cultures -- national, regional, ethnic, religious,
institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into
question. Select a novel or play in which a character responds to such a
cultural collision. Then write a well-organized essay in which you describe the
character’s response and explain its relevance to the work as a whole.
2002. Morally ambiguous characters – characters
whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely
good – are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or
play in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an
essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous
and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid
mere plot summary.
2002,
Form B. Often in literature, a character’s
success in achieving goals depends on keeping a secret and divulging it only at
the right moment, if at all. Choose a novel or play of literary merit that
requires a character to keep a secret. In a well-organized essay, briefly
explain the necessity for secrecy and how the character’s choice to reveal or
keep the secret affects the plot and contributes to the meaning of the work as
a whole. You may select a work from the list below, or you may choose another
work of recognized literary merit suitable to the topic. Do NOT write about a
short story, poem, or film.
2001. One definition of madness is “mental
delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it.” But Emily Dickinson wrote
Much
madness is divinest Sense—
To
a discerning Eye—
Novelists
and playwrights have often seen madness with a “discerning Eye.” Select a novel
or play in which a character’s apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an
important role. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain what
this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged
reasonable. Explain the significance of the “madness” to the work as a whole.
1999. The eighteenth-century British
novelist Laurence Sterne wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive
what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects
of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same
time.”
From
a novel or play choose a character (not necessarily the protagonist) whose mind
is pulled in conflicting directions by two compelling desires, ambitions,
obligations, or influences. Then, in a well-organized essay, identify each of
the two conflicting forces and explain how this conflict with one character
illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. You may use one of the novels
or plays listed below or another novel or work of similar literary quality.
1998. In his essay “Walking,” Henry David
Thoreau offers the following assessment of literature: “In literature it is
only the wild that attracts us. Dullness is but another name for tameness. It
is the uncivilized free and wild thinking in Hamlet and The Iliad, in
all scriptures and mythologies, not learned in schools, that delights us.”
From
the works that you have studied in school, choose a novel, play, or epic poem
that you may initially have thought was conventional and tame but that you now
value for its “uncivilized free and wild thinking.” Write an essay in which you
explain what constitutes its “uncivilized free and wild thinking” and how that
thinking is central to the value of the work as a whole. Support your ideas
with specific references to the work you choose.
1997. Novels and plays often include
scenes of weddings, funerals, parties, and other social occasions. Such scenes
may reveal the values of the characters and the society in which they live.
Select a novel or play that includes such a scene and, in a focused essay,
discuss the contribution the scene makes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
You may choose a work from the list below or another novel or play of literary
merit.
1996. The British novelist Fay Weldon offers
this observation about happy endings. “The writers, I do believe, who get the
best and most lasting response from their readers are the writers who offer a
happy ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere
fortunate events—a marriage or a last minute rescue from death--but some
kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self,
even at death.” Choose a novel or play that has the kind of ending Weldon describes.
In a well-written essay, identify the “spiritual reassessment or moral
reconciliation” evident in the ending and explain its significance in the work
as a whole.
1995. Writers often highlight the values
of a culture or a society by using characters who are
alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or
creed. Choose a novel or a play in which such a character plays a significant
role and show how that character’s alienation reveals the surrounding society’s
assumptions or moral values.
1994. In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, is a
significant presence. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and write an
essay in which you show how such a character functions in the work. You may
wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the development of
other characters.
1993. “The true test of
comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter.” Choose a novel, play, or
long poem in which a scene or character awakens “thoughtful laughter” in the
reader. Write an essay in which you show why this laughter is “thoughtful” and
how it contributes to the meaning of the work.
1992. In a novel or play, a confidant
(male) or a confidante (female) is a character, often a friend or relative of
the hero or heroine, whose role is to be present when the hero or heroine needs
a sympathetic listener to confide in. Frequently the result is, as Henry James
remarked, that the confidant or confidante can be as much “the reader’s friend
as the protagonist’s.” However, the author sometimes uses this character for
other purposes as well.
Choose
a confidant or confidante from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and
write an essay in which you discuss the various ways this character functions
in the work. You may write your essay on one of the following novels or plays
or on another of comparable quality. Do not write on a poem or short story.
1991. 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.
1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts
a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write
an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the
conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.
1989. In questioning the value of
literary realism, Flannery O’Connor has written, “I am interested in making a
good case for distortion because I am coming to believe that it is the only way
to make people see.” Write an essay in which you “make a good case for
distortion,” as distinct from literary realism. Analyze how important elements
of the work you choose are “distorted” and explain how these distortions
contribute to the effectiveness of the work.
1988. Choose a distinguished novel or
play in which some of the most significant events are mental or psychological;
for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in
consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to
give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax
usually associated with external action.
1987. Some novels and plays seem to
advocate changes in social or political attitudes or in traditions. Choose such
a novel or play and note briefly the particular attitudes or traditions that
the author apparently wishes to modify. Then analyze the techniques the author
uses to influence the reader’s or audience’s views.
1986. Some works of literature use the
element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be
altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a
play of recognized literary merit and show how the author’s manipulation of
time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole.
1985. A critic has said that one
important measure of a superior work of literature is its ability to produce in
the reader a healthy confusion of pleasure and disquietude. Select a literary
work that produces this “healthy confusion.” Write an essay in which you explain
the sources of the “pleasure and disquietude” experienced by the readers of the
work.
1983. From a novel or play of literary
merit, select an important character who is a villain.
Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the nature of the character’s villainy
and show how it enhances meaning in the work.
1982. In great literature, no scene of
violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literary merit that
confronts the reader or audience with a scene or scenes of violence. In a
well-organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes contribute to the meaning
of the complete work.
1982 Bulletin #2. “In many plays a character has a
misconception of himself or his world. Destroying or perpetuating this illusion
contributes to a central theme of the play.” Choose a play with a major character
to whom this statement applies, and write an essay in
which you consider the following:
(1)
What the character’s illusion is and how it differs from reality as presented in
the play.
(2)
How the destruction or perpetuation of the illusion develops a theme of the
play.
1982 Bulletin #1. “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. Do not merely retell the story.
1981. The meaning of some literary
works is often enhanced by sustained allusion to myths, the Bible, or other
works of literature. Select a literary work that makes use of such a sustained
reference. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain the allusion
that predominates in the work and analyze how it enhances the work’s meaning.
1980. A recurring theme in literature is
the classic war between a passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal
cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or
some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty.
Choose a literary work in which a character
confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her
responsibilities. In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the
conflict, its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.
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.
1978. Choose an implausible or strikingly
unrealistic incident or character in a work of fiction or drama of recognized
literary merit. Write an essay that explains how the incident or character is
related to the more realistic of plausible elements in the rest of the work.
1977. A character’s attempt to recapture
the past is important in many plays, novels, and poems. Choose a literary work
in which a character views the past with such feelings as reverence,
bitterness, or longing. Show with clear evidence from the work how the character’s
view of the past is used to develop a theme in the work. You may base your
essay on a work by one of the following authors, or you may choose a work of
another author of comparable literary excellence.
1977, #2. In some novels and plays certain parallel
or recurring events prove to be significant. In an essay, describe the major
similarities and differences in a sequence of parallel or recurring events in a
novel or play and discuss the significance of such events.
1976. The conflict created when the will
of an individual opposes the will of the majority is the recurring theme of
many novels, plays, and essays. Select the work of an essayist who is in
opposition to his or her society; or from a work of recognized literary merit,
select a fictional character who is in opposition to
his or her society. In a critical essay, analyze the conflict and discuss the
moral and ethical implications for both the individual and the society.
1975. Although literary critics have
tended to praise the unique in literary characterizations, many authors have
employed the stereotyped character successfully. Select one work of acknowledged
literary merit and in a well-written essay, show how the conventional or
stereotyped character or characters function to achieve the author’s purpose.
1975, #2. Unlike the novelist, the writer of a play
does not use his own voice and only rarely uses a narrator’s voice to guide the
audience’s responses to character and action. Select a play you have read and
write an essay in which you explain the techniques the playwright uses to guide
his audience’s responses to the central characters and the action. You might
consider the effect on the audience of things like setting, the use of
comparable and contrasting characters, and the characters’ responses to each
other. Support your argument with specific references to the play.
1974. Choose a work of literature written
before 1900. Write an essay in which you present arguments for and against the
work's relevance for a person in 1974. Your own position should emerge in the
course of your essay. You may refer to works of literature written after 1900
for the purpose of contrast or comparison.
1973. An effective literary work does not
merely stop or cease; it concludes. In the view of some critics, a work that
does not provide the pleasure of significant closure has terminated with an
artistic fault. A satisfactory ending is not, however, always conclusive in every
sense; significant closure may require the reader to abide with or adjust to
ambiguity and uncertainty. In an essay, discuss the ending of a novel or play
of acknowledged literary merit. Explain precisely how and why the ending
appropriately or inappropriately concludes the work.
1972. In retrospect, the reader often
discovers that the first chapter of a novel or the opening scene of a drama
introduces some of the major themes of the work. Write an essay about the
opening scene of a drama or the first chapter of a novel in which you explain
how it functions in this way.
1971. The significance of a title
such as The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn is so easy to discover. However, in other works (for example, Measure for Measure) the full
significance of the title becomes apparent to the reader only gradually. Choose
two works and show how the significance of their respective titles is developed
through the authors’ use of devices such as contrast, repetition, allusion, and
point of view.
1970. Choose a character from a novel or
play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you (a) briefly
describe the standards of the fictional society in which the character exists
and (b) show how the character is affected by and responds to those standards.
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. Do not merely summarize the plot.
The Missing Prompts
(I cannot verify that these were really
prompts, but these seem valid.)
1968. In many plays, a character has a
misconception of himself or his world. Destroying or perpetuating this illusion
contributes to a central theme of the play. 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.
1967. In many novels and plays, minor
characters contribute significantly to the total work. They often have
particular functions, e.g., as instruments in the plot, foils to the main
characters, commentators on the main action and theme, and the like. Write a
well-organized essay showing how three minor characters function in the work in
which they appear.
1966. Frequently in novels, an important character
violates the laws, the conventions, the rules of
conduct of a society. In presenting such characters and actions, the author’s
purpose may be (1) to arouse our sympathy for the character who is violating
the rules of society; (2) to divide our interest sharply between sympathy for
the character and desire to support the principles of society; (3) to arouse
our “satiric mirth” at the character who is violating the principles of
society; and (4) to laugh with the character at the conventions that are being
violated. Write a well-organized essay, illustrating in some detail two or more
of these purposes.
1965. An individual’s struggle toward
understanding and awareness is the traditional subject for the novelist. In an
essay, apply this statement to one novel of literary merit. Organize your essay
according to the following plan: 1) Compare the hero as we see him in an early
scene with the hero as we see him in a scene near the end of the novel. 2)
Describe the techniques that the author uses to reveal the new understanding
and awareness that the hero has achieved.
1963. Character determines incident. Incident
illustrates character. Write a well-organized essay evaluating this statement
through a discussion of one character from each of two novels.
1959. All kinds of books have been attacked,
suppressed, or disapproved of by authorities, groups, or individuals. Select an
important work which you admire and which you propose to defend against
possible objections. In a well-planned essay, present reasons why the work might
be attacked, and base your defense on a consideration of such matters as its
language, the people in it, its mood and spirit, and consequently its artistic
purpose and its value for the readers.
*Advanced Placement® is a trademark registered by the College
Board,
which is not affiliated with, and
does not endorse, this list.
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