Open Prompt 6 Revision

1984. Select a line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem, or play that you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the line or the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is found, and analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.

Certain scenes from a play can be very memorable. Take the balcony scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This scene can be described as both romantic and enjoyable, but more than that, it effectively creates a setup for the impending heartbreak and doom.

The balcony scene (Act II, Scene 2) of Romeo and Juliet is one that many remember. Romantic and spontaneous, Romeo and Juliet confess their love for each other in a way that can only be admired for centuries. However, the balcony scene later becomes remembered as one of the only romantic scenes before the tragic death of the star-crossed lovers. When both characters die an untimely death, readers look back at this scene and wish that Romeo and Juliet could be preserved in their “Balcony Scene” state.

This scene effectively causes remorse near the end of the plot by using vivid language. The poetic vibe and metaphors used help to create the romantic setting, such as when Romeo says “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? / It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!” (Act II, Scene 2) , or when Juliet says “O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? / Deny thy father and refuse thy name; / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, / And I'll no longer be a Capulet.” (Act II, Scene 2). With the powerful language used in this passage, readers can feel a strong emotional connection and reverence to the characters, so when tragedy strikes, readers reminisce the balcony scene, which effectively bring tears to emotional readers.

Through strong and effective use of language, the balcony scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is remembered especially for the romantic and heartwarming vibe, as well as the tragic overtone to the play.

Open Prompt 4 Revision

1982. In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a work of literarymerit 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. Avoid plot summary.

Violence exists for a reason, and even scholar Thomas C. Foster said so in his book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Thus, even with Shakespeare, violence has a purpose, such as in his tragedy Romeo and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo finds himself in a quarrel, representing a loss of innocence and a tragic future.

Near the climax of the play, Romeo has a brawl that leads to the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio. Before the fight, Romeo was a carefree young man in love with his rival family’s daughter. However, after the violent scene, Romeo seems to have matured quite a bit; he realizes that he murdered his cousin in law and is in deep grief. He even marries Juliet before he leaves Verona due his banishment. Marriage is a well-known sign of maturity, and it was caused by the violent brawl, it can be assumed that violence is symbolic of the loss of innocence for Romeo ins Romeo and Juliet.

Not only does this scene symbolize the loss of innocence in Romeo and Juliet, it also foreshadows the tragic ending of the play. The death of Tybalt and Mercutio foreshadows the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Tybalt and Mercutio are members of the rival families, just like Romeo and Juliet, and when they are slain in a tragic moment, it can only be assumed that it was only the beginning of the tragedy. The violence lead to their untimely deaths and through all of this tragedy, the families still kept up their bickering, ultimately leading to Romeo and Juliet’s death.

Violence does not exist for its own sake. Seen in the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the use of a violent scene portrays the loss of innocence and the foreshadowing of future of the two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet.

Open Prompt 3 Revision

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.

Many titles works have significance to the piece as a whole, such as in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Other works, such as Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, also have a significant meaning as well. Through the authors’ point of view and use of repetition, a significant meaning is created for their respective works.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a great example of a title with significance. The Mockingbird is a symbol of innocence, and the killing of the Mockingbird resembles the loss of innocence, which is exactly what happens in the novel. Seen mostly from Scout’s point of view, the novel has an innocent perspective for the most part. Scout is a young child who has an innocent perspective on the world at first, but after the trial, Scout seems to have grown up, and is no longer as innocent as she was. Scout’s change of point of view shows that the title indeed signifies Scout’s loss of innocence.

In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, the title uses a pun, giving it significance to the play as a whole. The entire play is centered around the mishaps that happen to a group of people. All of these mishaps are caused by eavesdropping. One example is the entire misunderstanding between Hero and Claudio. Problems due to eavesdropping repeat themselves many times through out this novel. Due to this strong repetition of eavesdropping, it is clear that the word “nothing” in the title is a pun to the word “noting”, which means eavesdropping because the word “nothing” also can be pronounced, “noting”.

Through the use of the point of view of an innocent child, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has given the title of the novel a significant meaning. Similarly, the play Much Ado About Nothing has also a significant title, this time through the use of a repeated theme.

Open Prompt 2 Revision

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. Avoid plot summary.

Almost every plotline has a character that is implausible or strikingly unrealistic, such as in literature like An Inspector Calls, where Inspector Goole is quite an unrealistic character. However unrealistic Inspector Goole is, there is definitely a realistic element of his presence to the rest of the play.

Seemingly, the entire plot revolves around Inspector Goole’s mysterious appearance at the Birling household. When he first enters the scene, Goole seems to be a normal person, just there to investigate the suicide of an “Eva Smith”. As the story progress, Goole just seems to get more unrealistic. He knows little details about every family member, as well as specific details relating them to this girl, Eva Smith. The family members find it strange how he knows everything, and this adds to the realistic elements of the drama. The fact that all of the family members had done something undeniably wrong is enforced with his presence.

Inspector Goole's name is already unrealistic- it resembles Ghoul, which means ghost, thus implying that Inspector Goole is a ghost. This is related to his ghost-like features, such as foresight and excessive knowledge about the family's deeds and behaviors. He appears and shows the Birlings their wrongdoings, acting as a ghost that steers the family in the right direction. Had it not been for Inspector Goole’s ghostly qualities, the story would not have been as eerie as it was. Close to the end of the drama, it is revealed that at that point, there was no Eva Smith that had committed suicide, deeming Inspector Goole to be a fake. However in the last moments of the plot, it was revealed that an Eva Smith had just been checked in to the infirmary for the exact reasons that Inspector Gool had just questioned them about; this makes Inspector Goole seem even more like a ghost. If Inspector Goole had not ghost like qualities, the fact that Eva Smith had died would not have been as important. The fact that Inspector Goole was unrealistic only made the family’s wrongdoings more realistic, enhancing the moral of the play.

Although An Inspector Calls has many unrealistic characters, Inspector Goole is the one unrealistic character that stands out of the crowd due to his many traits, causing most of the realistic elements in this drama.

Open Prompt 6

1984. Select a line or so of poetry, or a moment or scene in a novel, epic poem, or play that you find especially memorable. Write an essay in which you identify the line or the passage, explain its relationship to the work in which it is found, and analyze the reasons for its effectiveness.

Many times, certain scenes from a play can be very memorable. Take the balcony scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, for example. This scene can be described as both romantic and enjoyable, but more than that, it effectively creates a setup for the heartbreak later on in the play.

The balcony scene (Act II, Scene 2) of Romeo and Juliet is one that many remember for being a memorable moment in the play. Romantic and spontaneous, Romeo and Juliet confess their love for each other in a way that can only be copied by generations to come. However, the balcony scene later becomes remembered as one of the only romantic scenes before the tragic death of both title characters, and looking back at this scene makes readers wish that Romeo and Juliet could stay like that- forever.

This scene effectively makes readers feel remorse near the end of the plotline by using vivid and detailed language. The poetic feel, and even the metaphors used help to create the romantic setting and feel-good vibe, such as when Romeo says “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? / It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!” (Act II, Scene 2) , or when Juliet says “O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? / Deny thy father and refuse thy name; / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, / And I'll no longer be a Capulet.” (Act II, Scene 2). With the powerful language used in this passage, readers can feel a strong emotional connection to the characters, so when tragedy strikes, the thought of the balcony scene can effectively bring tears to emotional readers.

Through strong and effective use of language, the balcony scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is not only remembered especially for the romantic and heartwarming vibe, but also for the tragic overtone to the play.

Open Prompt 5

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. Avoid plot summary.

Sometimes, the people readers do not see may in fact be the most important. Take the baby boy that Mommy and Daddy adopted, for example, in the play The American Dream. This baby does not make any appearance in the novel, but plays a significant role as he shows the mentality and disillusionment of the characters.

The baby is not given a name, like many characters in The American Dream, however, it is know that he is a toddler boy, around three years old. Readers also find out through the course of the book that Mommy and Daddy mutilated this baby boy, and they have no shame of it. On the surface, this shows that Mommy and Daddy would most likely benefit from some psychotherapy, that the mentality of some of the characters is less than stable. Contrastingly, characters such as Grandma and the Young Man show disdain regarding these cruel actions, which shows that their mentality is much more healthy. The actions done to this innocent child that is never physically seen in the play are how this can be interpreted: what sane person would take a child and cut off parts of their body?

Not only does the baby show the instability of the mentality of the characters in The American Dream, it also shows the disillusionment of the American Dream. Say the baby boy represents the American Dream: Mommy and Daddy only adopted the child for the sake of their satisfaction. Unfortunately, the baby boy did not satisfy them, so they took the boy and murdered him. This parallels the American Dream; Mommy and Daddy can’t seem to reach their “American Dream”, so they try to manipulate the idea that they use to reach the American Dream. They take it and tear it apart just because they were not satisfied with the outcome, much similar to how they treated the innocent boy, as if mutilating it will make it any better.
Although the baby boy is mentioned frequently in this play, he does not physically appear, but nevertheless makes an important presence. Although never seen, the innocent baby boy shows the mentality of the characters, as well as the disillusionment with the American Dream.

Open Prompt 4

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. Avoid plot summary.

Violence never exists for its own sake, and even scholar Thomas C. Foster said so in his book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Thus, even with Shakespeare, violence exists for a reason, such as in his tragedy Romeo and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo finds himself in a quarrel, representing a loss of innocence and a foreshadowing of tragedy.

Near the climax of the play, Romeo has a fight that ultimately leads to the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio, but this fight is not all about the deep-rooted family rivalries. Before Romeo had this fight, he was a more or less carefree young man, mostly happy, although in love with his rival family’s daughter. However, after the violent scene, Romeo seems to have matured quite a bit; he realizes that he murdered his cousin in law and is in deep grief. He even marries Juliet before he leaves Verona due his banishment. Marriage is a well-known sign of maturity, and due to the fact that it happens after the violence and is partially caused by the violence in this play, it can be assumed that the violence is symbolic of the loss of innocence.

Not only does this scene contribute and symbolize the loss of innocence in Romeo and Juliet, it also foreshadows the tragic ending of the play. The death of two major characters through violence is a tragic event, but not as tragic as the death of Romeo and Juliet at the very end. Tybalt and Mercutio were similar to Romeo and Juliet in that they were both rivals, although not of rival families. The violence lead to their untimely deaths and through all of this tragedy, the families still kept up their bickering, ultimately leading to Romeo and Juliet’s death.

Violence does not exist for its own sake. Seen in the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the use of a violent scene portrays the loss of innocence and the foreshadowing of future of the two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet.

Open Prompt 3

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.

Often times, the title of a work has a significance to the piece as a whole, such as in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Other works, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, and Much Ado about Nothing have significant meanings as well. Through the use of literary devices such as point of view and repetition, the authors create a significant meaning for their respective works.

The work To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a great example of a title with a significance. The Mockingbird is a symbol of innocence, and the killing of the Mockingbird signifies the loss of innocence, which is exactly what happens in the novel. Seen mostly from Scout’s point of view, the novel has an innocent perspective for the most part. Scout thinks similar to a young child, but after the trial, Scout seems to have grown up, and is no longer as innocent as she was. Scout’s change of point of view shows that the title is indeed significant because it signifies Scout’s loss of innocence.

In the Shakespearean play Much Ado About Nothing, the use of a pun is in place with the title, giving it significance to the play as a whole. The entire play is centered around the mishaps that happen to a group of people, all of them interrelated. Many misfortunes occur in the play, all of them caused by eavesdropping, such as the entire misunderstanding between Hero and Claudio. Problems due to eavesdropping repeat themselves many times through out this novel. Due to this strong repetition of eavesdropping, it is clear that the word “nothing” in the title is a pun to the word “noting”, which means eavesdropping because the word “nothing” also can be pronounced “noting”.

Through the use of the point of view of an innocent child, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has given the title of the novel a significant meaning. Similarly, the play Much Ado About Nothing has also given a significance to the title, this time through the use of a repetitive theme.

Open Prompt 2

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. Avoid plot summary.

There are always characters in a plot line that don't quite seem right; like something is wrong with them. Truthfully, this does happen in literature such as in An Inspector Calls, where Inspector Goole is quite a unrealistic character. However unrealistic Inspector Goole is, there is definitely a realistic element of his presence to the rest of the play.

Inspector Goole's role in the plot is surely a significant one- the entire plot revolves around him. When he first enters the scene, Goole seems to be a somewhat normal person, just there to investigate a suicide. However, as the story progress, Goole just seems to get more unrealistic. He knows little details about every family member, as well as specific details relating them to this girl, Eva Smith. The family members find it strange how he knows everything, and this adds to the realistic elements of the drama. The fact that all of the family members had done something undeniably wrong is enforced with his presence; had his unrealistic or even supernatural powers not been there, the family would not have realized their wrongdoings, defeating the moral of the drama.

Inspector Goole's name is already quite a bit unrealistic- it resembles Ghoul, which means ghost, thus implying that Inspector Goole is a ghost. This is related to his ghost like powers, such as foresight and excessive knowledge about the family's deeds and behaviors. If it were not for his ghostly qualities, the story would not have been as eerie as it was. Near the end of the drama, it is revealed that at that point, there was no Eva Smith that had committed suicide, deeming Inspector Goole to be a fake. However, even closer to the end of the story, it was revealed that an Eva Smith had just been checked in to the infirmary; this makes Inspector Goole seem even more like a ghost. If Inspector Goole had not ghost like qualities, the fact that Eva Smith had died would not have been as important.

Although An Inspector Calls is full of unrealistic characters, Inspector Goole is the one unrealistic character that stands out of the crowd due to his many traits, causing most of the realistic elements in this drama.

Open Prompt

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 the 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.

Moral ambiguity is commonplace in literature, not just with minor characters, but with main characters as well. George Milton from Of Mice and Men is a morally ambiguous character that contributes significantly to the plotline of the novel when he does certain acts that can make readers question his motives. Through these many acts, George can be seen either as morally good or morally evil, and his questionable morality can ultimately be seen through the death of Lennie Smalls.

During the heart of the Great Depression, George and Lennie arrive on a ranch to find work. When they first arrive near the ranch, it is shown that George is a morally sound man, shown as a caretaker for Lennie, warning him against drinking dirty water. Even though it seems to be this way, there are points in the novel in which readers can question George’s true morality. Such a moment occurs when George prompts Lennie to punch Curly. Had George not prompted Lennie to do such a deed, many of their problems would not have occurred, which can make George a morally ambiguous character. George also forces readers to question his morality when he kills Lennie near the end of the novel. Although some may say that this is an act of love, like Slim believed, it is also arguable whether or not it actually was out of love. Although George loves Lennie very much, due to the moral ambiguity of his actions, it can be seen that at times, George is slightly annoyed and impatient, which can leads to the moral ambiguity in this novel.

Moral ambiguity is significant to many works of literature, and in George’s case, is no different. George, arguably one of the most important characters in Of Mice and Men, creates many problems due to his moral ambiguity, with the outcome being the death of Lennie. George’s moral ambiguity caused many questions to arise from the novel, such as his true affections for Lennie; sometimes, it seems that George is only taking care of Lennie due to his prior commitment to Lennie’s aunt, while at other times, it seems as if George genuinely cares about Lennie. This inner banter, shown through moral ambiguity, is essential, creating part of the conflict in this novel.

Although George and Lennie appear to be friends on the surface, many of George’s morally ambiguous actions make readers question the truth, causing part of the conflict. Had George not been so morally ambiguous, the novel would be missing an essential plotline, making George, the morally ambiguous character, all the more important to the plotline and to the novel as a whole.