ENG 471 Fall Essay Prompts--most prompts are taken from past AP Lit Exams

Directions: Read the prompts below and choose one prompt as the topic for your essay. More information to come!

Even though the prompts all contain language about choosing from your own reading, you have to choose a work that we have read in the course: Candide, "Cathedral," "Parker's Back," your summer reading novel, or your living poet's work.

Single Work Prompts:

“Parker’s Back” by Flannery O’Connor prompts (choose one):

1. Many works of literature explore a character’s sense of lacking something important in life. The character perceives an unfulfilled need which may be emotional, spiritual, financial, or something the character does not understand or cannot articulate. Either from your own reading or from the following list, 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. Do not merely summarize the plot.

2. Names are often keys to the significance of literary characters. Select a novel or play in which a central figure’s name gives access to that character’s ambiguity or complexity. Then write a well-organized essay analyzing how the name illuminates that character and informs the meaning of the work as a whole. (You could write about the Biblical allusions instead of or in addition to the names)

Candide by Voltaire (choose one)

3. 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.

4. Some works of literature focus on the conflict that can arise when characters of different generations respond to the same situation. Select a novel or play in which such contrasting perspectives play a pivotal role. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how the opposing viewpoints and values of older and younger characters contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

“Cathedral” by Raymond Carver prompts (choose one)

8. 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. (*You could also write about the tapes and/or the meal. In other words, you can write about more than one symbol in "Cathedral." )

9. In many works of literature, characters may be significantly affected by memories of the past. A character may be inspired by the past, haunted by the past, unable to let go of the past, or motivated by the past to craft a better future. Either from your own reading or from the list below, choose a work of fiction in which a character is significantly affected by a memory. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how the impact of the memory on the character contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot. (For this prompt, the wife's tapes come to mind)

10. “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. (This prompt works for Candide as well. I think of Pangloss especially.)

Synthesis/Combination of Texts:

11. “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. (Candide and “Cathedral”)

Blindness in Candide and “Cathedral” and/or “Parker’s Back”

12. 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.

(Candide is the lost sheep, Jaques the Anabaptist connects to the Good Samaritan; multiple allusions in “Parker’s Back”)

13. Other ideas? Peruse the list of past AP Lit FRQ3 prompts for ideas.