Literary argument
A foil: two characters, two different choices
- Units 6 and 9
- 6 points
- About 40 minutes
You get a literary idea, such as a conflict between old and new, and pick a novel, story or play you know well, from your own reading or a list of about 40 works. Then you write an essay arguing how that idea contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole, without just summarizing the plot. On the exam: Free-response question 3 of 3 in Section II (3 essays in 2 hours, 55% of the exam score); about 40 minutes suggested; 6 points: thesis 1, evidence and commentary 4, sophistication 1.
The question
Suggested time: 40 minutes, including planning. There is no passage: you choose the work and write about it from memory. Pick a novel or play you know well enough to discuss specific scenes, choices and details.
Suggested time: 40 minutes
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The essay
6 pointsWriters often define a central character partly through another character who faces similar pressures but responds to them differently. Placed side by side, the two characters can reveal values, limits and possibilities that neither would show alone. Choose a novel or play in which a character serves as a foil to a central character. You may use a work from your own reading or one from the list below. Write an essay that analyzes how the relationship between the two characters contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole. Analyze rather than retell the plot. In your essay: • State a thesis that answers the prompt with a defensible interpretation. • Give specific evidence from the work that supports your line of reasoning. • Explain how that evidence supports your line of reasoning. • Use grammar and punctuation that make your argument clear. Suggested works: Antigone The Awakening The Bluest Eye Crime and Punishment Death of a Salesman A Doll's House East of Eden Fences Frankenstein The Great Gatsby Hamlet Jane Eyre King Lear The Kite Runner Little Women Lord of the Flies Middlemarch Never Let Me Go Passing The Picture of Dorian Gray Pride and Prejudice Sense and Sensibility Sula A Tale of Two Cities Things Fall Apart A Thousand Splendid Suns Wuthering Heights
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