Literary argument
An object whose meaning changes
- Units 3 and 6
- 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 pointsIn many works of literature, an ordinary object (something worn, kept, given or lost) gathers meaning as the work goes on. Different characters may see it differently, and its meaning may shift as the characters change. Choose a novel or play in which an object takes on significant and changing meaning. You may use a work from your own reading or one from the list below. Write an essay that analyzes how the object and its changing meaning contribute 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: The Catcher in the Rye Death of a Salesman A Doll's House Fences The Glass Menagerie Great Expectations The Great Gatsby Hamlet Homegoing The Kite Runner Lord of the Flies Moby-Dick The Namesake Othello The Piano Lesson The Picture of Dorian Gray A Raisin in the Sun The Scarlet Letter Silas Marner A Streetcar Named Desire The Things They Carried
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