Literary argument
Misjudging another person
- 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 pointsIn many works of literature, a character badly misjudges another person, mistaking an enemy for a friend, a friend for an enemy, or someone's motives for something else entirely. The discovery of the mistake can change how the character sees others and themselves. Choose a novel or play in which a character significantly misjudges another character. You may use a work from your own reading or one from the list below. Write an essay that analyzes how the misjudgment and its discovery 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: Atonement The Crucible Emma Frankenstein Great Expectations The Great Gatsby King Lear The Mayor of Casterbridge Middlemarch Much Ado About Nothing Othello A Passage to India Persuasion Pride and Prejudice Rebecca The Remains of the Day Sense and Sensibility To Kill a Mockingbird Washington Square Wuthering Heights
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