2009 Open Prompt Student Responses

Student 3A Response: This response demonstrates a highly sophisticated understanding of the prompt and successfully uses the essay to discuss the depth with which the actual wild duck in Henrik Ibsen's play, The Wild Duck, serves as a symbol. The student starts by explaining the purpose of a symbol in literature from a general perspective and then provides enough plot explanation to give the reader enough of an understanding of the symbol to continue with more specific examples. Although the explanation does take the reader through the plot, every point ultimately contributes to an effective and detailed discussion of the role of the symbol. While the handwriting was not the clearest, it did not impede the clarity of the writing. Because of the overall sophistication and treatment of the prompt, this was clearly one of the strongest essays the College Board received and thus is certainly deserving of a 9/9.

Student 3B Response: This essay lacks the sophistication of the first one, but still manages to form an in-depth analysis of Tennessee Williams’ play, A Street Car Named Desire, by explaining the role of lampshades in revealing the character traits of Blanche. Overall, this essay could have benefitted from more structure, especially at the beginning. It seems that the student was not sure what angle he/she wanted to take on the play but became increasingly sure of the direction as it went on, causing what I guessed to be the thesis statement to occur later and without a formal introduction. I was only able to figure out what the key points were by following the focus of the paragraphs and reading the conclusion. In addition, the student only seems to focus on the lampshade’s importance to Blanche and perhaps could have used its relationship to other characters to help strengthen the argument. Despite these issues it still earned a respectable 6/9.

Student 3C Response: While this student seems to understand the plot of Things Fall Apart, by an author that he/she neglected to mention, the essay severely lacks depth and gives a very poor overall representation of how the symbol (a machete) is important in forwarding the plot and development of the main characters. The essay uses first person, including the dreaded “in my opinion,” to start what should have been a critical point, completely eliminating any kind of authority from the tone of the piece. The sentences in general are far too casual and short, imitating normal speech more than a grammatically precise analysis. Aside from issues with sentence structure and convention, the response also fails to convince the reader that the student knows exactly what his/her textual references really mean. If he/she does, they are covered briefly and imprecisely, with little to no structure. Because of these serious shortcomings, the essay earned a mediocre 4/9. 

Response to Course Material

During the past few weeks, we have almost exclusively devoted our class time and homework to Shakespeare's Hamlet, whether by reading the text as a group, discussing it, taking practice tests over it, or writing forums about related materials. While we usually have other activities in addition to the major book we are reading, I think it has been good to focus primarily on Hamlet because it is by far the most difficult literature we have covered this year. The archaic diction is dense on its own, but even understanding the plot requires considerable effort. Hamlet is probably one of the most written-about works in the English language due to its deep psychological insight and discussion of human nature which has opened criticism and analysis of all kinds from the Elizabethan era to the present day.

As part of our own analysis, we responded to three sources in an online forum. The first was an audio about convicts learning and performing Hamlet in a high-security prison. This was especially thought-provoking because of the emotional ties some of the prisoners formed with the characters and each other through the process. The second was an account of an American woman trying to explain Hamlet to tribal members of the Tiv in West Africa. While intriguing, I found the style mildly condescending towards the tribe members and had a difficult time seeing the great revelation about Hamlet's universality she claimed to be writing about. The third was a poem by Rimbaud meditating on Ophelia's death and her connection to nature. Out of the three, this was the most helpful for developing some thoughts of my own on her behavior in the play.

Aside from Hamlet, we also completed a forum post about the literature from first semester. I ended up connecting themes in Ceremony to Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese," but other posts were regarding the other books we covered.

In class this week, we will be watching a version of Hamlet and annotating on our own. I think this will help to improve the quality of our next discussion.

Response to 2008 Open Prompt

"In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil for the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work."

Because they often demonstrate qualities about the main character that are not easily conveyed through mere exposition, the most successful foils appear in novels that focus on the development or coming of age of the main character. Such an example is The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, which centers around the life of a Mexican-born girl named Esperanza living in a poor Latino section of Chicago. A major subject of the book, which is told in a series of vignettes, is the role of women in a society that favors early marriage and male authority. Esperanza's friend, Sally, serves to highlight her own resistance to these trends through her poor judgement and promiscuity.

In several of the early vignettes, such as "Chanclas," "Hips," or "Family of Little Feet," we see Esperanza developing a sense of self-consciousness that comes with sexual maturity. In "Hips," her friends sing a jump-rope rhyme about wanting hips when they grow up. In "Family of Little Feet," Esperanza sees the risks of wearing high heels when her friend is approached by a much older man. Esperanza's sexual awareness leads to a larger degree of caution about men. As a result, Cisneros introduces Sally as a friend that Esperanza wants to protect from sexual exploitation. Sally contrasts physically in that she is described as naturally attractive while Esperanza sees herself as ugly. She also contrasts behaviorally in the way she agrees to kiss several boys to get her keys back from a threatening boy, Tito. Esperanza tries to defend her, but ends up hiding behind a tree. On one hand, both Sally and Esperanza come from unhappy households, but Sally faces domestic abuse and seems to retaliate through promiscuity. On the other hand, Esperanza uses discomfort as a means to separate herself and grow as an individual, which is why she pursues writing.

In addition to dealing with sexual awareness and domestic instability differently, Esperanza and Sally follow different paths in society. As we find out in "Linoleum Roses," Sally chooses to marry a much older man before high school, essentially submitting to the authority of an older man in order to escape that of her parents. Esperanza chooses to find independence instead, strongly desiring to leave Mango Street altogether. In "Red Clowns," when Esperanza is sexually assaulted and blames Sally for not being there to protect her, it is implied that Sally is not there because she is with boys. In this way, Esperanza and Sally are reacting to sexual interaction in completely opposite ways: For Sally it is an escape and for Esperanza it is entrapment.

The way Sally and Esperanza react and interact in the novel helps to illustrate Esperanza's need to escape and her association of marriage with submission and failure, and independence with empowerment and success. These associations clarify a great deal about Esperanza's motivations and thus make Sally an integral part of the novel's progression and message.

Open Prompt 2008

Student 3A: This student writes about Lindo and Huang as foils in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. While a considerable amount of writing is devoted to the summary of the plot, it ultimately serves as effective evidence for the argument. The student does an excellent job using this evidence to both correctly portray the contrast among these two characters and at the same time demonstrate a deep understanding of the novel's meaning, thus deserving an 8. These types of essays have considerably more leeway in how they are allowed to analyze the literature because there is not available text to use as evidence and shape what a "correct" analysis should be. In addition, the analyses tend to be more deeply focused on one aspect or situation in the novel because the students cannot possibly tie together all of the material in the book with such limited time. For example, complete analysis of The Joy Luck Club would require a stance on all of the vignettes while this focuses on only the ones required to answer the prompt when regarding the novel's overarching message

Student 3B: This essay does a fine job of analyzing Celie as a character and how she is influenced by other minor characters, suggesting that the student focused on the part of the prompt that mentioned secondary characters. Unfortunately, the essay falls short when it fails to properly regard one character as a foil. In addition, it fails to mention the author of The Color Purple and in addition has a style that implies the reader is very familiar with the course of the novel. Because I am not, I had a hard time following exactly how some of the major references were intended to forward the argument. No doubt the graders were indeed familiar with it, and thus recognized the merit of the argument regardless of a lack of clarity and focus. Because of this, it earns a respectable 6. Had the student made it clear whether Shug or Celie's father are the foil, it may have been in contention for a higher score.

Student 3C: This student chose to tackle The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and although had some promising comparisons between Hassan and Baba, they were simply stated and not developed, nor supported with examples from the text. The student also seems to confuse the role of a foil in general by suggesting both characters help to demonstrate the same qualities in each other, even after mentioning how they contrasted in other ways. The essay also lacks organization, which is not surprising since it did not contain great deal available to organize. The "introduction" does little more than confuse the reader, especially with the use of a word that I simply could not recognize due to both the lack of context and poor handwriting. Overall, the essay gives a muddled interpretation of the novel with little overall analysis and little understanding of what a foil actually is, earning it a 4.

The House on Mango Street Summary and Analysis

The House on Mango Street is told in the first person limited by the main character, Esperanza, in a series of vignettes. The beginning deals with her frustrations about living on Mango Street and how she hopes to move away and have a house of her own. The novel paints a picture of Latina culture as we see different family members and interactions at school through Esperanza's eyes. The novel also covers a great deal about Esperanza's sexual development, as she deals with Sally, a more sexually adventurous friend, and the burden of living as a Latina female. To endure these challenges, writes. In the end she resolves to return to Mango Street to help those who remain after she moves on.

The novel uses a great deal of imagery and is written in a personal and at times childish tone. The motifs include women looking out windows, representing lack of satisfaction with married life, and clouds, which function as both a motif and symbol representing possibly hopes and aspirations. Trees are a prominent symbol as Esperanza seems to liken her own struggle to that of a tree attempting to escape its routes to reach the sky (related to clouds).

"In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting."
Indicates that she is of two origins, the Mexican and American, and they both play a role in her identity, sometimes conflicting but mainly producing a mix of cultural associations. It could also suggest that her parents consider her to be a glimmer of promise amidst poverty and social injustice-- a hope born out of sadness.

"Sally, you lied, you lied. He wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you, I love you, Spanish girl."
This is from "Red Clowns" where Esperanza is sexually assaulted. The quote shows her conflicts with Sally and her struggle to confront the misconceptions about boys and sex that she has seen in popular culture which contrasts with the stark and unforgiving reality about what can happen to vulnerable women at a very impressionable age.

In Cisneros' novel, we see that one can overcome significant hardship in the form of poverty, racism, gender inequality, and abuse by finding individual strength and understanding, allowing one to embrace his/her origins to help his/her family or society of origin.

Response to Course Material

Despite having a break during this blog cycle, we have covered a large amount of material, mostly related to The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. After annotating on our own, we discussed many different motifs and themes in class. I found the most interesting motif to be the way that many of the older women look out the window. This not only represented their unhappiness, but also commented on the nature of the woman's role in poor Latino neighborhoods and perhaps the institution of marriage as it relates to educational and professional opportunities, or the lack of them, for Latina women. I thought we covered a lot of other interesting points during class, especially when we participated in the "round table discussion." I thought this gave a lot of people a chance to share insights that they would not have contributed in the larger group.

We also briefly covered different literary eras and critical perspectives in a power point presentation. Most of the presentation was on information I covered in detail in American Lit, but there were a few new elements as well. It was interesting to hear about postmodern elements such as the simulacrum, which we discussed in American Lit, but not in as much detail. Mrs. Holmes also mentioned how contemporary literature implements "stream of consciousness" writing. It's surprising how much we rely on antecedents to follow traditional prose, and the lack of them makes even simple descriptions turgid.

We also recently started Shakespeare's Hamlet. In preparation, we read two articles about Elizabethan theater. I look forward to reading Hamlet in class and beginning to decipher this incredibly complex piece of writing that has captivated scholars for centuries. In eighth grade, I read it on my own and analyzed in from a psychoanalytical perspective. This time I look forward to seeing it from other angles and forming a stronger understanding of the play.

Response to question 2 from 2008 exam

     In this excerpt from Desai's Fasting, Feasting, the tone can be characterized by Arun's insecurity and fear of his current situation, along with possible disgust. The passage can be broken into three different sections that build upon each other to show how uncomfortable Arun is with following his American hosts to the beach. The first section is from line one to twelve and shows general reluctance to follow Mrs. Patton to the beach. The second is from thirteen to thirty and shows Arun's awkward interaction with Melanie and an interesting depiction of Mrs. Patton. The final section, from line 31 to 55 shifts from a portrayal of Arun's actions to his observations about the town on his way to the beach. This serves to contrast urban and natural settings and how they align with his perspective.
   
    The first section uses a great deal of negative language, primarily when Mrs. Patton exclaims, using epizeuxis, "No, no, no. We're all three of us going." This helps to contrast Arun's quiet but persistent refusal to go to the beach with Mrs. Patton's desire to take advantage of the summertime. When Desai writes in line 1 that Arun "cannot plead work" it shows that he is much more comfortable serving his host family rather than becoming a member of it. In preferring work over leisure, he is not conforming to the American treatment of the summer. As we see later, this behavior is not intended to spite Mrs. Patton but has to do with his perception of the beach and nature in general. Overall, these opening paragraphs help to establish the reluctant mood Arun possesses on his walk to the beach.

   In the second section, the most important interaction is that between Melanie and Arun, which shows that Arun assumes the role of a servant over a reluctant guest and temporary member of the family by first acknowledging that Melanie can "lag even better" and then accepting that he should "help carry those baskets anyway." The other important interaction is between Arun and Mrs. Patton where she gives him a "radiant, lipsticked smile" in exchange for receiving help with the beach provisions. This presents Mrs. Patton as nearly a caricature of American ignorance with her blond hair and lipstick, entirely unaware that Arun's deliberately servile nature is not a gesture of politeness but rather discontent and insecurity. After all, she is the only one actually interested in enjoying summer for the sake of summer, as we can see with the line from Porgy and Bess.

  While Mrs. Patton represents the American way of life during the summer and thus embraces nature, Desai characterizes Arun in exactly the opposite way in the third section, where he looks at the wilderness and the "insidious green" with contempt. This response signifies his mistrust of the new environment. He "passionately" prefers the post office and "picture framers" because it is associated with labor and security. Desai portrays Arun in this way to make a statement about his failure to acclimate to the American way of life and its entanglement with the natural world, of which he wants no part.