Senior English Novel Prompts by Period #

Use the instructions below to write your final essay on your book you've read for your class.

THIS IS THE COMMON CORE STANDARD YOU'VE USED TO READ YOUR TEXT:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

Period 1: The Alchemist

pp.63-163 Due Tuesday, October 27th by midnight.

​1. In The Alchemist, the author Paulo Coelho raises the idea that all individuals should live in the singular pursuit of their individual dreams; that they should pursue their Personal Legends above anything else in their lives. This emerges as the primary theme of The Alchemist. How does this notion manifest in the major characters in the novel? In what ways is this theme both realistic and problematic?

​Then write a well-organized 5 paragraph essay in which you explore the validity of this assertion using examples from your reading, observation, studies or personal experience to develop your position.

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Period 5: The Bluest Eye

pp. 110-206 Due Tuesday, October 27th by midnight.

Choose ONE of the following to expand on: 
1. Compare Pecola's character to Claudia's. Which of these two characters is better able to reject white, middle-class America's definitions of beauty? Support your answer with examples from the text.
2. Discuss the symbolism associated with Shirley Temple in the novel. What does she represent to Pecola? What might she represent to Maureen Peal?
3. Discuss Cholly's dysfunctional childhood. What is his definition of what a family should be? Does knowing about his upbringing affect your reactions when he rapes Pecola? Why or why not?
4. How does Toni Morrison present gender relations in the novel? Are men and women's relationships generally portrayed positively or negatively? Support your answer with examples from the text.

Period 4: The Stranger

pp. 81-123 Due Tuesday, October 27th by midnight.

CHOOSE ONLY ONE PROMPT BELOW:
1. Discuss the style of The Stranger. How does Meursault’s language correspond to the subjects he describes? Does it evolve or change as the novel goes on? Does the stripped-down prose of the novel’s first half limit its expressive power?
2. Is Meursault really a threat to his society? Does he deserve the death penalty? Is he more or less dangerous than a criminal who commits a crime with clear motive?
3. In his jail cell, Meursault finds an old newspaper article about a Czechoslovakian man who is murdered by his mother and sister. How does this article relate to Meursault’s own trial for murder? How does this article expand the themes in The Stranger? How does it support Camus’s philosophy of the absurd?
4. Analyze the passages describing Meursault’s walk down the beach before he kills the Arab. How does Camus build tension in the passage? How is it different from the passages preceding it? Meursault says at his trial that he killed the Arab because of the sun. Is this explanation at all valid?

See Some Examples
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