Independent Novel Essay
Choose one of the following prompts. You will be writing a 2-3 page essay that addresses the prompt and submitting it to Turnitin.com.
Prompt #1:
In his novel, Death Be Not Proud, writer John Gunther expresses the following sentiment: "Scientists will save us all." Using your book’s characters, plot, theme(s) and other elements, compose a short essay that explains the truth or falsehood of the quote (“Scientists will save us all.”). Remember that the essay is not YOUR opinion about the quote, but your Novel’s comment/connection with it.
Prompt #2:
Literary critic Roland Barthes once wrote, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” In a short essay, explain how your novel expresses important questions or ideas, but not definitive answers. Make sure that you address why the questions are more important or as important in the novel than the answers.
Prompt #3:
Writer Italo Calvino noted that “a classicis a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.” How does this idea of timeliness and timelessness relate to your novels? Consider characters, themes, symbols, motifs, and the like as your develop your essay. Make sure you include specifics from the novel that prove that your generalizations are valid.
Prompt #4:
Write an essay that explains how the authors of your novel uses the personal weakness(es) of the main characters to comment on humankind in general. Make sure that you explain the character weakness(es) and what those weaknesses(es) not only reveal about him or her but about people in general.
Prompt #5:
Using a novel that contains important secrets, write a short essay that explains why the secret/s of the novels must be kept (at least for a time) and how the character’s choice to keep or reveal the secret affect the plot and the overall theme/meaning of the work as a whole.
Prompt #6:
Many works of literary merit contain characters that are morally ambiguous - that is to say that cannot be classified as mainly good or purely evil. Write an essay which explains how at least one character in your books can be considered morally ambiguous. Additionally, write why this character's moral ambiguity is important to meaning (theme) of the work as a whole.
Prompt #7:
Write a well-organized essay describing the activities or objects in your chosen novel that seem to be symbolic (archetypes are kinds of symbols). How does the symbolism make the meaning or theme of the novel clearer?