Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question
minus the answer.” Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation,
write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the
extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this
question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot
summary.
Many works of literature contain a character who
intentionally deceives others. The character’s dishonesty may be intended
either to help or to hurt. Such a character, for example, may choose to mislead
others for personal safety, to spare someone’s feelings, or to carry out a
crime. Choose a novel or play in which a character deceives others. Then, in a
well-written essay, analyze the motives for that character’s deception and
discuss how the deception contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Many works of literature not readily identified with the
mystery or detective story genre nonetheless involve the investigation of a
mystery. In these works, the solution to the mystery may be less important than
the knowledge gained in the process of its investigation. Choose a novel or
play in which one or more of the characters confront a mystery. Then write an
essay in which you identify the mystery and explain how the investigation
illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
