AP English
Babienko
Culminating Essay on Crime and Punishment
I couldn’t decide on one – perhaps this is a good thing – so choose from the two the prompts listed
below, and go to town. You’ll have 1 hour 20 minutes to complete this essay. Remember to use apt
evidence from the text to support your argument.
Please circle the prompt you have chosen and attach this sheet to your essay when you turn it in.
1. Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a "discerning eye." In Crime and
Punishment Raskolnikov’s apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important
role. Write a well-organized essay in which you explain what his delusion or eccentric
behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the
"madness" to the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
2. The meaning of some literary works is often enhanced by sustained allusion to myths, the
Bible, or other works of literature. Crime and Punishment makes use of such a sustained
reference. Write a well-organized essay in which you explain the allusion that predominates
in the work and analyze how it enhances the work’s meaning. Avoid mere plot summary.