English II
Ms. Burns
December 2014
Pre-Assessment Sample Essays
Essay #1 (Block 5A use this one)
Friends and enemies can be very similar and very different. One person has
control over who they choose to trust and unfortunately, most of the time, it
backfires. Both excerpts, “A Poison Tree” and “Enemies” prove this. Someone can
not put full trust into another without learning it was a mistake in the end.
In Blake’s “A Poison Tree” it portray the message that it is better to let go of
one’s anger than hold on to it but it is important to be careful of who the anger is
being let go towards. In the poem it states, “I was angry with my foe; I told it not, my
wrath did grow.” This proves that holding onto anger can make the situation
dangerous. “I sunned it with smiles and with soft deceitful wiles.” This suggests that
the character is putting on fake smiles and both them and the foe can not be trusted.
This theme is showed in O’Brien’s “Enemies” in many different ways. Strunk
and Jensen are fighting over a missing jackknife. Jensen is in fear of what Strunk may
do to him and suggests, “The distinction between good guys and bad guy
disappeared for him.” He questions who to trust, and who his enemies or true
friends actually are. Later in the short story Strunk admits, “I stole his jackknife.”
This proves that no one can be trusted with anything. This occurred directly after
Jensen and Strunk claimed to be “square” with one another.
To conclude, for all of the reasons above both of these excerpts can suggest a
theme that no one can be trusted. You have to be careful whom you deal with in life.
Pick and choose the friend and enemies of someone’s life very carefully.
English II
Ms. Burns
December 2014
Pre-Assessment Sample Essays
Essay #2 (Blocks 2B & 5B use this one)
Everyone has kept their mouth shut about their opinion and feelings before.
Both “Enemies” by Tim O’Brien and “A Poison Tree” by William Blake showcase
what happens when feelings are bottled up. The shared theme between the writings
is if a person does not learn to talk about their feelings, those feelings will grow and
manifest into all that person thinks about, shown by fearing who caused these
feelings, and how these feelings build and explode, or pour, out of a person.
When hiding feelings one might think about them often especially if they see
the cause to their feelings. In “Enemies” a guy named Dave Jensen breaks the nose of
of another man named Lee Strunk. The author writes, “Jensen would be sitting with
his back against a stone wall, weapon across his knees, watching Lee Strunk with
quick, nervous eyes.” Jensen felt terrible for Strunk’s nose but was too afraid to
apologize that paranoia set in. “A Poison Tree” is similar and describes, “I was angry
with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow.” The author, William Blake ever told
the person who made him angry how he felt so his hatred towards him grew the
more he thought about it. This goes to show feelings will grow if they are allowed to.
In the end, thoughts and feelings build until a person cannot take it anymore.
O’Brien wrote about Jensen’s fear pushes him over the edge that he even breaks hiss
own nose as a truce between him and Strunk. In Blake’s poem he writes, “Till it bore
an apple bright, and my foe beheld it shine, and he knew that it was mine—.“ The
narrator was talking about how they made up when his foe came to befriend him.
Both different endings but both shows that it’s important to talk out feelings.
Without speaking about how one feels, they can possibly become depressed
from lack of communication. As humans everyone needs to communicate one way
or another. They could end up like Jensen if they do not.