AP English Independent Play/Novel Essential Question Project—120 points
The following topics are found in William Shakespeare’s Othello
gender
value
betrayal
relationships
identity
reputation
status
love (and/or hate)
1. Alice Walker’s The Color Purple*^: gender, relationships, identity, love, betrayal, status,
values
2. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening*: gender, relationships, identity, values, reputation
3. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye^: gender, relationships, status, identity, values, betrayal
4. Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre*: gender, relationships, identity, love, reputation, status,
values
5. Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: gender, relationships, identity, reputation,
status, values
6. Laura Esquival’s Like Water for Chocolate^: gender, relationships, identity, love,
betrayal, values, reputation, status
7. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible*: relationships, status, values, identity, betrayal, reputation
8. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman*: relationships, status, values, identity, betrayal,
reputation, love
9. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road: love, relationships, values, identity
10. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath*: relationships, status, values, identity, love/hate,
betrayal
11. Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude^: gender, relationships, status,
identity, love/hate, betrayal, values, reputation
12. Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises: gender, relationships, status, identity,
reputation, values, love
13. Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima*: relationships, status, identity, values, love
*Best choices for AP Exam (often appear as suggestions for Question 3)
^Mature scenes
You may not read a work that was read in a prior English class.
Each of you must, while reading Othello and your selected novel/play:

Choose two topics from the list provided with Othello and your selected work and write a
thoughtful reflection (no more than two pages double-spaced) about your interest in these
subjects and your knowledge about them (due March 28)—read second bullet for
additional requirement.

Turn each subject into at least two guiding essential questions per topic that you will
consider as you read (four questions total). Examples: How does gender shape our
actions? Why do people care about their reputations? Why do people love even when it
hurts? How do people cope with betrayal?
You may want to read online summaries of the books to help you create your questions.
Include these guiding questions at the end of your two-page write due March 28. Then,
create a bookmark with these guiding questions and use the bookmark as you read
Othello and your play/novel to remind you of your guiding essential questions.

Annotate your copies of the texts (if you purchase your own books) by underlining key
passages and making notes when the plays/novels present scenes and characters that
address your guiding questions. If you do not buy your own copies to annotate, please
use post-its or record notes on paper to indicate key passages and notes that address your
questions. (must turn in with final paper)

Complete the book notes/play notes for your selected choice work and submit to
turnitin.com (due May 1)

Synthesize what you have learned about two of the four essential questions by creating
a 5-7 page essay. Include your two questions in the introduction and then provide a thesis
that provides an insightful, connected answer to your questions. Be sure to include exact
quotations and specific summarized scenes in your body paragraphs to support the works’
answers to your questions. Include MLA parenthetical documentation and an MLA
Works Cited page for the two works you are discussing. Submit the paper to turnitin.com
and turn in hard copy of the essay.
On May 3, the day of submission, you will have 45-minutes to discuss your
writing with other students, and then you will take a 45-minute timed essay
test about your independent book/play—book notes/play notes may be used.
April 17 Ac Lab—10 bonus points for those who attend the Othello in a Breath
show performed by the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. Attend the show and
write a short paragraph describing two things you enjoyed about the
performance.