I am Taking a Test, Therefore, I Am
PART I
Respond to one of the following persuasive essay prompts. You should not feel limited to
five paragraphs, but you should write a well-organized essay.
KEY TEXTS= “No Exit”, The Stranger, and “The Myth of Sisyphus”
Details--Incorporate as much specific text reference as you can. You should not
summarize the texts but use specific details from them to support your point.
Assume I know the stories but you want to highlight or point out the relevant text
that support or illustrate what you are saying.
In this section your support should be mainly drawn from the texts, but you may
further your discussion with examples from when you were at Band Camp or that
movie you saw that one time. This, however, may best be reserved for the
conclusion.
Be explicit—Define, in your own words, the terms you’re using (you may use the
official definition first, but show you know what it means by paraphrasing or
focusing on the key element of the term’s meaning).
Explain your points as if I am an idiot. Incorporate the concepts regardless of
whether the question explicitly demands it. You MUST use at least three of the
terms in bold:
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Subjectivity
Essence/existence
Good Faith/ Living in Bad Faith
Absurd world
Responsibility
Choice and Commitment
Ethics/ Morality
Alienation or Estrangement
Write clearly—your ability to express yourself clearly is always part of an essay test.
Organize your thoughts into paragraphs and transition between them smoothly.
Use clear and specific language throughout. See the standard rubric for specific
criteria.
Topics (You may propose, in writing, an alteration to one of the questions for my approval before we go
to the library).
1. Expand upon the argument you made for which character lived in bad faith to the greatest degree
in “No Exit”. Compare or contrast the “No Exit” character with a character from The Stranger.
In your essay, incorporate existentialism’s relevant ideas and specific details from the play and
novel.
2. Apply the concepts of Subjectivity and Bad Faith to the novel The Stranger to examine
Meursault.
3. Camus states in his preface to The Stranger that he wrote the novel as an argument that in this
absurd world, a man could be sentenced to death for not crying at his mother’s funeral. Using
the novel as a source for examples that develop this claim, explain his argument in essay form.
4. “Meursault is the only Christ we deserve,” to paraphrase Camus. Write out what he
means. Argue that Meursault is a heroic character and develop your interpretation and
support of Camus’ statement.
5. “Hell is other people.” And yet other people are necessary to create our “self”. What about role
models, family values, and social status? Argue for or against what Sartre and Camus say is
wrong about depending on others to understand ourselves and the world.
6. “To be without value and meaning is also to be without standards for behavior… "Without God,
all is permitted." –Dostoevsky. Indeed, if the loss of God means the loss of all meaning and
value, then actions are without meaning or value either, and one cannot say that it matters
whether actions are ‘right’ or ‘wrong,’ since those words, or the corresponding actions, don't
mean anything more than anything else.” (Fresian.com) Be an existentialist and write the
argument that this is a true thing and a positive thing. Use our key texts for examples and support
as well examples from your life, literature, or whatever else shapes your world view.
7. Critics of absurdism tend to focus on two areas of the philosophy. The first is the proposition, as
Camus described, that life's absence of meaning seems to remove any reason for living. Camus
answers this with methods of living with the absurd: through coping or through revolt — and by
pointing out that this lack of purpose presents humankind with true freedom. Others consider the
theory itself to be arrogant, stating that although the purpose of life may not be apparent, that
does not confirm that it does not exist. Argue one side of this argument using our key texts for
examples and support as well examples from your life, literature, or whatever else shapes your
world view.