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THE CRUCIBLE AP ESSAY
Assignment and Topics
The following prompts are taken directly from previous AP exams. Choose one of the prompts below. Write
an essay responding to the prompt using The Crucible by Arthur Miller as the work you examine. Be sure
you understand the question before writing. Avoid mere plot summary. Rather, focus on answering the
question clearly and succinctly. Organize your essay effectively and support your ideas with specific
references to the work. Follow the StEvE method. Do not consult any secondary sources.
1. Morally ambiguous characters -- characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them
as purely evil or purely good -- are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or play in
which a morally ambiguous character (not necessarily the protagonist) plays a pivotal role. Then write an
essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her
moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole.
2. The eighteenth-century British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote, "No body, but he who has felt it, can
conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man's mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength,
both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time." From a novel or play choose a
character (not necessarily the protagonist) whose mind is pulled in conflicting directions by two
compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or influences. Then, in an essay, identify each of the two
conflicting forces and explain how this conflict within one character illuminates the meaning of the work
as a whole.
3. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess “that outward
existence which conforms, the inward life which questions.” In a novel or play that you have studied,
identify a character (not necessarily the protagonist) who conforms outwardly while questioning inwardly.
Then write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward
questioning contributes to the meaning of the work.
Submission Guidelines
You essay should be approximately 750 words. Please consult the course outline for general assignment
submission guidelines and follow them closely. On the due date, please staple everything together in the
following order:
Good copy
Rough copy
Outline
Brainstorm
Time Line
Essay assignment given
Essay brainstorm due
Essay outline due
Essay rough draft due
Essay due
Monday, October 6
Tuesday, October 7
Tuesday, October 7
Wednesday, October 8 or Friday, October 10
Tuesday, October 14
at the beginning of class
at the beginning of class
at the beginning of class
at the beginning of class
Evaluation
Completion and effort marks will be given at every step of the writing process. This means your brainstorm,
outline, and rough draft will be collected and marked. Please see the attached rubric for how the final essay
will be evaluated. This assignment is worth approximately 15% of your term grade.
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