Becky Talk Cushing H.S. Cushing, TX
Ethan Frome Open Questions
1980 A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.
1985 A critic has said that one important measure of a superior work of literature is its ability to produce in the reader a healthy confusion of pleasure and disquietude. Select a literary work that produces this “healthy confusion.” Write an essay in which you explain the sources of the
“pleasure and disquietude” experienced by the readers of the work.
2003
According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning.”
Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.
2005
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 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. Avoid mere plot summary.
2006 Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance.
Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
2007 In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present actions, attitudes, or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character’s relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.

Becky Talk Cushing H.S. Cushing, TX
1980 prompt: 1. the nature of the conflict
2. effects of the conflict upon Ethan
3. significance to the work (theme)
--Mattie: shared interest in nature
--Ethan shows her the “Pleaides”
--She listens to him, rapt at everything he says vs.
--contrasted with Zeena, she looks especially attractive
--Zeena—they go to bed without looking at each other
--Zeena always complaining, always sick
--Zeena stopped talking to him early in the marriage
--Ethan tries to find ways out so he can leave with
Mattie: none of them are viable—Zeena could sell sawmill and farm, she could open a store in town, neither of which will work.
--Ethan is legally bound to Zeena.
--It is in his nature to shoulder responsibility.

Becky Talk Cushing H.S. Cushing, TX
Ethan cannot bring himself to have an open conflict with Zeena. When she locks the door the night Ethan escorts Mattie home from the dance, Ethan worries all the next day that Zeena is beginning to understand why he is shaving daily and helping Mattie with the household chores in addition to running the sawmill and farm. He cannot stand up to her and forbid her to go to the new doctor in Bettsbridge, even though he cannot afford a new doctor. He is completely cowed by Zeena’s silent brooding and constant maladies. Therefore, it is not in his nature to stand up and fight for Mattie when Zeena throws her out for a new “hired girl.” All he can manage in the way of defiance is to take Mattie to the train station himself. Nor can he stand up to Mattie when she whispers the idea of suicide to him. He is a man who cannot stand up to women and take his happiness by force. Even if he could, the constraints of society in the early 1900s force his hand.
The novel Ethan Frome illustrates the thematic idea of a person conflicted between love and duty. Because Ethan cannot be with Mattie and cannot live with Zeena, he is involved in a “classic war,” one that will end only when he lies crippled at the base of the elm tree, and Mattie becomes a
“querulous” woman bound completely to Zeena.

Becky Talk Cushing H.S. Cushing, TX
Scoring Guide for the Open Question
8-9 essay
 effectively and cohesively addresses the prompt
 refers to an appropriate work for the task
 provides specific and relevant references from the text to support the thesis
 presents the writer’s ability to perceive the relationship between text and subtext
 displays a clear and mature writing style (9 essays possess impressive style)
6-7 essay
 adequately addresses the prompt
 appropriately refers to the chosen work
 displays an analysis/discussion on target
 makes use of appropriate references to the chosen work, though less well-developed
 expresses ideas with clarity but may possess a few errors in syntax and diction (7 essays possess a more mature writing style)
5 essay
 demonstrates an understanding of the prompt’s requirements
 possesses a limited or uneven analysis/discussion
 consists of more plot summary than analysis
 expresses ideas clearly, with few errors in syntax and diction
3-4 essay
 shows an inadequate response to the prompt
 reveals a misunderstanding, an oversimplification, or a misrepresentation of the chosen work
 contains inappropriate evidence in support of the thesis
 expresses ideas in a less effective, less mature writing style, with obvious errors in syntax and diction
1-2 essay
 indicates little success in addressing the prompt
 may reveal a serious misreading of the prompt or an unacceptable choice in the work
 consists of plot summary and undeveloped analysis (1 essays are often simplistic, disorganized, and unacceptably brief)
 expresses ideas in an ineffective, immature writing style with numerous errors

Becky Talk Cushing H.S. Cushing, TX
I.
1985 A critic has said that one important measure of a superior work of literature is its ability to produce in the reader a healthy confusion of pleasure and disquietude. Select a literary work that produces this “healthy confusion.” Write an essay in which you explain the sources of the “pleasure and disquietude” experienced by the readers of the work.
Thoroughly explain an element in Ethan Frome that produces a sense of pleasure. (Remember the shared experiences in nature of Mattie and Ethan; remember the meal together.)
Thoroughly explain an element in the novel that produces a sense of disquietude. (If the result of the sled ride and the subsequent way they all live is not disquieting, nothing in literature is!)
(Remember how many people have visited those three? Remember how the narrator got there in the first place, only by an extreme snowstorm?)
II.
2003 According to critic Northrop Frye, “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning.”
Select a novel or play in which a tragic figure functions as an instrument of the suffering of others. Then write an essay in which you explain how the suffering brought upon others by that figure contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.
Which tragic figure in Ethan Frome functions as an instrument of the suffering of others?
Explain the suffering that this character brings upon others. (Don’t look just at the condition of their bodies. Look at where everybody ended up. Did anybody really escape? Which character has a “querulous” voice at the end of the novel? How is that ironic? Remember those aspects of
Mattie’s character that drew Ethan to her in the first place.)

Becky Talk Cushing H.S. Cushing, TX
(In discussing how Zeena is affected, note the ironic aspect.)
What is the tragic vision of the work as a whole?
How does the suffering brought upon others contribute to the tragic vision of the work as a whole?
III.
2005 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 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. Avoid mere plot summary.
Identify a character in Ethan Frome who conforms outwardly while questioning inwardly.
Explain this character’s outward conformity. (Remember that Ethan is not suited for farming, that he wanted to study engineering and live in Florida. Remember what his marriage is really like. Remember the way the two treat each other when they go to bed at night. When Ethan is going to bed with Zeena, who is he thinking about? What is he looking at?)
Explain this character’s inward questioning.
How does this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contribute to the meaning of the work?

Becky Talk Cushing H.S. Cushing, TX
IV.
2006 Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance. Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
Is the country in Ethan Frome a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance?
Thoroughly explain the elements of the country that Starkfield, Massachusetts possesses. (Don’t forget the name!)
What does this setting have to do with what happens to Ethan, Mattie, and Zeena? (Remember that the only form of transportation is by horseback. Remember that they are snowed in for months in an unforgiving climate. Remember that some people’s occupation (Zeena) is mainly complaining about their “troubles.”)
Would the same thing have happened in a city? Why or why not?
How does the country setting function in the work as a whole? (Remember at the first of the novel that Harmon Gow says, “Most of the smart ones get away.”)

Becky Talk Cushing H.S. Cushing, TX
V.
2007 In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present actions, attitudes, or values of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in which you show how the character’s relationship to the past contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Which character has to contend with some aspect of the past?
What has happened to this character in the past?
How has what has happened in the past affected this character? (Remember Ethan driving by the graveyard where his parents are buried? Remember the reason he married Zeena in the first place?)
Has this character had a positive experience with the past? Why or why not?
How has the character’s experience with the past affected the meaning of the work as a whole?