INDEPENDENT READING ASSIGNMENT
ESSAY DUE: JANUARY 11, 2016
MS. SNELLGROVE
ESSAY PROMPTS: Choose one to answer. Essay should be 3 – 5 pages, typed, double spaced, 12-pt font (Times New Roman or
Arial Narrow Font).
1. In literary works, cruelty often functions as a crucial motivation or a major social or political factor. Select a novel, play, or epic
poem in which acts of cruelty are important to the theme. Then write a well-developed essay analyzing how cruelty functions in
the work as a whole and what the cruelty reveals about the perpetrator and/or victim.
2. It has often been said that what we value can be determined only by what we sacrifice. Consider how this statement applies to a
character from a novel or play. Select a character that has deliberately sacrificed, surrendered, or forfeited something in a way
that highlights that character’s values. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how the particular sacrifice
illuminates the character’s values and provides a deeper understanding of the meaning of the work as a whole. You may choose
a novel or play from the list below or one of comparable literary merit. Do not merely summarize the plot.
3. A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, recounts the psychological or moral development of its protagonist from youth to
maturity, when this character recognizes his or her place in the world. Select a single pivotal moment in the psychological or
moral development of the protagonist of a bildungsroman. Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how that single
moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole. You may choose a work from the list below or one of comparable literary
merit. Do not merely summarize the plot.
4. “And, after all, our surroundings influence our lives and characters as much as fate, destiny or any supernatural agency.” Pauline
Hopkins, Contending Forces Choose a novel or play in which cultural, physical, or geographical surroundings shape
psychological or moral traits in a character. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how surroundings affect this
character and illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. You may choose a work from the list below or one of comparable
literary merit. Do not merely summarize the plot.
5. In a novel by William Styron, a father tells his son that life “is a search for justice.” Choose a character from a novel or play who
responds in some significant way to justice or injustice. Then write a well-developed essay in which you analyze the character’s
understanding of justice, the degree to which the character’s search for justice is successful, and the significance of this search
for the work as a whole. You may choose a work from the list below or another work of comparable literary merit. Do not merely
summarize the plot.
Book Choices:
Albee THE ZOO STORY
Albee WHO'S AFRAID OF
VIRGINA WOOLF
Alcott LITTLE WOMEN
Baldwin GO TELL IT ON THE
MOUNTAIN
Baraka, Amiri and Leroi Jones
DUTCHMAN
Bauermister THE DOLLMAKER
Bulosan, Carlos AMERICA IS IN
THE HEART
Cao MONKEY BRIDGE
Chopin THE AWAKENING
Davis FIFTH BUSINESS
Divakaruni SISTER OF MY
HEART
Doctorow RAGTIME
Dreiser AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY
Dreiser SISTER CARRIE
Ellison INVISIBLE MAN
Erdrich LOVE MEDICINE
Faulkner ABSALOM, ABSALOM
Faulkner LIGHT IN AUGUST
James THE AMERICAN
James THE GOLDEN BOWL
James TURN OF THE SCREW
James WASHINGTON SQUARE
Jen TYPICAL AMERICAN
Jewett THE COUNTRY OF THE
POINTED FIRS
Johnson AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
AN EX-COLORED MAN
Kesey ONE FLEW OVER THE
CUCKOO'S NEST
Kingsolver POISONWOOD BIBLE
Kingston WOMAN WARRIOR
Knowles A SEPARATE PEACE
Kushner ANGELS IN AMERICA
Lee A GESTURE LIFE
Lee NATIVE SPEAKER
Lee TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Maclean A RIVER RUNS
THROUGH IT
Mailer ARMIES OF THE NIGHT
McCarthy ALL THE PRETTY
HORSES
Pielmeier AGNES OF GOD
Potok THE CHOSEN
Potok MY NAME IS ASHER LEV
Proulx THE SHIPPING NEWS
Rolvaag GIANTS IN THE EARTH
Roth AMERICAN PASTORAL
Salinger THE CATCHER IN THE
RYE
Sapphire PUSH
Saroyan THE HUMAN COMEDY
Silko CEREMONY
Smiley THOUSNAD ACRES
Steinbeck EAST OF EDEN
Steinbeck GRAPES OF WRATH
Stegner ANGLE OF REPOSE
Stowe UNCLE TOM'S CABIN
Styron SOPHIE’S CHOICE
Tan THE JOY LUCK CLUB
Tan THE BONESETTER'S
DAUGHTER
Twain HUCKLEBERRY FINN
Tyler DINNER AT THE
HOMESICK RESTAURANT
Wright BLACK BOY
Austen EMMA
Austen MANSFIELD PARK
Austen PERSUASION
Austen PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Beckett WAITING FOR GODOT
Bronte, C. JANE EYRE
Bronte, E. WUTHERING
HEIGHTS
Churchill THE CRISIS
Conrad HEART OF DARKNESS
Conrad VICTORY
Dante THE DIVINE COMEDY
Defoe MOLL FLANDERS
Defoe ROBINSON CRUSOE
Dickens BLEAK HOUSE
Dickens DAVID COPPERFIELD
Dickens GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Dickens HARD TIMES
Dickens OLIVER TWIST
Dickens TALE OF TWO CITIES
Dinesen OUT OF AFRICA
Eliot, G. ADAM BEDE
Faulkner SOUND AND THE FURY
Faulkner AS I LAY DYING
Fitzgerald GREAT GATSBY
Ford THE GOOD SOLDIER
Frazier COLD MOUNTAIN
Gaines A GATHERING OF OLD
MEN
Gaines A LESSON BEFORE
DYING
Glaspell TRIFLES
Guterson SNOW FALLING ON
CEDARS
Ha Jin A FREE LIFE
Hansberry RAISIN IN THE SUN
Hawthorne HOUSE OF SEVEN
GABLES
Hawthorne THE SCARLET
LETTER
Heller CATCH-22
Hemingway A FAREWELL TO
ARMS
Hemingway FOR WHOM THE
BELL TOLLS
Hemingway THE SUN ALSO
RISES
Hosseini KITE RUNNER
Hosseini A THOUSAND
SPLENDED SUNS
Hurston THEIR EYES WERE
WATCHING GOD
Irving A PRAYER FOR OWEN
MEANY
James DAISY MILLER
James PORTRAIT OF A LADY
McKay HOME TO HARLEM
Madox THE GOOD SOLDIER
Marlowe DR. FAUSTUS
Orwell 1984
Pinter THE CARETAKER
Pinter THE HOMECOMING
Shelley FRANKENSTEIN
Spark THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN
BRODIE
Sterne TRISTRAM SHANDY
Swift GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
Trollope THE WARDEN
Trollope THE WAY WE LIVE NOW
Waugh BRIDESHEAD REVISITED
Waugh THE LOVED ONE
Wilde THE IMPORTANCE OF
BEING EARNEST
Wilde LADY WINDERMERE"S
FAN
Woolf A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN
Woolf MRS. DALLOWAY
Woolf ORLANDO: A BIOGRAPHY
Woolf TO THE LIGHTHOUSE
Achebe THINGS FALL APART
Alvarez IN THE TIME OF
BUTTERFLIES
McCarthy THE CROSSING
McCarthy THE ROAD
McCullers THE MEMBER OF THE
WEDDING
Melville BENITO CERENO
Melville BILLY BUDD
Miller A VIEW FROM THE
BRIDGE
Miller ALL MY SONS
Miller DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Miller THE CRUCIBLE
Momaday HOUSE MADE OF
DAWN
Morrison SONG OF SOLOMON
Morrison SULA
Morrison BELOVED
Morrison THE BLUEST EYE
Mukerjee JASMINE
Naylor THE WOMEN OF
BREWSTER PLACE
Norris THE OCTOPUS
Ng BONE: A NOVEL
O'Brien GOING AFTER
CACCIATO
O'Brien IN THE LAKE OF THE
WOODS
O'Brien THE THINGS THEY
CARRIED
O'Connor WISE BLOOD
O'Neill DESIRE UNDER THE
ELMS
O'Neill LONG DAYS JOURNEY
INTO NIGHT
O'Neill MOURNING BECOMES
ELECTRA
O'Neill THE HAIRY APE
Oates WE WERE THE
MULVANEYS
Chekov THE CHERRY ORCHARD
Desai THE INHERITANCE OF
LOSS
Flaubert MADAME BOVARY
Fugard MASTER
HAROLD............AND THE BOYS
Garcia DREAMING IN CUBAN
Ishiguro NEVER LET ME GO
Ishiguro THE REMAINS OF THE
DAY
Lahiri THE NAMESAKE
Marquez ONE HUNDRED YEARS
OF SOLITUDE
McEwan ATONEMENT
Mistry A FINE BALANCE
Murakami KAFKA ON THE
SHORE
Naipul A BEND IN THE RIVER
Naipul A HOUSE FOR MR.
BISWAS
Updike THE CENTAUR
Villarreal POCHO
Vonnegut SLAUGHTERHOUSE
FIVE
Walker THE COLOR PURPLE
Warren ALL THE KING'S MEN
Welch WINTER IN THE BLOOD
Welty DELTA WEDDING
Welty THE OPTIMIST'S
DAUGHTER
Wharton ETHAN FROME
Wharton THE AGE OF
INNOCENCE
Wharton THE HOUSE OF MIRTH
Wideman SENT FOR YOU
YESTERDAY
Wilde THE PICTURE OF DORIAN
GRAY
Wilder OUR TOWN
Williams CAT ON A HOT TIN
ROOF
Williams STREETCAR NAMED
DESIRE
Williams THE GLASS
MENAGERIE
Wilson FENCES
Wilson JOE TURNER'S COME
AND GONE
Wilson THE PIANO LESSON
Wolfe LOOK HOMEWARD
ANGEL
Wolfe YOU CAN'T GO HOME
AGAIN
Wolff OLD SCHOOL
Wright NATIVE SON
Wright BLACK BOY
Tolstoy ANNA KARENINA
Camus THE FALL
Camus THE PLAGUE
Camus THE STRANGER
Cervantes DON QUIXOTE
Roy THE GOD OF SMALL
THINGS
Eliot, G. THE MILL ON THE
FLOSS
Eliot, G. MIDDLEMARCH
Eliot, G. SILAS MARNER
Fielding JOSEPH ANDREWS
Fielding TOM JONES
Forster A ROOM WITH A VIEW
Forster PASSAGE TO INDIA
Friel DANCING AT LUGHNASA
Golding THE LORD OF THE
FLIES
Hardy JUDE THE OBSCURE
Hardy THE RETURN OF THE
NATIVE
Hardy TESS OF THE
D'UBERVILLES
Hardy THE MAYOR OF
CASTERBRIDGE
Joyce PORTRAIT OF THE
ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN
Joyce THE DEAD
Kallos BROKEN FOR YOU
Lawrence SONS AND LOVERS
Atwood ALIAS GRACE
Atwood BLIND ASSASSIN
Atwood CAT'S EYE
Atwood THE HANDMAID'S TALE
Pamuk SNOW
Pasternak DR. ZHIVAGO
Paton CRY THE BELOVED
COUNTRY
Huxley BRAVE NEW WORLD
Ishigura REMAINS OF THE DAY