Ethan Frome Essay Assignment
I. The Task: In order to prepare for Question 3 of the free response portion of the AP Literature and Composition
exam, evaluate the prompt below. If writing this essay about Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, what would your claim
be? How would you organize your essay? Read the prompt carefully and annotate it. Identify the three aspects your
essay must address.
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.
Aspects to address:
1. ______________________________________________________________________________________

Ethan’s private passion: ____________________________________________________________
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Ethan’s responsibility: _____________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________________________________
II. The Task: You will be composing an outline for one of the prompts below. You must choose Edith Wharton’s
Ethan Frome as the topic of the proposed essay. Annotate your prompt. Then create an outline with a complete
thesis statement, topic sentences, supporting details, commentary ideas, and concluding sentences.
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.
1.
2.
Thoroughly explain an element in Ethan Frome that produces a sense of pleasure. (Remember the shared experiences
in nature of Mattie and Ethan, their meal together, etc.)
Thoroughly explain an element in Ethan Frome that produces a sense of disquietude. (Think of the sled ride and
subsequent way they all live. Remember how many people have visited those two and how the narrator gets there in
the first place, only by an extreme snowstorm.)
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.
1.
2.
3.
4.
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, about whom is he thinking? Where is he
looking?)
Explain this character’s inward questioning.
How does this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contribute to the meaning of the work?
Minimum Outline Requirements
Complete Thesis
I. Complete topic sentence 1
A. supporting detail
1. commentary/connection
2. commentary/connection
B. supporting detail
1. commentary/connection
2. commentary/connection
C. supporting detail
1. commentary/connection
2. commentary/connection
II. Complete topic sentence 1
A. supporting detail
1. commentary/connection
2. commentary/connection
B. supporting detail
1. commentary/connection
2. commentary/connection
C. supporting detail
1. commentary/connection
2. commentary/connection
III. Complete topic sentence 1
A. supporting detail
1. commentary/connection
2. commentary/connection
B. supporting detail
1. commentary/connection
2. commentary/connection
C. supporting detail
1. commentary/connection
2. commentary/connection
IV. Concluding sentence
III. The Task: Apply classroom discussions and informal writing to compose a well-organized essay. The essay
should be about three pages long, typed and double-spaced in Times New Roman 11 or 12. You may choose from
one of the following topics below which have been taken from retired exams. Again, you must choose Edith
Wharton’s Ethan Frome as the focus of your paper. Use the bulleted information as a guide when considering the
information required in the prompt and the direction of your essay. Due date: ____________________________
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 divisive 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.
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


Which tragic figure in Ethan Frome functions as an instrument of the suffering of others?
Explain the suffering that this character brings upon others.
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?
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.
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



Is the country in Ethan Frome a place or virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance?
Thoroughly explain the elements of the country that Starkfield, Massachusetts possesses.
What does this setting have to do with what happens to Ethan, Mattie, and Zeena?
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?
2007 In many works of literature, past events can affect, positively or negatively, the present activities, 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.
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


What has happened to this character in the past?
How has what has happened affected this character?
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?