Open Prompts, Part One

For this post, the objective is to respond to some responses to the open prompt section from previous A.P. exams.  I chose to respond to the answers to free response question 3 of the 2004 A.P. Lit Exam.  The prompt was based on a quote by Roland Barthes: "Literature is the question minus the answer."  Students were asked to consider the effect of a central question within a work, and how the extent to which the author answers that question affects the meaning of the text--the test writers actually used the magic question!

Response #1: Student N

Student N's response focused on the central question of Candide by Voltaire: "Is this the best of all possible worlds?".  I was rather impressed with the amount of textual evidence that the student was able to incorporate into their analysis, accompanying each detail with an explanation of its contribution to the answer to the central question.  This is also reflected in the A.P. reader's comments when they write, "[the writer]... understands how to relate incident to theme in a fluid way."  The student organized their analysis in a very clear manner as well, with all their details flowing in the chronological order of the novel, and rather than trying to recall small details or techniques, the student focused on the larger, philosophical scope of the work, which allowed them to interpret its meaning.  For example, the student repeatedly referenced the phrase, "we must tend our own garden," to show how Voltaire ultimately leaves a high degree of ambiguity in his answer to the question.  This leads the student to derive a "Christ-like" meaning from the text as their final conclusion.  Though this might be due to my unfamiliarity with the text, I thought the student did start to detract from their original question towards the end, and their discussion of the concepts of love, pain, and change seemed a little disconnected from their conclusion that this is the best world. On the whole, I agree with the score because the student successfully addressed the prompt and tied it back to the meaning.

Response #2: Student J

First of all, kudos to the poor, poor person who had to read through this student's response because I lost my patience around the second squiggly mark.  Though the student did begin their essay by addressing the prompt with Twain's central question ("What does it mean to be free?"), they lose focus on this topic as they continue to simply list plot events and their meaning without truly describing how the author answers the question.  For example, though it is very insightful to recognize that Huck and Jim can only build their relationship outside of societal constraints, the student does not tie it back to how Twain defines freedom.  Even by the end, when the student describes Huck's decision to travel west as a realization that "he is not free," they still fail to touch on how this affects the story's meaning.  Instead, I would have interpreted this as a realization that Huck realizes that he is free to choose his own destiny and path, which is Twain's definition of freedom.  Consequently, the story is centered around Huck and Jim's quest to gain control over their own lives.  Although the student "skirts around" the prompt, their essay was still well written and shows a deep level of insight on the story.  All they needed to do was concentrate on how the plot elements they described answered Twain's question.

Response #3: Student U

If I didn't know any better, I'd bet that this student ran out of time on this essay and scrambled to get points for writing down something.  The student uses rather basic syntax, which is still confusing to read at times.  For example, "The demeanor Okonwo had to prevent change was very high...".  Meanwhile, they barely address the meaning of the text.  Even though they establish that Achebe's answer to the question is that change does eventually happen, they do not describe how answering the central question (do things stay the same?) affects the meaning of the text.  They simply tell the reader what happens in the story and mention that change occurs in the story, but there is no mention of how these events provide any broader meaning to the story.  However, I did enjoy the process they employed in their introductory paragraph, where they provide the context for their argument, leading up to their main idea in the end of the paragraph.  Ultimately, Student U did recognize the question and provided a little evidence to their point, but they failed to really address how the use of a question really influenced the meaning of the novel.