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Dylan Torres, Mia Majail, Jake Feldman, Riley Diedrick

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Often in literature, a character’s success in achieving goals depends on keeping a secret and divulging it only at the right moment, if at all. Choose a novel or play of literary merit that requires a character to keep a secret. In a well-organized essay, briefly explain the necessity for secrecy and how the character’s choice to reveal or keep the secret affects the plot and contributes to
the meaning of the work as a whole.

A Prayer for Owen Meany
Thesis:
Tea is sometimes meant to be spilled. John Irving's brilliant way of writing kept the readers from having no clue on who the mysterious father of John Wheelwright was in A Prayer to Owen Meany. In this novel this one secret changed the whole book and brought it all together. Irving masterfully used literary devices such a imagery, metaphors, and symbolism to keep in a secret no one would suspect.

Points:
- the baseball not being found
- imagery of voice and height and descriptive analysis
- character development
- metaphor of horrific death and blaming Owen

Never Let Me Go
Thesis:
A secret is meant to be kept for a reason. Kazuo Ishiguro cleverly wrote Never Let Me Go where only one character knew what the Hailsham Academy really was. Using symbolism, metaphors, and similes to show that character development is the real secret to life. Learning that it is ok to be alone in a big world was the metaphor to the whole novel. Accepting and learning the secret was that they were being used for clones Ishiguro wrote this book for.

Points:
- Hailsham representation of innocence
- imagery of water ultimately ended up being a sad ending
- simile of saying life goes on
- being a "carer"

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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.

Thesis:
In Master Harold and “the boys”, Fugard uses metaphor and imagery to depict how cruelty is use to try to assert dominance of being superior to the other. Cruelty functions in the work as a whole because Haley throughout the novel tries to show how he is superior to willie and Sam and they must always obey to him

Hally makes plenty of racist remarks towards willie and Sam because they do certain things that Hally doesn’t like.

He makes sure to show he is above them by when they eat they can’t sit at the same table.

Symbols: Table, Bench, and Phone

Figurative Language: Imagery, Foreshadowing, Simile

Thesis 2: In A prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving uses simile and repetition to show how cruelty it can put down the victim tremendously as they are continuously being picked on. Cruelty functions in the work as a whole because Owen throughout the book is being humiliated by other classmates and people which makes him have little to no self esteem and confidence

• Figurative Language: Simile and repetition

• Symbols: Baseball and Owen's Voice

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In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single novel or play, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.

Thesis:

Our childhood can be the polarizing factor in deciding who we will be in our adult lives. In the House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, we see how the main protagonist, Esperanza, is shaped by the cultural, gender, and racial differences within her own neighborhood affect her and those around her, blended with her own personal curiosity and yearning to break societal norms; Cisneros masterfully builds these ideas using motif, and figurative language.

Points:

Motif

Windows

Language

Poetry

Figurative Language

Juxtaposition: The duality of different ethnic neighborhoods

Imagery: Surroundings, characters, etc.

Thesis 2:

Our childhood can be the polarizing factor in deciding who we will be in our adult lives. In the Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, we see how the main protagonists, Owen and Johnny, and their relationship as children mature into two very different characters with a deep-seated understanding and connection to each other; Irving masterfully builds these ideas using motif, and intense figurative language.

Points:

Motif

Religion

Family

Figurative Language

Metaphors

IMAGERY

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One definition of madness is “mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it.” But Emily Dickinson wrote.. Much madness is divinest Sense—To a discerning Eye

Thesis:

Madness, a word with such negative connotation, a concept used since the beginnings of literature. Emily Dickinson’s perspective that madness can perceived in different ways, and that only people with good judgment can realize madness can be a sign of divinity, correlates extremely well with A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving. In this novel, Irving manipulates madness through Owen Meany and his visions, strange tendencies, and character development; He skillfully builds these concepts by using symbolism, and intense figurative language, ultimately creating a suspenseful and emotional plot.

Points:

Symbolism:

Red Dress

Armadillo

Baseball Cards

Figurative Language:

Allusions

Metaphors

IMAGERY.. - His voice, features, other character descriptions, etc.

Thesis 2:
Madness, a word with such negative connotation, a concept used since the beginnings of literature. Emily Dickinson’s perspective that madness can perceived in different ways, and that only people with good judgment can realize madness can be a sign of divinity, correlates extremely well with the House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros. In this story, Cisneros makes Esperanza, the main protagonist, an outlier and perceived as "mad" for her eagerness to pursue things that women in her neighborhood never though of; She skillfully builds these concepts by using motif, and characterization.

Points:

Motif

Windows/Home

Language

Poetry

Characterization

What Esperanza wants in the future

Esperanza’s use of poetry as escape