Below, I have included a collection of writing prompts to help give you a focus in the writing process. Also, please consult the blog criteria to the left of the screen.
I look forward to your responses!
Writing Prompts
Prompt 1. “You can leave home all you want, but home will never leave you.”—Sonsyrea Tate
Sonsyrea Tate’s statement suggests that “home” may be conceived of as a dwelling, a place, or a state of mind. It may have positive or negative associations, but in either case, it may have a considerable influence on an individual. Choose a novel or play in which a central character leaves home yet finds that home remains significant. Write a well-developed essay in which you analyze the importance of “home” to this character and the reasons for its continuing influence. Explain how the character’s idea of home illuminates the larger meaning of the work.
Prompt 2. 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.
Prompt 3. In The Writing of Fiction (1925), novelist Edith Wharton states the following: At every stage in the progress of his tale the novelist must rely on what may be called the illuminating incident to reveal and emphasize the inner meaning of each situation. Illuminating incidents are the magic casements of fiction, its vistas on infinity.
Choose a novel or play that you have studied and write a well-organized essay in which you describe an “illuminating” episode or moment and explain how it functions as a “casement,” a window that opens onto the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
Prompt 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.
Prompt 5. 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.
Prompt 6. 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.
Prompt 7. Many works of literature contain a character who intentionally deceives others. The character’s dishonesty may be intended either to help or to hurt. Such a character, for example, may choose to mislead others for personal safety, to spare someone’s feelings, or to carry out a crime. Choose a novel or play in which a character deceives others. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze the motives for that character’s deception and discuss how the deception contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Prompt 8. Select a novel, play, or epic poem that features a character whose origins are unusual or mysterious. Then write an essay in which you analyze how these origins shape the character and that character’s relationships, and how the origins contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Prompt 9. In his 2004 novel Magic Seeds, V. S. Naipaul writes: “It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That’s where the mischief starts. That’s where everything starts unravelling.”
Select a novel, play, or epic poem in which a character holds an “ideal view of the world.” Then write an essay in which you analyze the character’s idealism and its positive or negative consequences. Explain how the author’s portrayal of this idealism illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteOver the duration of the summer I felt drawn to read Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. However, after my completion of the novel, I genuinely didn’t feel any sense of excitement when I continued to read. Personally, I greatly enjoyed Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller as I first read it in class last year. This novel created a large series of clear vivid images in my mind. My imagination thoroughly adhesed the images into what displayed as a moving picture in my mind. The way the author depicted every detail and carefully chose every word encouraged my mind to envision the occurrences as they took place. While reading this novel, I discovered how prominent Willy’s feeling of loneliness displayed itself in his actions. He felt trapped in his own life and body, and as a result, he disappointed his family. “She’s nothing to me, Biff. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely.” (pg.112). His families disappointment came from Willy choosing to disobey his marriage. His overwhelming feeling of loneliness took over his actions and thought process so heavily, that he felt that it was necessary to have an affair to gather a sense of normalcy. The feeling of loneliness also displays itself in many other novels. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the main character Lenny had an overwhelming sense of loneliness as a result of his mental disability. He spent many days and nights in the barn with the rabbits as he felt a gust of relief when he held them in his arms. Lenny didn’t feel different or out of place when he was with the rabbits, just like how Willy felt when he slept with other women. For the two characters, their actions were to distance themselves from their real lives, it was a form of escaping the real world.
ReplyDeleteAdriana DeSantis^^^^^
ReplyDeleteOver the summer, as many others have, I read Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. I anticipated that the story would be about the shoes that led to Nike, and I was not excited. When I actually read the book, however, I noticed that the author talked less about the shoes, and more about his personal experiences while trying to create a name for himself in the market. What struggles he faced, how he overcame them, and how Nike came to be were all topics that were discussed in the book. It was more about his personal life during that time then it was about the shoes, which impressed me. There is a part in the book, where the original company, called "Blue Ribbon" is suing their original supplier because they sent over a corporate spy to steal trade secrets. Overall, this book impressed me as to how well it was written, and that it was mostly not about shoes.
ReplyDeleteI read Shoe Dog this summer which is a book about the owner of Nike and his life from when he was a child to current day. It describes his early life, how he made his company, and how he managed it and made it grow into what it is today. He started his company by selling imported shoes that were made by a Japanese company to students outside of track meets. A lot of people liked the style and comfort of the shoes and he ended up selling a lot of shoes. After complications with the company, they forced him to make his own company which is when he founded Nike. I thought this was very interesting because he started off not too different from anyone else my age, meaning anyone could do what he did. Even I could start selling stuff to kids at my school and it could possibly turn into a successful company. It was so successful that he made, “eight thousand dollars in sales my first year, I was projecting sixteen thousand dollars in my second year” (77) which is incredibly impressive.
ReplyDelete- Nolan Brezinski
Over the summer I read Becoming by Michelle Obama, this book was honestly the most dreadful and boring thing I have ever read. Michelle Obama is telling the truth of her life, she grew up surrounded by love in a city, Chicago, she loves, onward to an education that took her far. She has everything she wanted, family, a husband she loves, and now she is looking at her next adventure. Even though as a whole her life was very interesting, she went on and on about details that I had no interest in at all. She shared many details of her life, including the struggles her dad had with MS, this book gave made me gain a huge appreciation for Michelle, although I wish she shared more details upon that topic. She also shared the complicated relationship her and Barrack had before their marriage and her feelings about him becoming the president. She was actually extremely unhappy about this decision he had made, but instead of sticking up for herself she went along with it and supported her husband through his journey.“The answer, I’m guessing, is probably the best and most sustaining answer to nearly every question arising inside a marriage, no matter who you are or what the issue is: You find ways to adapt. If you’re in it forever, there’s really no choice.” Even though I found most of this book slow and boring, I am glad I read it. Becoming by Michelle Obama opened my eyes to a lot of great advice I will be able to use later in my life.
ReplyDeleteKate Lyons^
DeleteThis summer the book I chose to read was Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, the autobiography of Nike’s founder. Shoe Dog tells the story of a man who went from selling shoes from the back of his car all the way to creating one of the most iconic and world changing brands ever, and in the process making himself the 15th richest person in the world. Along with other rivaling underdog stories such as the Beatles, or Jack Ma and Ali Baba, Phil Knight is able to take us through his journey and give us advice and teach us from his experiences. Phil Knight taught us that if we want to learn something, build something, or create something, then we need to surround ourselves with others who are enthusiastic about it, care about it, and are able to teach us about it. All his life Phil Knight was a runner. Not only was he experienced in the field of running, but he was also well versed in the social atmosphere around running. He knew athletes, coaches, he had an in with the market, and was perfectly networked. He was able to learn from those around him and custom tailor his product to the market. He not only sold the shoe but the experience, “he then set about turning the store into a mecca, a hold of holies for runners… he created a beautiful space for runners to hang and talk.” I always find interest in stories of people coming from nothing and building empires out of it, and Knight’s sacrifices and perseverance put him on that list.
ReplyDelete-Matthew Campbell
Over the summer I read Becoming by Michele Obama, it was one of the most boring books I’ve read and it was not eye catching at all. She talked about her earlier life living in Chicago with her close knit family. She learned how to play the piano and worked on her education early but not everything was good in her life. She dealt with her father suffering from MS and their car getting keyed by their white neighbors. She grows up and gets a great education at Princeton and graduates with a degree in sociology and goes to Harvard law school. She meets Barack Obama and before they got married they did have problems and she did not agree with his professional decisions. Michelle kept looking for her dream job and Barack decided to run for president. She wasn't sure about it but agrees knowing that it would help millions and she did end up helping millions of people when he got presidency. She says “But listening to Barack, I began to understand that his version of hope reached far beyond mine: It was one thing to get yourself out of a stuck place, I realized. It was another thing entirely to try and get the place itself unstuck.” This book was super boring and felt like it took forever to read but i give Michelle a lot of credit for what she went through, what she sacrificed and her success.
ReplyDelete- Paige Bukowski
Over this past summer I read the book "Becoming Michelle Obama". I wasn’t that interested while reading the book, especially because I tend to find non-fiction books boring. Michelle describes her past experiences before meeting Barack and becoming the First Lady. She also describes how her time was spent while living in the white house. Like most people, Michelle had to overcome challenges in her life such as making sacrifices to do what was right for her family. She goes into detail to describe her life growing up in Chicago, she had a great education and a close family. Her life changed quickly when Barack became President of the United States. She wasn’t thrilled by the idea but had to learn to adjust to the changes. Overall I think the book was an interesting way to see what life would be like as the first lady. I also found the book to be somewhat inspirational and it gave some good life lessons.
ReplyDelete-Natalie Brennen
I was so excited when I saw that Becoming by Michelle Obama was on the summer reading list. I have seen so many good reviews on TV, heard that it was very interesting, and her life had so much to learn; and then I read it and found that was for the most part not true. The only truth I was able to find in those statements was that her life offered a lot to learn from. As I read about her growing up in Chicago, her relationship with her brother, and a strange sort of fear she had towards her aunt, I was very disappointed. I kept thinking how much more do I have to read? Is it all going to be so boring? When will she talk about something I can relate to? As I continued to read, I kept finding myself less and less like her, and because of how interested her stories kept me, I wasn’t exactly upset about it. I already knew a lot of the stuff she was writing about and didn’t care to know all the little details she went on to say about them. I couldn’t find the equivalent excitement that she found for a car ride with her family. I can’t yet say I took a trip like hers to Europe that will change my life forever. I continued to struggle as I looked for parallels between her life and mine; because her intelligence is unmatched, her drive to see herself and others succeed, and the experiences she has tucked under her belt and gets to carry with her through every decision is far greater than mine. The first time I was truly able to find myself relating to her was when she talked about the way anger overtook her. Her relationship with Barack was new, and the arguments they had were subdued by their love for one another. I finally found something I didn’t have to stretch my story of, or shrink hers to make them match. The anger “when something sets [her] off” made me realize she is still just like any other person. She still found herself fighting against “the feeling [that] can be intensely physical, a kind of fireball running up [her] spine and exploding with such force that [she] sometimes later [didn’t] remember what [she] said in the moment.” when she was angry. For this little piece of her big book I felt like I could finally match my life to hers. I think a lot of people could relate to other parts of her book, but for me this was the only clear part that connected us. The only part that showed me, that feeling that I know too well was something she too found herself feeling too.
ReplyDelete-Regan Grygiel
DeleteRecently I read Adrift by Tami Oldham Ashcraft. It was about a couple adrift in the Pacific for months. A story of love, loss, and survival at sea. This book was based on a terrifying real life story of survival. I found this book very thrilling to read, I just wanted to keep reading and know what was going to happen. The couple was sailing through a storm in the pacific, the sail boat got destroyed and the sail came down. During all the days adrift they knew for sure they wouldn't make it because they were not in any flight paths or crew ship paths. Trying to make there way to Hawaii, the couple had no radio or anything to communicate with anyone. Tami, the woman knew she needed to save herself and the only man she loved. You later find out Richard died and Tami came back to land alive. This was a true story that happened in 1983. Sophia Moheban
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ReplyDeleteMy summer was quite something this year, but of course I did my summer reading. The summer reading book I read was Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. It was about Phil Knight the CEO Nike at the time. I learned all of the ups and downs he went through making one of the successful businesses and one of the most popular clothing brands ever. I learned a lot of life lessons about this book and from a business standpoint because I am looking to start my own business one day. I want to have my own business one day because I was inspired by my grandfather and I want to be my own boss and want to tell people what to do. Which connects to a piece of evidence that stuck out to me. H said “ Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results”. This quote stuck out to me because sometimes I get annoyed with people telling me what to do and I want them to sometimes have them listen to my ideas because most of the time they are not bad. But the fact that I got to read and learn about a successful businessmen was useful for me because I learned strategies on what to do if business is going bad. But when you have a lot of problems with your business it is not fun. According to Knight, “When you see only problems, you’re not seeing clearly”. What he is trying to say is that it is not fun when you have a lot of problems and business is bad. He also tries to say if you always see problems, having your own business is not for you. This novel can be similar to one of the books I read called Death of a salesman. I would connect shoedog to death of a Salesman because in both stories, Willy and Phil from the two different novels struggle from at some points of the book from a business standpoint.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've only listened to half of "Shoe Dog" I can tell you it's nice. The author and founder of Nike, Phil Knight talks about how he built up Nike from next to nothing and the struggles that came with it. In the book he mentions how he got a deal with a Japanese shoe manufacturer by making up the name Blue Ribbon and claiming it as his business. He sells these shoes little by little in the states and starts making enough money to buy more and more to the point where he has enough to buy salesmen, stores, and the swoosh logo for 35 bills. Phil also has a couple of life lessons in his book such as "Don’t even think about stopping until you get there, and don’t give much thought to where “there” is." I really felt this quote because sometimes i'll buy something from Supreme knowing that it might brick and I'll go broke or come up short of what I paid. He also shows us that being an entrepreneur isn't easy and almost never starts with you making a ton of money. Overall Phil Knight is the complete opposite of Willy Loman from "Death of a Salesman." Unlike Willy, Phil pursues his dream and takes action and doesn't wait for someone to acknowledge him or tell him what to do.
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ReplyDeleteIn the novel Shoe Dog the memoir by Phil Knight the previous CEO and co founder of Nike, talks about the struggles he had to overcome to create the multi billion dollar business and one of the most recognizable brands today. He speaks on the factors that drove him to keep going with the business that was called at first “Blue Ribbon” with him selling shoes out of the back of his car. It all started with the $50 investment his dad gave him to import shoes from japan. He said he would always go broke, “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” this quote I believe means that even though it will take time when you are done, it will be something amazing and you have to sacrifice in order to succeed in anything. He also talks about how if he had to choose whether to come up with his way of the struggle or come up easily he would choose going his way. Since his way taught him to put it all on the line since he said he went broke many times. I think Shoe god was overall a very good memoir about Phil Knight and it really shows the struggle of young entrepreneurs.
ReplyDeleteOver the summer I read the book “Shoe Dog”, by Phil Knight which was the autobiography of the founder of Nike. He described the upbringing of his company, starting with a beginning of selling shoes from the back of his car, and ended up being the richest man in the world. The brand that started out as just another shoe company is now known as one of the most influential and successful, not only shoe brands, but clothing brand ever. A true underdog story with a lot of good life lessons throughout his journey. He shared what he finds to be the keys of success, working hard, have people around you that support you, and really love what you do. “I’d tell men and women in their mid twenties not to settle for a job or a profession or even a career. Seek a calling. Even if you don’t know what that means, seek it. If you’re following your calling, the fatigue will be easier to bear, the disappointments will be fuel, the highs will be like nothing you’ve ever felt.” (110). Phil Knight worked hard and never settles for anything less of his dreams. I always love rooting for the underdog and the founder of Nike definitely fits every description of one, defying the odds to stardom.
ReplyDeleteMichael Long
DeleteRecently I read Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. The play is about a family that was picture perfect from the outside but had a lot of internal struggles. The main character Willy Loman, an older salesman that would not face reality and would makes things up to cope with his and his family's failures. Because of this he made the world what he wanted it to be and that was what led to his downfall. One example of this is when Biff steals one of his coaches footballs and instead of Willy getting mad at him he says to Biff that “Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative!”(p.18). Instead of believing that his son is capable of doing something bad he says something that is so ridiculous that any sane person wouldn’t even think of saying that. Another example is when Willy talks about how to do well in the world you have to be well liked. Like when Biff was in school and failing math Willy told him not to worry and to keep playing football. Even when Bernard offered to help Biff, Willy told him to not be such an “anemic”(p. 20). The amount of lying Willy told to himself and his family is what eventually led to his downfall.
ReplyDeleteJacob Mini
ReplyDelete9/4/19
Dramatic Lit
The Great Gatsby
Today in class, we talked about how fictional books could relate to real life and almost seem very realistic. That being said to connect to our class discussion from earlier I chose one of my recent favorites, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald does an amazing job to keep us readers locked in and wanting to know what happens next. Not only that his words can produce a clear image in my head of what's going on in east and west egg at all times. Gatsby lives a lifestyle I would “kill” to have in a sense. I would love to work hard in life and meet a connection like Dan Cody and be set for life. I would never take it for granted and work extremely hard and cherish what I have. The movie is great to watch after you've read the book as well cuz it really ties things together you might have missed, but also throw you off a pinch because they add in a few things. Over all the Great Gatsby was a fantastic fictional novel that put real life situations into a fictional setting of east and west egg, Long Island.
Last year in english class we read Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck at the end of the year. I really enjoyed this book. It showed me the beauty in a tragedy which Steinbeck often displays in many of his other books. I like how with this book I wasn't able to predict how the story would go in any way. It was all very unpredictable and I enjoyed that. The relationship between George and Lennie is very heartwarming in a way that no one in that business has anyone. Being a traveling farmer you are always alone and have no one. Lennie and George on the other hand are the opposite. They care for each other and always have the others back. I usually have trouble with keeping an interest in a book and this book did not fail me in that way.
ReplyDelete- Jussy Reppucci
This summer I read the book, Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, I personally did not like this book because it was only focused on how he struggled in his life and then soon to build the number one shoe and clothing company in America and other parts of the world. He made a point that really stuck with me throughout the book, saying when you are young, take risks and don’t have a thought about going broke if you are doing what is best for you. Well, of course he can say this now but I bet when he was put in this position of taking the risk and becoming something or just being well off he questioned it many times. Like everyone else would too. Phil Knight seemed to not really have his stuff together but pulled it all together at the right times in the right places, for example when Mr. Onitsuka the CEO of Tiger brand in Japan, he wanted to sell these shoes in the United States and what happened, he got it. And just at that he came up with the new brand name “Blue Ribbon” two words that popped into his mind that made this man millions upon millions of dollars.
ReplyDelete- Hannah Peck
The novel "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill is about the life of Luna, the girl, and how she was found and raised by the Xan, the witch who lives in the woods. Though that’s only the beginning, as the story delves more deeply into the town of Protectorate and about how Luna tries to control the powers she was accidentally given.
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed this novel and how they handled certain things. At some point, Xan discovers that Luna’s powers are too much and decides to basically lock her memories of her powers so she could use them, till she’s 13. She also apparently grows up very quickly, or I just read wrong and they time skipped a lot. Through the majority of the novel, there isn’t really any threat and we only learn bits and pieces of a past war type event that happened with a volcano thing, I forget specifics, apologies. By the way, there are other characters besides Luna and Xan. Like, there’s this bog/swamp monster dude that likes poetry and this very small dragon that thinks he’s huge. There’s more, like some important people in the town, but that may spoil some parts of the story, so I’ll hold my tongue.
Something that’s interesting about this novel is the fact that every so often there’ll be a random chapter that isn’t directly connected with the main story. It’s entirely in italics and it seems to be from the perspective of a mother telling the story of the witch of the woods to her child, though we’re never actually told. They’re usually a couple of pages long and it’s all dialogue coming from the mother. I think that it’s obviously someone from the town before the events of the novel, since they talk about the witch as someone evil.