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Public Recommended List of Plays with
The Open Question Essay Prompts and Links 

Edward Albee
1970 Essay Prompt:  Choose a character from one of Albee's plays and write an essay in which you (A) briefly describe the standards of the fictional society in which the character exists, and (B) show how the character is affected by and responds to those standards.  Avoid mere plot summary.

Write a well-organized essay that analyzes how one of Albee's plays confronts the reader with a scene or scenes of violence.  Be sure to explain how these scenes contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole.  Avoid plot summary.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf  Critic Roland Barthes has said, "Literature is the question minus the answer."  Choose a novel or play and, and considering Barthes' observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers.  Explain how the author's treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole.  Avoid mere plot summary.

Some of the most significant events in this work is mental or psychological;  for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness.  In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to gives these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external events.  Do not merely summarize the plot.

In this play, a character who appears briefly, or does not apppear at all, is a significant presence.  Write an essay that shows how this character functions in this work.  You may wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the development of other characters.

In this play, a character who appears briefly, or does not apppear at all, is a significant presence.  Write an essay that shows how this character functions in this work.  You may wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the development of other characters.

Critic Roland Barthes has said, "Literature is the question minus the answer."  Choose a novel or play and, and considering Barthes' observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the author's treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole.  Avoid mere plot summary.

The Zoo Story    In this novel, a character's apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important role.  Write a well-organized essay in which you explain what this eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable.  Explain the significance of the madness to the work as a whole.


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