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Welcome to the School House Books Online Services Public Recommended List of Plays with The Open Question Essay Prompts and Links |
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Choose a scene or character in one of Beckett's plays that awakens "thoughtful laughter." Then write an essay in which you show why this laughter is thoughtful and how it contributes to the meaning of the work. Waiting for Godot Describe the major differences and similarites in a sequence of parallel or recurring events that occur in this play and discuss the significance of such events. Do not merely summarize the plot. In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery O'Connor has written, "I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to believe that it is the only way to make people see." Write an essay in which you "make a good case for distortion," as distinct from literary realism. Analyze how important elements of this novel are "distorted" and explain how these distortions contribute to the effectiveness of this novel. Avoid plot summary. 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 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. |