Essay 1 Requirements (Argument)
Directions: For the first essay, you will choose from one of several topics below and write an essay that is
to be completed by the end of class today. For every topic, you want to be very careful to use specific
examples from the story or poem to support your argument. Also, because this is an argument essay,
remember that there will need to be a thesis statement and that the main purpose of your essay will be to
state and support your opinion. Read the essay prompt very carefully, and make sure that you are fulfilling
all of its requirements.
You may use your notes from class and your textbook, but no other materials. Please write your essay on
every other line of your notebook paper, write on only one side of the paper, and include the following
information somewhere at the top of the essay:
Your name,
A title for the essay, and
The number of the essay topic you are writing on.
You have the remainder of the class to complete this essay. If you have any questions, please raise your
hand, and I will come around to answer them.
1. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” is a poem told from an unusual perspective: rather than
straight from the point of view of the poet, it is told from the perspective of the poet, who gets his
information from “a traveller from an antique land” (l. 1), who sees the remnants of a statue, which
was created by a sculptor, who was the subject of a terrible tyrant many centuries ago. Write an
essay that explains how this complicated sense of perspective is important to the meaning of the
poem. How might noticing this complex perspective help readers appreciate the poem better?
2. On a couple of occasions, in “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner’s narrator describes Emily as you might
describe a statue or a work of art. For instance, the narrator describes her torso as being
“motionless as that of an idol” (p. 482), and there is a detailed description of the painting of her and
her father (p. 483). There are other cases where she is still or motionless, too. It seems like
Faulkner takes care to focus on inanimate objects in general. Write an essay that explains why you
think Faulkner does this, and explain how it contributes to the meaning of the story.
3. In John Updike’s short story “A & P” his narrator, Sammy, characterizes customers as farm animals
– as a bird (p. 736), sheep (p. 739), and pigs (p. 739). Write an essay that explains what this habit
reveals about Sammy’s character, and also explain how that part of his character helps you
appreciate the meaning of the story better.
4. Most scholars who have read “Ozymandias” and know about Shelley’s biography have pointed out
that the words on Ozymandias’s pedestal, “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:/ Look on my
works, ye Mighty, and despair!” (ll. 9-10) are meant to be ironic. Write an essay that explains what
makes the statement on the pedestal ironic, and most importantly, explain what you think Shelley
wanted to communicate about authority and being self-absorbed. Also explain why you think he
used irony to do this.
(List of topics continued on back)
5. “A Rose for Emily” is told from the perspective of a whole town; in a way, they have a shared
opinion of her that changes from year to year. Write an essay that explains how the townspeople
feel about Emily Grierson, and give examples from the story of what they say that reveals this to
you. Also, most importantly, explain what you think this feeling they have for her tells you about
who they are and what they are like. Finally, explain what you think Faulkner meant to tell us about
small-town life.
6. At the very end of “A & P” Sammy says “my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was
going to be to me hereafter” (p. 740). Write an essay that explains exactly what you think Sammy
means in saying this. Use specific things that are said or happen in the story to support your point.
7. Shelley ends “Ozymandias” by describing the conditions surrounding the remnants of the statue
this way: “Round the decay/ Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare/ The lone and level sands
stretch far away” (ll. 12-14). Write any essay that explains why you think Shelley chose to end this
poem in this particular way. What do you think it reveals about Shelley’s beliefs when it comes to
power and how things change over time? Use other quotes from the poem to support your
argument.
8. Emily Grierson of “A Rose for Emily” seems to get away with a lot in her lifetime that not many
other people would get away with. Write an essay that gives two examples of special treatment she
receives, and explain how you think this treatment might have been bad for her (and for others) in
the end. The more specific you can be in your explanation of how this treatment was bad for her,
the better your essay will be.
9. Near the end of “A & P” Sammy makes the important point that, for him, “once you begin a gesture
it’s fatal not to go through with it” (p. 740). Taking what you know about Sammy and all that
happens to him in this story and all that you think will happen to him in his future, write an essay
that explains exactly what you think he means by this statement about fatal gestures. In what way
is it “fatal” not to complete them? Obviously, he wouldn’t die, for not going through with it, but in
what way would it be “fatal”? Also, where do you think Sammy draws the line between gestures
that are worth completing and gestures that aren’t? Give examples to explain why.
10. The conditions of the statue in “Ozymandias” are not the same as when the statue was built and
erected. Write an essay that explains what you think these changed circumstances reveal about
Ozymandias’s character and the sculptor and Shelley’s feelings about him.
11. Many scholars have speculated that what happens in “A Rose for Emily” has a lot to do with the
fact that Emily is a woman. For example, when it comes to the story Colonel Sartoris tells Emily
about the remission of her taxes, the narrator says “[o]nly a man of Colonel Sartoris’ generation
and thought could have invented it and only a woman could have believed it” (p. 481). Write an
essay that explains how being a woman both helped Emily and hurt her. Use examples as support.
12. John Updike took special care to indicate on a number of occasions that one difference between
Sammy and the three girls is that they come from more wealthy backgrounds than he does. Write
an essay that explains why you think this detail is important to the meaning of the story. In your
explanation, you might consider how things would maybe have been different if they weren’t
wealthy.
(List of topics continued on back)