3. In many works of literature, a character must navigate the tension between their own personal desires and the expectations of their family, community, or society. The character may choose to conform, rebel, or attempt to find a compromise between these conflicting forces.
Either from your own reading or from the list below, choose a work of fiction in which a character contends with the conflict between personal desires and social expectations. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how this conflict contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible interpretation.
Provide evidence to support your line of reasoning.
Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.
Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.
The Age of Innocence
Antigone
The Awakening
Beloved
Bless Me, Ultima
Brave New World
The Color Purple
Crime and Punishment
Death of a Salesman
A Doll's House
Emma
Fences
Frankenstein
The Glass Menagerie
Great Expectations
The Great Gatsby
The Handmaid's Tale
The House on Mango Street
Invisible Man
Jane Eyre
The Joy Luck Club
King Lear
Little Fires Everywhere
Madame Bovary
1984
The Namesake
Native Son
Never Let Me Go
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Pride and Prejudice
A Raisin in the Sun
The Scarlet Letter
Sula
A Tale of Two Cities
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Things Fall Apart
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Wuthering Heights