 Below, you will find a selection of AP Literature Essay # 3 Prompts that listed "A Doll's House" among its suggested titles.
Part One Expectations (please select one of the prompts and respond to the following): (1) Why does this prompt attract you in particular? (2) How does "A Doll's House" answer the question? (3) Write a single sentence thesis statement that you might use if you were writing to this essay prompt. 200-250 words, 2 quotes from the play, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "pen name" given to you in class Part Two Expectations (read everyone's first responses, select two that interest you, and respond to their ideas): 100-150 words EACH, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the assigned "pen name" given to you in class. AP Prompts: 1971. The significance of a title such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is so easy to discover. However, in other works (for example, Measure for Measure) the full significance of the title becomes apparent to the reader only gradually. Choose two works and show how the significance of their respective titles is developed through the authors' use of devices such as contrast, repetition, allusion, and point of view 1983. From a novel or play of literary merit, select an important character who is a villain. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the nature of the character's villainy and show how it enhances meaning in the work. Do not merely summarize the plot. 1987. Some novels and plays seem to advocate changes in social or political attitudes or in traditions. Choose such a novel or play and note briefly the particular attitudes or traditions that the author apparently wishes to modify. Then analyze the techniques the author uses to influence the reader's or audience's views. Avoid plot summary. 1988. Choose a distinguished novel or play in which some of the most significant events are mental or psychological; for example, awakenings, discoveries, changes in consciousness. In a well-organized essay, describe how the author manages to give these internal events the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Do not merely summarize the plot. 1995. Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed. Choose a novel or a play in which such a character plays a significant role and show how that character's alienation reveals the surrounding society's assumptions or moral values. 2005. In Kate Chopin's The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess "That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.
2
3/8/2014 02:59:30 am
I chose the 1988 prompt because I felt it would synergize nicely to the topic I intended to use for my final essay for this play. In “A Doll’s House,” the biggest piece of character development is found within Nora’s slowly depreciating sanity. Over the course of the novel she repeatedly displays hallmarks of insanity or paranoia, such as when she talks to herself. A prime example is found at the end of Act 1, following her initial confrontation with Krogstad: “Poison my children – poison my home – poison them – (There is a brief pause. She raises her head.) It is not true. Never, never, never ever could it be true” (Ibsen 30). Here, she is talking to herself – a common symptom of insanity – and is also in denial, a tool often used by the delusional (though not exclusively by them). The concept of the essay would be to chart this slow but certain decline over the course of the novel until Nora reaches her point of lucidity where she tells Helmer “I must stand on my own if I’m to make sense of myself and everything around me. That’s why I can’t live with you any longer” (Ibsen 63). This moment of clarity is when she breaks free of the mental and psychological restrains set upon her by herself and by the male-dominated society she lives in.
6
3/16/2014 08:55:04 am
The 1988 prompt seems like a good idea. You have a strong understanding of the prompt and an awesome thesis statement. You can definitely argue the prompt based on the evidence you brought forth. I never would have thought that Nora was insane while initially reading the play, but based on your proof it is not far fetched.
7
3/9/2014 04:26:22 am
2
3/10/2014 08:16:52 am
Your argument seems quite logical and I like that I can note a sort of parallel between your idea and mine; in both, Nora is a dynamic character who develops over the course of the novel into something far better than her original state that says something about gender roles at the time the play is set. Your thesis also seems quite good, and has a lot of potential to create a very nice essay. It’d be interesting to see if we had all been forced to write an essay on the prompt we picked how well we’d all do, since we each get to choose the prompt we liked best.
18
3/10/2014 12:16:11 pm
I like this response to the prompt. It touches on the question and how it relates to the play very well. Also brings in the idea of how Nora has no responsibility and the only thing she feels she has is the loan with Krogstad as she was quick to point out to Kristine. However when the secret comes out it's as if since that was her only responsibility to her that she's free to go and find herself. Well written and the thesis was strong.
Nineteen
3/9/2014 01:09:40 pm
I think the 2005 prompt is interesting because it questions people's true selves. It makes me think about what's merely a mask and what deeper thoughts characters have.
15
3/16/2014 09:21:34 am
I see where you are coming from definitely with the mention of Nora and her mask. She definitely acts like this girl with no care in the world but yet she holds a dark secret of her forgery. She also masks her real feelings of her marriage until the end when she finally rips off her mask. That was a pretty good insight into that idea
6
3/9/2014 01:37:30 pm
I think that the 1971 prompt would be the prompt that I would choose because it is the easiest to answer and think about. I also think that choosing a title for anything is hard and requires a lot of thought to be good.
2
3/10/2014 08:19:53 am
Your initial statement is lacking a word or two, I think. It’d make more sense to say “easiest for you to answer” because everyone has their own strengths. Other than that, your response is quite solid. I really like your parallelism of quotes from the first and third act, showing how Nora saw the world before and after the events of the play. Your thesis might need a bit of work, but a good core is there. Perhaps expanding on WHAT devices Ibsen uses and how they affect the importance of the title would make it better, but otherwise it seems alright.
21
3/9/2014 02:46:00 pm
The 1987 AP prompt stood out to me the most because I find changes in social and political attitudes are both inspiring and worth more than any other allegory coexisted into a novel or play. In particular, “A Doll’s House” ties in well with the gist of this AP prompt. “A Doll’s House” is subjectively based upon gender roles and society’s expectations between male and female. This play is centered on the idea that Nora is Helmer’s “singing bird,” and seen as a “bewildered, helpless, little creature,” (Ibsen, Act III pg 61) after she has done something out of the “norm”. But the most important part and the allegory, Ibsen was trying to advocate, was the proposition that back then the law was viewed in the way that women were supposed to have a conscience, raise their children, tidy up the house (even though Nora did none of these things—it seems as though the Nanny did most of her rightful job). The idea of Nora having a “glorifying moment,” and realizing that she “simply can’t believe that the law should be right,” Ibsen Act III pg 64) was Ibsen’s way of voicing his opinion to his audience about how absurd and how extreme women’s expectations were taken. The message was to show other’s that back then the law was unfair and gave no justice to females at all.
Between 18 and 20
3/10/2014 02:38:19 pm
Why do you find social and political stuff important? Do you find changes in them inspiring because they suggest ways to make the world better?
i forgot my number
3/9/2014 04:54:01 pm
This prompt attracts me in particular because I think that The Doll House is a powerful play in expressing the restricting gender roles of society. It answers this question because it gives us the perspective of both male and female, as well as deep insight in the writer’s implied opinion based on the play. In short, I think he thinks the roles that society pressures both genders to fill is stupid. For example, page 17: “You see I couldn’t really put any of the housekeeping money aside because Torvald has to live well, and I couldn’t let the children go badly dressed” (Ibsen 17). When the roles change, neither of them accept it well. In fact, the reluctance to accept the changing roles causes the couple to split. Nora is proud of her “secret”, but she is scared of what Torvald will think of her. Torvald was evidently shameful of their income before his promotion, and was shameful when he learned of his wife’s secret because he unknowingly depended on her just as she did him. He felt as if the role that culture and society had given him had been threatened, and he was angry at this loss of identity and purpose.
8
3/9/2014 04:55:27 pm
The 1988 prompt stood out to me the most because many of the issues in “A Doll’s House” are psychological and mental. Everything that occurs has to do with the mind and what someone was thinking in a certain moment. The character development of Nora is nearly bringing back her sanity. She acts like a puppet of her husband and doesn’t let herself have a mind of her own. Nora acts as if she lives in this fantasy world as described when she is speaking about what she has done, “He would be so ashamed and humiliated if he thought he owed me anything. It would spoil our lovely marriage” (Ibsen 16). She decides instead of using her morality she will just keep doing what is wrong of her just to keep her “perfect” marriage from failing. She is nearly thinking of her family instead of herself or what will happen to her husband. But by the end of her novel, she starts to be someone who won’t listen to her husband and someone who will take a stand for herself. She begins to psychologically recognize what she has been doing, “You organized everything according to your taste, and I picked up the same taste as you. Or I just pretended to. I don’t really know” (Ibsen 62). Nora is considering how she has acted with Helmer and how she doesn’t even know what she had been thinking before. She has psychologically developed throughout the novel.
21
3/16/2014 12:45:43 pm
I really liked your response. Your third sentence really blew me away. It actually opened my eyes and made me view Nora's situation in a new light. It's quite sad when you think about it in the perception where Nora is really only trying to please and keep her family well together. Nora never really lived for herself, instead she grew up being submissive, following her fathers wishes and even degrading herself so that she went along with whatever idea her husband fed to her.
18
3/10/2014 12:07:11 pm
I choose the 1983 play. At first I was unsure of who the villian was only because you can look at it in a lot of different aspects to see who the villian is. You could think Nora is for going agaisnt her husband and father and leaving her family or you could say it's Torvald for many reasons of how his charecter treats Nora or a lot of other people too. However I have came to think of Krogstad as the villian. Also with this prompt it could apply to a lot of other stories I've read or plays. Such as "A Streetcar Named Desire" seeing Stanely as the villian or even Blanche determing how you look at it. "The Great Gatsby" also seems to have the villian as Daisy's husband (Tom?) being the villian so it's something I could see easily writing about on an actual exam.
10 + 9
3/10/2014 02:53:44 pm
I thought that prompt seemed hard. I couldn't figure out who the villain would be either, other than possibly the whole of society. (Yeah, I think Tom was definitely a character you weren't supposed to like, but I don't know if he was the main villain.)
21
3/16/2014 12:53:01 pm
I never really would've thought Nora as a villain to be honest, however your remark actually does make sense as to why she could be considered one. My first instinct would be either her husband, Torvald, or Mr. Krogstad as well. I also agree with number 19's response. It's only until you actually take the time to pay close attention to Mr. Krogstad, that you realize just how much of a huge role he has to this play. Many of us would've thought he was just another small role, but like you mentioned earlier, if it wasn't for him Nora would've continued to live her life ashamed of her actions. Nora also would've never had the courage to speak up for herself and would always commit to her habitual actions of obliging to the male race and living her life as a lie.
10
3/11/2014 11:10:52 am
This prompt seemed to attract me because it applied the most, in my opinion, to the story of A Doll’s House. "That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." Like protagonist Edna Pontellier, this quote applies to Nora in numerous ways illustrated throughout the play especially towards the end. Nora has conformed to the role of women at the time she lived in. She was the darling daughter of her reckless father and the darling prize of her banker husband. She played the wife role very well, tending to her children and her husband. Although Nora seems superficial, selfish and inconsiderate this is just of the result of the way she grew up and lives her life. She had to conform. When the climax at the very end of the play occurs, Helmer finally reads the letter and finds out about Nora’s illegal actions. When his response is an equally angry and relived Nora finally realizes and questions: does she know who she is? She questions how much is her and how much she was forced to change due to circumstance. “I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being, just as you are--or, at all events, that I must try and become one.” The tension between the conformity and inward questing contributed to Nora’s decision to leave her husband and children to get to know herself.
10
3/11/2014 11:34:54 am
I disagree. I don’t see Krogstad as the viliain.. at least not intentionally he isn’t. What Nora did, fordging the signature, was wrong and Nora knew this. Her borrowing money behind her husband’s back was the right thing to do in terms to trying to save his life. But promising something she couldn’t guarantee was wrong of her. Nora is her own worst enemy, she spends all her time wasting money and letting people treat her like a child because she ACTS like one. Krogstad had the right to inform her husband of the wrong doings of Nora despite her paying back her debt.
10
3/11/2014 11:35:22 am
my bad.. this was a reply IGNORE
18
3/14/2014 08:40:24 am
I see your point , but I feel she acts like a child because she hasn't really had time to grow on her own and mature. Instead she's been locked in most of her life by people such as her father and her husband. Also I think Krogstad had the right to inform him too, but he did it in a conniving way. He said it more as a threat to her to get what he wanted more then to inform her husband. His character to me was meant to be portrayed as the villain although he helped her in the long run.
16
3/11/2014 01:20:29 pm
I chose the essay prompt from 1987 because it seemed like I could explain deeply using A Doll’s House. I could elaborate on women’s roles, because Ibsen seems to want to change or modify women’s roles. He uses the protagonist, Nora, to place her in this box in which she has to live up to the typical women roles of that time period, which included being a put together wife and mother. Her husband, Torvald seems to make her seem as if she cannot have any intelligence all, as seen when she’s asking Dr. Rank about his scientific investigation. “Just listen!—little Nora talking about scientific investigations!” He puts her down without him even realizing because that the way society was like during that time period. Thankfully, towards the end of the play, Nora realizes that she is so much more than the role that she was forced into. She’s more than a mother, more than a wife, but a person. “I have other duties just as sacred…Duties to myself.” I believe that the author is really trying to project to the reader that women have the ability to be great and that the male figure isn’t necessarily the more powerful force.
20
3/15/2014 11:21:59 am
The 1988 prompt attracted me most because psychologically Nora is losing her sanity in the beginning of this play. She walks on her toes to keep her husband happy, hey children happy and her home at peace. She has this secret that could potentially and did indeed destroy her "perfect" little family. Throughout the play, Nora hits this final conclusion that her husband/family can't save her, she has to be the hero of her own story, we see that she talks to herself quite a bit, a lot of it be reassurance that she, herself, is okay. For instance, "poison my children - poison my home - poison them. (Ibsen 30) She was alway portrayed as a child/little girl to her husband, she held no dignity, like a frilly toy for him to use and dispose of. When she gets the courage to speak up about what she's been holding out on, "I must stand on my own if I'm to make sense of myself and everything around me" (Ibsen 63). That's when she leaved the home she's built behind, in a sense all of her sanity returned to her.
6
3/16/2014 09:00:43 am
That would be an interesting essay to write about, and I think you would do very well on it. You have a strong argument with solid proof. There is one thing I would disagree with you about your response. It can be argued that instead of gaining her sanity at the end of the book when she leaves, she completely looses it. I mean she left her children. That is pretty crazy.
8
3/16/2014 12:54:36 pm
I love how thoughtful your response to this prompt is. I definitely agree with the sanity part. Nora gradually realizes what she has been doing and that she needs to do things for herself. She looks back with no regrets, but moves forward with good intentions. It was a great idea for Ibsen to bring that psychological aspect into the play that many people tend to forget while reading a play or novel even.
5
3/16/2014 08:51:30 am
I would choose the 1987 prompt because “A Doll’s House” is perfect for it. Henrik Ibsen is extremely obvious in his desire for a change in women’s roles, which is both a social and political issue. For example, he exaggerates female submission when Nora says “But aren’t I good to give in to you?” (Act II, page 34). He does the same with their dependence on men in Nora and Mrs. Linde’s conversation in Act I on page 12: “All on your own. That’s awful,” (in reference to the death of Mr. Linde, leaving her without children). The play answers the AP exam prompt because it shows how Ibsen disapproves of tradition women’s roles during his time, thinks they are unjust, and wants them to change.
8
3/16/2014 12:50:59 pm
I agree with your reasoning for choosing this prompt. It's very eye opening in a sense; I never thought to look at it in that kind of perspective...well, I have but not like yours. Your thesis statement is point on also. Ibsen sends a great deal of subliminal messages about the gender society we live in throughout this piece of work. He definitely attacks it with a good amount of scenes.
15
3/16/2014 09:14:46 am
The 1988 prompt is the one that caught my eye because it deals with psychology and the mind. A dolls house deals alot with Nora and her mindset throughout the play but one other play i think of for this prompt is Macbeth. This play comes to mind because you see this high ranking man in Macbeth go through a psychological change from the hero to the psycho ruler. You see him go through illusions of blood and hears voices for murder. Its a play that is mostly mental so thats why it comes to mind for this prompt
9
3/17/2014 07:29:38 pm
I pick the 1971 prompt solely because I feel that the title of any literary works really does have significant meaning. They could be literal at times while others require the reader to go even more in depth. A Doll's House has a much deeper meaning than I assumed before reading the play. Nora is the doll in a beautiful home; and like a doll, she is played with by everyone around her especially her husband in particular. Like a doll, she has a specific role that she has to live by. You can not simply put a toy soldier in a wedding dress to marry Ken. It just does not look right, he belongs in a battlefield setting. If Nora were to have been in a different setting, things would have played out differently. "The significance of the title "A Doll's House" is of full significance and reveals information imperative to the readers understanding of this play." Comments are closed.
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