Brave New Essay Topic
Prompt: Courtesy of Allyson Brown
-And a special thank you to
College Board AP Lit Exam 2012
“Choose a novel or play in which
cultural, physical, or geographical surroundings shape psychological or moral
traits in a character. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze
how surroundings affect this character and illuminate the meaning of the work
as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.”
We are direct products of our
environment. A small, yet still significant part of who we are and what we do
as people is determined by our surroundings. Writers and authors often use this
same approach in writing. Over and over again throughout literature we see characters
molded and shaped by their surroundings. These surroundings are often literal such
as geographical and physical, but they can also be cultural and psychological. “Brave
New World” by Aldous Huxley, is an excellent example of such a work.
The light the walls, and highly technological
based society of “Brave New World” by Huxley is an excellent scene, setting,
and environment in which to mold and develop a character. Even before the
readers are introduced to the protagonists who drive the novel forward, Huxley
introduces the readers into the world under the New World Order. Under the New
World Order people are so highly influenced and molded by their society even
before they are born. Sleep conditioning, somma, shock therapy, and even a
plethora of conditioning that occurs before the fetus/child leaves the uterus.
In fact birth has become a situation that is no longer used within the world of
Brave New World. Rather the world functions under the pretenses of clones in the
lower castes and leveled conditioning within the upper castes.
Cultural and psychological
surroundings; less obvious than physical surroundings but yet are much more
prevalent in the shaping of a person, mainly because you never see it coming. Within
the society of the New World State people are put into castes and taught how to
think before they are even old enough to form words. But as they grow older
even more forms of cultural conditioning and cultural surroundings began to
shape and form the citizens. (this was the 50 min mark for this essay, I am going to try and revisit this essay when we finish the book.)
Amara- Nice Job! The fact that your essay prompt was different than all the other essay’s I have read made me very happy! In your essay you dive right into what you are going to talk about, no fluff, just facts. I have trouble doing that sometimes so kudos to you! I also liked how you added examples from the text to support your essay. Very well written, and I know you stopped at 50 minutes, but reading more of it would be very interesting! ☺
ReplyDeleteI can see that you are planning on finishing the essay later and I can't wait to read the rest of it. So far so good. I like the points that you have made about the setting and actions of this "new world." Maybe you can make connections to actual characters and their actions/reactions in this world when you finish the essay!
ReplyDeleteVery skilled writing! I like your thought structure!
ReplyDeleteAwesome job Amara! I like the fact that you emphasized on the surroundings, but also on the cultural and psychological surroundings that can mold a person because that's what they face in their inner self. Great job!
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