anybody ever read these

[68falcon]

 

[68falcon]

sorry accidently pressed enter, anyway, my teach assigned these for summer reading and gaves us a topic to write on and im not very good a english and have no idea what it means, heres the topic:
The following promp was one of the free response test questions of 2004. Read the prompt and respond using one of the assigned selections. This essay will be handed in on the first day of class.
Critic Roland Barthes has said "Literature is the question minus the answer". Considering ths observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the author's treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

any help would be appreciated, im not expecting anyone to write an essay just explain what its asking for if you would, thank you

 

[Leper Messiah]

I read of Mice and Men. It was okay.

How much are you willing to spend for the answer?

 

[68falcon]

How much are you willing to spend for the answer?

i was kinda hoping that the satisfaction of knowing that you helped someone not as intelligent as you would be enough.

 

[Leper Messiah]

You realize the ammount of work required in writing an essay like that? Its no mere sentance or paragraph to adequately explain such a concept. The time I would spend re-reading the book, writing the essay would end up being 5-6 hours at the minimum. Time=$$$

 

[imported_Pablo]

1 Go to bookstore.
2. Buy cliffs notes.

 

[Reel]

Me fail English? That's unpossible!

 

[68falcon]

i dont want you to read the book, thats why i asked if you had read the book, i dont want you to write the paper, just put in real simple terms what the question or topic means. im getting cliffs notes on of mice and men, but i think wicked is too new to have much analysis on it cause i cant find much.

 

[Jzero]

Just as I was saying about how "education" ruins the experience of reading...

I think the point of the question is that the story puts the question in your mind, but does not provide the answer to the question. Take Don Quixote, for a quick and dirty example since I'm reading that right now. You could say that Cervantes asks the question - "Is there a need for knights errant in a modern age?" The irony is, of course, that Cervantes wrote Quixote 500 years ago, yet the question remains valid.

But he doesn't give an answer. Quixote wanders the Spanish desert righting wrongs and favoring widows and such, yet at the end of the day most of the people he assists either make fun of him, or beat the crap out of him. He does immense good, but at great expense to himself both physically and mentally, and often at the expense of a greater good.

It's up to the reader to decide whether Quixote is really a mindless quack, or if in his insanity he has actually reached a higher plane of being - one that we all could aspire to even in the 21st century.

Hope that helps.

 

[68falcon]

i appreciate the help Jzero, but the question you use seems too specific i think my teach would be looking for more of a theme than one single question. although i know nothing about english i could be wrong

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: 68falcon
i appreciate the help Jzero, but the question you use seems too specific i think my teach would be looking for more of a theme than one single question. although i know nothing about english i could be wrong

write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers

You'll be looking for a single question that's related to a major theme of the book. Believe me - there's nothing remotely specific about knight-erranty in Don Quixote - it's 1000 pages of knight errantry.

I gave you that example to give you an idea of the kind of thing you might be looking for. Unfortunately, I can't give you any good hints for Wicked or Of Mice And Men since I haven't read either of them, but there should be a few major themes from which you can derive a question or conundrum that the author is batting around, but for which he does not ever give a flat-out opinion or conclusion. In a sense, you'll have to invent the question yourself. There should be no wrong answers as long as you support your argument and it makes sense.