Summary and Analysis of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Summary:

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead” by Tom Stoppard, is a theater of the absurd existentialism play written in the 1960s. The story starts out with a scene between R and G where G is flipping a coin and every time he flips it, it lands on heads. From there they discuss the fact that the coin has landed heads up an improbable amount of times, hence defying the likelihood that it wouldn’t. They also discuss how neither of them can remember anything, even the questions that prompt their discussion. At which point the Tragedians, a troop of actors, arrive and offer R&G sexual acts with their youngest member Edward, who plays all the women in their plays. G extends the coin flipping bet to the Player (the head honcho of the troop). After the improbable heads-up streak, the coin finally lands tails-up, hence ending the streak. The lights fade out and fade back in to show R&G in the lands of Elsinore with Claudius and Gertrude. They all talk about the potential causes of Hamlet’s madness but come to no firm resolution. After Claudius and Gertrude leave R&G to start a game of questions, where you are to only answer/ask questions and it is scored like tennis. They just end up confusing one another and begin to question who is who and begin a role-playing game where one is one and the other is Hamlet. They get more confused.


Act two, R&G are with Hamlet and he is claiming to only be mad when the wind blows a certain direction. The talk of wind prompts a conversation between R&G, when Hamlet leaves, about the wind and how they can tell where the wind is blowing and what they could do to figure it out. Claudius reintroduces the tragedians who talk about how their work only has meaning when there are people there to watch them. When the player leaves to go practice his lines, R&G discuss death and what it means to be dead and what influence you have when gone. Later while the play is being rehearsed, the player talks about the “dumb play” and how it is better used to show the meaning of the work, because words mean nothing and carry minimal communication. Continuing the rehearsal R stops it shortly after because he notices the two spies in the play. The two spies in the play are dressed in the same clothes as R&G, and R thinks he recognizes them but cannot quite place them, ultimately giving up. The play that was being rehearsed is the story of R&G and Hamlet played out and showing all that is going to happen, all the while R&G have no clue what is going to happen. In the next scene, Hamlet is seen dragging Polonius’ body away (as to hide him), and R&G try to trap him with their belts. The scene provides comic relief to the intense nature of Hamlet’s act. When Hamlet leaves, Claudius appears and says that they are to find Polonius’ body. Shortly after, Claudius tells R&G that they will be escorting Hamlet to England, not giving them a choice in the matter.


Act three, the lights fade in and they are all on a boat. R&G are talking and end up role playing again and in the heat of the moment open the letter that Claudius had sent for the guards of England in regards to Hamlet’s arrival. R&G are shocked to see that the letter is sentencing Hamlet’s immediate execution. R&G argue if they can do it or not, escort him to his death, but ultimately end up sleeping. Hamlet slips into their room and forges the same letter, but sentencing R&G instead. The next morning, it is made clear that the tragedians are on the boat as well and were cast there when the king became so infuriated with their performance that they had to escape. Quickly after, there is an attack scene with pirates, and Hamlet manages to escape the boat leaving the players and R&G behind. Lost at what is happening G stabs the player and the player dies. Well… pretends to die and shows R&G that death can be faked and it can be done all through acting and pretend. R realizes their end is near and wonders how they were caught up in the situation. He asks if they could remain on the ship to avoid their executions. He asks G if they went wrong somewhere, neither can remember. R announces that he is done with it all, and leaves the stage. G does not notice, and instead, he tries to remember their actions, believing that they must have had an opportunity to prevent all that has happened. Suddenly, G realizes he is alone and begins crying out for R, but he is unable to remember if he is G or R. He says that they will be better off the next time around, and he leaves the stage in darkness.

Quotes:

“Rosencrantz: What are you playing at?/ Guildenstern: Words, words. They’re all we have to go on.”

This quote discusses the futility of words and how they can commonly mean nothing because they lack context. In the case of the play, they do rely on words and that is the root of their shallow meanings and lack of understanding.

“Life is a gamble, at terrible odds—if it was a bet you wouldn’t take it.”

A major motif in the play is both futility of life, and gambling. They are saying that life is not worth betting on, it will never go the way you want because the world is indifferent to your will.

Theme Statement:

In "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead", Stoppard comments on the futility of human purpose in a work where people are confined to a role that they do not have control over.

Characters:

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern- 

Both serve as interchangeable means of presentation for Stoppard's work. They are simply shallow characters that are lost without the writing and direction of the author. If they were given depth then they would have been deep, but they remained as Shakespeare wrote them, shallow and to serve their purpose in the story of Hamlet. They are purposely confused and upset to show their lack of meaning and purpose.

Player-

 Used to show them how a character can be defined by their role, and embrace that. The player is one of the few, if not only, self-aware characters within this play. His self-awareness contrasts the lostness that R&G feel throughout the play.

Motifs:

Gambling

Loose papers

Music (specifically the tragedians)

Science experiments (ie. the paper airplane)

Response to Class Material #5

From the last response to course material that was posted, we, as a class, have continued to read and work with Hamlet through analysis and discussion. For a more in-depth explanation of Hamlet see Summary and Analysis of Hamlet. The Hamlet open prompt proved to be somewhat of a challenge for me for some reason. When we were given the open prompt in class I did nothing short of panic and forget every word that I know. Upon rereading and reworking the essay, I realized that I really REALLY need to practice timed writing. My initial essay was rough as heck, but after rereading and reworking it, I feel that it turned out okay and I was okay to attach my name to the work. The key things that I had to work on were really nailing my intro and forming a solid thesis that I could easily revisit throughout my essay. From there the essay was much easier to write and made my ideas a lot more clear and understandable.


Onto Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard, the second to last book that our class is reading for the year (wow... that went fast). For an in-depth analysis check out my Summary and Analysis on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which shall come shortly after this post. R&G was a harder story for me to grasp and understand due to the confusing and pretty ambiguous nature of theater of the absurd. To help myself I just need to notice motifs and themes and stick with them through all the nonsense.


We have also been working on my questions for the AP exam in may. I often find those more daunting than writing the prompts because of how confused I can become when all the words do not make sense and you do not know what you are reading in the first place. The silver lining is that I am getting better at faking it, and acting like I totally know what I am talking about. The confidence seems to help my score when it comes down to it, so even if I'm still unsure, at least I am getting some of the questions correct.

Open Prompt 2 #2 (I think...?)

1979

Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of recognized literary merit who might on the basis of the character’s actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.

As it is often said, our actions do not always define who we are as a person, but at what point do those action reflects who we are? In The Kite Runner, The main character Amir is put into several circumstances where he is in between a rock and a hard place, causing his actions to reflect that internal struggle. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, uses themes of betrayal and forgiveness to show that no matter how bad an action is, it does not have to define you as a person.


In the first half of The Kite Runner, Amir is faced with the the judgement of the other boys over his best friend, Hassan, being a Hazara in a community of Pashtuns. The boys, although different in race, were inseparable until Amir started listening to the hurtful words of the other boys. The apex of the betrayal was when Amir pretended not to see the rape of Hassan, even though he could of helped the situation. Such a serious moment is nearly impossible to process as a child, hence the hesitation and fear that Amir felt in the moment. Without any other context, it would seem that Amir left his friend to suffer without any second though; whereas in reality, he was nothing more than a confused child that was scared to tell anyone or do anything. The innocence of the situation cuts the malevolence tenfold, hence not making this one act of betrayal reflective of Amir’s personality as a whole. Furthermore, Amir let the burden of watching his childhood friend’s rape weigh on him throughout his adult life. The guilt that Amir bore also reflects on his personality showing how even though he made a horrible mistake he held himself credible for it.


On the flipside of the situation, Hassan used the power of forgiveness to rise above the evil that Amir committed. Beyond ignoring Hassan’s rape, Amir also falsely accused Hassan of stealing and furthermore got him and his father kicked out/ moved out of Baba’s home that they shared. The action on Amir’s behalf was done out of anger and frustration that he could not find his father’s love. Although not an excuse, Hassan understood and followed Amir’s will, like he always would and left the safehaven that was Baba’s home. From the point of moving out on, Hassan never held it against Amir because he understood and choose to forgive Amir for feeling the way he did. Although the evil was committed and the pain was felt, Hassan chose to forgive Amir and chose to see him still as the wonderful friend he had been. That forgiveness allowed Hassan to not let Amir’s actions define him and chose to see past the pain and hurt to remember who Amir once was to him.


Amir is that of a tragic hero, it took him falling apart and doing so much wrong to see that he could do good in the world. Although it took time and consideration, Amir learned to not let his acts of betrayal towards Hassan define him. With the cure of forgiveness, Amir was able to free himself from the actions that once defined his childhood.

Response to Class Material #4

As the last semester came to a close our class was working on our read and lead projects. It was very interesting to see how others deciphered their poems. It was also very interesting how to some things meant one thing to someone and a completely different thing to someone else. I must say after a while the charm of listening to people read their poems did lose some of its charm, not so much that I did not enjoy the presentations, but it could get redundant when you are listening to one after the next.


At the same time we were working on our poetry read and lead, we were also assigned final exam assignments. My group decided that we were going to make a playlist that held all the characteristics of The American Dream (see The American Dream Summary and Analysis blog). The playlist was a quite diverse musical collection, check the playlist out for yourself here.


We, as a class, also read Oedipus Rex (see Oedipus Rex Summary and Analysis blog), and discussed the concept of fate and free will. This was mostly taken care of during the first semester, but it ran over slightly into the second semester. Currently, our class is in our Hamlet “unit” and are discussing Shakespearean literature and the themes within Hamlet (see Hamlet Summary and Analysis blog- soon to come). Under the Hamlet “unit” as a class, we have read and listened to some interesting material- to review visit Google Groups, AP Page. We also talked early in the unit about Shakespearean theater and how it was much different than today's theater. Back in the day, only men were allowed to act and often times there was very little action on stage, only drama on the stage as they discussed the goriest of meetings.


Since the second semester has started, our class has had to write an open prompt essay on anything that was literally applicable to the prompt. I surprisingly did not mind writing this essay because it allowed me to be more creative than in a normal closed prompt essay. I believe I did okay on my essay, both my partners rated it a 7/8 through our partner assessments (see comments on closed prompt #2 for suggestions). In the future, I plan on making an effort BEFORE I start writing to plan out how I want to write my essay so it does not just spin into nonsense.


My goals for the next to months are to go back and study the literature that we have read in class, I believe this will prepare me for the AP exam in may. I also plan on returning to the vocab and truly learn it and not just cramming my way through assessments. The assignment we had in class to make our own AP questions was very beneficial to me, and I plan on doing that for myself and practicing on mock AP MC assessments. I believe that I have the most room to grow when it comes to the MC part of the exam. My goal is to receive at least a 6 on the AP exam but ideally, I would like a 7 or 8!

Open Prompt 2

1975. Although literary critics have tended to praise the unique in literary characterizations, many authors have employed the stereotyped character successfully. Select one work of acknowledged literary merit and in a well-written essay, show how the conventional or stereotyped character or characters function to achieve the author’s purpose.

In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Walker uses African American stereotypes like the Mammy and the Jezebel archetypes to foil each other in the story. The foiling of the characters and their stereotypical roles is used to explain the misfortune of the characters and how they prevailed through their hardship.

Celie, the main character is that of the Mammy stereotype due to her servile behavior and supine nature. This can be seen throughout the story such as when Celie was expected to care for her siblings due to her mother’s death and her fathers abusive and old fashioned nature. Or when celie’s husband abuses her and she simply takes it and does what she is told- but throughout the whole thing she remains kind and shares that kindness with those who accept it. Celie’s character is the Mammy stereotype because of her servile attitude towards her “superiors” and how she remains kind and love to those who deserve it, in spite of her miserable circumstances. Shug, on the other hand, is the jezabel. The impact that Shug makes is due to her headstrong and openly sexual behavior. This type of impact can be seen when Shug is initially introduced into the story as the mistress, and not as the singer that we was. Secondarily, it was Shug that confronted and stopped the abuse that Mr._____ inflicted upon Celie.

The foiling of Shug and Celie was shown slowly throughout the story. When the characters first interacted with one another it was not present due to their glaring differences. One one hand there is passive and servile Celie and on the other there is aggressive and promiscuous Shug. From the get-go of the story the reader knows that these characters’ purposes are to evolve each other, due to their polar vantage points on life. Through the contrast and growth that the character show throughout the story, Walker was able to show how the separate stereotypes were able to play off each other and help each other.

Through the base of stereotypes, Walker was able to foil Celie and Shug and have them act off of one another in the pursuit of freedom from oppression. The strong African American stereotypes provided a good platform for contrast to be shown throughout the story. Walker through stereotypes was able to show the true depth of the character and not just their offensive and stereotyped outsides.

Open Prompt #1 2008

Student 1 wrote of the contrast of the foils within the Joy Luck Club. Having read the book before reading their response really helped me understand what it was that they were contributing to their thesis. Student 1 did a great job of using an appropriate amount of retelling the story and highlighting what the different aspects meant. That is something that I know that I will have to work on because I have the habit of just reciting and then explaining the meaning, not explaining as I go. I would give this response a 9 on the AP grading scale due to their eloquent phrasing and due to their ability to say what they mean. I honestly cannot think of anything that they could have done better in their essay. The penmanship was nice, the wording was deliberate, and the thesis answered the prompt perfectly.


Student 2’s essay was also about the foils within a story - which correctly follows the prompt (points for that.) This time it was about the book The Color Purple, which I have been able to read as well outside of class and attempted to do understand all its layers of complexity. Through this essay response student 2 was able to convey their thoughts on the foiling of the characters between the main character and her father who beat her down to the point of understanding herself and what she stands for. Although this essay was not as smoothly worded as the first one, I still believe that it answered the prompt pretty well. I would give this essay a 6 or 7 on the AP grading scale due to their lack of eloquence when explaining their arguments. I believe that roughness translates to a slightly less mature writing style, which is not bad, but it is not ideal for the AP exam.


Student 3 wrote their essay on The Kite Runner, which we have studied in class this year so I am pretty fresh on the content and what it should look like. With that being said I feel that student 3 did a subpar job explaining why it is that Baba was a foil to Hassan. My first criticism of the essay would have to be that out of all the foils that are present in the story, why student 3 picked a small and what I could call weird comparison. The reason I feel this way is that they are both foils to Amir, the main character, but to each other, I am not sure that they highlight much a difference between each other. As far as the actual essay goes, student 3’s explanation(s) were severely underdeveloped and lacked the full circle of thought. Although their argument was not very strong, they did technically answer the prompt and they sort of explained why they answered that way. I would give this essay a 3 or 4 on the AP grading scale.

Responce to Class Material #3

From 11/12/17 to 12/15/17 Our class has worked on reading and analyzing the kite runner, Reference kite runner summary, and analysis blog post. As a class, we discussed a lot of the symbolism behind the what seemed to be quite straightforward text. I go into more detail about this in the previous post though so I will not go into much more detail.

We also have been working a lot on closed prompt poetry responses for the AP test in May. personally, I find poetry responses to be MUCH harder than straight literature responses. the reason for that being that poetry is a lot less literal and it could mean any number of things without the right background knowledge. Through the peer reviews that I have received I have become more aware of making my thesis and points very clean in the essay so they do not get lost in the confusion of the interpretation (or my attempt at an interpretation.) For future note- take your time in identifying the point of the question and what it wants from you, and then write your thesis accordingly.

not only have we been working on the poetry prompts we have also been working on reading and analyzing poetry and more pieces of literature in the form of practice multiple choice tests. This is to help us learn how to take the AP MC test in may. I have learned that I personally have to take more time in slowing down and actively reading the story, not just buzzing through and guessing at the questions.

Lastly, as a class, we have our read and lead poetry assignment that will be due in early January for my partner and me. It fits in with the trend of reading and analyzing poetry. 

Closed Prompt 2 #4

Eros by Robert Bridges and Eros by Anne Stevenson are both on the same topics of Eros, Greek god of love, but with striking differences in their interpretations. Bridges' version of Eros is classic and beautiful whereas Stevenson's version is dark and disheartening as she describes what people have done to the idea of love. While both poems are written out of sympathy for the god of love, Bridge's tone is a lot more praising, whereas Stevenson is critiquing the way humans have handled love.

Firstly in Bridges' poem, a picture adoration and sympathy towards Eros is pained. First, the adoration, as seen in the first 3 lines of the poem where Bridges refers to Eros as an "Idol" and a "tyrant." Both idol and tyrant show the great respect that Bridges feels towards Eros and his powers. Bridges goes as far as to call Eros, "[The] king of joy," which is a very literal way of expressing his adoration of the god. The poem also flows with the end-rhyme that bridges instilled throughout the peom. The sweet flow of the words makes the poem sound as if it were to be a song of praise to Eros and not just something for the entertainment of meer men who wish to appreciate love and literature. The final token of appreciation that is given to Eros in this poem would be where Bridges says, "And wouldst in darkness come, but thou/ Makest the light where’er thou go." The reason that this is at the end is that Bridges wanted to leave the reader with the feeling that no matter what darkness lays ahead or in their life, Eros can come in and bring with him, light that will eat the darkness up. This is important to the contrast of the poems because it is here that Bridges makes his statement that humans are worthy of Eros attention.

On the flip side, Stevenson's ideas of Eros are that of a beat up god who has become an abused slave to humankind. The first example of Stevenson's view on Eros is seen right in the beginning where she calls for love and immediately thereafter Eros shows up, "With boxer lips/ And patchy wings askew?’. This is to show that as Eros has been called upon frivolously by many others and his talents have been abused to the point of his unrecognizable demise. In Eros' dialogue in Stevenson's poem, he speaks of how he is,"‘the brute you see/ Is what long overuse/ Has made of me." He feels as though he has been overused and underappreciated. The short choppy lines make the reader feel exacerbated- like they are looking into the damage their recklessness has caused. Later in the poem, Stevenson writes through the words of Eros, "We slaves who are immortal" as to say that humans have elevated themselves to such a place of undeserved privilege that they feel they can make a god their slave.

Although both Stevenson and Bridges wrote of their sympathy for the god of love, Eros, They both did so in a way that reflected their individual views on his role within humankind. Bridges chose to do so in a way that reflected his classical writing style and his personal appreciation for Eros. Whereas Stevenson only wrote of Eros' overuse and underappreciation from the mere morals

Closed Prompt 2 #3

Both Keats and Longfellow's poems are about unfulfilled desires and the ever-present idea that death is coming. Later on in both poems, their views shift slightly on the matter of life and what needs to come out of it. Longfellow's view on life stays grim and depressing throughout his poem, whereas Keats wants to see all that life has to offer but is daunted by the fear of death and not accomplishing that which wants.

The most similar part of the poems was in the beginnings of them, both start grim and depressing as they express their disdain towards eventual death. Keat's, "I may cease to be," parallels Longfellow's, "Half of my life is gone," by both expressing their common belief that they may stop living at any point. The similarities between the poems extend to Longfellow saying, "gone, and I have let/
The years slip from me and have not fulfilled/ The aspiration of my youth," and Keats' ominous use of the word "before," implying that there is still so much that he has not done that he wishes to do.

The middle part of both of poems is where Longfellow and Keats start to differentiate their points. Keats starts sharing his desire for romance in line 5, "When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,/
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance," to convey his desire for romance before his passing. In contrast, Longfellow says, "But sorrow, and a care that almost killed,/ Kept me from what I may accomplish yet." Longfellow's views are much grimmer and he believes that overwhelming sorrow and dismay is enough to keep him from acting on his desires. Between the two poems, Longfellow is much more depressing and believes that his desires are not able to be pursued because it is all futile, whereas Keats believes that his desire is enough to keep wishing for it and striving for it.

When I Have Fears and Mezzo Cammin both conclude in a scenic way, hence making them similar on the surface, but different once you read a little beneath the surface. "Then on the shore/ Of the wide world I stand alone, and think/ Till love and fame to nothingness do sink," the conclusion of Keats' poem uses imagery to paint this picture of a man standing and looking out onto the world and reflecting his life. Keats shares his view on his past, and how it was filled with more important ideas, other than if you completed a desire or not. In sharp contrast, Longfellow paints a similar image with a man standing and contemplating his life. " A city in the twilight dim and vast, ....The cataract of Death far thundering from the heights," is Longfellows interpretation of a man looking back at his life. The city is a metaphor for his life- vast and dim, filled with missed opportunities and a sorrowful outlook. The real contrast between Keats' and Longfellow's poems is that Longfellow ends his poem with the cry of death, as to say there is no point because all is futile in the end.

Responce to Class Material #2

VOCAB VOCAB VOCAB!!! Over the past couple of weeks, our class has focused very heavily on literary terms that the AP test goes over and uses. Without going into it, here is a list of words that we went over and learned as a class:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qMle5ATnv4AOAEhsidTlwCRCIwukMVXp_yr8_mdbfHI/edit
We also did read and were tested on The American Dream by Edward Albee (See Summary and Analysis of The American Dream).

Those are the two big things we have been focusing on but we have also read a couple of sheets and done a couple practices for the AP exam in May.

Some of the papers that we have read were about different theories of different types of humor and why they are funny, one was on existentialism theory and another on the theater of the absurd. All of the papers helped us to read The American Dream. The main ideas were as simple as what their titles suggest. They were helpful, but their titles say it all. We also read a biography of sorts on Edward Albee and some of his life experiences- abusive parents and what not.

We also had several blog posts that we were to do over the last couple weeks; a couple responses to student responses, a couple mock AP essays and the summary for the American Dream that I mentioned earlier.

From reading student responses along with writing my own essays, I have learned that I need to be careful of summarizing and paraphrasing events and simply focus on making my retelling and referencing more concise when it comes to my explanation and answering of the essay question.

Over the last three days (11-7,8,9) our class also did a tone activity to show how very subtle changes in wording and inflection can change the tone of the phrase. I enjoyed it because several kids in the class made theirs humorous.

Closed Prompt 1 #2

2009
1A: I believe that this student deserved an 8 on the AP grading scale. It was an extremely well-written essay that I hope that I will be able to emulate when it comes time for me to take the AP exam. Student A did a wonderful job delving deeper than the surface of the speech. As written by Shakespear, it pretty hard to understand and so the fact that student A was able to both comprehend and interpret the work was pretty amazing in and of itself. Specifically, I appreciated the fact that the handwriting was legible and grammatically correct. My one nit-picking detail was I would have appreciated a couple more examples, but that is pretty objective considering I am not an AP reader and have not read a thousand other essays.

1B: Student B, in my opinion, deserves a 6 on the AP grading scale.  Just like Student A student B did a great job on their essay and did a pretty good job tapping into the depth of the piece. Granted, I think that A did a little bit better than B but that is simply because A was a lot more thorough in their points regarding the play. One of my critiques of student B  is the fact that they fell victim to the paraphrasing bug when writing their essay. This is something that I will have to be very careful about when it comes to my own AP essay when it comes time to write it. Besides that, I feel that student B did a good job with their introduction and conclusion introducing and finishing their ideas.

1C: Although student C had the nicest handwriting, their essay only deserves a 4 or 5 on the AP essay scale. Just as B did, C used a lot of paraphrasing to cover the fact that the content was pretty shallow. Student C's intro was super promising but fell apart when it came to application. As the essay progressed student C lost a lot of the focus that the initial points needed to execute. C did a great job with their introduction paragraph, they laid their ideas and thoughts out very well. On the other hand, their conclusion was not as great. I believe it was due to the lack of focus that was demonstrated in the body paragraphs. My other critique would be, I would have appreciated more concise examples throughout the essay versus paraphrased sections that had to do with the subtopic.

Closed Prompt 2

This excerpt from, Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai, the author uses literary devices such as language, point of view, and several actions to show the reader how uncomfortable Arun is in his surroundings. By doing so, it forces the reader to sympathize with Arun and his new surroundings, hence making it more clear to the reader what Arun is experiencing.

Language is a strong literary device used throughout the whole excerpt to illustrate the emotional setting. In the first paragraph, Desai describes Arun as despondent- in low spirits due to loss of courage. This sets up the excerpt with a sad and lethargic setting. later on in the excerpt when Arun is outside he sees " these grasses stirring with insidious life, and bushes with poisonous berries." This description of nature is written in such a way that you can feel how uncomfortable Arun is with being outside. The language that Desai uses throughout the excerpt paints a picture of an uncomfortable boy in a foreign environment. By using more of a more dark and unhappy vocabulary, the writer shows us exactly how her words should illustrate how uncomfortable Arun is.

The excerpt, written in third person, allows the reader to witness Arun and his surroundings in an unbiased manner. This excerpt is primarily showing Arun's experience and how he sees and thinks. If the story had been told in a first person view than the reader would only be able to feel and think as Arun does, but by writing in third person it allows the reader to perceive situation in their own way- and allows them to draw their own conclusions. A good example of a situation that would of changed if written in first person is, "Melanie and Arun follow silently. they try to find a way to walk that will not compel them to stand side by side or in any way close together. Who follows whom? Is is an awkward problem." The reason this is a good example is because it allows the reader to contemplate why they can't stand side by side? why do they feel awkward with each other? If this had been written in first person then it would of only explained one view leaving the rest of the picture neglected.

Lastly, Desai uses the actions of her characters to highlight Arun's discomfort. the interactions between Melanie and Arun show the awkward and forced nature of their relationship, "Melanie comes to the door, dressed in her bathing suit with a big shirt drawn across her shoulders, and she stares at him challengingly, he starts wildly to find an  excuse." Here Melanie is trying to get Arun to go sailing with herself and the rest of his host family, and Arun is trying desperately to find a way out of doing so. Even an exchange as simple as that shows the readers how Arun feels and how he views the common activities of his host family.

At first glace the except of fasting, feasting, seems lighthearted and like a family trying to go sailing on a nice day. After looking a little deeper it is made clear that Arun, the main character, is uncomfortable with his family and going outside. Desai uses actions of characters, point of view, and language to contribute to the emotional profile of Arun.

Closed Prompt 1

2A: After reading student A's response, I would agree with the AP reader, and give them an 8. The reason for me giving them an 8 versus a 9, would be due to the lack of direct quotes from the reading. Other than that, their response was very concise and showed their deep understanding of the reading. Student A did a good job taking ideas that the characters shared within the reading, and comparing them to one another. In addition to the ideas the characters shared, student A looked into the meanings of what they were saying and how it contributed to their overall outlook on the power division. Along side everything else, student A did an excellent job finding the metaphorical meaning of all the symbols in the passage, such as how playing cards was to symbolize marriage.  Finally I would thank student A for having legible handwriting, because if they had written in chicken-scratch then it would of a. made my score decrease and b. made it a lot harder to read and understand their response.

2B: Student B's response was okay, and yet again I believe the AP reader graded them fairly in giving them a 5. If student B had used their quotations more purposefully, that would bring them up to a 6 and to get them to a 7 if they had used their concise quotations in a way that would have added to the meaning not just recite themes within the reading. Student B showed  a basic understanding of the meaning of the reading, but nothing more than the basics. Although student B determined what the quotes that the characters were saying, they failed to get the deeper meaning. Student A found the metaphorical meaning behind their quotations, whereas student B simply recited the quote and said what it meant. This shows that they can comprehend the reading, but they fail to give it practical meaning as to how it adds to the depth of the character.

2C: Student C's response is the only response that I read that I disagreed with the scoring of the AP reader. I did not disagree by much, but I believe that they deserved a 4 more than just a 3. The reason for this disagreement is that I believe, although shallow, Student C was able to make a deeper meaning out of the reading, which implies some level of understanding. The one thing I really appreciated about student C's response was how neatly it was written! The neat writing made it A LOT easier to read. Student C's main downfall within their response was how they did not stay 100% focused on their prompt that they were supposed to answer. If student C had focused more so on how the meanings of what the characters had said, contributed to the meaning and depth of the reading, versus how the reading connected to real life problems; the piece could of become a 4 if not a 5.