East of Eden Essay Questions

Your essay will be on one of these four topics.  You must write about East of Eden (duh).

Choose a work of literature written before 1953 (East of Eden was published in '52). Write an essay in which you present arguments for and against the work's relevance for a person in 2010. Your own position should emerge in the course of your essay. You may refer to works of literature written after 1953 for the purpose of contrast or comparison.

In some novels and plays certain parallel or recurring events prove to be significant. In an essay, describe the major similarities and differences in a sequence of parallel or recurring events in a novel or play and discuss the significance of such events. Do not merely summarize the plot.
 
The meaning of some literary works is often enhanced by sustained allusion to myths, the Bible, or other works of literature. Select a literary work that makes use of such a sustained reference. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain the allusion that predominates in the work and analyze how it enhances the work's meaning.

Morally ambiguous characters -- characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good -- are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or play in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

Happy planning! (And thank Dylan for the idea if you appreciated having the topics posted here)