Open Prompt 2, Part 1

2004. Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel, or play, and, considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

N
The author offered an interesting question but failed to resolve it. In the spirit of the prompt, this student's work has no answer. They chose a complicated piece- Candide, by Voltaire. Voltaire, as a philosopher, would have certainly offered a question or two in this book. He probably answered it as well but he wouldn't have made it easy to see these two things. I think the student may have bitten off a little more than they could chew with this book though they put up a semi-respectable fight.
J
This response makes it easy for readers unfamiliar with the novel to understand what the author is trying to say, but it's important to balance plot summary and original thought. The author makes excuses for what is clearly a homoerotic relationship that crosses race, economic and traditional patriarchal lines (not that I have anything against any of these) with a flimsy, half cooked semblance of a thought. Forget this essay, I say we do the world a favor and cut this student off from any form of literature indefinitely. Defile an American classic and you're defiling America. Go back to Tripoli or the mental hospital, whichever suits you better.
UU
This incredibly short essay cut the wrong pieces in their efforts to be concise. They stuck to the vague and obscure, possibly hoping the reader would draw their own conclusions. That's not the point. Again with balance, this respondent focused too much on one side of the plot summary and analysis points, offering little summary and weak points. Thesis was missing or incomplete and content didn't quite answer the prompt.

When do we get to read 50 Shades of Grey?