Task: Read the following prompt and answer to the best of your ability!
Choose a symbol used in a novel or play of your choice and discuss its function in the world of the work. Be sure to give the title of the work and its author in the Introduction paragraph. You should strive for 4 - 5 paragraphs. Good Luck! After posting, read and comment on 4 other postings. Your comments should be helpful to the writer and may be things you noticed, something for them to think about, and some words of encouragement. You must complete your essay and your comments by Tuesday, January 12th!
I know this sounds weird but...a symbol that I think is an impact on the world is Edward Cullen from the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer. He is the symbol of the perfect man in a lot of girls' eyes. But he also is a symbol for expectations. Most of the girls today have all these high expectations for relationships and romance but it is just an idea in their head. That's where Edward comes in. He is just the perfect guy that will protect you with his life and be there to support you through anything. He is the highest expectation there is for guys and they have to deal with that competition with their girlfriends.
In the book, he is portrayed as a god-like creature and is idolized by all the humans. He is special even among his own kind and captures the heart of Bella Swan. Even in the book, guys are trying to be like him. Like how Mike is always trying to be more like Edward so he can catch Bella's attention all the time. All the guys at Forks envy Edward with a passion because of his smooth ways and dreamy looks.
He puts the bar so high for all guys to try and reach it. It kind of sucks for the guys because it's near to impossible to even try to be perfect like Edward. His perfection is so unatainable for "human" guys that he has to be a supernatural, mythilogical being. So he existing is saying that a perfect guy is out of this world and won't happen unless he is part god. But I think if you look up to his ways and how he acts and thinks, any guy could be probably one of the best boyfriends in the world. Expectations are supposed to be easy to live up to. They are things that you strive to come close to.
"Shoot for the moon even if you miss, you will land among the stars." -Les Brown
This quote examplifys how you can still try to shoot for the big prize but as long as you try you will still walk away with something. It doesn't matter if you get the prize in the end, you gain a lot more through out the journey to reach that goal or dream. Most times you are aiming for a goal that will only gratify you for a short period of time. But in the end, the thing that you remember most is the process you go through to get that goal. Take graduation for example, it is the main goal in high school. Graduate. Go to college. All that jazz. But hearing your name being announced in front of your family and friends are only like two seconds. But the memories that come with that is through out all 13 years of trying to get there.
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Kylie, first of all, I give you props for writing about Twilight because I'm sure a lot of "Twilight Haters" will have something to say about this! Secondly, I thought that what you had to say was a good idea. Edward does symbolize the "Perfect Guy," and I'm sure girls have gotten into fights with their boyfriends because he's not like "Edward Cullen."
ReplyDeleteI do have some suggestions though. I feel that your essay was too informal and that you should've been more assertive. For example, your lead off, "I know this sounds weird but ..." I think that you should have took this essay head on and just said something like "Edward Cullen symbolizes every girl's dreams." Your examples are good, like the ones about him being a God-like creature, and how guys try to be like him, etc. I do think that your essay steered away from your main topic a little, so try and stay on task next time. But overall, good job :)
I think your cute for writting about Edward, gosh you can't keep your mind off of him. haha. However I do like your variety of words that you use to describe Edward, such as the the symbol of the perfect man in alot of girls eyes. I personally do not like Twilight a much, but I think that if I had read this first I would be much more interested in reading it :) I also liked that fact that you didn't mention anything about the movie, because its different as a book. When you read books you imagine what the characters look like and everything. Where as the movie he is basically right in front of you. Good job though! Especially on doing this early again!
ReplyDeleteWell, since these are supposed to be helping us for the AP exam, I have a lot of suggestions. For off, as Miss Tsuruda says a lot, never ever use "I" during an essay! They dock off points for that. Your supposed to be talking about the book, and should not say 'I believe' or 'I think' and 'I know.' You must be more professional with this, because the graders of the test will not take it easy on you.
ReplyDeleteSecond, examplify is not a word. Are you trying to spell exemplify?
"Even in the book, guys are trying to be like him. Like how Mike is always trying to be more like Edward so he can catch Bella's attention all the time."
That sentence is not good either. First off, even in the book? The essay is supposed to be about the book, so I do not believe that that part was even really necessary. Your use of syntax is also not correct in that sentence, so I think you should check that out.
Other than that, I liked it. Keep up the good work.
I feel like the essay is a bit too informal for my taste, and the fact that you've written about Edward certainly doesn't help. He himself is not a symbol of perfection. In fact, although stated that he is "perfect" over and over and over again by Stephenie Meyers, his "perfectness" only serves one purpose, and that is to reveal his flaws. That Edward isn't as perfect as the author herself thinks. He in fact comes off as abusive, obsessive, and not much of a love interest at all in comparison to the character of Jacob Black, where his love comes from actual values rather than lust (Edward only loves Bella because of her blood.) Finally, Edward isn't really a symbol in her book. He's just a lame, two-dimensional, fake, unloving character that deserves no praise nor love from anyone. Yes, I'm Twilight hating. Haha. But yeah, this essay could definitely use some work. Perhaps choose a real Twilight symbol, such as blood. -Jhay
ReplyDeleteKylie!
ReplyDeleteI Loved that you wrote about Edward Cullen being a symbol. At first I was thinking, "He's a symbol?" but you explained yourself well and defended your stance, so props :) I think that your supporting arguments were genius.
You started well, but you kinda of got off topic in your essay. You began talking about Edward Cullen being the symbol of perfectionism and ended with expectations of high schoolers.
Also, I think that this essay sounded a little too casual to be an AP exam essay. I know this isn't the real thing, but its practice. So try to not make it like a personal narrative, make it like a third person point of view.
But I think that overall it was good:) And major props for writing about Edward haha.
konni
Konni