Prompt:
Select a novel, play, or epic poem that features a character whose origins are unusual or mysterious. Then write an essay in which you analyze how these origins shape the character and that character's relationships, and how the origins contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Essay:
Throughout literature, origins of characters greatly drive the story's plot elements as one's background dictates their decisions. In Antigone, the heroine Antigone possesses an unusual origin of luxury in society while simultaneously an origin of tragedy and distress.
Antigone is vastly overshadowed by men and women in her life--standing as a unique and representative female character for the play's time. Her father's previous sentencing to exile, and his wishes deeming her two brothers to fight to their demise impact her confident role in her decision-making. Her persistence to unveil justice in Thebes for her brother's proper burial is shaped by her tragic origin and background--her father's exile and distrust in his family greatly impacting her present behavior in Antigone. Antigone's tragic origin influences her behavior, therefore enhancing the work's overall plot and impacting its themes of feminism and justice. Antigone passionately fights for her beliefs--an action she would have previously been silenced for, but Antigone uses her voice to grasp even a shred of justice and dignity to offer to her deceased brother. These actions heavily feed the plot, as the burial of Antigone's brothers is the central surface of the conflict in the text.
While Antigone's search for justice is a conflict, the resistance she faces in the process provides a deeper restraint and thematic content for the play. Her uncle's ruling plays upon Antigone's origin of luxury--born into and socializing with the upper class. Her uncles's reign after her father ignites a constant, underlying internal battle between Antigone and her uncle, king Creon. Antigone's wealthy societal origins deeply convey her character's loyalty to her relationships--guiding the play's plot and its themes of family and loyalty. The intensity and power struggles present between Kreon and Antigone are impacted by Antigone's engagement with Kreon's son--the sense of disapproval within Kreon and desire Antigone possesses for support from her fiance. The intertwined conflicts within those relationships delves the plot into a deeper and more complex story. Antigone's origin in her high society culture influences her desire to break away from Kreon's ruling while also enhancing their resistence against one another's opinions regarding the burial of Antigone's brother. These relationships narrow into the conclusion of the play--and the deaths of both Antigone and Kreon's son--lacing the play with significant themes of familial loyalty--all driven by Antigone's origins.
The unusual, complex, and layered origins of a character immensely shape the character of their behavior, decisions, and interactions with other characters. These decisions and relationships allow the plot to grow--impacting the overall themes and intended takeaways from the text.
Reflection:
Based on the prompt, I was asked to analyze how a character's origins shape the character and their relationships and how these origins contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole. The prompt itself was simple, but I significantly struggled with wording it specifically. I knew what I wanted to mention, but formulating the ideas was very difficult. I also missed a key portion in directly explaining how the origins contributing to the work as a whole--I mentioned it, but it wasn't as prominent in my essay as it should have been. I think I made quality points towards the end as my ideas began to unravel and make sense, but the beginning was lacking and unfocused. For this essay, I believed my score was a 4 due to my lack of focus for the beginning and leaving my essay a little confusing to the reader, despite "an adequate analysis of the poem." I believe that I need to improve heavily on analysis and complexity within my writing.
Two strategies I learned to benefit me in the future is the importance of the MOTAAW, and the three sentence thesis to aid my essay in a better direction.
Ms. Wilson scored this essay as a 5.5 as she said that based on the 5 guidelines, my essay "[responded] to the assignned task with a plausible reading, but they tend to be superficial or thinly developed in analysis." She especially marked that my mentions from the text was too general, and that my beginning was unfocused and confusing. She did score it as a 5.5 however, because it accomplished a "more consistent command of the elements of effective composition than do essays scored a 6" which was part of the scoring for 6-7 essays.
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