1980. A recurring
theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility.
For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination
to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral
duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a
private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. In a
well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, its effects upon
the character, and its significance to the work.
In
Stephanie Meyers’ The Twilight Saga,
we are introduced to an entire different world. One filled with immortal
creatures living within the same city lines as normal human beings. Bella Swan,
the main character, is torn between two choices that could either end her life
permanently, or end her mortal life for a split second, until she comes back to
life as a vampire. Bella has to choose between staying with the love of her
life, Edward Cullen, or living the rest of her life out normally for the sake
of her family and friends. This decision is showed throughout the whole saga,
it changes Bella and everyone around her, and it shows great impact for the
novel, for without the conflict there wouldn’t be a novel at all.
When
Bella Swan moves back to Forks, she is re-introduced her childhood friend,
Jacob Black. As the story moves on, we all discover that he is not normal: he
is actually a werewolf. Jacob has an unrequited love for Bella, but she is head
over heels for someone else: Edward Cullen. We soon find out that Edward Cullen
isn’t normal either: he is a vampire. We all know that vampires are not living,
they are dead and their souls are no longer there. Bella cannot stop thinking
about Edward though, and won’t give up on having him. In return, Edward is in
love with Bella, and he has to make the choice on whether or not he should
change her into a vampire so that they can be together forever, or if he should
have her save her life and let her grow old and die while he is still right
there by her side. Then we have Jacob, the werewolf. Already, the two immortals
don’t get along, and they have certain rules they must follow so that they can
live so close to each other. Throughout the whole series we are shown the
struggles that are faced by all three characters and species, and we watch all
of their lives unfold for the better; or worse.
Bella
is a dynamic character; the biggest change being her mortality. In book one she
was an awkward teenager, and by the end of the series she was a grown and mature
vampire. She has to make life decisions that none of us could even imagine. She
is forced to tell her dad that she died, and she tells her mom the same thing. Every
one of her old friends thinks she dies, and the only people that know her
secret are the vampire world and the werewolf pack. She is forced to put her
real life to an end, and let her fake life begin. Though she is happy in the
end because she is with her soul mate forever, she had to make life-altering
decisions to get there (literally).
Without
this decision, there would be no series at all. Bella would never be a vampire,
and there would be no battles over her love and the reality of her child. There
would be no Vulturi to almost kill the Cullen family, and Bella Swan would be
living her life with Jacob, unhappy. Giving this big of a decision to an
eighteen year old in high school was a very smart play on Meyers’ part. She
makes Bella seem vulnerable, and selfish by doing only what she wants, and not
thinking about her friends and family. Without all of these problems, there
would be no series.
If
Bella had been a static character throughout the series, they wouldn’t sell.
The fact that Meyers gave her the power to make all of these decisions on her
own is what made for a top selling series. This novel greatly shows the
conflict that Bella is faced with and all of the ways in which is effects her
life, and all of that is what contributes to the significance of the story.
I like how you introduced your topic, but I think you should have narrowed your introduction paragraph down more, and told readers the choice Bella had to make rather than just saying she had a choice to make. I also think you could have skipped the summary paragraph, because I think you have to assume the reader has already read the book. I like how you brought in stuff we talked about in class by calling Bella a dynamic character and then explaining why that's true. I don't think you need to talk about what would happen if Bella hadn't made the decision she did in your last two paragraphs, but just in one. You should also focus more on the aspect of Bella making the actual decision to turn into a vampire, why did it take 4 books for her to make the decision? What were the pros and cons? How did it affect those around her? I like how you ended and brought it back to why the decision was significant.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your introduction paragraph and I think you did a great job with it. I have to disagree with Neha that you could have skipped the summary paragraph because "you have to assume the reader has already read the book". I for one am proud to say I have never and will never read a twilight book and I think a lot of AP readers probably haven't either. I think it is helpful to do a short summary paragraph because then the readers who have not read the book will know what you are talking about. However it is important that your essay remains an analysis and not a summary. The summary should be short and sweet so the reader has an idea of whats going on but they don't need to know the whole story. I think that your summary takes up a little bit too much of your paper and you need to focus a little bit more on the analysis of Twilight relating to the prompt. I thought most of your paper, even the pieces that were intended to be analysis seemed to be summaries as well. You did a great job showing that Bella was a static character but you didn't answer the prompt very clearly. You did a pretty good job answering the prompt but I would add a better opening sentence to each of your three supporting paragraphs to show which aspect of the prompt you are answering. This would help make your ideas clearer to the reader. I think the last paragraph where you mention how the Bella being so dynamic makes the book sell is interesting but I am not sure that is exactly what the writer of the prompt had in mind when they wrote this question. In the prompt it says to show the conflict's "significance to the work". I think you should talk more about the character's inner conflict's effect on the overall themes of the novel instead of its effect on its sales. Overall though I liked the way you organized your essay and your supporting ideas.
ReplyDelete