Monday, January 19, 2015

PARCC Style Writing


Alexander Pope once wrote:

“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d”


John Milton's devil seems to equate obedience with godliness (Yeah, he resents this!).

Paradise Lost, Book IV:

“From their own mouths; all is not theirs it seems:
One fatal Tree there stands of Knowledge call’d,
Forbidden them to taste: Knowledge forbidd’n?
Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord
Envy them that? can it be sin to know,
Can it be death? and do they only stand
By Ignorance, is that their happy state,
The proof of their obedience and their faith?
O fair foundation laid whereon to build
Their ruin! Hence I will excite their minds
With more desire to know, and to reject
Envious commands, invented with design
To keep them low whom knowledge might exalt…”
Pleasantville, The Truman Show, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind all portray the horrors of actual utopias, predictability, perfection, obedience, and convenient forgetfulness.

Your Task: Write an essay that explores how two of the listed films portray the desirability of imperfection. Or, in other words, explain how the two films you select depict human nature. 

  • Incorporate specific references to each film.
  • Also, include a relevant quote from the excerpt from Paradise Lost or another work of literature to support your analysis/main idea.
Due Tomorrow (1/21/15)! 

  • This will count as an essay grade.
  • 4 paragraphs=full credit!
  • Essays submitted late will be subject to a significant loss of points.

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