Getting an A in expos is not just a figment of imagination; it is quite an attainable achievement. You do not even have to be an amazing writer. Read our tips to learn how to impress your writing teacher and skim through the sample essays to gauge A quality papers.
While every teacher has different writing expectations, the department has outlined specific criteria that every teacher and thus student must abide to. Make sure to read this through before diving into one of the sample essays below.
B+ final grade; Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran. Prompt: In describing the two photographs of her class, Nafisi says "One cancels the other, and yet without one, the other is incomplete. In the first . in our black robes and scarves, we are as we had been shaped by someone else's dreams. In the second, we appear as we imagined ourselves. In neither could we feel completely at home" (434). Which photo, do you believe, is a better depiction of the class's reality? Why couldn't the class feel at home in either? Explain your answer, and support your thesis, with references to the reading.
B+ final grade; Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran and The Naked Citadel. Prompt: Both of the assigned essays discuss students who have, for very different reasons, created sanctuaries: places where, in addition to studying, they can find a form of escape from the outside world. [sic]. Based on your understanding of both readings, discuss why Nafisi's students and the cadets at The Citadel, felt the need to retreat into these little worlds within worlds. What were they afraid of? Who or what were they trying to avoid? What sort of life were they seeking to resist, and what were they hoping to achieve?
Paper 3: Transparency in the Author's Credibilitylog in or sign up
A final grade; Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran, The Naked Citadel, and How to Tell a True War Story. Prompt: For your midterm, you considered the truth and believability of the assigned readings, based on Tim O'Brien's criteria: "Somebody tells a story... and afterward you ask, 'is it true?' and if the answer matters, you've got your answer" (448). What criteria, other than O'Brien's, should readers use to judge a writer's credibility, and to determine the truth of the story being told? How true are the stories you have read, based on these additional criteria?
A final grade; How to Tell a True War Story, and Into the Wild. Prompt: Both Krakauer and O'Brien, in their attempts to determine the truth, tell their stories from multiple points of view: Krakauer quotes a number of the people who last spoke to Chris McCandless, as well as friends who knew him before he left home, and Alaskan natives who had never met Chris but were familiar w/the area where he spent the last weeks of his life. Likewise, Tim O'Brien tells the same, or similar, stories from several soldiers' points of view. Do the multiple witnesses/points of view help or hinder the writers in their efforts to tell the true story? Why?
Paper 5: Path to Enlightmentlog in or sign up
B+/A final grade; How to Tell a True War Story, Into the Wild, and Wisdom. Prompt: In describing the process of enlightenment, Thurman says "your sense of being separate from everyone else has now eroded . You have arrived at the doorway to universal compassion" (752). Is this sort of enlightenment possible for people in stressful, life-threatening situations, such as Chris McCandless in Alaska, or O'Brien's soldiers in Vietnam? Or is "enlightenment" a luxury, available to individuals who don't have to worry about basic survival? Explain your answer with direct references to specific passages from all three readings.
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