AP English: Literature & Composition

A Confederacy of DuncesCulminating Essay Choices

(Barraza: Fall 2018)

1. A Confederacy of Dunces uses the element of time, or the allure of a particular time, in a distinct way. Show how John Kennedy Toole’s manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
2. As a satire on human folly, consider how the novel advocates for changes in social or political attitudes or traditions.
3. In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery O’Connor has written, “I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to believe that it is the only way to make people see.” Write an essay in which you “make a good case for distortion,” as distinct from literary realism. Analyze how important elements of A Confederacy of Dunces are “distorted” and explain how these distortions contribute to the effectiveness of the work.
4. Consider how A Confederacy of Dunces depicts the conflict between mother and son. Analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.
5. “The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter.” Consider how John Kennedy Toole’s novel awakens “thoughtful laughter” in the reader.
6. Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society because of gender, race, class, or creed. Consider one or more characters in the novel that play(s) a significant role in showing how the alienation reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions or moral values.
7. “And, after all, our surroundings influence our lives and characters as much as fate, destiny or any supernatural agency”—from Pauline Hopkins’ Contending Forces. Consider how the City of New Orleans shapes the psychological or moral traits in any of the characters found in A Confederacy of Dunces.
8. Matthew J. Bruccoli writes the following about The Great Gatsby:

            The Great Gatsby is a classic—a novel that is read spontaneously by pleasure-seekers and under duress by students. A popular classroom fallacy holds that classics are universal and timeless. Literature has staying power, but it is subject to metamorphosis. Every reader’s response to a work of fiction is determined by his or her presuppositional bias, beliefs, experience, and knowledge.

Consider your own critical engagement with A Confederacy of Dunces, particularly the contemporary connections you’ve been able to make in your own reading. Write an argumentative essay that derives from your own critical attention to a particular aspect of the novel.

Due Date: Friday, October, 5th. Please note that papers must weave in textual evidence in order to be considered valid arguments. Papers must be 3-5 pages in length, utilizing the proper MLA guidelines.