<p>What a stupid open question. The nation-state interpretation never crossed my mind, but I do remember thinking that calling it a "country setting" and not a "rural setting" sounded awkward. Now, though, looking at it again, I definitely see the ambiguity. And these were "professionals" writing the test...</p>
<p>I thought the hawk was the carrier of truth.</p>
<p>We talked about existentialism in English. As a matter of fact, the last two books we read were The Stranger and No Exit, which are existential works.</p>
<p>we did several existential books in English last year, but that didn't help me to see the existentialism in the poem. It's a lot easier to see in a long story. plus, it's been awhile since I studied it.</p>
<p>The question would have been a million times better if it had said rural and not country.</p>
<p>i used 1984 for the country one, you know how julia and winston go there to escape the Party, and what not.. purity, freedom, etc.. did nebody else do that?</p>
<p>I'm so nervous about the hawk essay...I said that it was about Time and that men are afraid of Time but shouldn't be because while Time marches on, it is merciful. Does that make no sense?</p>
<p>Oh, and the second prompt - b-o-r-i-n-g! I didn't like the passage they gave us (yawn), so that was definitely my shortest essay. I cut straight to the point and said it was ironic that the Duchess was criticizing society when she herself was rude and a gossip, and that it demonstrated the hypocrisy of upper class society. That sounds good, right? </p>
<p>Did anyone else use The Sound and the Fury for the last prompt? It fit so perfectly!</p>
<p>I thought the hawk is a symbol of the passage of time... I must be really weird.</p>
<p>You know, it just occurred to me that every poem has many meanings...there's no one "right" way to answer the hawk poem. I mean, it's obviously not about, say, racism in the South, but of course there's a variety of ways to interpret it. </p>
<p>And for the second prompt, did anyone else say that by choosing to present his social commentary in the form of a play, Wilde was making sure that it would reach its targets, since the rich go to plays more often than the poor?</p>
<p>Oooh, that is good sous, especially since my class talked about that (or maybe the book did?) when we read The Importance of Being Earnest. I hate seeing these great ideas and knowing I didn't incorporate them. so sous, where in the chicagoland are you from?</p>
<p>Glenview, and I must say that when I read your comment about how often you e-mail your teacher, I was going to ask you if you're in my english class, because we're always e-mail our teacher...and she's like our friend in a creepy way too, haha.</p>
<p>um. i said that the hawk represented mankind. i am so ****ing stupid hahah</p>
<p>that makes no sense. how can it mean nation? take out country and replace with nation:</p>
<p>"Many writers use a nation setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the nation may be a place of virtue and peace or primitivism and ignorance. Choose a novel in which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the nation setting functions in the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot."</p>
<p>"A nation setting" makes no sense. And neither does "a country setting" if you interpret it to mean nation. Country as in nation is not an adjective. Sorry!</p>
<p>Jimbob hit the nail on the head. Sorry, guys. We can argue about how it was poorly worded, but the fact is, people who wrote about a "nation" aren't going to get full credit because they did not address the prompt!</p>
<p>I used the Picture of Dorian Gray for the open-ended. I discussed the potency and efficacy of the country setting insofar that even its brief appearance in the book completely altered the direction of both the protgaonist's and the reader's attitudes, comprehensively.</p>
<p>SO, i definately thought they meant country as in 'nation.' I wrote about Vietnam in The Things They Carried (as did many others in my class). </p>
<p>so, if the CB does not accept the essays that treated country as nation (as opposed ro 'rural' - which I now realize that they meant), does anyone think Vietnam could qualify as rural? </p>
<p>I mean, the bush of Vietnam isn't exactly urban...I talked a lot about the jungle, isolation, and the seemingly 'alive' nature of the land. Does anyone think that qualifies as the (rural) country?</p>
<p>Realistic input would be much appreciated!</p>
<p>i thought the hawk was about mans history and how it needs to be forgiven and learned from @_@</p>
<p>for wilde i kinda made fun of the pseudo intellectuals</p>
<p>for the open i used the awakening go kentucky blue grass @_@</p>
<p>anybody else interepreted the evening hawk similar to mine ? :O</p>
<p>The essay specifically asked to write about a novel that takes place in a "country setting," and how the setting is used by the author/writer/etc. to express his/her ideas. A nation is not a relevant reference to a "country setting." The Things They Carried could arguably be a country setting however. I used Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country, which takes place in South Africa in pre-apartheid years; I didn't even mention "country setting" that much, because I thought that "South Africa, pre-apartheid" would inherently imply a country setting.</p>
<p>Anybody catch the Egyptian mythology in the Hawk poem? (The hawk-headed God, Plato on top of the mountain, the god raising the sun by flying across the sky)</p>
<p>I don't know how Plato on top of a mountain fits Egpytian mythology...</p>