Drama Test and Essay Practice Info

Drama Test Study Guide

Choose ONE of the prompts below and write a 40 minute open ended essay on it that will be handed in for completion points on Monday. If possible, try to write using one of our plays that you have not written an essay on yet.

A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.


Form B. Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political or social issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore this issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

40 minute practice essay due Wednesday

Please write a practice 40 minute open ended essay on the following prompt:

In a novel by William Styron, a father tells his son that life “is a search for justice.”
Choose a character from a novel or play who responds in some significant way to justice or injustice. Then write a well-developed essay in which you analyze the character’s understanding of justice, the degree to which the character’s search for justice is successful, and the significance of this search for the work as a whole.


Be sure to focus on analytical topic sentences, causal connections and PLOT REFERENCES!