5/6 AP English Literature Literary Argument Essay Example #7
This is a real literary argument essay written by an AP student (personal details removed) and scored 5/6 by our AI grader — one of many AP English Literature essay examples in our library.
The Prompt
One definition of madness is “mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it.” But Emily Dickinson wrote
Much madness is divinest Sense— To a discerning Eye—
Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a “discerning Eye.” Select a novel or play in which a character’s apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important role. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the “madness” to the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
The Essay
In her novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin includes seemingly irrational behavior to create a commentary on feminism and the oppression of women in society. She accomplishes this by having Edna, a married woman, fall in love with another man, catalyzing an introspective search for independence. Overall, this search leads to Edna’s own suicide, helping to reveal the underlying tensions of society conformity. In her novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin utilizes foil characters and recurring symbols to present Edna’s domestic resistance as irrational, revealing the detrimental effects of societal subversion on interpersonal relationships. Early in the novel, while still at Grand Isle, Chopin introduces Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz to highlight the extremes of conformity and independence, enabling Edna to grapple with her desire for freedom. Adele Ratignolle is introduced as the perfect “mother-woman,” with beautiful ladylike features and unparalleled homemaking abilities. Immediately, she befriends Edna, and warns her about the danger of entertaining Robert’s advances. Although she ignores the warning, Edna still reveres Madame Ratignolle, describing her as a Madonna. In contrast to Ratignolle, Edna also befriends Mademoiselle Reisz, who is unmarried, childless, and makes a living playing piano. Similarly to Ratignolle, Edna idolizes Reisz’ piano playing, seeing her artistic skill as godly. Perhaps the most obvious contrast is between Edna’s subpar homemaking and Adele’s, which helps to catalyze Edna’s desire for societal freedom. This tension is furthered when Leonce goes to New York, and the kids go with Edna’s mother-in-law, helping to reveal the shift away from subservient mothering. Adele’s character serves to paint Edna as irrational because she has failed her societally imposed duties as a mother. Conversely, Mademoiselle Reisz primarily serves to justify Edna’s domestic resistance, acting as a mentor to her escape from the cult of domesticity. Reisz’ character reveals the intense struggle within Edna to care for her children and lead her own life—actively rationalizing the seemingly insane behavior. Further, Reisz receives letters from Robert, furthering the symbolic freedom from society that Edna experiences when around her. This parallels Ratignolle’s warning against entertaining Robert’s advances, with Reisz suggesting that Edna chase her heart, knowing that the marriage was never rooted in love. Such a parallel helps reveal the erosion within relationships that is caused by societal subversion, primarily shown through the shift in Reisz’ character from being an artistic idol to a stand-in for Robert. Across the novel as a whole, clothing is used to symbolize the societally imposed restrictions on women, revealing the oppression from a seemingly innocent institution. In the first scene with Edna, she is described to be wearing a culturally inappropriate white dress with a streak of brown. This motif furthers with her removing most of her clothes at Madame Antoine’s home, highlighting the freedom she feels with Robert. Again, in her final act of conformity at the dinner party, she wears a beautiful ballgown and diamond headpiece. Ultimately, when swimming out into the ocean, she sees her old swimsuit, yet decides to cast herself out naked, revealing how she was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. The first dress serves to function as a starting point of Edna’s character, being largely encompassed by domestic oppression, yet featuring some quirks of unwelcome independence. By including this outfit, Chopin paints Edna as defiant, which enables the continuation of symbolism to shift into irrationality. This defiance is furthered by the recurrent crying into her peignoir, most prominently after returning from the Cheniere Caminada. At the Cheniere, she was able to sleep peacefully—reperesented by her near nudity—without worrying about how society would see her. In that moment with Robert, she felt independent of the domestic oppression, which would soon highlight the apparent irrationality of her actions. This shift occurred the very night she returned to Grand Isle, where she was yelled at by her husband while crying in her peignoir. This scene serves to highlight the contrast between Robert’s understanding of her independence, and Leonce’s anger at her domestic failures. This helps to catalyze Edna’s yearning for independence, most directly highlighted by the dinner party before moving into the pigeon house. At the dinner party, Edna was described as beautiful, womanly, and wearing her most beautiful outfit, serving as a final moment of conformity before facing her independence. This single moment highlights the detrimental spiral of her relationships, abandoning societal expectations to lead a life of her own. This beautiful garb directly contrasts the nudity of her final moments, with such a stark contrast illuminating the terrible effects of subverting society. Overall, the clothing metaphor works to highlight the shifting views of people towards Edna’s independence, eliciting the conclusion that her seemingly unprompted resistance was the byproduct of her failing relationships, ultimately leading to her demise.
Score Breakdown
Thesis (1/1)
Evidence & Commentary (4/4)
Sophistication (0/1)
Why This Essay Scored Well
The thesis argues that Chopin uses foil characters and recurring symbols to make Edna's resistance look irrational, and that this reveals what defying society costs her relationships. That claim answers the prompt's question about why the "madness" matters to the whole novel.
The foil paragraph is the strongest part of the essay. Adele Ratignolle is the ideal "mother-woman" whose example makes Edna look like a failure as a mother. Mademoiselle Reisz plays the opposite role, "acting as a mentor to her escape from the cult of domesticity." The writer then adds a turn, noting that Reisz receives Robert's letters and so becomes "a stand-in for Robert" in Edna's life. That shift shows the foils changing along with Edna.
The clothing paragraph covers the whole novel. It moves from the stained dress in the opening, to Edna sleeping half undressed at Madame Antoine's, to the gown and diamonds at her dinner party, to the final swim when she leaves the old bathing suit behind. Following one motif across that much of the book gives the evidence real range.
For the full point-by-point rubric behind this score, read our AP essay rubric breakdown.
What Could Be Improved
The clothing paragraph lists outfits faster than it explains them. Its key line says Chopin "paints Edna as defiant," and the following examples repeat that idea. Each detail could carry a distinct point about where Edna stands in her marriage at that moment. The essay also ends on this paragraph with no conclusion, so the argument about relationships never gets pulled together.
The essay also accepts its own reading without testing it. Many readers see Edna as a victim of the society around her, and the essay never answers that view. Weighing it would have earned the sophistication point, and the Reisz paragraph, with its line about "actively rationalizing the seemingly insane behavior," already points that way.
A few plot details are off. Adele's warning about Robert goes to Robert himself, when she asks him to leave Edna alone, and the essay says she "warns her." The scene of Edna crying on the porch in her peignoir after Léonce scolds her comes early in the novel, before the trip to the Chênière Caminada, and the essay places it after. The introduction also repeats its opening phrase, "In her novel, The Awakening, Kate Chopin," in the thesis sentence.
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