AP English Test Essays

Here is the First Esaay:
- I did time myself on these so that is why they are so short. I also believe we get about 40 minutes per essay question. Am I right?

            Leisure is a privilege in some societies, where to others it is a necessity to have it. In the poem “Adam Bede” George Elliot in 1859 expresses how leisure is not the same as it use to be, “old leisure” has gone to the way-side and what the author views leisure in her time differently.

            Old leisure was not having so many problems or thoughts to deal with explains the author. “… he only read one newspaper, innocent of leaders, and was free from the periodicity of sensations which we call post-time.” If they only had one newspaper there wouldn’t be differing views and innocent leaders meant nothing was changing or getting done to advance culture. So by that does old leisure mean life was just so simple with everything static in life? “Happy is the inability to know the causes of thing.” Leisure means no worries and to have full leisure back then it was to be care free of politics, issues, or knowledge.

            Leisure in the authors’ time seems non-existent because during her time things were being invaded. “Ingenious philosophers tell you, perhaps, that the great work of the steam-engine is to create leisure for mankind. Do not believe him:” This is the perfect example of the author being stuck in his tracks that just now that people are doing innovated things you can’t have leisure. This to some people could be totally right, and to other an interesting thought.

            Elliot portrays leisure in an interesting way, making it predominate in that there is none in her culture. Others could argue that, but not being in her time you most likely couldn’t. She conveys her views by examples of old leisure versus new leisure with advance syntax and diction. The authors’ tone is very clear and gets the message across to the reader.



Essay Number Two:

Social attitudes changes with the time, place, and people. In Catcher in the Rye by written by J. D Salinger, the main character Holden a young adult male decides to leave his private school and go an adventure to the big city. Holden makes a lot of changes in his views and grows up quickly during the wild weekend in the city. He meets people that guide him along, the author guides Holden in the right direction for growing up and becoming an adult.

            Holden has to deal with many different types of people along his journey. He had to deal with his roommate Stradlater who likes to edge him on and tries his best to make Holden upset. Holden would sometimes give in which shows how immature people can be at times.  Then once he gets into the city he ends up meeting a prostitute and is frighten by this. They end up just chatting and having good conversation while he tells her his problems. This is a mature decision that he has to make and the point in the story where you can see he starts to really make grown up decisions. Holden has a little sister who he really cares for, and when he had to tell her all about his adventures she wanted to run away with him. He was at a standstill at that point and didn’t know what to do, he was very emotional about it. The fact that Holden was moved emotionally by that shows that he is not immature and the author has advanced him and his thinking in sociall attitudes towards life.

            By the end of the book we find that he is looking back at all this and is now going back to school in fall. This shows how much he has changed in the positive direction. Salinger does an excellent job at progressing Holden through the whole book. As well when the novel first came out it was can from school for being to vulgar, you look now and it is a classic novel. That goes to show you how thrilling it is to watch social attitudes change over time meaning to and not meaning to.