Watchmen!Essay!Prompt!Choices!
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During!your!reading!of!Watchmen,!consider!the!following!numbered!prompts!as!possible!subjects!for!
your!end9of9book!essay.!
1)
Choose!a!specific!inanimate!object!depicted!in!Watchmen!that!is!important!to!the!work!as!a!
whole,!and!write!an!essay!in!which!you!show!how!two!or!three!of!the!purposes!the!object!serves!
are!related!to!one!another.!!!
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The!significance!of!a!title!such!as!The*Adventures*of*Huckleberry*Finn!is!easy!to!discover.!!
However,!in!other!works!(e.g.!Measure*for*Measure),!the!full!significance!of!the!title!becomes!
apparent!to!the!reader!only!gradually.!!Show!how!the!significance!of!Watchmen’s!title!is!
developed!through!the!author’s!use!of!devices!such!as!contrast,!repetition,!allusion,!and!point!of!
view.!!
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An!effective!literary!work!does!not!merely!stop!or!cease;!it!concludes.!!In!the!view!of!some!
critics,!a!work!that!does!not!provide!the!pleasure!of!significant!“closure”!has!terminated!with!an!
artistic!fault.!!A!satisfactory!ending!is!not,!however,!always!conclusive!in!every!sense;!significant!
closure!may!require!the!reader!to!abide!with!or!adjust!to!ambiguity!and!uncertainty.!!In!an!
essay,!discuss!the!ending!of!Watchmen.!!Explain!precisely!how!and!why!the!ending!appropriately!
or!inappropriately!concludes!the!work.!!Do!not!merely!summarize!the!plot.!
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The!conflict!created!when!the!will!of!an!individual!opposes!the!will!of!the!majority!is!the!
recurring!theme!of!many!novels!and!plays.!!From!Watchmen,!select!a!fictional!character!who!is!
in!opposition!to!his!or!her!society.!!In!a!critical!essay,!analyze!the!conflict!and!discuss!the!moral!
and!ethical!implications!for!both!the!individual!and!the!society.!!Do!not!summarize!the!plot!or!
action!of!the!work.!!
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In!some!novels!and!plays!certain!parallel!or!recurring!events!prove!to!be!significant.!!In!an!essay,!
describe!the!major!similarities!and!differences!in!a!sequence!of!parallel!or!recurring!events!in!
Watchmen!and!discuss!the!significance!of!such!events.!!Do!not!merely!summarize!the!plot.!!!
Choose!an!implausible!or!strikingly!unrealistic!incident!or!character!in!Watchmen.!!Write!an!
essay!that!explains!how!the!incident!or!character!is!related!to!the!more!realistic!or!plausible!
elements!in!the!rest!of!the!work.!!Avoid!plot!summary.!
Choose!a!complex!and!important!character!in!Watchmen!who!might!—!on!the!basis!of!the!
character's!actions!alone!—!be!considered!evil!or!immoral.!!In!a!well9organized!essay,!explain!
both!how!and!why!the!full!presentation!of!the!character!in!the!work!makes!us!react!more!
sympathetically!than!we!otherwise!might.!!Avoid!plot!summary.!
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The!meaning!of!some!literary!works!is!often!enhanced!by!sustained!allusions!to!myths,!the!Bible,!
or!other!works!of!literature.!!Write!a!well9organized!essay!in!which!you!explain!an!allusion!that!
predominates!in!Watchmen!and!analyze!how!it!enhances!the!work's!meaning.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In!great!literature,!no!scene!of!violence!exists!for!its!own!sake.!!Watchmen!confronts!the!reader!
with!scenes!of!violence.!!In!a!well9organized!essay,!explain!how!a!scene!or!scenes!contribute!to!
the!meaning!of!the!complete!work.!!!Avoid!plot!summary.!
From!Watchmen,!select!an!important!character!who!is!a!villain.!!Then,!in!a!well9organized!essay,!
analyze!the!nature!of!the!character's!villainy!and!show!how!it!enhances!meaning!in!the!work.!!Do!
not!merely!summarize!the!plot.!
A!critic!has!said!that!one!important!measure!of!a!superior!work!of!literature!is!its!ability!to!
produce!in!the!reader!a!healthy!confusion!of!pleasure!and!disquietude.!!Watchmen!produces!this!
“healthy!confusion.”!!Write!an!essay!in!which!you!explain!the!sources!of!the!“pleasure!and!
disquietude”!experienced!by!readers!of!the!graphic!novel.!
Some!works!of!literature!use!the!element!of!time!in!a!distinct!way.!!The!chronological!sequence!
of!events!may!be!altered,!or!time!may!be!suspended,!accelerated,!or!expressed!in!an!
unconventional!way.!!Show!how!Alan!Moore's!manipulation!of!time!contributes!to!the!
effectiveness!of!Watchmen!as!a!whole.!!!Do!not!merely!summarize!the!plot.!
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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.!!Choose!a!character!who!
plays!a!significant!role!in!Watchmen!and!show!how!that!character's!alienation!reveals!the!
surrounding!society's!assumptions!and!moral!values.!
14)
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.”!!Novelist!have!
often!seen!madness!with!a!“discerning!eye.”!!From!Watchmen,!select!a!character!whose!apparent!
madness!or!irrational!behavior!plays!an!important!role.!!Then!write!a!well9organized!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.!
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Morally!ambiguous!characters!—!characters!whose!behavior!discourages!readers!from!
identifying!them!as!purely!evil!or!purely!good!—!are!at!the!heart!of!many!works!of!literature.!!
From!Watchmen,!choose!a!morally!ambiguous!character!who!plays!a!pivotal!role.!!Then!write!an!
essay!in!which!you!explain!how!the!character!can!be!viewed!as!morally!ambiguous!and!why!his!
or!her!moral!ambiguity!is!significant!to!the!work!as!a!whole.!!Avoid!mere!plot!summary.!
Novels!often!depict!characters!caught!between!colliding!cultures!—!national,!regional,!ethnic,!
religious,!institutional.!!Such!collisions!can!call!a!character’s!sense!of!identity!into!question.!!
From!Watchmen,!select!a!character!who!responds!to!such!cultural!collisions.!!Then!write!a!well9
organized!essay!in!which!you!describe!the!character’s!response!and!explain!its!relevance!to!the!
work!as!a!whole.!
Critic!Roland!Barthes!has!said,!“Literature!is!the!question!minus!the!answer.”!!Considering!
Barthes’!observation,!write!an!essay!in!which!you!analyze!a!central!question!Watchmen!raises!
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and!the!extent!to!which!it!offers!any!answers.!!Explain!how!the!author’s!treatment!of!this!
question!affects!your!understanding!of!the!work!as!a!whole.!!Avoid!plot!summary.!
The!most!important!themes!in!literature!are!sometimes!developed!in!scenes!in!which!a!death!or!
deaths!take!place.!!Write!a!well9organized!essay!in!which!you!show!how!a!specific!death!scene!in!
Watchmen!helps!to!illuminate!the!meaning!of!the!work!as!a!whole.!!
In!many!works!of!literature,!a!physical!journey!—!the!literal!movement!from!one!place!to!
another!—!plays!a!central!role.!!Consider!a!physical!journey!that!is!an!important!element!of!
Watchmen!and!discuss!how!the!journey!adds!to!the!meaning!of!the!work!as!a!whole.!!Avoid!mere!
plot!summary.!
In!many!works!of!literature,!past!events!can!affect,!positively!or!negatively,!the!present!actions,!
attitudes,!or!values!of!a!character.!!From!Watchmen,!choose!a!character!who!must!contend!with!
some!aspect!of!the!past,!either!personal!or!societal.!!Then!write!an!essay!in!which!you!show!how!
the!character’s!relationship!to!the!past!contributes!to!the!meaning!of!the!work!as!a!whole.!Avoid!
mere!plot!summary.!
Works!of!literature!often!depict!acts!of!betrayal.!!Friends!and!even!family!may!betray!a!
protagonist;!main!characters!may!likewise!be!guilty!of!treachery!or!may!betray!their!own!values.!!
Watchmen!includes!such!acts!of!betrayal.!In!a!well9written!essay,!analyze!the!nature!of!the!
betrayal!and!show!how!it!contributes!to!the!meaning!of!the!work!as!a!whole.!!Avoid!mere!plot!
summary.!
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.!!Focusing!on!one!symbol!from!Watchmen,!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.!
In!a!novel!by!William!Styron,!a!father!tells!his!son!that!life!“is!a!search!for!justice.”!!Choose!a!
character!from!Watchmen!who!responds!in!some!significant!way!to!justice!or!injustice.!!Then!
write!a!well9developed!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.!
In!The*Writing*of*Fiction,!novelist!Edith!Wharton!states,!“At!every!stage!in!the!progress!of!his!tale!
the!novelist!must!rely!on!what!may!be!called!the!illuminating*incident!to!reveal!and!emphasize!
the!inner!meaning!of!each!situation.!!Illuminating!incidents!are!the!magic!casements!of!fiction,!its!
vistas!on!infinity.”!!Using!Watchmen,!write!a!well9organized!essay!in!which!you!describe!an!
“illuminating”!episode!or!moment!and!explain!how!it!functions!as!a!“casement,”!a!window!that!
opens!onto!the!meaning!of!the!work!as!a!whole.!!Avoid!mere!plot!summary.!
In!Contending*Forces,!Pauline!Hopkins!writes:!“And,!after!all,!our!surroundings!influence!our!
lives!and!characters!as!much!as!fate,!destiny!or!any!supernatural!agency.”!!Within!Watchmen,!
consider!how!cultural,!physical,!or!geographical!surroundings!shape!psychological!or!moral!
traits!in!a!character.!!Then!write!a!well9organized!essay!in!which!you!analyze!how!surroundings!
affect!this!character!and!illuminate!the!meaning!of!the!work!as!a!whole.!
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