1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent
(or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you
analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to
the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.
'"It's not God. Just my parents," I say. "I want to sue them for the rights to my own body"' (Picoult 19). Going to court due to family conflicts is not too rare. Parent's getting sued by their 13 year old daughter, is indeed uncommon though. "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult portrays an overwhelming but excellent example of a conflict that lies between a parent and child.
From the very beginning, Anna was fully aware why, how and who she was born for; she was born to keep her sister, Kate alive. Picoult does a fine job of providing readers with a perspective from all directions, and from Anna and Brian's perspective, Kate was priority to their parents. This marked the first of their conflicts and the story would not have been able to progress if it were not for the hard relationship between Anna and her mother, Sarah. As an infant, Anna donated her blood cells to Kate without a choice. She constantly had to keep by Kate's side just in case her organs suddenly failed to do its work. When in an argument, Anna was held accountable despite being the younger sibling. With these situations, Anna is shown struggling to know if her mother even cares for her.
The setting/situation of the story is a main reason why readers can't question Anna's behavior. Imagine going through numerous operations and surgery not because of yourself but because of another person. It strikes Anna when she tries to recall a time of being asked to do all this; she was never asked. Throughout the novel, Anna is known to listen, to understand, to take action, and to show responsibility. She takes part as a mother but as a 13 year old. Minor conflicts arise as Sarah cannot control her emotions and lets it out on family members other than Kate. When it comes to a time where Kate is in desperate need of Anna's organs once again, Anna rebels. As she seeks a lawyer to sue her parents for her medical emancipation, it marks the climax of the conflict.
While this is going on, Anna is shown having second thoughts on suing her family until she sees her mom understanding her decision as an outcome from the lack of attention she has received. Anna goes on with the legal action despite the fact that her parents are strongly against it. Picoult also brings out another side of Sarah that was not revealed in the beginning, even more evidence that allows readers to understand Anna better. The surgery that is involved with this trial has many risks that Kate and Anna both have to endure. Anna may not be able to play her favorite sport ever again. She may not be able to have kids of her own. Kate might not end up surviving even with this operation. Sarah is being stubborn and willing to do anything to save Kate whether anyone agrees or not. Especially when the donor, Anna, does not want to donate.
Even though the denouement of the story has a total twist to it, if Picoult did not display the minor conflicts Anna and Sarah had prior to the court trial, "My Sister's Keeper" would not have worked out. It would've been much more unnatural if Kate were to sue Sarah herself, because Kate knows why her mother decided on the decisions that she made. On the other hand, Anna is the one who was purposely made, "built" for Kate. She is given (allowed) the choice to rebel against her mother for what she's gone through. Though the conflict resolves different than imagined in the beginning, the parent-child conflict portrayed by Picoult contributes best to the plot and meaning of "My Sister's Keeper".
* I actually timed myself to finish within 45 minutes. This sounds and looks so messy... I'm not even sure if i wrote to the prompt correctly... is this too much of plot summary?
Your essay is good, and it opens strongly enough, but you may want to pay attention to small fragment and punctuation issues. For instance, in the first paragraph you say, "Parent's getting sued by their 13 year old daughter, is indeed uncommon enough." It's a good sentence but you should consider extra revision. Though I liked the structure of your essay; you start the first body paragraph with "In the beginning", which sets up not only the beginning of the essay, but of the work. Your essay follows almost chronologically what you're talking about. You did good at avoiding plot summary, but there are some parts you could've cut out.
ReplyDeleteHey Gloria!
ReplyDeleteYour opening paragraph is very strong and draws the reader in. The quote is incorporated well but I don't think you will have access to books and sourcees during the AP test so I encourage you to paraphrase or summarize instead. I feel like you summarized for a good three fourths of the essay and not until the last paragraph did you really get into answering the prompt. I understand the time limit so I will only mention that somme of the sentences could use revising but they didn't dtrect from the reader's understanding. I think if you shortened the summary and went even more indepth with your analysis this essay would go from good to great. Good luck!
I don't think you get books with you during the AP exam, so your first quote wouldn't do you much good. After the first paragraph, however, you do a good job of paraphrasing instead of quoting. I think that you need to do more analysis than summary, which is what I saw here. If you analyzed the evidence that you put forth, your points could be clearer, your essay more concise (you could use less evidence if you analyzed more in-depth), and more focused. The evidence put forth in this essay was good, but a lack of analysis keeps it from being great.
ReplyDelete