2010 FRQ #3

Post date: Sep 25, 2013 11:20:26 PM

Palestinian American literary theorist and cultural critic Edward Said has written that “Exile is strangely compelling

to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place,

between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted.” Yet Said has also said that exile

can become “a potent, even enriching” experience.

Select a novel, play, or epic in which a character experiences such a rift and becomes cut off from “home,” whether

that home is the character’s birthplace, family, homeland, or other special place. Then write an essay in which you

analyze how the character’s experience with exile is both alienating and enriching, and how this experience

illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. 

You may choose a work from the list below or one of comparable literary merit. Do not merely summarize the plot.

To see a packet of graded essays on this topic, click the following link: 2010 FRQ 3 Graded Essay Packet