Tucker Pavelek

AP English Literature, Pd. 4

3/3/16

Vincent Anastasi

Essay A
Essay A strongly emphasized two facets regarding the use of sirens. Mainly, sirens were seen as
temptresses, symbolistic for attractive women in society that draw men and represent the
temptations of life. Men chase these alluring distractions because they cannot resist the urge to
give into temptation. The second facet the author uses explains that these sirens, representing
women, feel pressured to act seductively, ultimately leading them to feel trapped in this niche.
The siren feels so trapped that she calls out for help and only wishes to be free of her fate:
leading men to their demise with her seductive actions.
This essay was fairly well-developed with very few awkward spots and no mis-readings. This
essay presented a clear, flowing introduction but a thesis that seemed to encompass only a few
elements the essay actually discussed. The conclusion reiterates a more developed thesis that
encompasses nearly all of the actual content and analysis of the essay. The transitions hampered
the flow of the essay but the topic sentences echoed back to the thesis. What the author of the
essay discussed was well-developed, but the author failed to address the critical turning point in
the last envoi that greatly influenced the theme of the poem: changing it from seductive women
feeling trapped to relishing in the influence of their power over men. Although the author did not
address this, the well-developed content and flowing structure earned this essay a score of 8.
Essay B
Essay B sees the sirens song as a ballad opening her up from isolation to the outside world. The
siren seems to implore the reader to give them a response when the poem shifts to second person
point-of-view. The siren tempts the audience to give her assistance as she is in distress and feels
trapped. The author of Essay B sees the sirens call as a call for help. The sirens secret, as
discussed by the author of Essay B, is that she needs help.
The piece takes an interesting stance that is moderately developed with direct evidence. The
essay often references the word theme but never seems to clearly state that theme. The thesis
seems to relate to very few elements of the analysis itself. The topic sentences flow but do not
relate to the thesis itself. The analysis of the essay is very focused but occasionally adds
extraneous details that are good analytically, but do not relate to the focus of the essay. One
element that was particularly suited to the analysis was the changing points of view in the poem,
which the author incorporated very well. The focus of this essay, the development, and the
sometimes awkward phrasing and structure earned it an overall score of 6.
Essay C

The author of Essay C sees sirens as symbols of the pressure on women in modern-day society to
conform to societal standards and how they lose their individuality. Women desire this image
because they believe it will bring them power and make them happy. However, the speaker
realizes airs are not what matters most and implores the audience to save her. In fact, the speaker
becomes sarcastic towards these airs and realizes they are not what she, or any woman, should
value.
The organization of this essay was very clear. The theme was clearly stated and developed
progressively through each of the body paragraphs. The interpretation did not match my own but
was very convincing. The author had several good ideas, but they were not entirely developed.
Many analyses were introduced and not closed or fleshed-out. The tone seemed to vary and on a
few occasions was not that of a formal essay. The transitions were somewhat awkward and
sometimes the topic sentence did not relate to the thesis. Also, the author used fewer direct
quotes than other essays in developing their analysis. The analysis of point-of-view is excellent
but should have been made into its own short body paragraph. Though there were a few
structural issues, the essay was intensely focused and clearly supported their thesis with analysis
(although a less than optimal number of direct quotes), ultimately earning it a score of 7.
Essay D
The author of the essay sees sirens as damsels in distress that are crying out in despair to be
rescued by men. The essay also develops men as heroes who wish to save the damsel in distress.
The sirens represent womens power and control over men. The sirens attempt to downplay their
influence by calling their cries for help, or influence over men, boring and predictable. But, these
women know that they hold power over men, who only wish to play to the womens desires.
This essay was very clearly organized and had a clear thesis that was echoed by the topic
sentences. However, the analysis was not developed well by direct-quote-evidence. Moreover,
the essay did not address many elements of the poem and was superficial in its thematic analysis.
The theme addressed could be gleaned from the poem, but it could be seen as a mis-reading of
the poem. The tone of the essay was often conversational and not proper for a formal essay.
Though the colloquial elements added to the analysis as some points, they could be better
introduce and ultimately detracted from the essay. The mis-reading of the poem, the moderately
supported thesis, but the clear structure and focus of this essay earned it an overall score of 5.