One of the three following essay topics will be on the essay exam. Prepare an outline and find quotations for each so you can write a well-organized, well-supported essay on the exam.

1. Use the second deer killing scene (282) to write an essay analyzing the central theme of All the Pretty Horses: in this uncaring, cruel, and violent world, there is still great beauty. There is no life without bloodshed. Connect this passage to the novel as a whole. Be sure to use direct quotations and keep your analysis closely tied to the text.

2. Use the final passage of McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses in order to analyze the novel based on Eliot’s poem:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Analyze the frame of the novel and how John Grady has returned to the beginning at the end. What has he learned? How has he become a man? What caused him to change? Use specific examples and quotations from throughout the novel to support your analysis.

Due Dates:

Prewriting: Wednesday 3/19
First draft: Friday 3/21
Second draft: Tuesday 4/1
Final draft: