Preparing for the exam: directions and examples of the final essay on literature

Not so long ago, graduates had another exam, passing which the student is allowed to the exam. It is usually held in early December. The Internet is full of examples of the final essay on literature, but you should not rely on unverified texts. It is not difficult to prepare yourself, if you have mastered a school course of literature.

preparation for composition

Directions of the essay

Each year, at the end of August, the Federal Institute for Pedagogical Measurements publishes on its website directions for the final essay and sample topics. Based on them, you can recall the texts and read new works. You should consider the possible options for writing an essay on the literature for the exam. Directions include fairly broad concepts and allow you to reflect on certain philosophical topics. For example, in 2016, the opposite concepts were proposed: “mind and feeling”, “friendship and enmity” and others. It is easier to work with such problematic statements of questions, because one can start from a concept with a negative assessment and give a negative example from the literature, and set a positive example against it. Do not forget that just directions are given. Specific topics become known fifteen minutes before the start of the exam in order to avoid the use of previously prepared essays.

directions of composition

How to write a final essay

In order to formulate an approximate preparation plan, we take one of the directions of 2017-2018 - “loyalty and betrayal”.

Take a piece of paper and write down what loyalty means to you, as you understand this word, write down associations, synonyms. Do not hesitate, let your workpieces be more like a stream of consciousness, then you will be able to "comb" them and bring them into a suitable form. Do not focus only on the love aspect, because betrayal and fidelity can be in relation to the homeland, and to life principles.

Let us dwell on the theme of love. You have already written what these concepts mean to you personally. Do not be lazy, look at the explanatory dictionary and write down the meanings of these words. Find quotes and aphorisms on this subject. You already have theoretical material with which you can work on an essay on literature to the exam.

literary essay

Principles of working with fiction

What is the most important thing in the composition? That's right, the argument. Even if you know how to write the final essay, without examples from the literature confirming or refuting your theory, your work does not make sense and will not be appreciated. Even if you were responsible for literature lessons, you should again turn to textbooks from grades 5 to 11. Write down in the notebook all the works that you studied, their characters, keywords and main problems. You kept something similar in elementary school, and it was called the "reader's diary." Opposite each work (by the way, do not forget to write the full name of the author), write in which direction it can be attributed. Usually there are several such directions. By doing this, you will greatly facilitate your preparation for the exam, because, knowing the texts, you will easily pick up examples and arguments. Do not forget the main thing: it is advisable to mention books that are not included in the school curriculum. This will show that you are well-read and able to use your knowledge.

literature for writing

Continue work

So, we settled on the direction of "fidelity and betrayal" and have already prepared a theory for writing in literature. In grade 11 you will be provided with a sample, but our task is to prepare an essay unlike stamps. Now the main thing is to choose from the entire list of works those that suit us as intended. Let's take a few: “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk Uyezd” by Nikolai Leskov, “Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky and “Eugene Onegin” by Pushkin, which are often found in examples of the final essay on literature.

How does Pushkin's novel raise the problem of fidelity and betrayal? The windy Olga and reasonable Tatyana, who did not want to stain her and her husband's honor, immediately came to mind. We all remember that Olga, provoked by Onegin, indulged in fun with him at the ball, forgetting about Lensky. This behavior of his beloved became fatal for him. Tatyana, true to her word and duty, could resist those whom she had loved all her life. Her loyalty is opposed to the variability of her sister (which, incidentally, was soon comforted).

final essay on literature

Other examples for the final work on literature

The second image from fiction, which appears before us at the word "treason", is Katerina from Thunderstorm. What is worth focusing on here? You remember that it is no coincidence that they call it a "ray of light." For what? For treason Tikhon? Of course not. Recall the motives of the betrayal of Katerina with Boris. Kabanikha humiliated her, although Tikhon tried to defend her, but he himself was afraid of his mother. Katerina wanted to break out of this stuffy dark world, and here Boris fell for her, and, being a faithful wife before that, she decided to commit treason.

The situation with Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is a little more complicated. When we talk about such negative concepts as hostility, betrayal, dishonor, we must understand the motives of the heroes and be sure to show what their actions lead to, as their author punishes. Katerina Izmaylova (do you feel similar to Katerina Ostrovsky?) With her betrayals, her blind love took the lives of several people. The love for Sergey captures her eyes so much that she, not a bit doubting her actions, calmly first kills her father-in-law, then her husband. Mother-in-law Katerina poisoned, because he understood about their relationship with Sergey, and her husband when he caught them. So, at first the fear of disclosure of betrayal, and later the unwillingness to end the relationship push her to crime. We will not forget about Sonnetka, whom she, already being sentenced, was jealous of her beloved on her way to hard labor and drowned. The death of the traitor Katerina Leskov is similar to the death of Katerina Ostrovsky. But if you take these two arguments as examples of the final essay on literature, you must definitely say that Kabanova cleansed her soul with her death, and Izmailova even more tarnished her reputation.

Writing a conclusion

In conclusion, you must return to the reasoning that began your work. Now you have proven them with specific examples. The conclusion should not be large - approximately twenty percent of the entire text. At the very end, you can write an appeal to readers, express your attitude to the problem being raised. So you have prepared examples of the final work on literature.


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