英文エッセイ-例1-
〈２０２０年度 渋谷教育学園渋谷中学〉
Short Answers
1. After reading the poem, please answer the following in one to two well-organized paragraph(s), making sure to explain your reasoning:
In a poem, there is often a literal meaning (what is happening on the surface), and a figurative meaning (the deeper meaning below the surface). What, if anything, do you think the speaker of the poem is really talking about here, and why? How would you describe his feelings toward this subject, and how do you know? Please make sure to use specific support from the text and explain your answer. You may want to address how certain poetic techniques, such as imagery or word choice, helped you arrive your interpretation.
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Sonnet 130
By William Shakespeare
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun,
Coral is far more red, than her lips red,
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun:
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head:
I have seen roses *1damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks,
And in some perfumes is there more delight,
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know,
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet by heaven I think my love as rare,
As any she *2belied with false compare.
*1 Damasked : Patterned; more commonly used today to describe a fabric design
*2 Belied : To give a false impression of something
解答案作成：monmontalk
〈お題再掲〉
☆ What do you think the speaker of the poem is really talking about here, and why? How would you describe his feelings toward this subject, and how do you know? Please make sure to use specific support from the text and explain your answer.
・ 上のお題の黄色部分と下の解答案の黄色部分（Thesis statementやTopic sentenceの中心となる部分）が対応する。お題の太字部分は注意すべき点。
〈解答案〉
The speaker is talking about the real love and implying that love is not blind but sighted because loving someone is one of the most enlightened elements of humanity. He praises humanism by emphasizing that he has been falling love not because his mistress is perfect but even because she is not.
He begins to illustrate this subject by comparing his mistress with nature, which they say God made perfect. Her imperfection emerges clearly from comparisons with the beauty of the sun, coral, snow, wires, and roses, and with the scent of perfumes. The tone is bold and pathetic until line eight. When readers start wondering what the poet has in mind, at last the word “love” appears in the phrase “love to hear her speak.” However, this feeling of relief disappears instantly by the depiction that music is far better; furthermore, comparing goddess going in the sky with his mistress walking on the ground makes the readers
more and more confused. But the moment has arrived at the last two lines when the poet expresses that his love is as rare as any. He believes in his love because he can not deny his feelings toward her no matter how imperfect she may be. With heavy sarcasm for other poets using easy similes, he argues that falling love is nothing to do with her perfection. Love makes imperfect perfect. That is the humanism. (234 words)
ポイント英文法
〈比較： as〜as〉
１． He is as tall as she. （彼女と同じくらい背が高い。）
(cf) He is not so tall as she. （彼女ほど背が高くない。）
２． He is as tall as any (other) boy in his class. （どの男の子にも劣らず高い。）
(cf) She is as tall as any boy in her class. （クラスのどの男子にも劣らず高い。）
３． He is as tall as any. （誰にも劣らず背が高い。）
４． He is as tall as ever lived. （歴史上の誰にも劣らず背が高い。）
５． He is as tall as ever. （相変わらず背が高い。）
解説・雑感
〈お題再々掲〉☆ What do you think the speaker of the poem is really talking about here, and why? How would you describe his feelings toward this subject, and how do you know? Please make sure to use specific support from the text and explain your answer.
お題の黄色部分に対応させ、Thesis statementやTopic sentenceを組み立てる。太字部分に要注意、エッセイ定番の「自分の体験」は忘れて、詩の内容から主張（this subject）の根拠を述べる。つまり、詩の読解をせよということ。
“real love”を主張の中心とし、それを支えるキーワード、背景となるものが“humanity”・“humanism”、そして、“comparing his mistress with nature”・“comparing goddess (...) with his mistress”に注目して、“perfect”と“imperfect”の対比から主張を浮かび上がらせた。
つまり、相手が完璧だから恋に落ちるのではない、不完全でもどうしようもなく惹かれるのだということ。その人以外にはいないのだということ。そこに理性的な理由はなく、それが人間性なんだとヒューマニズムの素晴らしさをを高らかに謳い上げている。
Thesis statementは“The speaker is talking about the real love -”、お題の“What do you think the speaker is talking about -”に直球で回答する。時間配分から考えて、200words前後のエッセイになる。レトリック工夫の時間も紙幅もない。そして、“why”“how”に答えていく、“specific support from the text”に注意して。
“Love makes imperfect perfect.”が、決めフレーズ、この決めフレが思い浮かんだ時、合格はもらったアっ（受験生じゃないけど...）と思わず心でガッツポーズを決めた。でも、主張とそれにまとわりつくキーワードを意識的に整理していればこそだと自負している。
しかし、小学６年生にこれを読ませてどこまでのことを期待しているのだろう、試験時間以内で。どのような生徒を望んでいるのだろう、16〜17世紀の文豪、シェークスピア（「ソネット集」自体は1609年出版）の感じたことを追体験せよとは。それも“mistress”って..、「女主人」じゃないよね。
ルネサンスのひとまずの集大成となることになる17世紀を迎えて彼は、そのヒューマニズムの中に後に「近代」と呼ばれる時代が到来することを予感していた。神という存在を理性的に考えられる「理性」とともに、神のクビキから解き放たれた「感情」に人間存在の意味を見出そうとしていた。
それは、古典主義を豊かな土壌として芽生える新たな芸術、ロマン主義の萌芽でもあった。そして、その感情の中心にあるのはやはり“love”であり、“Love makes imperfect perfect. This is the humanism.”なのであり、そして、やはり、それは、一種の妄想なのである。人ってそんなふうに出来ている、って言うか、それが人の定義なのであるのである。
英文エッセイ-例２-
〈２０２０年度 渋谷教育学園渋谷中学〉
Short Answers
2. Answer the following in one to two well-organized paragraph(s). Make sure to explain your position and use specific examples.
The idea of doubles or copies is often used as a theme or motif in literature ― and often in an unnerving way. Why do you think this concept is so popular, and what about doubles makes them feel so sinister or frightening?
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解答案作成：monmontalk
〈お題再掲〉2. Answer the following in one to two well-organized paragraph(s). Make sure to explain your position and use specific examples.
The idea of doubles or copies is often used as a theme or motif in literature ― and often in an unnerving way. Why do you think this concept is so popular, and what about doubles makes them feel so sinister or frightening?
・ 太字下線 use specific examplesとの指示なので、Short Answersの 1とは違い、経験や見聞で自由にサポートする。もちろん、自分の経験が思い浮かべばすかさず使う。
・ 上のお題の黄色部分と下の解答案の黄色部分（Thesis statementやTopic sentenceの中心となる部分）が対応する。お題のイタリックの them は doubles (or copies) を指している点に注意。
〈解答案〉
Everyone is afraid of the other side of oneself because it often seems weirdly, evilly different from what one thinks is oneself. As the anti-self is the double of your-self, examining it seems to lead to understand your true-self, which does not work that well.
Everyone is searching for the meaning of life, including the true-self. In the famous novel, “Jekyll and Hyde,” Mr. Jekyll, who is a gentleman, has the hidden other side, evil Hyde. Readers are not only shocked by the duality of a man, but also upset to see almost the same duality in their depth of mind. As for me, even now, I sometimes wonder why on earth I have said such a heartless thing to “her.” “Never come again to see me,” I said abruptly in the middle of our conversation, when she was talking, smiling. I never forget her facial expression of being confused or embarrassed, which is indescribable even now. The more different your other side is, the more frightened you are, for you can not understand yourself, much less search for your existential truth. （182 words）
ポイント英文法
〈比較： much more - / much less - 〉
１． She can speak French, much more English. （仏語を話せる。当然英語は話せる。）
２． She can not speak English, much less French. （英語を話せない。なおさら仏語は話せない。）
3． She can not read English, much less write it. （英語を読めない。まして書くことなんか出来ない。）
解説・雑感
〈お題再々掲〉2. （前略） The idea of doubles or copies is often used as a theme or motif in literature ― and often in an unnerving way. Why do you think this concept is so popular, and what about doubles makes them feel so sinister or frightening?
この１文目が前提条件（そのまま受け止め、これに対しては議論しない）で、それに対する“why”と“what”に答える。“doubles”が文学によく取り上げられるのはなぜか、その時、“doubles”が“unnerving”で“sinister”や“frightening”を感じさせるのは何があるからか、のふたつに、“use specific examples”で回答する。