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Sample writing assignment: Desire in “The Prussian Officer.” I’ve been really impressed with the way in which, overall, the writing assignments have improved

from the first to the most recent module. It’s clear that many of you are giving the prompt some

thought, drafting out a potential response, and then revising it carefully so as to craft a well-argued

argument in favor of your position. If you’re not doing as well as you’d like, please drop me a line

and we can set up a time to chat about the assignments you’ve completed and make suggestions for

how to improve.

As always, in this assignment, I will be looking for a clear argument, strong textual evidence, and a

well-formatted and written response.

Please be sure to provide a Works Cited. This can be in any form you are most comfortable with

(AP, MLA, Chicago, Oxford, etc.), but should make it clear what is being referred to and where that

item can be found.

Please note: the 250-word limit (plus or minus 10%) applies only to the text of your argument. It

does not include the works cited or the heading information.

Sample question: What do we learn about the working of desire in Lawrence’s “The Prussian

Officer”?

A. Student

Writing Assignment, Module 6

Desire plays a disruptive role in “The Prussian Officer,” ultimately revealing that individual

consciousness is an illusion. The story centers on the relationship between an officer and his

orderly. The officer seeks to repress his homosexual desires by occasionally taking a mistress, but

this only makes him “more hostile and irritable” (19). He develops, however, something of an

attraction for his orderly, whose “young, vigorous, unconscious presence” (19) captivates him. He

has, however, no way to express this desire, preferring instead to torment his orderly by

questioning him about his sweetheart. This does not, however, satisfy his desire and his frustration

builds until it explodes in violence and he kicks the orderly repeatedly.

This violence is then reproduced by the orderly when he attacks the officer. The sexually-

charged language of the passage—“ Heavy convulsions shook the body of the officer” (31)—makes

it clear that the orderly himself experiences some level of desire for the captain, but that he too is

unable to process this in a non-violent manner. Both men are unable to handle their desire and the

result is a death scene that reads almost like a sexual act. The orderly escapes and sets off on the

run, but the disruptive effects of desire continue to break down his consciousness. Indeed, he seems

to black out for a period. His thoughts gradually dissociate: his thirst “seemed to have separated

itself from him” (35). Desire, in other words, has disrupted his sense of himself as a coherent

individual, showing that consciousness is just a temporary alignment of separate drives. [261

words]

Works Cited.

D.H. Lawrence, “The Prussian Officer,” Module 6 Readings: English 220.05. Spring 2016.