APE Literature

11-Sentence Essay Information Specifications for the Sentences Student Example

Mr. Stout C-114

Sentence One: Thesis statement that names the title of the poem/passage/essay/article, the author (if information is given), and three bits of information that you will cover in the essay (what the piece reflects) and makes a claim about how the topic contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Sentence Two: A paraphrased piece of detail that relates to thesis. (could be about rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, consonance, assonance, tone etc - for prose syntax, word choice, imagery, etc.) Sentence Three: a concrete detail (paraphrased or summarized from your piece that symbolizes something from Sentence Two).

1. In the opening passage of Ann Petrys The Street, the antagonism of the personified wind and the accumulation of trash in the street parallel the violent realities of urban life as it contrasts with the possibility of security, however meager 2. Petrys imagery is dominated by the all- pervasive presence of the personified wind.

3. The cold November wind is as much human as natural, for it stuck its finger inside coat collars, found the trash that litters the street, and did everything it could to discourage the people walking along the street all as emphasized by the anaphora that connects these lines in the first three paragraphs. 4. By personifying the wind, Petry emphasizes the winds strength and apparently sentient tendency to terrorize pedestrians, paralleling the general harshness of life on the street. 5. The novelist accompanies this with images of the trash that lines the street, including theater throwaways, announcements of dancesnewspapers [and] chicken bones and pork chop bones. 6. Petrys details suggest that the streets are at once dilapidated and filled with the remnants of human life, albeit base and decaying in the urban environment. 7. The aggression of the wind and the corruption suggested by the trash convey Petrys view of the street as a hostile setting in which individuals struggle to continue their dilapidated lives. 8. These realities contrast with the comparative security which Petry suggests is available indoors, away from the wind and the street. 9. Though the wind hinders Lutie Johnsons attempts to read the sign, the woman seeks the reasonable refuge of the home with three rooms, steam heat, [and] parquet floors, and an original coat of white paint streaked with rust [by] years of rain to form a dark red stain like blood. 10. Again, the decay that characterizes the street remains in full force, marring this symbol of potential warmth (for such traits are connotative of the home) with reminders of the trials and insecurities that loom.

Sentence Four: comment on how sentence two and three relate to the thesis Statement

Sentence Five: A direct quote, In line __ of Name of Poem/(piece) quote it mentions imagery (another specific type of poetic device) you see in the poem (piece).

Sentence Six: imagery (or, other literary devices) in the poem and how it relates to the reader or the author. Sentence Seven: comment on how sentence five and six relate to the thesis statement.

Sentence Eight: A paraphrased line or a direct quote that relates to thesis.

Sentence Nine: a concrete detail (paraphrased or directly quoted from line eight and how it might relate to the author to the authors time period).

Sentence Ten: comment on how sentence eight and nine relate to the thesis statement.

Sentence Eleven: Concluding sentence that wraps up the paragraph without recapitulating points.

11. Petrys depiction of the streets physical appearance thus also serves as a figurative device that conveys the cold, decrepit surroundings and omnipresent hostility that can characterize urban life.