Costello AP Lit AP TEST PREP THE PROSE ESSAY Section Two of the AP Lit test will ask you

to write three essays responding to three different prompts in 2 hours: A prompt paired with an excerpt of prose A prompt paired with an excerpt of poetry A prompt independent of a specific excerpt, but requiring the writer to choose a work

This week, well be focusing on the poetry-based prompt. Heres our Plan of Attack: W 11/23 Prose Essay Tips M 11/28 Prose Timed Writing What follows is a consolidation of information from a variety of texts aimed at helping students prepare specifically for the AP Lit test. Lets start with the Kinds of Questions likely to be asked. Here are some templates of questions asked in years past: Analyze narrative and literary techniques and other resources of language used in characterization How does a narrator reveal character? (i.e. tone, diction, syntax, point of view, etc.) How does the author reveal a characters predicament? (i.e diction, imagery, point of view, etc.) Explain the effect of the passage on the reader. Compare/contrast two passages concerning diction and details for effect on reader. How does the passage provide characterization and evaluation of one character over another? (i.e. diction, syntax, imagery, tone, etc.) What is the attitude of the speaker toward a particular subject? Analyze the effect of revision when given both the original and the revised version of a text. Analyze style and tone and how they are used to explore the authors attitude toward his or her subject. How is the reader prepared for the conclusion of the piece?

You should be prepared to write an essay based on any of these kinds of prompts. Most of the short stories covered in class, and questions/prompts presented in discussion and on tests ask you to apply these questions in some way (so youve been secretly practicing all year!).

Costello AP Lit AP TEST PREP While you may develop your own Time Strategy, heres a recommended template to start from: 1-3 minutes reading and working the prompt (more on what working means in a bit) 5 minutes working the prose, or reading and taking marginal notes about the prose. Try to isolate two references/passages that strike you, to possibly use in your opening and closing 10 minutes preparing to write o Highlighting o Marginal mapping o Key word/one word/line number outlining o Numerical clustering o Whatever brainstorming/prewriting strategy you prefer 20 minutes to write your essay, based on your preparations 3 minutes for proofreading

Now lets look at Working the Prompt: No matter the specific focus of the prompt, most poetry questions follow an archetype: Read [name of the excerpt(s)] carefully. Then write an essay in which you discuss [someones: usually the speaker, or author, or character] attitude(s) toward [specific topic(s)] and the devices the author uses to convey this/these views. The question has two parts. The first calls for a reading of meaning (content), an interpretation of what the passage conveys. The question may ask for the attitude, or views, or response, or feelings of the author, or the speaker, or a character, or two characters that appear in the prose. The second part of the question is about style (literary techniques). It calls for a discussion of devices, or literary devices, or techniques, or language, or stylistic devices. Sometimes, the devices will be unspecified. Other times, the prompt will contain a list of two or more. The most commonly specified techniques are diction, imagery, figurative language, choice of details, tone, and syntax. Less often, the list may include the following: organization, devices of sound, allusion, and point of view.

**IMPORTANT NOTE** Make sure your organization shows your understanding of the excerpts MEANING/CONTENT. No matter what STYLE/LITERARY TECHNIQUES you use to explain the meaning, if you put too much focus on those techniques, you may stray from how they reveal the meaning of the work. If the technique doesnt help reveal meaning, its not relevant to the question being asked.

Costello AP Lit AP TEST PREP Whatever the question, you are encouraged to spend the first few minutes working the prompt, or highlighting/noting the important pieces, so that you know exactly whats being asked of you. You should do this before even reading the prose, because: Knowing what to look for will allow you to read the excerpt in a more direct manner Internalizing the question will allow you to be sensitive to the details that will apply Knowing all facets of the question will allow you write a complete essay that demonstrates adherence to the topic.

There are a couple main strategies for Working the Prose: 1. A. Read the prose once with stopping. B. Reread, using the highlighting and marginal notes approach. 2. A. Read slowly, as if speaking aloud. Let the structure of the prose help you with meaning. B. Reread to confirm that you understand the full impact of the prose. Do your highlighting and making marginal notes. * Notice that both strategies encourage/require highlighting and marginal notes. After youve worked the prose, review the prompt, comparing it to your notes in order to identify certain categories that might help you organize your essay. *Concentrate on those parts of the prose that apply to whats mentioned in the prompt. You dont have time to write about EVERYTHING! *Because there are varied ways to interpret the prose, choose an approach you can confidently support with multiple textual examples. Dont be rattled if there are aspects of the prose you havent highlighted/noted.

Costello AP Lit AP TEST PREP And now, weve come to Writing the Essay: Refer to the handout of tips handed out with your 1st Timed Writing of the year. And here are a few more considerations: When working the prompt, take them literally. o Compare OR contrast means do one o Compare AND contrast means do both o such as means you can use their suggestions, but dont have to such as imagery, figurative language, and diction o such as means you should aim for one less than they suggest such as [4 devices], you choose 3 such as [3 devices], you choose 2 o at least means the minimum at least 2 devices, you do 3 at least 3 devices, you do 4 o speaker = speaker of the work o author = author of the work speaker author Provide more support for your points. If the point is worth making, there should be multiple pieces of textual support available to use. o Ive rarely seen 8s and 9s that were only 2 pages. Avoid empty sentences, especially in your opening statement: o The author uses imagery to express the speakers attitude. o The author uses sparse imagery to express the speakers hopelessness. Use more embedded quoting, less paraphrasing, less line citations. o The speaker spies him setting up a picnic / for his new love. o The speaker runs into her ex-boyfriend at the park. o In lines 5-7, the speaker spies him setting up a picnic / for his new love. Combine textual support and analysis in the same sentence (this will eliminate empty sentences, advance sentence structure, and cut down on wasted time). o The author uses sparse imagery throughout the prose. The speaker views dead tree branches and shallow ponds as she walks through the park. This reflects the speakers hopeless attitude. o The sparse imagery of the dead tree branches and shallow ponds reflect the hopelessness felt by the speaker as she walks through the park. Consider work choice. General words such as happy or sad, positive or negative, good or evil, rarely capture the complexity of the excerpts given on these tests.