Prose Essay and General Information

Transcription

1 Prose Essay and General Information

2 1. Text is chosen for you 2. Poetry question 1 poem or a comparison between 2 poems 3. Prose question usually an excerpt from a novel or short story

3 Sometimes asks you about the meaning of the passage Example: Read the following poem carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how the poet uses language to describe the scene and to convey mood and meaning.

4 2. Sometimes does not ask about meaning, but wants you to summarize some aspect of the passage. Example: Read carefully the following passage from the beginning of a contemporary novel. Note the author s use of elements such as diction, syntax, imagery and figurative language. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author s use of language generates a vivid impression of Quoyle as a character.

5 b.you are not required to write about only those techniques. c.you can pick others that you see that are not listed. d.you also will not have time to write about all of the techniques the prompt offers. 3. Sometimes the prompt offers a laundry list of techniques/devices (as is the case in the previous sample question). a.those techniques will definitely be present in the passage, BUT

6 In more recent years, however, the prompts do not offer a laundry list of devices. a. They usually mention figurative language or literary devices. b. Regardless, the readers expect you will talk about poetic techniques that contribute to the poem s meaning/aspect on which you are focusing.

7 Example: The following two poems present animal-eye views of the world. Read each poem carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze the techniques used in the poems to characterize the speakers and convey differing views of the world.

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9 1. You are given 2 hours to write three essays. 2. Equal division of time means you should spend 40 minutes per essay. 3. Reading the prompt and passages and planning an essay should take no more than minutes. 4. That means the actual writing of each essay should be about 30 minutes. 5. No one will tell you when forty minutes has passed, so you have to time yourself.

10 6. It is better to write most of three essays rather than to write two stellar essays but skip one all together 7. For this reason, conclusions are not hugely important to AP readers 8. If you time yourself for 35 minutes and are not finished, leave yourself space to come back, but move on to the next essay

11 1. Outlines are not required, but they are a good idea 2. They should be brief three to four points max 3. You are not required to stick with the outline if you change your mind as you write 4. AP readers do give some credit for outlines at the end of unfinished essays As the 2-hour limit nears, if you cannot finish the essay, write the outline for the rest of

12 Strategy #1: Hardest Essay First a. Read all the prompts and passages before you start writing any of them Your subconscious will work on two of them while you write the first b. Write the hardest one first i. You can write the essays in any order ii. You might do best on the hardest one if you are fresher.

13 Strategy #2: Easiest Essay First a. Read all the prompts and passages before you start writing any of them Your subconscious will work on the other two while you write the first b. Start with the easiest one first i. You might feel it s best to write on what you know best while you are fresh ii. Gives your subconscious time to think about the other 2

14 3. Strategy #3: Write in the Order Given a. Read all the prompts and passages before you start writing any of them Your subconscious will work on the other two while you write the first b. Read the prompts as you go along and write in the order they are given

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16 A. Use what is on the page to help you. B. Read footnotes. C. Do not misspell authors names if they are given to you. D. Do not misspell titles or words in the passages when they are given to you.

17 E. Sometimes, the prompt does not give you the author s name 1. You are not expected to know it. 2. If you do happen to know it, use it. 3. If you don t know it, just refer to the author as the author or the writer, or, in the case of poetry, the poet. 4. The same may be true of the title of the work.

18 F. You are permitted abbreviations 1. For titles (so BNW for Brave New World or for A Tale of Two Cities, you could use TTC. Underline the abbreviation. 2. For extremely long authors names 3. For long character names G. You may use the abbreviation right from the start of the essay. Just establish it the first time. The AP readers know you are in a hurry, so they do not mind abbreviations H. Make them logical abbreviations If you make it hard for them to decipher, they have a harder time being generous with your grade

19 I. Handwriting 1. Obviously, the neater the better 2. Readers, though, anticipate bad handwriting and will pass it around the table until they find three people who can puzzle through it. 3. However, be aware that if your handwriting is hard to read, you risk really irritating your readers, which is not a wise move. J. Scratch-outs 1. You will not have time for white-out, 2. AP readers do not mind scratch-outs 3. They do not mind asterisks to indicate sentences you would like to add in 4. They do not mind arrows pointing to sentence order, as long as they are within a few lines.

20 A. You may use five paragraphs. B. No citations are required on the AP test in fact, they prefer you skip them. C. Use of first-person formal is permitted: we, us, our, ours. D. Do NOT NOT NOT use I, me, my, mine. E. Do NOT NOT NOT use you, your, yours.