Issues with students' AP Lit essays: Tuesday, May 7, 2013

These are the Top 10 elements that were "concerns" in the last round of essays:

1. Place a specific Adj. in front of the word diction!  Otherwise,  you sound foolish!
2. Literary analysis is asking you to address HOW a piece is written.  We want to get beyond WHAT is being said. (That leads to plot.)  Every time you are discussing a literary element, ask yourself, "To What Effect?"  In other words, what is the impact that the literary device has on the meaning as a whole?  How does it help to convey meaning?
3. Avoid starting the opening sentences of your body paragraphs with an abrupt identification of a literary device, like, "The poet uses symbolism. The tone is subdued. The setting is a battlefield." This leads to a choppy, concrete discussion.  The prompt and your position/thesis should be driving the discussion at all times!  The literary devices are simply your method or the language we use to discuss writing.
4. When introducing a writer for the first time, use the author's/poet's FULL Name.
5. Novels and Plays = "Short Stories" and "Poems"
6. Body paragraphs are often drifting into Plot. Each body paragraph must fluidly connect back to the prompt. Otherwise, you are drifting away from whatever it is you have been asked to prove.
7. Check the spelling of all names, especially, William Shakespeare.
8. Avoid using using the pronouns, "I" and "you"
9. Essays # 3 ALL need quotes added for support!
10. Be very careful about discussing the rhyme scheme and structure of poetry. It can lead to a very juvenile discussion if you aren't able to explain how the structure or rhyme conveys meaning.  And, it can take up a great deal of time.