The Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition
Test Breakdown
SECTION I
MULTIPLE CHOICE—45% of test: Students are given selections to read (2-3 poetry and 23 prose) in which students must choose the best answer out of five choices (a-e). There are 55
questions, and students will have one hour to complete this.
22% = easy questions
LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY
42% =medium questions
36% = hard questions
SECTION II
FREE RESPONSE: 55% of the test: Students will be give three opportunities to write essays
based on the following: A poetry selection, a prose selection, an open question. The open
questions require students to respond to a prompt pertaining to either a classic novel or play (of
great literary merit). Each essay is worth approximately 18% of the exam. Students are scored
on a range from 0-9 (nine being the highest score possible)
Example from past AP exam: Morally ambiguous characters (ones difficult to identify as
purely evil or purely good) are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or play
in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you
explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his/her moral
ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid plot summary.
SECTION I: Multiple choice ________ (number correct out of 55) x 1.2272 = _______
SECTION II: Free response 1 _____ (out of 9) x 3.0556 =
_____
Free response 2 _____ (out of 9) x 3.0556 =
_____
Free response 3 _____ (out of 9) x 3.0556 =
_____
AP Conversion Chart
Composite Score Range
114=150
98-113
1 81=97
53-80
0-52
Sum = ______
AP Score
5
4
3
2
1
Flannerby Barp for Nall”
Nall was so plamper. She was larping to the flannerby with Charkle. She would
grunk a flannerby barp so she could crooch out carples. Charkle lanted her gib out
the nep. “Parps, Charkle,” jibbed Nall plamperly. “Now we can crooch out carples
together!” pifed Charkle trigly.
Pop Quiz
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Who are the characters in this story?
What do we know about Nall?
Why did she want to grunk a flannerby barp?
Where did Charkle lant her gib?
Why was Charkle so excited?
.
ANALYSIS
The process of analysis involves breaking something into its component parts, examining those
parts, and through such an examination, coming to a better understanding of the whole. In
literature it is asking what something means and how that meaning is constructed. Analysis is
one of the most common human activities, and is the sort of thinking one is asked to do most
often in school, work, and in life. Essentially, there are five steps to analysis:
1.
SUSPEND JUDGMENT: Avoid either or thinking. Do not oversimplify. For example,
when people walk out of a theater after having seen a movie, they will state that they
liked the movie or that they didn’t. Such comments are emotional, personal reactions
and do not say much that is significant because they are so general. The above
judgment says more about a person’s tastes, preferences, biases, and experiences than
about the movie and its qualities. Many people base their judgment of a work of
literature on their personal reactions to it rather than its intrinsic qualities. In reading a
student must go beyond “what it says” to “what it means.” Seek to understand the
subject he/she is analyzing before moving to a judgment about it.
2.
MAKE THE IMPLICIT EXPLICIT: Look beyond the surface. For example, instead of
merely looking at a magazine ad, ask yourself not what is in it, but what is it really
about. “Why” is an essential question to keep in mind? Why did the advertiser choose
this particular image or set of images? What was his purpose and what results did he
hope to achieve? Now you are making inferences.
3.
DEFINE SIGNIFICANT PARTS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS: When analyzing
literature, divide it into its various parts, elements, or strategies. Consider how these
parts are related not only to each other but also to the whole. The idea is not only to
examine the parts but also to understand how they give it life, meaning, style, etc.
2
4.
LOOK FOR PATTERNS: Patterns may come in such forms as repetition or
resemblance of words, constructions, or ideas; shifts in time or tense; a change in point
of view; a move from general to specific or vice versa; a repeated use of imagery;
and/or patterns in diction or syntax.
KEEP REFORMULATING QUESTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS: What details seem
significant? Why? What is the significance of that detail? What does it mean on a
literal level? A metaphorical level? What else might it mean? How do the details fit
together? What do they have in common? How do they differ? What might a certain
pattern of details indicate? What else might this same pattern of details mean? What
ideas might the author be attempting to convey? What details do not seem to fit?
5.
Steps to Close Reading
An explication of text: means to unfold, to fold out, or to make clear the meaning. This is a finely
detailed, very specific examination of a short poem or short selected passage from a longer work, in
order to find the focus or design of the work, either in its entirety in the case of the shorter poem or, in the
case of the selected passage (the longer work of which it is a part). To this end "close" reading calls
attention to all dynamic tensions, polarities, or problems in the imagery, style, literal content, diction, etc.
Close Reading or Explication operates on the premise that literature, as artifice, will be more fully
understood and appreciated to the extent that the nature and interrelations of its parts are perceived, and
that that understanding will take the form of insight into the theme of the work in question. This kind of
work must be done before you can begin to appropriate any theoretical or specific literary approach.
Follow these steps before you begin writing. These are pre-writing steps,
procedures to follow, questions to consider before you commence actual writing.
In selecting one passage from a short story, poem, or novel, limit your selection to a short paragraph (4-5
sentences), but certainly no more than one paragraph. When one passage, scene, or chapter of a larger
work is the subject for explication, that explication will show how its focused-upon subject serves as a
macrocosm of the entire work—a means of finding in a small sample patterns which fit the whole work.
If you follow these steps to literary awareness, you will find a new and exciting
world. Do not be concerned if you do not have all the answers to the questions in this section. Keep
asking questions; keep your intellectual eyes open to new possibilities.
1. Figurative Language. Examine the passage carefully for similes, images, metaphors, and
2.
3.
3
symbols. Identify any and all. List implications and suggested meanings as well as denotations.
What visual insights does each word give? Look for mutiple meanings and overlapping of
meaning. Look for repetitions, for oppositions.
Diction. This section is closely connected with the section above. Diction, with its emphasis on
words, provides the crux of the explication. The dictionary will illuminate new connotations and
new denotations of a word. Look at all the meanings of the key words. Look up the etymology of
the words. How have they changed? The words will begin to take on various meanings. Be
careful to always check back to the text, keeping meaning contextually sound. Do not assume
you know the depth or complexity of meaning at first glance. Rely on the dictionary.
Literal content: this should be done as succinctly as possible. Briefly describe the sketetal
contents of the passage in one or two sentences. Answer the journalist's questions (Who? What?
When? Where? Why?) in order to establish character/s, plot, and setting as it relates to this
passage. What is the context for this passage?
4. Structure. Divide the passage into the more obvious sections (stages of argument, discussion,
or action). What is the interrelation of these units? How do they develop? Again, what can you
postulate regarding a controlling design for the work at this point? If the work is a poem, identify
the poetic structure and note the variations within that structure.
5. Style. Look for any significant aspects of style—parallel constructions, antithesis, etc. Look for
patterns, polarities, and problems. Periodic sentences, clause structures? Polysyndeton etc.?
And reexamine all postulates, adding any new ones that occur to you. Look for alliteration,
internal rhymes and other such poetic devices which are often used in prose as well as in poetry. .
6. Characterization. What insight does this passage now give into specific characters as they
develop through the work? Is there a persona in this passage? Any allusions to other literary
characters? To other literary works that might suggest a perspective. Look for a pattern of
metaphoric language to give added insight into their motives and feelings which are not
verbalized.
7. Tone. What is the tone of the passage? How does it elucidate the entire passage? Is the tone
one of irony? Sentimental? Serious? Humorous? Ironic?
8. Assessment. This step is not to suggest a reduction; rather, a "close reading" or explication
should enable you to problematize and expand your understanding of the text. Ask what insight
the passage gives into the work as a whole. How does it relate to themes, ideas, larger actions in
other parts of the work?
9. Context: If your text is part of a larger whole, make brief reference to its position in the whole; if it
is a short work, say, a poem, refer it to other works in its author's canon, perhaps chronologically,
but also thematically. Do this expeditiously.
10. Theme: A theme is not to be confused with thesis; the theme or more properly themes of a work
of literature is its broadest, most pervasive concern, and it is contained in a complex combination
of elements. In contrast to a thesis, which is usually expressed in a single, arugumentative,
declarative sentence and is characteristic of expository prose rather than creative literature, a
theme is not a statement; rather, it often is expressed in a single word or a phrase, such as
"love," "illusion versus reality," or "the tyranny of circumstance." Generally, the theme of a work is
never "right" or "wrong." There can be virtually as many themes as there are readers, for
essentially the concept of theme refers to the emotion and insight which results from the
experience of reading a work of literature.
Everything you say about the theme must be supported by the brief quotations from the text.Your
argument and proof must be convincing. And that, finally, is what explication is about:
marshaling the elements of a work of literature in such a way as to be convincing. Your
approach must adhere to the elements of ideas, concepts, and language inherent in the work
itself. Remember to avoid phrases and thinking which are expressed in the statement, "what I
got out of it was. . . ."
11. Thesis: Do not try to write your thesis until you have finished all 12 steps. The thesis should take
the form, of course, of an assertion about the meaning and function of the text which is your
subject. It must be something which you can argue for and prove in your essay.
Whenever reading a passage, a poem, an essay, etc. it is important to annotate (take notes,
highlight, comment, etc.) I will provide you with an example of an annotation.
Closely read “Independence” and annotate before the class discussion.
Chuang Tzu was one day fishing, when the Prince of Ch’u sent two high officials to interview
him, saying that his Highness would be glad of Chuang Tzu’s assistance in the administration of his
government. The latter quietly fished on, and without looking round, replied, “I have heard that in the
State of Ch’u there is a sacred tortoise, which has been dead three thousand years, and which the prince
keeps packed up in a box on the altar in his ancestral shrine. Now do you think that tortoise would rather
be dead and have its remains thus honoured, or be alive and wagging its tail in the mud? The two
officials answered that no doubt it would rather be alive and wagging its tail in the mud; whereupon
Chuang Tzu cried out, “Begone! I too elect to remain wagging my tail in the mud!”
4
Introductory Lessons: AP Lit and Comp
Approaching Literature
There are many specific strategies to approaching a literary text and writing about it. Some of
these strategies we will discuss in detail, and I will be recommending different strategies for you
as this class goes on. We want to start, though, by suggesting a straightforward three-step
approach that will give you a way into any written text:
Experience
When we experience literature, we respond to it subjectively, personally, emotionally. We bring
to it our own life experiences and knowledge.
Analysis
Here, you move from feeling to thinking. The key is observation: No detail is unimportant, so
notice, notice, notice. What about language and structure? What connections or patterns emerge?
What inferences might you draw from these connections?
Extension
At this point, you have arrived at an interpretation. Sometimes that is all you will need to do. But
sometimes you will be able to extend your interpretation from the world of the poem to the real
world. This type of extension may involve examination of the background of the author, research
into the historical context of the work, or application of the ideas in the piece to life in general.
Read the poem first (next page) then revisit the next categories.
Experience:

A fairly grisly scene: boy cutting wood, the saw slips, and he cuts his hand-despite the
doctor's efforts the boy dies-everyone goes back to work-end of story

Might think people in the poem are heartless and cold-might remind you of something
you've read about or even experienced
Live in the city-might feel far removed from rural Vermont-spent time on the farmmight have a more familiar ring
But even at this first step, you cannot help but notice the language and details. YOU'VE
ENTERED THE WORLD OF THE POEM!


5
Analysis:

Now move from feeling to thinking. The key is observation. No detail is unimportant.
What do you notice about the language and structure of the poem? What connections
or patterns emerge? What inferences might you draw from these connections? Is
something stands out from the rest of the poem, you probably want to ask why. You
ARE reading between the lines-what is indirectly expressed through figurative
language and other poetic techniques.
6

Buzz saw-an animal that "snarled and rattled," a description repeated three times
before the saw "leaped out at the boy's hand, or seemed to leap" (I. 16). This
personification suggests that it wasn't an accident, that the saw was a predator
intending to hurt the boy. Then Frost gives us a description of the natural beauty of the
landscape-the mountain ranges and the sunset. Why would Frost juxtapose idea of
the saw being a vicious animal with the beauty of the countryside. Maybe he is saying
that nature has two sides, violent and peaceful, predatory and nourishing? What do you
think?

Notice the third-person point of view, except in line 10 when the speaker says that he
wishes they would have "called it a day" and given the boy a half hour away from his
work. Why shift perspective here? Was it Frost's way of anticipating the accident to
come? Maybe they give the poem a bit of soul, express some regret, or temper the cold
practicality of the final lines.
"Out, Out--," by Robert Frost
The buzz-saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,
Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the other
Under the sunset far into Vermont.
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened: day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said
To please the boy by giving him the half hour
That a boy counts so much when saved from work.
His sister stood beside them in her apron
To tell them "Supper." At that word, the saw,
As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,
Leaped out at the boy's hand, or seemed to leap He must have given the hand. However it was,
Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
The boy's first outcry was a rueful laugh,
As he swung toward them holding up the hand
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling. Then the boy sawall Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a man's work, though a child at heart He saw all spoileds''Don't let him cut my hand off"The doctor, when he comes. Don't let him, sister!"
So. But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then - the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little - less - nothing! - and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
7
The Writer's Craft-Close Reading-The Elements of Style
The point of close reading is to go beyond merely summarizing a work to figuring out how a writer's stylistic choices
convey the work's message or meaning. Once you begin to analyze literature closely, you will see how all ofthe parts of
a piece of literature work together, from the structure of the piece down to individual word choices. The following is a
brief introduction to the essential elements of style. Understanding these terms and concepts will give you things to be
on the lookout for as you close-read, as well as vocabulary to help you describe what you see. Most of these terms are
not new to you, but the following will serve to refresh your memory. If you need more explanation or examples, they
are available in the back of your Bedford text and always, of course, in many on-line sources.
Diction
Authors choose their words carefully to convey precise meanings. We call these word choices the author's diction. A
word can have more than one dictionary definition, or denotation, so when you analyze diction, you must consider all of
a word's possible meanings. If the words have meanings or associations beyond the dictionary definitions, their
connotations, you should ask how those relate to meaning. Sometimes a word's connotations will reveal another layer
of meaning; sometimes they will affect the tone, as in the case of formal or informal diction, which is sometimes called
slang, or colloquia" language. Diction can also be abstract or concrete. Let's look at an example of diction from the
third stanza of Housman's poem "To an Athlete Dying Young":
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory
does not stay
And early though the
laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.
In the third line, Housman plays with the multiple denotations of the word laurel, which is both a small evergreen tree,
and an honor or accolade. Housman is using these multiple denotations to establish a paradox. Though the laurel that
represents fame is evergreen, fame itself is fleeting, even more fleeting than the rosy bloom of youth.
Figurative Language
Language that is not literal is called figurative, as in a figure of speech. Sometimes this kind of language is called
metaphorical because it explains or expands on an idea by comparing it to something else. The comparison can be
explicit, as in the case of a simile, which makes a comparison using like or as; or it can be an implied comparison, as
in the case of a metaphor. Personification is a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human
characteristics. An analogy is a figure of speech that usually helps explain something unfamiliar or complicated by
comparing it to something familiar or simple.
8
When a metaphor is extended over several lines in a work, it's called an extended metaphor; a conceit (or metaphysical
conceit) denotes a fairly elaborate figure of speech, especially an extended comparison involving unlikely metaphors,
similes, imagery, hyperbole, and oxymora. Other forms of figurative language include overstatement (or hyperbole),
understatement, paradox (a statement that seems contradictory but actually reveals a surprising truth), and irony.
There are a few different types of irony, but verbal irony is the most common. It occurs when a speaker says one thing
but really means something else, or when there is a noticeable incongruity between what is expected and what is said.
Imagery
Imagery is the verbal expression of a sensory experience and can appeal to any of the five senses. Sometimes
imagery depends on very concrete language-that is, descriptions of how things look, feel, sound, smell, or taste.
In considering imagery, look carefully at how the sense impressions are created. Also pay attention to patterns of
images that are repeated throughout a work. Often writers use figurative language to make their descriptions
even more vivid. Look at this description passage from Willa Cather's My Antonia:
Queer little red bugs came out and moved in slow squadrons around me. Their backs were
polished vermilion, with black spots.
The imagery tells us that these are little red bugs with black spots, but consider what is added with the
words "squadrons" and "vermilion," both figurative descriptions.
Syntax
Syntax is the arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. When we read closely, we consider
whether the sentences in a work are long, or short, simple or complex. The sentence might be cumulative,
beginning with an independent clause and followed by subordinate clauses or phrases that add detail; or
periodic, beginning with subordinate clauses or phrases that build toward the main clause. The word order can
be the traditional subject-verb- object order or inverted (e.g., verb-subject-object or object-subject-verb). You
might also look at syntactic patterns, such as several long sentences followed by a short sentence. Housman
uses inversion in several places in his poem, perhaps to ensure the rhyme scheme but also to emphasize a
point. When he writes, "And home we brought you shoulder-high," the shift in expected word order ("We brought
you home") emphasizes "home," a word emphasized more than once in the poem.
Tone and Mood
Tone reflects the speaker's attitude toward the subject of the work. Mood is the feeling the reader experiences as
a result of the tone. Tone and mood provide the emotional coloring of a work and are created by the writer's
stylistic choices. When you describe the tone and mood of a work, try to use at least two precise words, rather
than words that are vague and general, such as happy, sad, or different. What is most important is that you
consider the style elements that went into creating the tone. (I will also supply you with a tone word list-soon!)
9
Questions for Close Reading of Text-The Elements of Style
Diction

Which of the important words (verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs) in the
poem or
passage are general and abstract, and which are specific and concrete?

Are the important words formal, informal, colloquial, or slang?

Are there words with strong connotations, words we might refer to as "loaded"?
Figurative Language

Are some words not literal but figurative, creating figures of speech such as
metaphors, similes, and personification?
Imagery

Are the images-the parts of the passage we experience with our five sensesconcrete, or do they depend on figurative language to come alive?
Syntax

What is the order of the words in the sentences? Are they in the usual subject-verbobject order, or are they inverted?

Which is more prevalent in the passage, nouns or verbs?

What are the sentences like? Do their meanings build periodically or cumulatively?

How do the sentences connect their words, phrases, and clauses?

How is the poem or passage organized? Is it chronological? Does it move from
concrete to abstract or vice versa? Or does it follow some other pattern?
10
Exercise 1
Read Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young" and working with a partner, analyze the poem by applying the
preceding list of questions to the poem. Be sure to address each question. Be prepared to present your findings to
the class.
To An Athlete Dying Young-A. E. Housman
The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:
Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.
So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.
And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strength less dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.
11
Exercise 2
Read this passage from Eudora Welty's short story "Old Mr. Marblehall," and using the preceding list of
questions for analysis, prepare a response for our next class meeting. You do not have to type this
response.
There is Mr. Marblehall's ancestral home. It's not so wonderfully large-it has only four columns-but you
always look toward it, the way you always glance into tunnels and see nothing. The river is after it now,
and the little black garden has assuredly crumbled away, but the box maze is there on the edge like a
trap, to confound the Mississippi River. Deep in the red wall waits the front door-it weighs such a lot, it
is perfectly solid, all one piece, black mahogany .... And you see-one of them is always going in it.
There is a knocker shaped like a gasping fish on the door. You have every reason in the world to
imagine the inside is dark, with old things about. There's many a big, deathly-looking tapestry, wrinkling
and thin, many a sofa shaped like an S. Brocades as tall as the wicked queens in Italian tales stand
gathered before the windows. Everything is
draped and hooded and shaded, of course, unaffectionate but close. Such rosy lamps! The only sound
would
be a breath against the prisms, a stirring of the chandelier. It's like old eyelids, the house with one of its
shutters, in careful working order, slowly opening outward.
Place Response Below: _____________________________________________________________________________ _
12
Purpose: It seems that almost everything on the AP exam is motivated by purpose. That is,
why did the author choose the point of view, tone, rhetorical strategies, stylistic devices, etc.?
Basically, these choices are the ones that allow the author to achieve his purpose.
To move from gaining in-depth insight, providing apt and specific support, and finally to discussing
purpose, effect, or reason for strategies used by an author, many students can manage the first and
the second but falter when it comes to the last concept. Here are some phrases that may help
students move to the higher level of purpose. Hint: Usually the purpose can be indicated as the
“VERB” indicating what the author or the speaker does.
For example, in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne’s use of symbols, allows him to convey the
contradictions and hypocrisy inherent in Puritan society (Do as I say, not as I do). The letter itself is
meant to be a symbol of shame, but instead it becomes a powerful symbol of identity to Hester. The
letter’s meaning shifts as time passes. Originally intended to mark Hester as an adulterer, the “A”
eventually comes to stand for “Able
PURPOSE WORDS!
--- serves to
--- infers
--- adds to
-- translates to
--- enriches the
--- proposes
--- shows
--- reflects
--- demonstrates
--- contributes to
--- suggests
--- lets the reader know
--- illustrates
--- employs
--- emphasizes
--- foreshadows
--- reveals
--- allows the reader
--- portrays
--- stresses the
--- exemplifies
--- is supported by
--- explains
---completes the
--- elaborates
--- characterizes
--- conveys
--- implies
13
“Storm Warnings” – Adrienne Rich
The glass has been falling all the afternoon,
And knowing better than the instrument
What winds are walking overhead, what zone
Of gray unrest is moving across the land,
5
I leave the book upon a pillowed chair
And walk from window to closed window, watching Boughs strain against the sky.
And think again, as often when the air
Moves inward toward a silent core of waiting,
10
How with a single purpose time has traveled
By secret currents of the undiscerned
Into this polar realm. Weather abroad
And weather in the heart alike come on
What seems to be the overall
purpose of the vivid imagery
the poet is using?
Regardless of prediction.
15
Between foreseeing and averting change
Lies all the mastery of elements which
clocks and weatherglasses cannot alter.
Time in the hand is not control of time,
Nor shattered fragments of an instrument
20
A proof against the wind; the wind will rise,
We can only close the shutters.
I draw the curtains as the sky goes black
And set a match to candles sheathed in glass
Against the keyhole draught, the insistent whine of weather through the unsealed aperture. Ths is
our sole defense against the
Season; These are the things we have learned
to do who live in troubled regions.
14
Elements of VOICE
Voice is the characteristic speech and thought patterns of a first-person narrator; a persona.
Voice is the sum of all a writer becomes on the page. It is the concerns and themes that most
occupy a writer. It allows for a breadth of vision. It consists of Style / Language / Syntax
/Imagery / Authority / Paragraphs / Point of View / Tone / Attitude and Register. Voice is the
author’s style, the quality that makes his or her writing unique, and which conveys the author’s
attitude, personality, and character; or Voice is the characteristic speech and thought patterns
of a first-person narrator; a persona.


Because voice has so much to do with the reader's experience of a work of literature, it is one
of the most important elements of a piece of writing.
Make a list of the characteristics of writing that indicate strong voice.

It shows the writer's personality

It sounds different from everyone else's

It contains feelings and emotions

The words come to life

It comes from the heart
There are many examples of strong voice in literature. Some of these are:
Huck Finn in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird
Nick in The Great Gatsby
Lemuel Gulliver in Gulliver’s Travels
The Mother in “Everyday Use”
Nora in A Doll House
Antigone and Creon in Antigone
ACTIVITY: Think about the story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” then write an
autobiographical account of the event in the voice of one of the following characters: Homer
Simpson, Snow White (or any Disney princess), Sponge Bob, Squidward, Jack Sparrow, Forrest
Gump, Austin Powers, Dora the Explorer
15
“Catch Her in the Oatmeal”
If you actually want to hear about it, what I'd better do is I'd better warn you right now that you aren't
going to believe it. I mean it's a true story and all, but it still sounds sort of phony.
Anyway, my name is Goldie Lox. It's sort of a boring name, but my parents said that when I was born I
had this very blonde hair and all. Actually I was born bald. I mean how many babies get born with blonde
hair? None. I mean I've seen them and they're all wrinkled and red and slimy and everything. And bald.
And then all the phonies have to come around and tell you he's as cute as a bug's ear. A bug's ear, boy,
that really kills me. You ever seen a bug's ear? What's cute about a bug's ear? For Chrissake! Nothing,
that's what.
So, like I was saying, I always seem to be getting into these very stupid situations. Like this time I was
telling you about. Anyway, I was walking through the forest and all when I see this very interesting
house. A house. You wouldn't think anybody would be living way the hell out in the goddam forest, but
they were. No one was home or anything and the door was open, so I walked in. I figured what I'd do is
I'd probably horse around until the guys that lived there came home and maybe asked me to stay for
dinner or something. Some people think they have to ask you to stay for dinner even if they hate you.
Also I didn't exactly feel like going home and getting asked a lot of lousy questions. I mean that's all I
ever seem to do.
Anyway, while I was waiting I sort of sampled some of this stuff they had on the table that tasted like
oatmeal. Oatmeal. It would have made you puke, I mean it. Then something very spooky started
happening. I started getting dizzier than hell. I figured I'd feel better if I could just rest for a while.
Sometimes if you eat something like lousy oatmeal you can feel better if you just rest for a while, so I sat
down. That's when the goddam chair breaks in half. No kidding, you start feeling lousy and some stupid
chair is going to break on you every time. I'm not kidding. Anyway I finally found the crummy bedroom
and I lay down on this very tiny bed. I was really depressed.
I don't know how long I was asleep or anything but all of a sudden I hear this very strange voice say,
"Someone's been sleeping in my sack, for Chrissake, and there she is!" So I open my eyes and here at the
foot of the bed are these three crummy bears. Bears! I swear to God. By that time I was really feeling
depressed. There's nothing more depressing than waking up and finding three bears talking to you, I
mean.
So I didn't stay around and shoot the breeze with them or anything. If you want to know the truth, I sort of
ran out of there like a madman or something. I do that quite a little when I'm depressed like that.
On the way home, though, I got to figuring. What probably happened is these bears wandered in when
they smelled this oatmeal and all. Probably bears like oatmeal, I don't know and the voice I heard when I
woke up was probably something I dreamt.
So that's the story.
I wrote it all up once as a theme in school, but my crummy teacher said it was too whimsical. Whimsical.
That killed me. You got to meet her sometime, boy. She's a real queen.
16
Dan Greenberg, "Three Bears in Search of an Author," Esquire, Feb 1958, pp. 46-47.
A central concern in fiction is the concept of point of view which essentially involves the relationship of
the storyteller to the story or from whose perspective the story is told. In its simplest form, the point of view is that
of the author; however, many authors adopt a persona or mask--they select a voice through which they present the
work. The "I" of a quotation may be the writer, but it is more likely, in a complex short story, to be some other
personality. The difference between an author's attitudes and those of the narrator, a persona, is an important one.
In Swift's "A Modest Proposal" the attitude of the author is not the same as the narrator's. Swift has created a
narrator who advocates cannibalism of young children by the impoverished Irish as a remedy for overpopulation and
starvation. However, Swift was an Anglican minister who wrote the essay for humanitarian reasons. It is the job of
the good reader to determine what this extra distance between author and reader contributes to the story. Because
stories consist basically of incidents and characters, the point of view is the angle of vision, speaker’s perspective, or
narrative stance from which the reader observes these incidents and characters. The point of view affects how the
author reports information; narrates action; describes characters, setting, objects and emotions; or even interprets or
judges these elements. Additionally, it can affect or establish the tone of the work. The possibilities for point of
view can range from one end of the spectrum where the narrator is physically and emotionally detached and reports
only the facts of the story, to the other end of the spectrum where the narrator sees all, knows, all, and tells all. At
times, the narrator may be emotionally involved and may even attempt to influence the reader.
The narrator may be one of two specific kinds; a first person or a third person, and the type of narration
used may be identified by the personal pronouns used which are either first person pronouns (I, me, we, us, or they)
for first person narration, or third person pronouns (she, he, our, or their) for third person narration. The way the
story is told and the voice that tells the story are integral parts of the story. The narrator is an individual who is
participating in the process of fictional life just as the reader participates in real life. He is conscious of objects,
events, and people, just as is the reader. The colors and tones of the narrator's consciousness are in a sense projected
into the external world of the story, and thus the reader is able to experience both an objective world that is beyond
his physical limits and a subjective world informed by a consciousness quite different from his own. Joseph
Conrad's narration in Heart of Darkness echoes the word "darkness" throughout the story in order to suggest not
only a surface tone of darkness in describing his descent into Africa but also a substantial quality of darkness in all
existing things. Therefore, the objective world and the subjective world are harmonious in the darkness of Marlow's
consciousness.
Functions of Narrator
In a story or novel the narrator serves three general functions:
1.
He provides a consciousness that unifies the disparate elements of the story.
2.
He is a figure of authority whose degree of truth or falsity must be established so that the reader may
decide how much of the story he can believe.
3.
He organizes and operates in his fictional world with his own set of values - religious, philosophical,
ethical, epistemological, etc. These values have truth insofar as they are consistent, coherent, and
logical.
Kinds of Narrators
1.
The first-person central- - Here the narrator disappears behind the mask of a main character in the story.
The characteristics of this method are, first, that the observed action is limited to that which the narrator can relate
from his own perspective; and second, that the thoughts of the other characters are not revealed except as the
narrator knows them or can infer them. Edgar Allan Poe in his horror stories uses his main character as his first
person narrator so that the reader may participate more intimately with the narrator's fears, horrors, and near brushes
with death. In "The Pit and the Pendulum" the reader is on the table with the protagonist as the swinging blade
slowly descends. As the helpless man watches the alternating blade, the reader experiences his fears and tenseness,
feels the dampness of his nervous perspiration, and hears the swish and smells the pungent steel of the blade as it
makes its rhythmic swing back and forth. First person central perspective allows closeness with the main character
17
and provides the reader with insights that other characters in the narrative may not have; however it may lack the
reliability and
2.
First-person peripheral - This point of view is so closely related to the preceding one that only a few
distinguishing characteristics may be put forth. The chief difference is that the narrator who tells the story is often
an observer rather than a participant in the events of the narrative; however, the narrator may be a minor figure,
usually someone within the protagonist's group. Again the observed action and the interpretation are limited to what
the narrator can know or infer. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carroway can relate information
about the characters, Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy, only in terms of what he sees and hears. Nick says of Tom and
Daisy, "Why they came East I don't know. They had spent a year in France for no particular reason and then drifted
here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together." One disadvantage of this
perspective is that the narrator may offer a narrative that is a bit too subjective, thus not as reliable as a third person
perspective.
3.
Third-person omniscient - Standing above and beyond the world of his or her story, the omniscient
narrator is an objective observer, not a participant or personally involved in what happens. This position allows for
more objectivity, hence more reliability. Here an omniscient narrator speaks in third person but does necessarily
restrict himself to the point of view of one character. As the term omniscient suggests, the author is all knowing.
Not only can he relate what the figures in the story say and do: he also can reveal what they think and how they feel.
It is as though the narrator can read the character's minds, interpret their actions, and even editorialize on their
significance to the story. In Jack London's "To Build a Fire," the narrator steps out of character and editorializes on
the character flaw of the "traveler" in the Yukon. "The trouble with him [the traveler] was that he was without
imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances."
London, Jack
The omniscient point of view gives the narrator more freedom. He can report the thoughts and feelings of
the characters as if he has some kind of direct intuition. Additionally, his comments on the events of the narrative
are never oblique because he sees the action without the limitations or distortions of one angle of vision. An author
using third-person omniscient narrative stance becomes an almost godlike creature who, from his vantage point high
above the limited perspective of the characters, has complete control over the domain that he has created.
4.
Third-person limited - In this point of view the narrator is outside the action of the story and relates the
narrative as an observer rather than a participant. This method has the double advantage of appearing to give
objectivity to the story, and, at the same time, allowing the reader to identify more strongly with a single character.
The narrator's omniscience may be limited to one character.
However, since the narrator himself stands outside the actions, he sometimes implicitly judges the action
he is reporting. The narrator may pass judgment on the action or characters by the tone of his words and the style of
his sentences. In John Updike's story, "A Sense of Shelter," the narrator says, “Snow fell against the high school all
day, wet big-flaked snow that did not accumulate well." The word "against" seems to suggest an assault on the high
school that is persistent ("all day"). When the high school becomes a symbol of isolation, the assault of the snow
becomes an assault on isolation.
When the story is built around the experiences of one, rather than several people, it stands to gain unity.
However, because the story is limited to the observations of one character, the perspective may be limited.
5.
Third-person objective point of view is achieved through reporting factual detail, only that which can be
perceived by the senses. There is no access to the mind in any way. This perspective is sometimes confused with
the dramatic or stream of consciousness point of view, but it is different. Objective narrators never intrude to
evaluate, interpret or judge characters and their actions. In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," the narrator reports in a
very matter-of-fact manner the events of what at first seems a village celebration. The emotionless narrator reports
the events and provides background information. And even when the villagers prepare to stone the main character,
Tessie Hutchinson, to death, the narrator remains uninvolved and detached. The shocked reader is left to infer the
horror and betrayal Tessie feels. "It isn't fair, it isn't right." Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon
her."
6.
Stream of Consciousness point of view - This is one of the most popular of modern narrative stances. It is
also known as the central intelligence or dramatic point of view. This angle of vision is third person but is limited to
the mind of a single character through whose consciousness the action of the story reaches the reader. This is a
technique that seeks to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings, which pass through the mind. With this
technique as in a play, the author builds his story chiefly around dialogue. The voice is that of third person, but now
18
the author does not comment (or comments as little as possible), nor does he evaluate or editorialize.
Writing About Point of View
1.
What is the dominant point of view from which the story is told, and, more importantly, what was the
author’s purpose in choosing this method?
2.
Is the narrator of the story a participant in the story or just a witness?
3.
Does the story's point of view create irony?
4.
If the story has a first person narrator, is the narrator reliable? Are there any inconsistencies in the
narrator's presentation of the story?
5.
If the story has a third person narrator, is he or she omniscient? Does he or she have limited omniscience?
Is he or she objective? What was the author’s purpose for selecting this particular point of view?
6.
Does the point of view remain constant throughout the story, or does it shift? If it does shift, how and why
is this done, and what is the purpose for the shift?
Read “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays,” annotate, and discuss point of view based on the questions .
Those Winter Sundays
BY ROBERT HAYDEN
i·~·,~~:~'i<~··:··.·.·.··~······.-j(}····O·-·· - ....•..•................ , .. ,
Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in' the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.
I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he'd call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,
Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
oflove's austere and lonely offices?
My Papa’s Waltz
Theodore Roethke
The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself.
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.
19
AP lit & Comp-Unit t-Comparison and Contrast-"My Papa's Waltz" and "Those Winter Sundays"
Directions: The following questions are to guide you in annotating the poems. Briefly answer them on this
handout, and be prepared to thoroughly discuss them in large- and small-group discussion. (Read the poems
several times!)
1.
How would you characterize the relationship between father and son in this poem?
Consider the two figures of speech in the poem: the simile of "hung on like death" (I. 3) and the
metaphor of "waltzing" throughout the poem.
What do they add to the story line of the poem? Imagine, for instance, if the title were changed to "My Papa"
or "Dancing with My Father." How do you interpret the lines "My mother's countenance / Could not
unfrown itself" (II. 7-8)? Is she angry? jealous? worried? frightened? disapproving? Why doesn't she take
action or step in? Some interpret this poem to be about an abusive father-son relationship, while others read
it quite differently.
How do you interpret it? Use textual evidence from the poem to explain your reading.
Exploring the Text: "Those Winter Sundays"
What are the different time frames ofthe poem, and when does the poem shift from flashback to present day?
How does Hayden keep this shift from seeming abrupt?
What does the line "fearing the chronic angers of that house" (I. 9) suggest about the son's relationship with
his father and the kind of home he grew up in?
What is the meaning of "love's austere and lonely offices" (I. 14)? What effect does Hayden achieve by
choosing such an uncommon, somewhat archaic term as "offices"?
What is the tone of this poem? How do the specific details of the setting the speaker describes contribute to
that tone? Consider also how the literal descriptions act as metaphors. What, for instance, is "blueblack
cold"
20
21
Scoring Guide: AP English Literature, Question 2 (1997)
GENERAL DIRECTIONS: This scoring guide will be useful for most of the essays that you read; but for cases in
which it seems problematic or inapplicable, please consult your Table Leader. The score you assign should reflect
your judgement of the quality of the essay as a whole—its content, its style, its mechanics. Reward the writers for
what they do well. The score for an exceptionally well-written essay may be raised one point from the score
otherwise appropriate. In no case may a poorly written essay be scored higher than 3.
9-8: With apt and specific references to the excerpt, these well-organized and well-written essays persuasively analyze
how the changes in perspective and style reveal the narrator’s complex attitude towards the past. These essays identify
the complexity of that attitude and contrast the literary strategies that create complexity in the different sections of the
passage. Although not without flaws, these papers demonstrate an understanding of the text as well as consistent control
over the elements of effective composition. These writer’s read with insight and express their ideas with skill and clarity.
The 9 essays may be especially precise in the diction used in literary analysis.
7-6 These essays also analyze the narrator’s complex attitude but are less incisive, developed, or aptly supported than
papers in the highest range. They identify accurately some literary techniques by which Kogawa conveys the
complexities of that attitude, but they are less effective or less thorough in their analysis than are 9-8 papers. These
essays demonstrate the writer's ability to express ideas clearly, but they do so with less maturity and precision than the
best papers. Generally, 7 papers present a more developed analysis and a more consistent command of the elements of
effective college-level composition.
5 Although these essays describe the narrator's attitude toward the past, they may not convey significant understanding of
that attitude's complexity. Their analysis of how literary devices are deliberately employed to convey the narrator's
attitude is perfunctory or superficial. Often this analysis is vague, mechanical, or overly generalized. Although this
writing is adequate to convey the writer's thoughts and is without important errors in composition, these essays are
typically pedestrian, not as well conceived, organized, or developed as upper-half papers. Usually, they reveal simplistic
thinking and/or immature writing.
22
4-3 These lower-half papers address the task but reflect an incomplete or oversimplified understanding of the narrator's
attitude and/or fail to connect the use of literary devices to the construction and communication of that attitude. The
discussion may be inaccurate, unclear, misguided, or undeveloped. These papers may paraphrase rather than analyze.
They may not contrast literary strategies used in the different sections of the passage. The analysis of technique will
likely be meager and unconvincing; the essays typically lack persuasive reference to the text. Generally the writing
demonstrates limited control of diction organization, syntax, or grammar.
2-1 These essays compound the weaknesses of the papers in the 4-3 range. They may seriously misunderstand the
DDD
The excerpt from Joy Kogawa’s novel Obasan is replete with striking images and sentiments of poverty,
weariness, and perseverance. Kogawa utilizes such techniques as shifts in point of view (and storytelling method) to
convey her theme to readers. She skillfully manipulates language, tone, and images, appropriately inserting relevant
Japanese words to emphasize the beauty and the values of the culture.
In the 1st paragraph, Kogawa’s perspective reflects the general experience of all the persecuted JapaneseCanadians during WWII. Her descriptions and limited omniscient point of view, (beginning with “We”) convey a
sense of overall suffering, endurance, and-nevertheless-cultural unity. Her images can be felt, as the everpresent
moisture of “rain, cloud, mist” (line 2) and tears. Here Kogawa successfully juxtaposes the 2 images of atmosphere
and emotion, describing the “air overladen with weeping” (line 2) and the [tear] – “salty sea” full of “drowning
speeches of memory - …small waterlogged eulogies” (4-5). It is through sentiments such as these that the author
gives life to her story and garners the sympathy of readers. The structure of these descriptions is conventional, full
of long sentences that accurately describe the experiences of a large group. Her language is grand, sensitive, utterly
incisive and melancholy. Kogawa selects detail that speak in images as well as emotions, comparing the wronged
subjects to “fragments of fragments” (line 11) and the “silences that speak from stone” (line 13). Yet, though
Kogawa explains they are “the despised rendered voiceless” (line 14), we realize that stories such as hers give these
martyrs (survivors and deceased) a voice. Her nostalgia conveys helplessness, sadness, and injustice, but the
overriding theme insists that the strong will prevail-to keep the culture and its memories alive. Kogawa also
employs various forms of figurative language – bounteous metaphors (“We are hammers and chisels” –line 9),
allusions (“We are the man in the Gospel of John” –line 17) to Christian Suffering/ subsequent resurrection, and
personification (“the sleeping mountain” –line 10) – to convoy an epic tale and vast expanse of suffering palpable by
all creatures and all of nature. This general, wide scope details the experience of the Japanese-Canadians without
separating them from the rest of the world. Kogawa utilizes this technique of universality and consistency well,
returning to her introductory images in the final line of paragraph 1. Here, she speaks of her people as
“undemanding as dew” (line 28), again emphasizing the image of tears and the theme of overall suffering endured
nobly.
In the 2nd paragraph of this excerpt, Kogawa shifts her perspective and style quite perceptibly. She now
uses a 1st person perspective in order to transform the experience (and its impact on readers) into a specific one.
Though we sympathized before, now we readers will be able to identify with individuals. Consistent with her
alternation in point-of-view, Kogawa’s diction also reflects the evolution from general to specific. As the narrator
retells these memories from the point of view of a child, her language is tense, simple, concrete. These “dream
images” (29) are disjointed at first, then solidify into definite memories of 1 specific event on the train. Sentences
gradually become more conventional (and complete) as the “dream” unwinds. The narrator of the future takes over,
describing things from the child’s vivid senses – eyes, ears, smell – whilst subtly implying a more mature
perspective. In this way, a more significant (but still easily understandable) meaning is given to the words. The
23
details are exact, colorful, honest – as a child would describe her situation. Throughout, the author includes
Japanese words such as “ojidan” and “Kavaiso” to reinforce the importance of her culture and its values over the
child and her acquiantances. These words are examples of beauty and sensitivity, also attempting to convey the
sense of family and intimacy felt by those on the train toward each other. They are all connected, suffering together,
trying to help each other glean some sort of peace from the sorrow and poverty. The girl’s umbrella is like “an
exotic bird” (53); such a simile describes the narrator’s childish hopefulness and attempts to make the situation
somewhat exciting – or, at least, better than it is. Kogawa ends the passage with an encounter between the narrator
(and her aunt) and a destitute woman with a baby. The former pair tries to empathize with the woman by sharing
their food. Though the child, naturally, is sensitive but still too shy and afraid to approach the woman, the aunt takes
the initiative. Her gesture is one of beauty and kindness, emphasizing the importance of sharing and selfishness
over charity that binds and obligates its objects. The woman’s reluctance to take charity is conveyed fully, her need
pride visible, as she looks down while accepting the orange. Yet, Kogawa insists, the appreciation and respect are
there, as the woman politely bows and takes the offering of kinship and comprehension.
GG
In the passage from Joy Kogawa’s Obasan the author uses changes in perspective and style to reflect the
narrator’s complex attitude toward the past. The author uses such literary elements as point of view, structure,
selection of detail and figurative language to accomplish this change.
In the opening of the passage the point of view is that of a mature adult. This adult has a sort of bitter
outlook let’s the readers know how the narrator feels about the events that she remembers. The “picture” in this
frame story is from the perspective of a young girl. The memories are those that a child would notice, but probably
not realizing what was really happening.
The structure of this poem is that of a frame story. The narrator explains her feelings toward the past, then
she tells the story of how she came to feel this way. This adds a mysterious and interested element to the reader’s
understanding of the narrator’s feelings.
The selection of detail in the passage shows the narrator’s experience with maturing. As a younger child
the narrator remembers the physical details of herself and those around her. She remembers things that were said
and what possessions she had with her. This shows the innocence of the child. As an adult detail is shown in
feelings. The narrator now sees in detail what is really happening and how the past events have changed her attitude
toward life itself.
Figurative language is used more when the narrator is speaking from an adult point of view. To the
narrator the sea is just a place to cast your hopes and wishes into. Her family and friends are faceless masses. As a
child the facts are the only thing the narrator recalls.
Point of view, structure, selection of detail and figurative language are important elements that help to
reflex the narrator’s attitude toward the past and how it changed through time.
R
The first three paragraphs of the passage serve as the author’s overview of the situation. They are written
from the point of view of the Japanese Canadians collectively, with no reference made to any individual or specific
incident. Broad generalizations are made about the situation, state, and qualities of these Japanese Canadians, all in
sentences virtually identical in syntax. The repetition of “We are…” presents the declarations as mere observations,
without attempt to persuade but with full conviction. The statements are all metaphors, commentary, or idealization
all are subjective in some degree, yet are presented as undisputable. The overall effect of this first section is to
provide the scenario for specific events and show what experiences and circumstances the participants have in
common.
The rest of the passage is in stark context to the opening. Presented in first person-but singular-style, it tells
of an individual narrator’s recollection of events. The first paragraph begins with, “The memories are dream
images,” followed by several sentence fragments depicting such partial images. The narrator then explains the time
frame in relation to herself, and goes immediately into detail about her clothing. Although unimportant, this is
24
realistic as a recollection of childhood and points out the personal significance of the passage rather than the
impersonal tone of the earlier section. The entire narration has such detail, especially in relation to other people: the
narrator, Stephan, the boy with the kitten, and Kuniko-san. All of the details are matter-of-fact; noting is compared
and there is no metaphor or allusion to greater significance. The scenario of the mother with nothing to give her
child is given to show the personal struggles of the Issei Nisei, and Sansei, even within the context of their collective
struggle.
F
Have you ever been to a place as a child and then later returned as an adult to find everything changed?
Yet on closer inspection, you percieve that the area itself has not changed, only your perspective of it has. Our age
often affects how we view events in life. In Joy Kogawa’s Obasan, the speaker is looking back over her life. Her
perspective and attitude towards life changes from when she was a child to when she was an adult.
As a child, she had a much simpler outlook on life. She realizes that something is happening (they are in a
train going away from home) but does not dwell on the reasons for moving. Rather, she is concerned with her
present surroundings as a young child is apt to be. Kogawa centers on a child’s point of view. She mentions only
the things that would catch a little girl’s interest; her new buttons, for example, or the kitten nearby. She centers on
small details, the black soot, the noise. We see the wonder in young girls eyes as she views her surroundings. She is
fascinated with her brother’s cast, for example. She describes the baby’s face as “squinched,” and red. She is afraid
of strangers yet willing to be of help wherever possible. She is young and impressionable.
In the other selection, the speaker is older, wiser. This is a direct contrast to the first selection. The whole
style of writing changes. The author centers on things that would captivate a more mature mind; the whole concept
of leaving everything behind, of moving in mass, of having no identity. Those are things that would characterize an
adult. The tone changes from one of wonder and anticipation, to one of heavy foreboding and despair. The speaker
now realizes that she is no longer one in a million, a unique individual, but is viewed as one of a million, simply a
number, of as little consequence as dew. They were sent inward to work, they have no choice. Her point of view
centers on the more colossal level. No longer is she concerned with the kitten or baby, her thoughts center on her
memory, drowning in the sea. The very diction the author uses conveys meaning to us. The word choice is more
educated. Words like “eulogies,” “momentum,” and “expulsion,” tell us that the speaker is no longer a child. She
also uses many comparisons and metaphors in this selection (hammers and chisels, arrows, silences, siloam,
pioneers). These could only be comprehended by an adult mind. The mind of a child is too simple to show these
complexities.
Joy Kogawa fully understood the human mind in its different stages in life and she incorporated this
knowledge in her book Obasan. She showed the differences in events taking place in a child’s life and in an adult’s
life through use of diction, selection of detail, point of view, time, themes, and overall mood.
Some prompts that required students to write about narrative stance:
1996
Hawthorne’s “Judge Pyncheon” from House of the Seven Gables: Analyze how the narrator reveals the
character of Judge Pyncheon. Emphasize such devices as tone, selection of detail, syntax, point of view.
1997
Joy Kogawa’s Obasan: Analyze how changes in perspective and style reflect the narrator’s complex attitude
toward the past. Consider elements such as point of view, structure, selection of detail, and figurative
language.
2004
Henry James’s “The Pupil” (1891): Analyze the author’s depiction of the three characters and the
relationships among them. Pay particular attention to tone and point of view.
2007
Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun: Analyze how Trumbo uses such techniques as point of view, selection
of detail, and syntax to characterize the relationship between the young man and his father.
2008
Aran from Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting (1999): Analyze how the author uses such literary devices as
speech and point of view to characterize Aran’s experience.
25
2010
Maria Edgeworth’s Belinda (1801): The narrator provides a description of Clarence Harvey, one of the suitors
of the novel’s protagonist, Belinda Portman. Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you
analyze Clarence Hervey’s complex character as Edgeworth develops it through such literary techniques as
tone, point of view, and language.
2011
George Eliot’s Middlemarch (1874): In the passage, Rosamond and Tertius Lydgate, a recently married
couple, confront financial difficulties. Read the passage carefully. Then write a well-developed essay in
which you analyze how Eliot portrays these two characters and their complex relationship as husband and
wife. You may wish to consider such literary devices as narrative perspective and selection of detail.
2.
ANALYZING CHARACTERIZATION IN LITERATURE
Literary characters are those creations that permit artists to play deity – to populate a fictional universe with
people and creatures of their own making. Characterization is the process by which an author fashions these
fictional characters. The great fictional characters of the world’s literature transcend the elusiveness of fiction
to achieve a sort of artistic permanence and reality unavailable to mere mortals. Who can forget the
captivating experience with Macbeth as he anticipates regicide and betraying King Duncan for his own
interests; King Lear’s sorrow and loss; Hamlet’s inner conflict and anger as well as Ophelia, the fragile girl,
who has collapsed under the burdens which confront her; the duplicitous ways of Madame Bovary; the
anguish of Heathcliff over the loss of Catherine; Hester Prynne standing of the platform with a “burning blush
and a haughty smile;” Willie Loeman’s self-deceptions and frustrations; or even Holden Caufield’s
depression, hatred of “phonies,” and his inability to articulate his frustration.
Major characters are the principal figures of the work; they are the protagonists in regard to conflict. If a
major character changes as a result of an experience, he is dynamic or kinetic. If he remains the same
throughout the course of the narrative, then he is a static character.
Some characters are classified as round. These individuals are complex, demonstrating many personality
aspects, have believable motivations, and are capable to surprising the reader or viewer. Hester Prynne in
The Scarlet Letter is a “round” character in that the reader is allowed to see many facets of her personality.
She is human – neither totally good nor bad. She is strongly motivated by passion and demonstrates an
admirable sense of loyalty towards her paramour by keeping his name a secret while at the same time
revealing vulnerability in terms of her qualifications as a mother. She grows as the novel progresses and is
ultimately able to move from a position, which is inferior to that of Hollingsworth to one that is superior. She
is capable of surprising the reader when, at the end of the novel, she returns voluntarily to the New England
setting and resumes the wearing of the dreaded letter.
Other characters are flat. These fictional beings are constructed around one central idea or characteristic and
never change or surprise the reader. Both Mr. Martin and Mrs. Barrows in Thurber’s “Catbird Seat” are flat
characters. Mr. Martin is a meek, clerk-like individual who treasures above all efficiency and routine. Mrs.
Barrows is portrayed as loud and aggressive, an individual who disrupts the routine at F & S. Throughout the
course of the story neither character experiences significant change or growth. In fact, Mr. Martin uses his
primary characteristics, those of efficiency and routine to ultimately eliminate the threat to his secure
existence, Mrs. Barrows. And ironically, it is Mrs. Barrow’s mouth and intrusive actions that prove to be her
downfall. At the end of the story, Mr. Martin is no different than he was at the beginning.
A stereotype is a conventional character representing a particular group, class, or occupation. Because his
character is conventional, he acts according to patterns. His appearance is familiar, speech predictable, and
actions standardized. Thus anyone who has seen an old movie or television show knows how to impersonate
a southern gentleman or a British Lord with the aid of only a few gestures, props, and speech intonations.
There are as many stereotypes as there are groups: the ragpicker, the doorman, the salesman, a politician, a
“typical” Texan, a senior citizen, the slow but good-hearted worker, the miser, the power hungry individual,
the stubborn person and so on
26
Additionally, literature may present allegorical or symbolic figures. Edmund Spenser’s “The Faerie
Queene” is a classic example of a work where the characters represent people, places, actions, or concepts.
Thus the parade of the seven deadly sins, pride, gluttony, envy, avarice, lechery, idleness, and wrath are
presented as characters, but they truly represent the negative aspect of human behavior. Everyman and
Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress are additional examples of works with allegorical creations. The characters of
allegory can be as cartoonlike as Orwell’s menagerie in Animal Farm, as lively and intense as the children in
Golding's Lord of the Flies or as dramatic and memorable as the seamen of Melville’s Moby Dick or the
Freudian stops and symbolic characters in Heart of Darkness. The authors allegorical intentions may at
times help to explain the motivations and actions of his characters.
A character may be interpreted as symbolic when it appears that his actions and words seem designed to
represent some thought or view or quality. A character is not symbolic unless he symbolizes something.
Ultimately, a symbolical figure is one whose accumulated actions lead the reader to see him as something
more than his own person,
to see him perhaps as the embodiment of pure barbarism or redemptive power or hope. In Shakespeare’s Othello,
Iago is symbolic of pure evil.
Given a protagonist, the conflict of a story may depend on the existence of an antagonist – which may be human,
environmental, physical, mental, or emotional. A foil is a character who serves as a contrast to another, usually in
such a way as to work to the advantage of the leading character. The foil may help to illuminate the protagonist’s
positive qualities by demonstrating his own negative attributes, thus providing a clear and understandable contrast
for the reader.
A confidant, often used in drama, is a character to whom the protagonist reveals his inner thoughts; he becomes a
convenient device for the protagonist to speak his thoughts to without addressing them to the audience in the form of
a soliloquy. Thus, Hamlet, who at times does soliloquize, takes Horatio into his confidence, and it Horatio who at
the end of the play remonstrates the audience that “Here cracks a noble heart.” He continues, “Good night, sweet
prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
27
Finally, in almost all stories and plays there are background characters that populate the scene. Ordinarily,
these are of no special interest unless, as a mass, they assume an active role. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar the mob
listens to and supports Brutus, but then, after Antony’s famous, emotional, and persuasive speech, changes and calls for
the head of the Brutus. In Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, the people as a group are the antagonists of Dr. Stockman.
He is the individual who has to stand up against the many.
Most fictional characters are developed in more than one way.
Ways in which an author might develop a character are:
1.
By what the character says and how he says it (dialogue)
2.
By what he does (actions)
3.
By physical description
4.
By psychological description
5.
By probing what a character thinks or feels
6.
By what others say about him
7.
By his environment
Clearly the reader should be alert to the actions of a character since this is the author’s way of showing, not
telling, what his personality is like. A character who either takes pleasure in the suffering of others or loses control and
causes pain, such as the narrator in Poe’s “The Black Cat” is seen as evil and evokes little sympathy. Yet, surface
appearances must be questioned. For example, in one scene of Melville’s Benito Cereno, Babo appears to be a faithful
servant shaving Don Benito in the presence of Captain Delano, the visiting captain aboard ship. In reality, Babo, with
razor in hand, is actually terrorizing Don Benito in order to keep him silent.
At times the appearance may be taken as a clue to a character’s real nature. The Prologue to Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales consistently includes descriptions of physical details and dress, which serve as indicators of character
and social station. His description of the Squire includes the line, “Short was his gowne with sleves longe and wyde” –
usually understood to be details that indicate the squire was dressed in the latest fashion.
What a character says is one of the most revealing aspects of characterization. How does he say his words?
What are his habits of speech? His tone? Does the occasion color the tone?
More modern prompts often ask the relationship between characters (see prompts for years 2004, 2007, and 2011). To
respond to these prompts, writers might consider how they speak to one another, what they think about one another,
what they feel about but do not say to each other. Suggestions for Writing About Characters:
1.
What can you infer about the character from his actions? Provide specific examples and explanation of
purpose.
2.
What might you infer about the character[s] based on his/her dialogue? Provide specific examples and
commentary as to purpose. Are they grouped so that they form contrasting views, attitudes or values?
3.
What changes take place in the thinking of a character? What motivates this change? How does this
contribute to the meaning of the work?
4.
If all else fails, simply ask yourself if you like or dislike the character and why. What is the author’s purpose
for evoking this response?
Read the following story written by Katherine Mansfield and annotate for characterization.
28
MISS BRILL
ALTHOUGH it was so brilliantly fine–the blue sky powdered with gold and great spots of light like white
wine splashed over the Jardins Publiques–Miss Brill was glad that she had decided on her fur. The air was
motionless, but when you opened your mouth there was just a faint chill, like a chill from a glass of iced
water before you sip, and now and again a leaf came drifting–from nowhere, from the sky. Miss Brill put up
her hand and touched her fur. Dear little thing! It was nice to feel it again. She had taken it out of its box that
afternoon, shaken out the moth powder, given it a good brush, and rubbed the life back into the dim little
eyes. "What has been happening to me?" said the sad little eyes. Oh, how sweet it was to see them snap at her
again from the red eiderdown! . . . But the nose, which was of some black composition, wasn't at all firm. It
must have had a knock, somehow. Never mind–a little dab of black sealing-wax when the time came–when it
was absolutely necessary . . . Little rogue! Yes, she really felt like that about it. Little rogue biting its tail just
by her left ear. She could have taken it off and laid it on her lap and stroked it. She felt a tingling in her hands
and arms, but that [Page 183] came from walking, she supposed. And when she breathed, something light
and sad–no, not sad, exactly–something gentle seemed to move in her bosom.
There were a number of people out this afternoon, far more than last Sunday. And the band sounded louder
and gayer. That was because the Season had begun. For although the band played all the year round on
Sundays, out of season it was never the same. It was like some one playing with only the family to listen; it
didn't care how it played if there weren't any strangers present. Wasn't the conductor wearing a new coat,
too? She was sure it was new. He scraped with his foot and flapped his arms like a rooster about to crow, and
the bandsmen sitting in the green rotunda blew out their cheeks and glared at the music. Now there came a
little "flutey" bit–very pretty!–a little chain of bright drops. She was sure it would be repeated. It was; she
lifted her head and smiled.
Only two people shared her "special" seat: a fine old man in a velvet coat, his hands clasped over a huge
carved walking-stick, and a big old woman, sitting upright, with a roll of knitting on her embroidered apron.
They did not speak. This was disappointing, for Miss Brill always looked forward to the conversation. She
had become really quite expert, she thought, at listening as though she didn't listen, at sitting in other people's
lives just for a minute while they talked round her. [Page 184]
She glanced, sideways, at the old couple. Perhaps they would go soon. Last Sunday, too, hadn't been as
interesting as usual. An Englishman and his wife, he wearing a dreadful Panama hat and she button boots.
And she'd gone on the whole time about how she ought to wear spectacles; she knew she needed them; but
that it was no good getting any; they'd be sure to break and they'd never keep on. And he'd been so patient.
He'd suggested everything–gold rims, the kind that curve round your ears, little pads inside the bridge. No,
nothing would please her. "They'll always be sliding down my nose!" Miss Brill had wanted to shake her.
The old people sat on a bench, still as statues. Never mind, there was always the crowd to watch. To and fro,
in front of the flower beds and the band rotunda, the couples and groups paraded, stopped to talk, to greet, to
buy a handful of flowers from the old beggar who had his tray fixed to the railings. Little children ran among
them, swooping and laughing; little boys with big white silk bows under their chins, little girls, little French
dolls, dressed up in velvet and lace. And sometimes a tiny staggerer came suddenly rocking into the open
from under the trees, stopped, stared, as suddenly sat down "flop," until its small high-stepping mother, like a
young hen, rushed scolding to its rescue. Other people sat on the benches and green chairs, but they were
nearly always the same, Sunday after Sunday, [Page 185] and–Miss Brill had often noticed–there was
something funny about nearly all of them. They were odd, silent, nearly all old, and from the way they stared
they looked as though they'd just come from dark little rooms or even–even cupboards!
Behind the rotunda the slender trees with yellow leaves down drooping, and through them just a line of sea,
and beyond the blue sky with gold-veined clouds.
Tum-tum-tum tiddle-um! tiddle-um! tum tiddley-um tum ta! blew the band.
29
Two young girls in red came by and two young soldiers in blue met them, and they laughed and paired and
went off arm-in-arm. Two peasant women with funny straw hats passed, gravely, leading beautiful smokecoloured donkeys. A cold, pale nun hurried by. A beautiful woman came along and dropped her bunch of
violets, and a little boy ran after to hand them to her, and she took them and threw them away as if they'd
been poisoned. Dear me! Miss Brill didn't know whether to admire that or not! And now an ermine toque and
a gentleman in gray met just in front of her. He was tall, stiff, dignified, and she was wearing the ermine
toque she'd bought when her hair was yellow. Now everything, her hair, her face, even her eyes, was the
same colour as the shabby ermine, and her hand, in its cleaned glove, lifted to dab her lips, was a tiny
yellowish paw. Oh, she was so pleased to see him–delighted! She rather thought they were going [Page 186]
to meet that afternoon. She described where she'd been–everywhere, here, there, along by the sea. The day
was so charming–didn't he agree? And wouldn't he, perhaps? . . . But he shook his head, lighted a cigarette,
slowly breathed a great deep puff into her face, and even while she was still talking and laughing, flicked the
match away and walked on. The ermine toque was alone; she smiled more brightly than ever. But even the
band seemed to know what she was feeling and played more softly, played tenderly, and the drum beat, "The
Brute! The Brute!" over and over. What would she do? What was going to happen now? But as Miss Brill
wondered, the ermine toque turned, raised her hand as though she'd seen someone else, much nicer, just over
there, and pattered away. And the band changed again and played more quickly, more gayly than ever, and
the old couple on Miss Brill's seat got up and marched away, and such a funny old man with long whiskers
hobbled along in time to the music and was nearly knocked over by four girls walking abreast.
Oh, how fascinating it was! How she enjoyed it! How she loved sitting here, watching it all! It was like a
play. It was exactly like a play. Who could believe the sky at the back wasn't painted? But it wasn't till a little
brown dog trotted on solemn and then slowly trotted off, like a little "theatre" dog, a little dog that had been
drugged, that Miss Brill discovered what it was [Page 187] that made it so exciting. They were all on stage.
They weren't only the audience, not only looking on; they were acting. Even she had a part and came every
Sunday. No doubt somebody would have noticed if she hadn't been there; she was part of the performance
after all. How strange she'd never thought of it like that before! And yet it explained why she made such
point of starting from home at just the same time each week–so as not to be late for the performance–and it
also explained why she had a queer, shy feeling at telling her English pupils how she spent her Sunday
afternoons. No wonder! Miss Brill nearly laughed out loud. She was on the stage. She thought of the old
invalid gentleman to whom she read the newspaper four afternoons a week while he slept in the garden. She
had got quite used to the frail head on the cotton pillow, the hollowed eyes, the open mouth and the high
pinched nose. If he'd been dead she mightn't have noticed for weeks; she wouldn't have minded. But
suddenly he knew he was having the paper read to him by an actress! "An actress!" The old head lifted; two
points of light quivered in the old eyes. "An actress–are ye?" And Miss Brill smoothed the newspaper as
though it were the manuscript of her part and said gently; "Yes, I have been an actress for a long time."
The band had been having a rest. Now they started again. And what they played was warm, [Page 188]
sunny, yet there was just a faint chill–a something, what was it?–not sadness–no, not sadness–a something
that made you want to sing. The tune lifted, lifted, the light shone; and it seemed to Miss Brill that in another
moment all of them, all the whole company, would begin singing. The young ones, the laughing ones who
were moving together, they would begin and the men's voices, very resolute and brave, would join them.
And then she too, she too, and the others on the benches–they would come in with a kind of accompaniment–
something low, that scarcely rose or fell, something so beautiful–moving. . . . And Miss Brill's eyes filled
with tears and she looked smiling at all the other members of the company. Yes, we understand, we
understand, she thought–though what they understood she didn't know.
Just at that moment a boy and girl came and sat down where the old couple had been. They were beautifully
dressed; they were in love. The hero and heroine, of course, just arrived from his father's yacht. And still
soundlessly singing, still with that trembling smile, Miss Brill prepared to listen.
30
"No, not now," said the girl. "Not here, I can't."
"But why? Because of that stupid old thing at the end there?" asked the boy. "Why does she come here at all–
who wants her? Why doesn't she keep her silly old mug at home?" [Page 189]
"It's her fu-ur which is so funny," giggled the girl. "It's exactly like a fried whiting."
"Ah, be off with you!" said the boy in an angry whisper. Then: "Tell me, ma petite chère–"
"No, not here," said the girl. "Not yet."
On her way home she usually bought a slice of honeycake at the baker's. It was her Sunday treat.
Sometimes there was an almond in her slice, sometimes not. It made a great difference. If there was an
almond it was like carrying home a tiny present–a surprise–something that might very well not have been
there. She hurried on the almond Sundays and struck the match for the kettle in quite a dashing way.
But to-day she passed the baker's by, climbed the stairs, went into the little dark room–her room like a
cupboard–and sat down on the red eiderdown. She sat there for a long time. The box that the fur came out of
was on the bed. She unclasped the necklet quickly; quickly, without looking, laid it inside. But when she put
the lid on she thought she heard something crying.
Questions for response:
1. In the first paragraph of “Miss Brill” the protagonist is taking a fox fur out of a box. What
does this reveal about her character?
2. Miss Brill observes old and young people at the park. How does she characterize between
them?
AP Literature and Composition - Judge Pyncheon - Prompt (1996)
Read the following passage from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The House of Seven Gables. Then write a careful
analysis of how the narrator reveals the character of Judge Pyncheon. You may emphasize whichever devices (e.g.,
tone, selection of detail, syntax, point of view) you find most significant.
(Suggested time—40 minutes)
unimpeachable integrity as treasurer of a Widow’s and
Orphan’s fund; his benefits to horticulture, by
To apply this train of remark somewhat more closely
producing two much-esteemed varieties of the pear,
to Judge Pyncheon! We might say (without, in the
and to agriculture, through the agency of the famous
least,
Pyncheon-bull; the cleanliness of his moral
imputing crime to a personage of his eminent respectadeportment, for a great many years past; the severity
bility) that there was enough of splendid rubbish in his
with which he had frowned upon, and finally cast off,
life to cover up and paralyze a more active and subtile
an expensive and dissipated son, delaying forgiveness
conscience than the Judge was ever troubled with. The
until within the final quarter of an hour of the young
purity of his judicial character, while on the bench; the
man’s life; his prayers at morning and eventide, and
faithfulness of his public service in subsequent capacigraces at mealtime; his efforts in futherance of the
ties; his devotedness to his party, and the rigid consistemperance-cause; his confining himself, since the last
tency with which he had adhered to its principles, or, at
attack of the gout, to five diurnal glasses of old Sherry
all events, kept pace with its organized movements; his
wine; the snowy whiteness of his linen, the polish of
remarkable zeal as president of a Bible society; his
31
his boots, the handsomeness of his gold-headed cane,
the square and roomy fashion of his coat, and the
fineness of its material, and, in general, the studied
propriety of his dress and equipment; the
scrupulousness with which he paid public notice, in the
street, by a bow, a lifting of the hat, a nod, or a motion
of the hand, to all and sundry his acquaintances, rich or
poor; the smile of broad benevolence wherewith he
made it a point to gladden the whole world;—what
room could possibly be found for darker traits, in a
portrait made up of lineaments like these! This proper
face was what he beheld in the looking-glass. This
admirably arranged life was what he was conscious of,
in the progress of every day. Then, might not he claim
to be its result and sum, and say to himself and the
community—“Behold Judge Pyncheon, there”?
And, allowing that, many, many years ago, in his
early and reckless youth, he had committed some one
wrong act or that, even now, the inevitable force of
circumstances should occasionally make him do one
questionable deed, among a thousand praiseworthy,
or, at least, blameless ones—would you characterize
the Judge by that one necessary deed, and that halfforgotten act, and let it overshadow the fair aspect of a
lifetime! What is there so ponderous in evil, that a
thumb’s bigness of it should outweigh the mass of
things not evil, which were heaped into the other scale!
This scale and balance system is a favorite one with
people of Judge Pyncheon’s brotherhood. A hard, cold
man, thus unfortunately situated, seldom or never looking inward, and resolutely taking his idea of himself
from what purports to be his image, as reflected in the
mirror of public opinion, can scarcely arrive at true
self-knowledge, except through loss of property and
reputation. Sickness will not always help him to it; not
always the death-hour!
SCORING GUIDE
GENERAL DIRECTIONS: This scoring guide will be useful for most of the essays you read, but for cases in which it
seems problematic or inapplicable, please consult your Table Leader.~ The score you assign should reflect your
judgment of the quality of the essay as a whole-its mechanics, its style, its rhetoric.~ Reward the writers for what they
do well.~ The score for an exceptionally well-written essay may be raised by one point from the score otherwise
appropriate.~ In no case may a very poorly written essay be scored higher than a 3.
9-8 With apt and specific references to the excerpt, these well-organized and well-written essays clearly analyze how
the narrator reveals the character of Judge Pyncheon.~ The best of these essays will acknowledge and then address the
complexity of this characterization and will discuss specific literary devices helpful in creating that character.~ While
not without flaws, these papers will demonstrate an understanding of the text as well as consistent control over the
elements of effective composition.~ These writers read with perception and express their ideas with skill and clarity.
7-6 These papers also analyze how the narrator characterizes Judge Pyncheon, but they are less incisive, developed or
aptly supported than papers in the highest range.~ They deal accurately with literary techniques as the means by which
Hawthorne's narrator brings his character to life, but they are less effective or less thorough in their analysis than are 9-8
papers.~ While these essays demonstrate the writer's ability to express ideas clearly, they do so with less maturity and
precision than the best papers.~ Generally, 7 papers present a more developed analysis and a more consistent command
of the elements of effective college-level composition than do essays scored 6.
5 Although these essays recognize that the narrator does not approve of Judge Pyncheon, they are superficial.~ They
respond to the assignment without important errors in composition, but they may miss the complexity of how the
narrator reveals character and offer a perfunctory analysis of how literary devices are used to characterize Judge
Pyncheon.~ Often, the analysis is vague, mechanical, or overly generalized.~ While the writing is adequate to convey
the writer's thoughts, these essays are typically pedestrian, not as well conceived, organized, or developed as upper-half
papers.~ Usually, they reveal simplistic thinking and/or immature writing.
4-3 These papers reflect an incomplete understanding of character and/or fail to recognize that the narrator is critical of
Judge Pyncheon.~ The discussion of how the narrator uses literary devices to reveal the character of Judge Pyncheon
32
may be inaccurate or unclear, misguided, or undeveloped.~ These papers may paraphrase rather than analyze.~ The
analysis of technique will likely be meager and unconvincing.~ Generally, the writing demonstrates weak control of
such elements as diction, organization, syntax, or grammar.~ These essays typically lack persuasive evidence from the
text.~ They may contain recurrent stylistic flaws and/or misreadings.
2-1 These essays compound the weaknesses of the papers in the 4-3 range.~ They may seriously misunderstand the
character of Judge Pyncheon and/or fail to recognize that the narrator is critical of the judge.~ Frequently, they are
unacceptably brief.~ Often poorly written on several counts, they may contain many distracting errors in grammar and
mechanics.~ Although some attempt may have been made to answer the question, the writer's views typically are
presented with little clarity, organization, coherence, or supporting evidence.~ Essays that are especially inexact,
vacuous, and/or mechanically unsound should be scored 1.
0 This is a response with no more than a reference to the task.
-- Indicates a blank response or is completely off-topic
English Literature and Composition Responses 1996
Question 1
G
In this selected passage Hawthorne paints a portrait of a man whose primary concern is his image and the way
in which the public perceives him. Judge Pyncheon, attempts to create an image of himself as a man of “judicial
character” and “unimpeachable integrity”. Though he is an active member of the community, his main flaw lies in his
impetus for his involvement in the community. Hawthorne makes it apparent that Pyncheon’s reasons for doing good
deeds are routed in vanity and self-absorption rather than genuine altruism.
A large portion of the passage is a listing of Judge Pyncheon’s involvements and accomplishments.
Hawthorne introduces this list by saying “that there was enough splendid rubbish in his life to cover up hand paralyze a
more active and subtle conscience than the Judge was ever troubled with.” (line 4-6) The oxymoronic phrase “splendid
rubbish” immediately raises doubts about the quality and sincerity of the list about to follow. He casts off his son and
withholds forgiveness until an hour before his son dies. Similarly, the joking tone of the second half of the sentence
serves to make the comment about Pyncheon’s lack of conscience more poignant.
The list itself enforces the doubts raised in the preface sentence. The list begins with admirable positions held
such as this position as a judge or, his serving as president of the Bible society, his party devotion, integrity as treasurer
of a Widow’s and Orphan’s fund, and his “esteemed varieties of the pear” but as the list continues, the items listed
become less public and more personal and trivial. The reader might be able to ignore the mocking tone implied in the
perpondeance of praising and modifiers because of the actual placement of the position. However, it is nearly
impossible to appreciate the “snowy whiteness of his linen, the polish of his boots, “and “the handsomeness of his goldheaded cane.” (line 25-27) or to miss the inherent sarcasm and mocking tone in those lines.
The rest of the passage brims with images of appearance and reflection. “The proper face was what he beheld
in the looking-glass.” (line 36-37). These images underscore the depiction of Judge Pyncheon as man whose primary
concern is the opinion of others, his public persona. The description of his treatment of his son stands antithetical to his
position as “president of a Bible Society. His hypocrisy is shown again in his “confining himself, since the last attack
of gout: (not conscience) “to five glasses of old Sherry wine,” even though he attempted to further the temperance
cause. This view of Judge Pyncheon which the reader has been formulating and piecing together throughout the passage
is finally confirmed by lines 54-59. The speaker refers to a sin committed by the Judge and it is apparently so powerful
that it outweighs all the good that the Judge has supposedly done over the years. Yet, the judge seems not to be bothered
by his conscience. Hawthorne goes so far as to suggest that only loss of property could cause such a man to look at
33
himself honestly and without deception and that not even “sickness” or “death” could trigger this type of self-analysis.
Only the loss of property or reputation might cause him to look inward. This indicates the superficiality of the man.
Judge Pyncheon is a prideful man concerned with rules and logic. If I do this, then I should receive this, is his
mentality. The images of scales evoke images of both the judicial system and God’s judgements. These and allusions
contrast with Pyncheon’s character and highlight his lack of genuine feelings of kindness and self-sacrafice.
Past prompts that asked about character:
2004
Henry James’s “The Pupil” (1891): Analyze the author’s depiction of the three characters and the relationships
among them. Pay particular attention to tone and point of view.
2006
Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892): Analyze how the playwright reveals the values of the characters
and the nature of their society.
2007
Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun: Analyze how Trumbo uses such techniques as point of view, selection of
detail, and syntax to characterize the relationship between the young man and his father.
2008
Aran from Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting (1999): Analyze how the author uses such literary devices as speech
and point of view to characterize Aran’s experience.
2010
Maria Edgeworth’s Belinda (1801): The narrator provides a description of Clarence Harvey, one of the suitors of
the novel’s protagonist, Belinda Portman. Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze
Clarence Hervey’s complex character as Edgeworth develops it through such literary techniques as tone, point of
view, and language.
2011
George Eliot’s Middlemarch (1874): In the passage, Rosamond and Tertius Lydgate, a recently married couple,
confront financial difficulties. Read the passage carefully. Then write a well-developed essay in which you
analyze how Eliot portrays these two characters and their complex relationship as husband and wife. You may
wish to consider such literary devices as narrative perspective and selection of detail.
2012
Helena María Viramontes’s Under the Feet of Jesus: Carefully read the following excerpt from the novel. Then
write a well-organized essay in which you analyze the development of Estrella’s character. In your analysis, you
may wish to consider such literary elements as selection of detail, figurative language, and tone.
34
Most students when asked to discuss the setting of a work of literature will answer that it consists
of the time and place. It is, in fact, much more than the aforementioned. The myriad world of the setting
is essential to the understanding of a work of fiction, as it reveals the atmosphere or mood of the work.
It often yields clues as to the tone that will eventually emerge. Many settings function as “unrelenting
meta-cognitive stimulants” for things to happen, because the author has skillfully used them to
foreshadow as yet unperceived events. The following are the ways that setting may function either alone
or in conjunctions with other functions:
(1) Establish mood and atmosphere
(2) Foreshadow events
(3) Serve as a symbol
(4) Reflect the emotional conditions of characters in the work
(5) Introduce or enrich the theme of a work
(6) Reveal characters’ attributes
(7) Indicate the time and place
In The Scarlet Letter the somber Puritan mood is suggested by such words and phrases as “sad
colored garments, “ “gray,” “cemetery,” “prison,” “grave,” “sepulchers,” “jail,” “gloomy,” and
“ugly black flower of civilized society.” The reader is also made aware of the incongruity of
finding in this setting a “wild rose bush,” because it is described by such words and phrases
as “delicate gems,” “fragrance,” and “fragile beauty,” but is surrounded by words such as
“condemned,” “doom,” “stern,” and “sorrow.” These particular words set the both the
conflict and the mood of the novel, a tale of narrow-minded persecution, hypocrisy,
betrayal, and love. The contrast of the dark, confining words with the brighter, more positive
words provide a basic foundation for the contrasts in the novel between the Puritans (the
hypocrites) and Hester (open honesty) and between hidden versus open sin as is epitomized by the
contrast between the forest and the town. Thus the setting of the novel establishes the mood, aids
characterization, and introduces the theme.
In “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe, the opening paragraph conveys an
overwhelming atmosphere of impending doom, decay, and disaster; reveals character; and suggests the
theme.
35
During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the
clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a
singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of evening drew on,
within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I knew not how it was-but with the first glimpse
of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. . . . I looked upon the scene
before me-upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain-upon the bleak
walls-upon the vacant eye-like windows-upon the few rank sedges-and upon a few white trunks
of decayed trees-with an utter depression of the soul which I can compare to no earthly
sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveler upon opium-the hideous
dropping off of the veil. There was iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart-an
unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of
the sublime.
In this opening scene, not only is the setting established, character is revealed, and the mood is
created and impressed upon the reader. Since the house with its “vacant eye-like windows” later becomes a
metaphor for its inhabitants and the emptiness not only of their lives, but their moral conscience, there is an
early establishment of character. A closer examination of specific words would reveal much more. The
word “autumn” often suggests the decline or end of something, and indeed this story deals with the end of a
family line. The words “dull,” “dark,” “dreary and “soundless” suggest the state in which Roderick lives,
since he suffers from acuteness of the senses and closes himself off from the intrusive world. The use of the
words “shades of evening” metaphorically allude to death, thus foreshadowing Roderick and his twin sister
Madelaine’s death. The words “rank sedges” and “decay” introduce the theme of work-the decay and
descent of a prominent family. The words “insufferable gloom,” “bleak walls,” “melancholy,” and
“utter depression” establish the mood of the story and the characters. References to “after-dream,”
“reveler upon opium,” and “hideous dropping of the veil,” suggest the absence of reality in Roderick’s
life, his escape into fantasy, his going beyond the brink of mores and limitations of acceptable human
behavior, and his transgression of forbidden taboos. Finally, the words “iciness,” “sinking,” and
“unredeemed dreariness of thought,” suggest the coldness and ennui of the house and its occupants, the
lack of human compassion and compliance, and ultimately, the hopelessness of both Roderick and
Madelaine, the only remaining members of the Usher family.
Conversely, Shirley Jackson in her famous story “The Lottery” uses her setting in an ironic fashion.
In order to preserve the shock of the final events of the story, she establishes an atmosphere resembling a
summer social gathering. It suggests a mood of happiness and wellbeing in order to lull the reader into a
false sense of security.
The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer
day; the flowers were blooming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the
village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock; in
some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be start on June 26th,
but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less
than two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in the morning, and still be through in time to allow
the villagers to get home for noon dinner.
Here the ritual starts early in the morning, a suggestion both of
its
importance and a sense of new beginnings. The flowers, grass, sun, warmth,
and
the season of summer all suggest birth, life, wellbeing, and covertly a feeling of
happiness. These images are, of course, used ironically; along with the title in
order to keep the reader unaware of the true purpose of the lottery. The brevity of the ceremony may indicate
the quickness with which humans may turn from being friendly, jovial neighbors and family to primitive
creatures concerned only with self-preservation. The bank and the post office remind the reader of both the
everyday life of modern society, and that institutions, especially those dealing with material matters, must
be maintained. The Town Square may symbolize the closing off of alternatives or the limitations
placed on the inhabitants of the village. Since the lottery is based on the idea of selfpreservation, “lottery in June; corn be heavy soon,” and is maintained to preserve society, it
appears logical and important and reveals something about the characters in the work. The idea that
villagers may be home in time for “noon dinner’ suggests the villager’s lack of conscience as well
as their hypocritical desire for self-preservation at all costs.
36
Analyze the excerpts below. Determine what the setting contributes to the meaning
of the story in terms of mood, character, emotions, foreshadowing, or plot
development.
Faulkner, William – “A Rose for Emily”
It was a big squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and
scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select
street. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that
neighborhood; only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton
wagons and the gasoline pumps—an eyesore among eyesores. And now Miss Emily had gone to join the
representatives of those august names where they lay in the cedar bemused cemetery among the ranked and
anonymous graves of Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson.
Joyce, James – “Araby”
North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian
Brothers School set the boys free. An uninhabited house of two stories stood at the blind end, detached from
its neighbors in a square ground. The other houses on the street, conscious of decent lives within them gazed
at one another with brown imperturbable faces.
“An Abandoned Farmhouse” by Ted Kooser
He was a big man, says the size of his shoes
on a pile of broken dishes by the house;
a tall man too, says the length of the bed
in an upstairs room; and a good, God-fearing man,
says the Bible with a broken back
on the floor below the window, dusty with sun
but not a man for farming, say the fields
cluttered with boulders and the leaky barn.
A woman lived with him, says the bedroom wall
papered with lilacs and the kitchen shelves
covered with oilcloth, and they had a child,
says the sandbox made from a tractor tire.
Money was scarce, say the jars of plum preserves
and canned tomatoes sealed in the cellar hole.
And the winters cold say the rags in the window frames.
It was lonely here say the narrow country road.
Something went wrong says the empty house
in the weed choked yard. Stones in the field
37
say he was not a farmer; the still-sealed jars
in the cellar say she left in a nervous haste.
And the child? Its toys are strewn in the yard
like branches after a storm – a rubber cow,
a rusty tractor with a broken plow,
a doll in overalls. Something went wrong they say.
Welty, Eudora – “A Worn Path”
It was December – a bright frozen day in the early morning. Far out in the country there was an old Negro
woman with her head tied in a red rag, coming along a path through the pinewoods. Her name was Phoenix
Jackson. She was very old and small and she walked slowly in the dark pine shadows, moving a little from
side to side in her steps, with the balanced heaviness and lightness of a pendulum in a grandfather clock. She
carried a thin, small cane made from an umbrella, and with this she kept tapping the frozen earth in front of
her. This made a grave and persistent noise in the still air that seemed meditative like the chirping of a
solitary little bird.
Steinbeck, John – “The Chrysanthemums”
The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the
world. On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot. On the
broad, level floor the gang ploughs bit deep and left the black earth shining like metal where the shares had
been cut. On the foot-hill ranches across the Salinas River, the yellow stubble fields seemed to be bathed in
pale cold sunshine, but there was no sunshine in the valley now in December. The thick willow scrub along
the river flamed with sharp and positive yellow leaves.
It was a time of quiet and waiting. The air was cold and tender. A light wind blew up from the
southwest so that the farmers were mildly hopeful of a good rain before long; but fog and rain do not go
together.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------GROUP ASSIGNMENT
You are to read “The Yellow Wallpaper” and examine how setting is used in the story and how it functions
or what purpose it serves. Keep in mind that some of the setting is symbolic (we will discuss this).
Remember that the setting is not just the outdoors but the house and any and all objects in it.
After reading, you are to work in groups of three or four and analyze how the setting functions in the work.
First, make a list of any and all aspects of the setting (you should have between 15-20 items here). Next
explain how the items on your list function and what information they add to the story. This will be for a
grade, so make sure you are thorough and detailed!
38
2009 AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION FREE-RESPONSE
QUESTIONS
Question 2
(Suggested time—40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.) The
following selection is the opening of Ann Petry’s 1946 novel, The Street. Read the selection carefully and
then write an essay analyzing how Petry establishes Lutie Johnson’s relationship to the urban setting
through the use of such literary devices as imagery, personification, selection of detail, and figurative
language.
There was a cold November wind blowing through
116th Street. It rattled the tops of garbage cans,
sucked window shades out through the top of opened
windows and set them flapping back against the
5 windows; and it drove most of the people off the
street in the block between Seventh and Eighth
Avenues except for a few hurried pedestrians who
bent double in an effort to offer the least possible
exposed surface to its violent assault.
10 It found every scrap of paper along the street—
theater throwaways, announcements of dances and
lodge meetings, the heavy waxed paper that loaves
of bread had been wrapped in, the thinner waxed
paper that had enclosed sandwiches, old envelopes,
15 newspapers. Fingering its way along the curb, the
wind set the bits of paper to dancing high in the air,
so that a barrage of paper swirled into the faces of the
people on the street. It even took time to rush into
doorways and areaways and find chicken bones and
20 pork-chop bones and pushed them along the curb.
It did everything it could to discourage the people
walking along the street. It found all the dirt and dust
and grime on the sidewalk and lifted it up so that the
dirt got into their noses, making it difficult to breathe;
25 the dust got into their eyes and blinded them; and the
grit stung their skins. It wrapped newspaper around
their feet entangling them until the people cursed
deep in their throats, stamped their feet, kicked at the
paper. The wind blew it back again and again until
30 they were forced to stoop and dislodge the paper with
39
their hands. And then the wind grabbed their hats,
pried their scarves from around their necks, stuck its
fingers inside their coat collars, blew their coats away
from their bodies.
35 The wind lifted Lutie Johnson’s hair away from the
back of her neck so that she felt suddenly naked and
bald, for her hair had been resting softly and warmly
against her skin. She shivered as the cold fingers of
the wind touched the back of her neck, explored the
40 sides of her head. It even blew her eyelashes away
from her eyes so that her eyeballs were bathed in a
rush of coldness and she had to blink in order to read
the words on the sign swaying back and forth over her
head.
45 Each time she thought she had the sign in focus,
the wind pushed it away from her so that she wasn’t
certain whether it said three rooms or two rooms. If
it was three, why, she would go in and ask to see it,
but if it said two—why, there wasn’t any point. Even
50 with the wind twisting the sign away from her, she
could see that it had been there for a long time
because its original coat of white paint was streaked
with rust where years of rain and snow had finally
eaten the paint off down to the metal and the metal
55 had slowly rusted, making a dark red stain like blood.
It was three rooms. The wind held it still for an
instant in front of her and then swooped it away until
it was standing at an impossible angle on the rod that
suspended it from the building. She read it rapidly.
60 Three rooms, steam heat, parquet floors, respectable
tenants. Reasonable.
AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION 2009 SCORING
GUIDELINES © 2009 The College Board. All rights reserved. Visit the College Board on the Web: Question 2
(Ann Petry’s The Street)
The score reflects the quality of the essay as a whole—its content, its style, its mechanics. Students are
rewarded for what they do well. The score for an exceptionally well-written essay may be raised by 1 point
above the otherwise appropriate score. In no case may a poorly written essay be scored higher than a 3.
9–8 These essays offer a persuasive analysis of Petry’s use of literary devices to establish Lutie Johnson’s
relationship to the urban setting and provide strong support for the students’ interpretation of the passage.
They explore the urban setting as it affects the character; consider devices such as imagery, personification,
selection of detail, and figurative language; and engage the text through apt and specific references. Although
the essays may not be error-free, their perceptive analysis is apparent in writing that is clear, precise, and
effectively organized. Generally, essays scored a 9 reveal more sophisticated analysis and more effective
control of language than do those scored an 8.
7–6 These essays offer a reasonable analysis of how the author uses literary devices to establish Lutie
Johnson’s relationship to the urban setting. They provide a sustained, competent reading of the passage, with
attention to devices such as imagery, personification, selection of detail, and figurative language. Although
these essays may not be error-free and are less perceptive or less convincing than those in the 9–8 range, they
present ideas with clarity and control and refer to the text for support. Generally, essays scored a 7 present
better-developed analysis and more consistent command of the elements of effective composition than do
essays scored a 6.
5 These essays respond to the assigned task with a plausible reading of the passage but tend to be superficial
or undeveloped in their treatment of how the author uses literary devices to characterize the relationship
between Lutie Johnson and the urban setting. While containing some analysis of the passage, implicit or
explicit, the discussion of how literary devices contribute to the relationship between character and setting
may be slight, and support from the passage may be thin or tend toward summary or paraphrase. While these
essays demonstrate adequate control of language, they may be marred by surface errors. They are not as well
conceived, organized, or developed as essays in the 7–6 range.
4–3 These lower-half essays fail to offer an adequate analysis of the passage. The analysis may be partial,
unconvincing, or irrelevant; students may ignore Lutie Johnson or Petry’s use of literary devices to establish
Lutie’s relationship to the setting. The essays may be characterized by an unfocused or repetitive
presentation of ideas, an absence of textual support, or an accumulation of errors. Generally, essays scored a
3 exhibit less control over the elements of composition and may contain weaker or less-developed readings
than those scored a 4.
2–1 These essays compound the weaknesses of those in the 4–3 range. They may persistently misread the
passage or be unacceptably brief. The essays may contain pervasive errors that interfere with understanding.
Although some attempt has been made to respond to the prompt, ideas are presented with little clarity, organization, or support from the passage. Essays that are especially incompetent or incoherent are scored a 1.
0 These essays do no more than make a reference to the task.
— These essays are either left blank or are completely off topic.
40
2009 AP English Literature Sample Essays
Question #2: Ann Petry, The Street
Sample A
Hurricanes ravage beautiful coastal cities. Tornadoes send trees tumbling into homes. Sandstorms send biting
debris at the cleanliness of the world. The ever present element of wind has the power to destroy, the power to please,
and the power to signify one’s relationship with the environment he/she is in. In the excerpt from Ann Petry’s The
Street, Lutie Johnson’s separation and opposition to the urban setting is emphasized through the personified quality of
the wind.
Even the beginning imagery of the “cold” wind that “rattled” and “sucked” and set windows “flapping”
contributes to the attitude of separation Lutie Jonson feels toward the urban setting. The “barrage of paper swirled into
the faces of the people on the street” emphasizes this attitude of cold opposition evoked by the urban setting. The
details such as the sign “streaked with rust” and “the grit stung their skin” further emphasize the harsh relationship Lutie
Johnson has with the stark urban scene she experiences.
The personification of the wind “fingering its way along the curb” and trying to discourage the people walking
along the street” emphasizes the negative vibe Lutie Johnson experiences in the urban setting. Even her effort to read
the sign becomes a struggle with the wind as the wind is “twisting the sign away from her and holding it at “an
impossible angle.” The wind symbolizes Lutie Jonson’s separation from the urban setting as emphasized by the
personification “the wind lifted Lutie Johnson’s hair away from the back of her neck so that she felt suddenly naked and
bald.” Longing for the “softly and warmly” resting environment she was used to, Lutie Johnson had a difficult time
reconciling herself to the harsh urban environment.
The hyperbole “…its violent assault” emphasizes the violent assault of new, unfamiliar conditions Lutie
Jonson must face in her urban environment. The rusting metal “making a dark stain like blood” is a simile that
contributes to this forboding ill that Lutie Jonson feels in her unease with the urban scene Also, the personification the
wind “stuck its fingers inside their coats “ conveys a feeling of defilation and opposition since the probing by the cold
wind was undesirable.
In this undesirable, opposing struggle with the wind, Lutie Jonson’s separation and opposition to the urban
setting are revealed From the wind’s “cold fingers” to the entangling “ newspapers to the sign “streaked with rust”,
Lutie Johnson’s opposition to the stark, unfriendly urban setting is portrayed through the personified power of the “all
knowing: wind. Often, a new setting is hard to assimilate into, and the struggle comes in the power to see the beauty in
a harsh, new place.
Sample C
Petry immediately establishes the Urban setting as a type of war zone, in which the forces of nature are at
battle with all the tenants of the city. Lutie Johnson is subjected to this brute force as is everyone else, yet she s not
deterred from searching for a permanent place of residence. She holds a complex relationship with the urban setting,
fighting and withstanding its nature to get closer with it and establish her own place.
The wind, in addition to other forces of nature, is personified throughout the entire passage, creating a
threatening adversary. It was able to “suck window shades”, to “find every scrap of paper”, to “life Lutie Johnson’s hair
away” and se its “fingers” to “finger its way along the curb” and attack passerby with weapons that they themselves
leave behind e.g. litter, grime, paper. The fingers are able to “grab their hats”, “prie their scarves”, and “touch the back
of [Lutie’s] neck” to make her feel “naked and bald”. Without much argument, none of these are pleasant situations or
sensations. Petry’s description deters the reader away from the urban setting as much as possible. Even further, there is
allusion to the rain and snow that once inhabited the city, that “had finally eaten the paint off down to the metal, and the
metal had slowly rusted, making a dark red stain like blood.” The natural, unavoidable forces are personified to give
them a sense of forever-present and chaotic forces that inhabit the city.
Petry selects specific detail to convey the forces of the urban setting as at battle with the people who venture
out, including and specifically Lutie Johnson. The forces employ aspects of the urban setting to dehabilitate the
citizens, using dirt and grime to “make it difficult to breathe”, using dust to “blind them”, and grit to “sting their skins”.
The blood-like stain on the sign indicates that the city has been in a losing battle for some time. However, noting this
41
attack on the sign brings up an important relation to Lutie. Lutie is attracted to an aspect of the city that has too been
attacked by the same forces. This aspect of the building and its experience lend potential protection to Lutie, who
seemingly insists on remaining in the war-zone. Petry also provides the detail of Lutie’s though process, her deciding
immediately on the sign and its accompanying building bases on whether or not there are two rooms or three rooms.
Three rooms which she prefers offers more protection and support than two rooms. So although Lutie plans on
remaining in the urban area she is preparing by building up personal security and support, indicating that, though
questionably remaining in such dreary surroundings, she is wary of her position and the area around her.
Petry additionally uses imagery to describe the slightly warped surroundings. She details the sign as “standing
at an impossible angle on the rod that suspended it from the building” letting the reader just imagine its twisted and
hard-to-red position. The scenario in which the sign is held in focus for more seconds before being twisted and pushed
away by the wind is also very visual. Both instances of imagery emphasize how patent and adapting Lutie is to the city,
as she waits for the wind to agree with her, and then knowing not to trust the wind, reads the sign as quickly as possible.
That patience and humility may be applied to her attitude towards the city in general as well.
Petry uses personification, imagery, detail and other literary tools to convey Lutie’s position in the urban
setting. The personification indicates that, though an individual, Lutie is not alone in the city, and Lutie’s actions
portray her as somewhat exasperated as everyone else, but also as patient, copying and as having a plan of action.
Sample D
In Ann Petry’s novel, The Street, she establishes Lutie Johnson’s relationship to the urban setting through her
use of literary devices such as imagery, personification, selection of detail, and figurative language.
First, Petry describes the neighborhood, using figurative language and personification to give life to the wind.
She uses words like “violent assault” to express the amount of force the wind is blowing with. The wind is picking up
all kinds of trash from previous dances, and movie tickets, to “chicken bones” and “pork-chop bones”. Petry uses these
particular element in selection of detail to show the reader what kind of neighborhood 116th street is. She also gives life
to the story by using selection of detail when describing how thick or thin the wax paper on the street is Personification
comes into play when Petry describes how the wind “did everything it could to discourage the people walking along the
street .” Lutie Johnson was one of those people. Petry tells the story of how the wind “grabbed their hats” and “pried
their scarves from around their necks” and then how the who “blew their coats away from their bodies”. By using this
type of figurative language and personification, the struggle Lutie Johnson has to go through living in this urban setting
is evident. The imagery of Lutie Johnson continuing to try and read the sign despite the winds efforts shows her
determination.
Ann Petry uses selection to detail, imagery, personification, and figurative language, as well as the persistence
of the wind, to show how Lutie Johnson perserveres over her circumstances, in relation to her living environment.
Sample F
In Ann Petry’s novel, The Street, Lutie Johnson is characterized, ironically, by the nature of her instantaneous
adversary - the soul of the city. Her relationship to the urban environment is established mainly through imagery and
personification, the former of which gives Lutie’s perception of her situation while the latter defines the attitude of the
city towards the people who try to live in it, such as Lutie herself.
The use of personification is immediate’ the key medium wind, manages to express the atmosphere of the city
as if it is a living entity: very determined and excessively mischevious Lutie is one of many who endure this trivial
torture: “The cold November wind…drove most of the people off the street…it found every scrap of paper; it even took
the time to rush into doorways [and] do everything it could to discourage the people walking along the street.” In
Lutie’s experience, the wind is like the breath of the city, a devilish being that takes pleasure in inconveniencing its
inhabitants. It is very thorough in its work, find every insignificant characteristic about the setting, such as a tiny scrap
of paper, and proceeding to find even some use for that in its impish plans, perhaps by blowing it around Lutie’s feet or
into her face. This emphasizes not only what Lutie will have to face if she intends to live there, but it also plays upon
Lutie’s own qualities. For example, she can deal with the environment of an urban center with patience and
determination in order to get her work done.
She is thus defined as one of many who have found within themselves the strength to undergo the daily test
that the city’s soul decides to fling upon them, proving their worth as urban inhabitants. It is almost as if they are
42
playing a game, the city and the girl, seeing who can one-up the other in each round. For examples, as Lutie attempts to
investigate the area for signs of a proper shelter, the wind does all it can to thwart her. “Each time she had the sign in
focus, the wind pushed it away from her so that she wasn’t certain whether it said three rooms or two rooms.” Finally,
their game comes to a draw as “the wind [holds] it still for an instant “so that Lutie is able to read it. The game is far
from over, however, because it is as if the city has just upped the level and upgraded the home base. Now Lutie must
deal with even tougher problems because the urban entity has already been merciful once, and probably does not plan
on repeating the action.
The imagery that the author uses shows Lutie’s point of view on this relationship, with her as the victim. She
is disturbed by the noise of the wind “rattl(ing), suck(ing), and flap(ping) “ things all around the city; it also “found all
the dirt and lifted it up so that the dirt got into [the people’s] noses”. Lutie is no safer than her fellow city folk. Much
like them, she can feel as “the wind lift[s] [her] hair away from the back of her neck so that she [feels]suddenly naked,”
and “she shivers as the cold fingers of the wind touched the back of her neck.” It is very strongly implied by this
imagery that in this game that Lutie plays with the merciless city that she views herself as the underdog in the
relationship, constantly teased and violated by the city’s touch. The noise annoys her, the dirt invades her air, and the
cold and force ensure that she has the most difficult experience possible while searching for shelter. Even the imagery
of the place that would help her is significantly antagonistic, on the city’s part. The sign that signals her salvation
(temporarily, at least) is “streaked with rust where years of rain and snow had [exposed] the metal, (which) had rusted,
making a dark red stain like blood.” In every way, the city attempts to discourage Lutie, and she overcomes its cruelty
each time. The ugliness of the sign does not phase her; she accepts the rooms that It advertises. The struggle on
Lutie’s part and the game of the city continues.
Petry truly characterizes the city and Lutie as opponents in a match, using personification for one point of view
and imagery for the other, giving a play-by-play of the relationship between the beauty and the urban beast.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------
While there are not a huge number of prompts that ask about setting, the analysis of setting is quite relevant to
understanding the meaning of a work. Here are the prompts that asked writers to write about setting.
1991. Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the
land and the sea) to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Choose a novel or
play that contrasts two such places. Write an essay explaining how the places differ, what each place represents, and
how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.
2006. Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may
be a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance. Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays
a significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole.
1972 Joyce’s “Eveline” from Dubliners: Explain how the author prepares his reader for Eveline’s final inability or
unwillingness to sail to South America with Frank. Consider at least two elements of fictions such as theme,
symbol, setting, image, characterization, or any other aspects of the narrative artist’s craft.
2009
Ann Petry’s The Street (1946): Analyze how Petry establishes Lutie Johnson’s relationship to the urban setting
through the use of literary devices such as imagery, personification, selection of detail, and figurative language.
43
A symbol is the use of a concrete object to represent an abstract idea. The word symbol is derived from the
Greek verb symballein which means "to put together and the related noun symbolon which means "mark," "token," or
"sign," in the sense of the half-coin carried away by each of two parties in an agreement as a pledge. It means basically
a joining or combining.
A national flag is a symbol of a country's heritage and a visible representation of all the intangible ideals for
which the country stands, including those men who protected the country in times of war. A flag with skull and
crossbones is the traditional symbol of pirates and foretells of danger, destruction, and even death.
The term, symbol, when used in literature is often a figure of speech in which a person, object, or situation
represents something in addition to its literal meaning. In "The Sick Rose," Blake uses the rose to symbolize love.
Symbolism involves the selection of certain natural or conventional signs to represent deeper or hidden truths or
insights. The symbol itself may be traditional, conventional, personal, or ambiguous. It may be a simple as a word, a
figure of speech, an event, or an action.
Conventional or traditional literary symbols work in much the same way, and because they have a previously
agreed upon meaning, they can be used to suggest ideas more universal than the physical aspect itself. In this way a
symbolic story can transcend the narrow limits of time and place and hint at what the author believes are broad, general
truths. If an author writes about a character with the initials J.C., and the person is executed at age 33, it is probable that
the author intends the character to be taken as a modern-day symbol of Christ. Readers can use this as a clue to further
implications in the story.
A symbol is different from a literal image, from a metaphor, and from an emblem in an allegory. In the
following lines woods is an image, presented literally as a place one is going through.
Over the river and through the woods
To grandmother's house we go
If the woods were pictured in more detail -- snow-covered pines, elm branches black against the sky -- it would still be a
literal image, although a more vivid one.
However, in the statement, "From the helicopter, we were able to see the windfarm, a forest of windmills,"
forest is a metaphor. The speaker is not seeing a real forest. A group of windmills is indirectly being compared to a
forest. Symbols often have multiple meanings. For example, in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow
Wallpaper” the wallpaper itself is ugly and lacking in any artistic pattern. It becomes a symbol not only of marital
restrictions but also society’s restrictions placed on women at the turn of the twentieth century. Additionally, it
symbolizes literally the trapped feelings experienced by John’s wife and generally by all women.
Some conventional symbols are:
I.
Colors:
A. Red - immoral; the color of blood, passion, emotion, danger, or daring; often associated with fire
B. Black - seen as a cold and negative aspect suggesting passivity, death, ignorance, or evil; Black hens are
used in witchcraft as are black cats.
C. White - innocence, life, light, or enlightenment
D. Green - inexperience, new life, immaturity
E. Yellow - heat, maturity, rotting or decay, violence, old age, the approach of death
F. Blue - cool, calm, peace; an insubstantial color in the real world except as translucency, the void of heavens
A.
Seasons and other elements
1. Spring - birth, new beginning
2. Summer - maturity, knowledge
3. Autumn - decline, nearing death, growing old
4. Winter - death, sleep
5. Christmas season - birth, change for the better
6. Easter season - rebirth, enlightenment, faith
7. Light - truth, safety, warmth, knowledge, spirit, God, life and happiness
8. Darkness - evil, ignorance, danger, spiritual dullness, death, misfortune
9.
44
Thunder – symbol of divine power and strength
II
Clothing:
A. Cape – or any circular garment or vestment with a hole in the middle suggests a
celestial and ascendant symbolism. The priest robed in such a cape and is “set ritually at the center of the universe,
identified with the World axis, the cape being the celestial tent and with his head in the beyond, the dwelling of
God whose earthly representative he is. Whoever wraps himself in the cloak acquires the air, shape, and face of
whomsoever he wishes so long as he wears it. This is a symbol of the changes wrought by human trickery and the
different personalities that humans may assume. When monks or nuns withdraw from the world, they cover
themselves in a cape or cloak that symbolizes a withdrawal into one or into God.
B.
C.
D.
E.
G.
Cloak – is a symbol of human trickery, and the different personalities humans can assume.
Hat – head or thoughts
Glove – symbolize station in life, used to challenge, symbol of law and sovereignty
Shoes – symbol of free person; slaves went barefoot
Mask – used to frighten enemies; symbol of concealment; demonic tendencies
III
Names - indicative of personality
A.
Ichabod Crane - legs like a crane
B.
Young Goodman Brown - all good young men
C.
Arthur Dimmesdale - sins "dimmed" or obscured in a "dale"
D.
Names can become known for acts or character traits and functions as symbols. Some examples are:
E.
Setting
A.
B.
C.
D.
1.
Benedict Arnold
7.
Lancelot
2.
Superman
8.
Achilles
3.
Everyman
9.
Yahoo
4.
Dr. Jekyll
10.
Adonis
5.
Jezebel
11.
Frankenstein
6.
Judas Iscariot
12.
Barbie
The forest - usually a place of evil or mystery
An isolated setting - alienation, loneliness or provincial thinking
A park -a place for retreat and renewal
The town - a place where rules are observed and people are on their best behavior
A frequent kind of symbol is the created or invented symbol. In "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson's the black box
represents tradition (an invented symbol) and death (a traditional symbol). In Frost's "Birches" the trees symbolize not
evil but a temporary release from the difficulties and responsibilities of daily life. In "A & P" Updike uses the grocery
conglomerate to represent the social conformity and indifference of the American economic system. The flowers in
Stein beck’s "The Chrysanthemums" symbolize the youth, health, and vitality which are so evident in Eliza's
personality. In Lawrence's "Rocking Horse Winner," the voices symbolize the mother’s constant and extreme anxieties.
Symbols add both depth of meaning and universality to literature. Once readers are able to recognize the more
conventional symbols and look for the created of ambiguous ones, literature takes on new meaning and provides greater
enjoyment. . Some writer’s symbols are personal or created symbols. Often they do so by exploiting widely shared
associations between an object or event or action and a particular concept; for example, the general association of
climbing with the effort or progress and descent with surrender or failure. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” the black
45
2009 AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION FREE-RESPONSE
QUESTIONS
© 2009 The College Board. All rights reserved. Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.com.
Question 2
(Suggested time—40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.)
The following selection is the opening of Ann Petry’s 1946 novel, The Street. Read the selection carefully and
then write an essay analyzing how Petry establishes Lutie Johnson’s relationship to the urban setting through the use
of such literary devices as imagery, personification, selection of detail, and figurative language.
There was a cold November wind blowing through
116th Street. It rattled the tops of garbage cans,
sucked window shades out through the top of opened
windows and set them flapping back against the
5 windows; and it drove most of the people off the
street in the block between Seventh and Eighth
Avenues except for a few hurried pedestrians who
bent double in an effort to offer the least possible
exposed surface to its violent assault.
10 It found every scrap of paper along the street—
theater throwaways, announcements of dances and
lodge meetings, the heavy waxed paper that loaves
of bread had been wrapped in, the thinner waxed
paper that had enclosed sandwiches, old envelopes,
15 newspapers. Fingering its way along the curb, the
wind set the bits of paper to dancing high in the air,
so that a barrage of paper swirled into the faces of the
people on the street. It even took time to rush into
doorways and areaways and find chicken bones and
20 pork-chop bones and pushed them along the curb.
It did everything it could to discourage the people
walking along the street. It found all the dirt and dust
and grime on the sidewalk and lifted it up so that the
dirt got into their noses, making it difficult to breathe;
25 the dust got into their eyes and blinded them; and
the
grit stung their skins. It wrapped newspaper around
their feet entangling them until the people cursed
deep in their throats, stamped their feet, kicked at the
paper. The wind blew it back again and again until
30 they were forced to stoop and dislodge the paper
with
their hands. And then the wind grabbed their hats,
46
pried their scarves from around their necks, stuck its
fingers inside their coat collars, blew their coats away
from their bodies.
35 The wind lifted Lutie Johnson’s hair away from the
back of her neck so that she felt suddenly naked and
bald, for her hair had been resting softly and warmly
against her skin. She shivered as the cold fingers of
the wind touched the back of her neck, explored the
40 sides of her head. It even blew her eyelashes away
from her eyes so that her eyeballs were bathed in a
rush of coldness and she had to blink in order to read
the words on the sign swaying back and forth over her
head.
45 Each time she thought she had the sign in focus,
the wind pushed it away from her so that she wasn’t
certain whether it said three rooms or two rooms. If
it was three, why, she would go in and ask to see it,
but if it said two—why, there wasn’t any point. Even
50 with the wind twisting the sign away from her, she
could see that it had been there for a long time
because its original coat of white paint was streaked
with rust where years of rain and snow had finally
eaten the paint off down to the metal and the metal
55 had slowly rusted, making a dark red stain like
blood.
It was three rooms. The wind held it still for an
instant in front of her and then swooped it away until
it was standing at an impossible angle on the rod that
suspended it from the building. She read it rapidly.
60 Three rooms, steam heat, parquet floors, respectable
tenants. Reasonable.
Line
AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION 2009 SCORING GUIDELINES
The College Board. All rights reserved. Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.com. Question 2
© 2009
(Ann Petry’s The Street)
The score reflects the quality of the essay as a whole—its content, its style, its mechanics. Students are rewarded for
what they do well. The score for an exceptionally well-written essay may be raised by 1 point above the otherwise
appropriate score. In no case may a poorly written essay be scored higher than a 3.
9–8 These essays offer a persuasive analysis of Petry’s use of literary devices to establish Lutie Johnson’s relationship
to the urban setting and provide strong support for the students’ interpretation of the passage. They explore the urban
setting as it affects the character; consider devices such as imagery, personification, selection of detail, and figurative
language; and engage the text through apt and specific references. Although the essays may not be error-free, their
perceptive analysis is apparent in writing that is clear, precise, and effectively organized. Generally, essays scored a 9
reveal more sophisticated analysis and more effective control of language than do those scored an 8.
7–6 These essays offer a reasonable analysis of how the author uses literary devices to establish Lutie Johnson’s
relationship to the urban setting. They provide a sustained, competent reading of the passage, with attention to devices
such as imagery, personification, selection of detail, and figurative language. Although these essays may not be errorfree and are less perceptive or less convincing than those in the 9–8 range, they present ideas with clarity and control
and refer to the text for support. Generally, essays scored a 7 present better-developed analysis and more consistent
command of the elements of effective composition than do essays scored a 6.
5 These essays respond to the assigned task with a plausible reading of the passage but tend to be superficial or
undeveloped in their treatment of how the author uses literary devices to characterize the relationship between Lutie
Johnson and the urban setting. While containing some analysis of the passage, implicit or explicit, the discussion of how
literary devices contribute to the relationship between character and setting may be slight, and support from the passage
may be thin or tend toward summary or paraphrase. While these essays demonstrate adequate control of language, they
may be marred by surface errors. They are not as well conceived, organized, or developed as essays in the 7–6 range.
4–3 These lower-half essays fail to offer an adequate analysis of the passage. The analysis may be partial, unconvincing,
or irrelevant; students may ignore Lutie Johnson or Petry’s use of literary devices to establish Lutie’s relationship to the
setting. The essays may be characterized by an unfocused or repetitive presentation of ideas, an absence of textual
support, or an accumulation of errors. Generally, essays scored a 3 exhibit less control over the elements of composition
and may contain weaker or less-developed readings than those scored a 4.
2–1 These essays compound the weaknesses of those in the 4–3 range. They may persistently misread the passage or be
unacceptably brief. The essays may contain pervasive errors that interfere with understanding. Although some attempt
has been made to respond to the prompt, ideas are presented with little clarity, organization, or support from the
passage. Essays that are especially incompetent or incoherent are scored a 1.
0 These essays do no more than make a reference to the task.
— These essays are either left blank or are completely off topic.
2009 AP English Literature Sample Essays
Question #2: Ann Petry, The Street
Sample A
Hurricanes ravage beautiful coastal cities. Tornadoes send trees tumbling into homes. Sandstorms send biting
debris at the cleanliness of the world. The ever present element of wind has the power to destroy, the power to please,
and the power to signify one’s relationship with the environment he/she is in. In the excerpt from Ann Petry’s The
Street, Lutie Johnson’s separation and opposition to the urban setting is emphasized through the personified quality of
the wind.
Even the beginning imagery of the “cold” wind that “rattled” and “sucked” and set windows “flapping”
contributes to the attitude of separation Lutie Jonson feels toward the urban setting. The “barrage of paper swirled into
the faces of the people on the street” emphasizes this attitude of cold opposition evoked by the urban setting. The
47
details such as the sign “streaked with rust” and “the grit stung their skin” further emphasize the harsh relationship Lutie
Johnson has with the stark urban scene she experiences.
The personification of the wind “fingering its way along the curb” and trying to discourage the people walking
along the street” emphasizes the negative vibe Lutie Johnson experiences in the urban setting. Even her effort to read
the sign becomes a struggle with the wind as the wind is “twisting the sign away from her and holding it at “an
impossible angle.” The wind symbolizes Lutie Jonson’s separation from the urban setting as emphasized by the
personification “the wind lifted Lutie Johnson’s hair away from the back of her neck so that she felt suddenly naked and
bald.” Longing for the “softly and warmly” resting environment she was used to, Lutie Johnson had a difficult time
reconciling herself to the harsh urban environment.
The hyperbole “…its violent assault” emphasizes the violent assault of new, unfamiliar conditions Lutie
Jonson must face in her urban environment. The rusting metal “making a dark stain like blood” is a simile that
contributes to this forboding ill that Lutie Jonson feels in her unease with the urban scene Also, the personification the
wind “stuck its fingers inside their coats “ conveys a feeling of defilation and opposition since the probing by the cold
wind was undesirable.
In this undesirable, opposing struggle with the wind, Lutie Jonson’s separation and opposition to the urban
setting are revealed From the wind’s “cold fingers” to the entangling “ newspapers to the sign “streaked with rust”,
Lutie Johnson’s opposition to the stark, unfriendly urban setting is portrayed through the personified power of the “all
knowing: wind. Often, a new setting is hard to assimilate into, and the struggle comes in the power to see the beauty in
a harsh, new place.
Sample C
Petry immediately establishes the Urban setting as a type of war zone, in which the forces of nature are at
battle with all the tenants of the city. Lutie Johnson is subjected to this brute force as is everyone else, yet she is not
deterred from searching for a permanent place of residence. She holds a complex relationship with the urban setting,
fighting and withstanding its nature to get closer with it and establish her own place.
The wind, in addition to other forces of nature, is personified throughout the entire passage, creating a
threatening adversary. It was able to “suck window shades”, to “find every scrap of paper”, to “life Lutie Johnson’s hair
away” and se its “fingers” to “finger its way along the curb” and attack passerby with weapons that they themselves
leave behind e.g. litter, grime, paper. The fingers are able to “grab their hats”, “pries their scarves”, and “touch the back
of [Lutie’s] neck” to make her feel “naked and bald”. Without much argument, none of these are pleasant situations or
sensations. Petry’s description deters the reader away from the urban setting as much as possible. Even further, there is
allusion to the rain and snow that once inhabited the city, that “had finally eaten the paint off down to the metal, and the
metal had slowly rusted, making a dark red stain like blood.” The natural, unavoidable forces are personified to give
them a sense of forever-present and chaotic forces that inhabit the city.
Petry selects specific detail to convey the forces of the urban setting as at battle with the people who venture
out, including and specifically Lutie Johnson. The forces employ aspects of the urban setting to dehabilitate the
citizens, using dirt and grime to “make it difficult to breathe”, using dust to “blind them”, and grit to “sting their skins”.
The blood-like stain on the sign indicates that the city has been in a losing battle for some time. However, noting this
attack on the sign brings up an important relation to Lutie. Lutie is attracted to an aspect of the city that has too been
attacked by the same forces. This aspect of the building and its experience lend potential protection to Lutie, who
seemingly insists on remaining in the war-zone. Petry also provides the detail of Lutie’s though process, her deciding
immediately on the sign and its accompanying building bases on whether or not there are two rooms or three rooms.
Three rooms which she prefers offers more protection and support than two rooms. So although Lutie plans on
remaining in the urban area she is preparing by building up personal security and support, indicating that, though
questionably remaining in such dreary surroundings, she is wary of her position and the area around her.
Petry additionally uses imagery to describe the slightly warped surroundings. She details the sign as “standing
at an impossible angle on the rod that suspended it from the building” letting the reader just imagine its twisted and
hard-to-red position. The scenario in which the sign is held in focus for more seconds before being twisted and pushed
away by the wind is also very visual. Both instances of imagery emphasize how patent and adapting Lutie is to the city,
as she waits for the wind to agree with her, and then knowing not to trust the wind, reads the sign as quickly as possible.
That patience and humility may be applied to her attitude towards the city in general as well.
48
Petry uses personification, imagery, detail and other literary tools to convey Lutie’s position in the urban
setting. The personification indicates that, though an individual, Lutie is not alone in the city, and Lutie’s actions
portray her as somewhat exasperated as everyone else, but also as patient, copying and as having a plan of action.
Sample D
In Ann Petry’s novel, The Street, she establishes Lutie Johnson’s relationship to the urban setting through her
use of literary devices such as imagery, personification, selection of detail, and figurative language.
First, Petry describes the neighborhood, using figurative language and personification to give life to the wind.
She uses words like “violent assault” to express the amount of force the wind is blowing with. The wind is picking up
all kinds of trash from previous dances, and movie tickets, to “chicken bones” and “pork-chop bones”. Petry uses these
particular element in selection of detail to show the reader what kind of neighborhood 116th street is. She also gives life
to the story by using selection of detail when describing how thick or thin the wax paper on the street is Personification
comes into play when Petry describes how the wind “did everything it could to discourage the people walking along the
street .” Lutie Johnson was one of those people. Petry tells the story of how the wind “grabbed their hats” and “pried
their scarves from around their necks” and then how the who “blew their coats away from their bodies”. By using this
type of figurative language and personification, the struggle Lutie Johnson has to go through living in this urban setting
is evident. The imagery of Lutie Johnson continuing to try and read the sign despite the winds efforts shows her
determination.
Ann Petry uses selection to detail, imagery, personification, and figurative language, as well as the persistence
of the wind, to show how Lutie Johnson perserveres over her circumstances, in relation to her living environment.
Sample F
In Ann Petry’s novel, The Street, Lutie Johnson is characterized, ironically, by the nature of her instantaneous
adversary - the soul of the city. Her relationship to the urban environment is established mainly through imagery and
personification, the former of which gives Lutie’s perception of her situation while the latter defines the attitude of the
city towards the people who try to live in it, such as Lutie herself.
The use of personification is immediate’ the key medium wind, manages to express the atmosphere of the city
as if it is a living entity: very determined and excessively mischevious Lutie is one of many who endure this trivial
torture: “The cold November wind…drove most of the people off the street…it found every scrap of paper; it even took
the time to rush into doorways [and] do everything it could to discourage the people walking along the street.” In
Lutie’s experience, the wind is like the breath of the city, a devilish being that takes pleasure in inconveniencing its
inhabitants. It is very thorough in its work, find every insignificant characteristic about the setting, such as a tiny scrap
of paper, and proceeding to find even some use for that in its impish plans, perhaps by blowing it around Lutie’s feet or
into her face. This emphasizes not only what Lutie will have to face if she intends to live there, but it also plays upon
Lutie’s own qualities. For example, she can deal with the environment of an urban center with patience and
determination in order to get her work done.
She is thus defined as one of many who have found within themselves the strength to undergo the daily test
that the city’s soul decides to fling upon them, proving their worth as urban inhabitants. It is almost as if they are
playing a game, the city and the girl, seeing who can one-up the other in each round. For examples, as Lutie attempts to
investigate the area for signs of a proper shelter, the wind does all it can to thwart her. “Each time she had the sign in
focus, the wind pushed it away from her so that she wasn’t certain whether it said three rooms or two rooms.” Finally,
their game comes to a draw as “the wind [holds] it still for an instant “so that Lutie is able to read it. The game is far
from over, however, because it is as if the city has just upped the level and upgraded the home base. Now Lutie must
deal with even tougher problems because the urban entity has already been merciful once, and probably does not plan
on repeating the action.
The imagery that the author uses shows Lutie’s point of view on this relationship, with her as the victim. She
is disturbed by the noise of the wind “rattl(ing), suck(ing), and flap(ping) “ things all around the city; it also “found all
the dirt and lifted it up so that the dirt got into [the people’s] noses”. Lutie is no safer than her fellow city folk. Much
like them, she can feel as “the wind lift[s] [her] hair away from the back of her neck so that she [feels]suddenly naked,”
and “she shivers as the cold fingers of the wind touched the back of her neck.” It is very strongly implied by this
imagery that in this game that Lutie plays with the merciless city that she views herself as the underdog in the
49
relationship, constantly teased and violated by the city’s touch. The noise annoys her, the dirt invades her air, and the
cold and force ensure that she has the most difficult experience possible while searching for shelter. Even the imagery
of the place that would help her is significantly antagonistic, on the city’s part. The sign that signals her salvation
(temporarily, at least) is “streaked with rust where years of rain and snow had [exposed] the metal, (which) had rusted,
making a dark red stain like blood.” In every way, the city attempts to discourage Lutie, and she overcomes its cruelty
each time. The ugliness of the sign does not phase her; she accepts the rooms that It advertises. The struggle on
Lutie’s part and the game of the city continues.
Petry truly characterizes the city and Lutie as opponents in a match, using personification for one point of view
and imagery for the other, giving a play-by-play of the relationship between the beauty and the urban beast.
Most words exist on two or more levels – the literal or dictionary definition and the figurative or suggested meaning.
Diction is the selection and arrangement of words. The quality of the words themselves depends on their meaning and
their sound. For example, Tennyson, writing in the Nineteenth Century but using archaic myth, employed verbs such as
"spake" and "changeth" to create an aura of the medieval period. ("Camelot") A native of Alabama may say "y'all"
whereas a person from Brooklyn may say "youse guys." Words may be either concrete or abstract. Concrete diction
describes conditions or qualities that are exact and particular, while abstract diction refers to qualities that are rarefied
and theoretical. For example poems or prose works using specific and concrete words tend to be visual, familiar, and
compelling. In contrast, works using general and abstract words tend to be detached and cerebral, frequently dealing
with universal questions or emotions. Specific language refers to objects or conditions that can be perceived or
imagined, while general language signifies broad classes of persons, objects, and phenomena.
High and formal diction is elevated and elaborate; it follows the rules of syntax exactly and avoids idioms,
colloquialisms, contractions, and slang. Formal language is characterized by complex words and a lofty tone. In his
poem "The Naked and the Nude" Graves uses formal diction when he has the speaker assert that the terms in the title
are "By lexicographers construed / As synonyms that should express / The same deficiency of dress." The Latinate
words stiffen and generalize the passage by using lexicographers instead of dictionary writers, construed (Latin) instead
of thought, express (Latin) instead of say or show, and deficiency (Latin) instead of lack.
Middle or neutral diction maintains the correct language and word order of formal diction but avoids
elaborate words and elevated tone. For example, Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop For Death" employs
almost entirely middle diction or register.
Low or informal diction is the language of everyday use; it is relaxed and conversational. It often includes
common and simple words, idiomatic expressions, slang, jargon, and contractions.
Meaning - a writer may select a word not only for the specific meaning, that is, the express definition of a
word or its DENOTATION; but also for the related implications or emotional associations that accompany the word,
it’s CONNOTATION. As the emotional effect of a work of literature depends to a large extent on what is left unsaid,
so the emotional effect of a word in that literature, the smallest unit of composition, often depends not only on the thing
designated by the word but also on what is suggested. Connotation is the implications and emotional overtones that
words or phrases carry with them. Almost all words simultaneously have both denotative and connotative meaning but
in different degrees. For example, collie is primarily denotative, mutt is primarily connotative and dog can be primarily
denotative or connotative according to the context, the person's past experiences, and the frame of reference. What are
the connotative differences between "female athlete" and "tomboy"; between "assertive" and "aggressive"; between
"naked" and "nude"?
Sound - as the reader looks for meaning, sound often goes unheard. Yet, a word is essentially sound with meaning, and
the sound of a word may in itself - distinct from its denotations and connotations - be the author's chief means of
communication. In the following passage from the Anna Livia Plurabella section of James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake,
sound is of primary importance. As the passage is read aloud, try to sense its emotion.
50
She was just a young thin pale soft shy slim slip of a thing then, sauntering, by a silvamoonlake, and he was a
heavy trudging lurching lieabroad of a Curraghman, making his hay for whose sun to shine on, as tough as the oak trees
(peats be with them) used to rustle that time down by the dykes of killing Kildare, for forstfellfoss with a plash across
her.
To communicate emotion and emphasize meaning, Joyce uses (1) alliteration, (2) assonance, (3) pun, and (4)
onomatopoeia.
Alliteration is the repetition of the same initial consonant sound in two or more words or in two or more
syllables of a word.
soft, sly, slim, slip, sauntering, silvamoonlake, sun. shine
lurching, lieabroad, killing, Kildare
he, heavy, his, hay, forstfellfoss
down, dykes
Assonance is the similarity of vowel sounds but the dissimilarity of the succeeding consonant sounds in the
stressed syllables of two or more words.
slim, slip, thing, silvamoonlake
trudging, lurching, Curraghman
time, by, dykes, shine, lieabroads, sly
A Pun is the humorous use of word which is similar in sound to another word with a different meaning.
lieabroads
peats
To understand a pun, it is necessary to see the double meanings of the word. Perhaps Joyce is playing with words when
he speaks of the Curraghman as a lieabroad: (1) lie meaning "to stretch out, extend oneself," 2 abroad meaning
"extensively in height and width," 3 lie meaning "to lie with or to seduce," a broad meaning (the author relies on
American slang for his pun) "a girl or woman."
The sound of "peats be with them" suggests "peace be with them." The oak trees have passed on to another world:
(1) peace be with them; (2) they have become peat, decayed plant matter.
Onomatopoeia is the formation of a word so that its sound is associated with its meaning. Ex. hiss, pop, sweep -forstfellfoss with a plash across her. The foss (the author may be punning her again) implies, perhaps, the way and the
speed with which the trees fell. The plash intimates the sound they made when they fell across Anna, which, in turn,
suggests the result of the Curraghman's influence and activities with Anna.
“Rhetoric is an open palm, dialectic a closed fist.” - Zeno
Exercise 1: Below are some examples of connotation. Write out your ideas of the connotation of each of the words in
two of the groups below. Visualizing helps.
Obese
Ugly
Spinster
Grand
Corpulent
Homely
Old maid
Pretentious
Overweight
Plain
Maiden lady
Lofty
Comfortable
Hideous
Bachelor girl
Elevated
Plump
Revolting
Career Woman
Eloquent
Forceful
Mansion
Melancholy
Powerful
Home
Gloomy
Confident
Dwelling
Wistful
51
Self-assured
Residence
Sad
Brisk
Domicile
Depressing
Exercise 2. The following passage is an excerpt in which Axel Heyst is described. Read carefully, and then make a
list of words and phrases that seem to set the mood of the passage.
He was out of everybody’s way, as if he were perched on the highest peak of the Himalayas, and in a sense as
conspicuous. Everyone in that part of the world knew him, dwelling on his little island. An island is but the top of
a mountain. Axel Heyst, perched on it immovably, was surrounded, instead of the imponderably stormy and
transparent ocean of air merging into infinity, by a tepid shallow sea; a passionless offshoot of the great waters
which embrace the continents of this globe. His most frequent visitors were shadows, the shadows of clouds,
relieving the monotony of the inanimate, brooding sunshine of the tropics. His nearest neighbour – I am speaking
now of things showing some sort of animation – was an indolent volcano which smoked faintly all day with its
head just above the northern horizon, and at night leveled at him, from amongst the clear stars, a dull red glow,
expanding and collapsing spasmodically like the end of a gigantic cigar puffed at intermittently in the dark. Axel
Heyst was also a smoker; and when he lounged out on his verandah with his cheroot, the last thing before going to
bed, he made in the night some sort of glow and of the same size as that other one so many miles away.
Victory: An Island Tale by Joseph Conrad
1.
2.
3.
In the first part of the passage, to what sort of person is Axel Heyst compared.
What does the implied comparison with the indolent volcano suggest about Heyst?
Based on the choice of words what might one infer about Heyst as a person?
Exercise 3: The following passage is the opening paragraph of a short story. Read it carefully and answer the following
questions.
Annabel and Midge came out of the tearoom with the arrogant slow gait of the leisured, for their Saturday
afternoon stretched ahead of them. They had lunched, as was their wont, on sugar, starches, oils and butterfats.
Usually they ate sandwiches of spongy new white bread greased with butter and mayonnaise; they ate thick wedges
of cake lying wet beneath ice-cream and whipped cream and melted chocolate gritty with nuts. As alternates, they
ate patties, sweating beads of inferior oil, containing bits of bland meat bogged in pale, stiffening sauce; they ate
pastries limber under rigid icing, filled with an indeterminate yellow sweet stuff, not still solid, not yet liquid, like
salve that has been left in the sun. They chose not other food, nor did they consider it. And their skin was like the
petals of wood anemones, and their bellies were as flat and their flanks as lean as those of young Indian braves.
“The Standard of Living”
1.
What can you deduce about Midge and Annabel? Who are they?
2
Would the author have enjoyed their usual lunch? What words or phrases led you to your conclusion, and
why? Be specific.
3.
What is the attitude of the author of this passage concerning both the girls and the food? How did you arrive
at it?
Exercise 4: Read the two passages below carefully.
A.
[He] stood for a while before his house. The white simplicity of it dreamed unbroken among ancient sunshot
trees. Wisteria mounting at one end of the veranda had bloomed and fallen, and a faint drift of shattered petals lay
palely about the dark roots of it and about the roots of a rose trained on to the same frame. The rose was slowly but
steadily choking the other vine. It bloomed now thickly with buds no thicker than a thumbnail and blown flowers no
larger than silver dollars, myriad, odorless and unpickable.
52
But the house itself was still and serenely benignant and he mounted to the empty colonnaded veranda and
crossed it and entered the hall. The house was silent, richly desolate of motion or any sound. He stopped in the middle
of the hall.
. . . The stairway with its white spindles and red carpet mounted in a tall slender curve into upper gloom. From
the center of the ceiling hung a chandelier of crystal prisms and shades, fitted originally for candles but since wired for
electricity. To the right of the entrance, beside folding doors rolled back upon a dim room emanating an atmosphere of
solemn and seldom violated stateliness and known as the parlor, stood a tall mirror filled with grave obscurity like a still
pool of evening water.
B.
After the bank closed that afternoon [he] crossed the square and entered a street and approached a square frame
building with a double veranda, from which the mournful cacophony of a cheap talking-machine came upon the
afternoon. He entered. The music came from the room to the right, and as he passed the door, he saw a man in a
collarless shirt sitting in a chair with his sock feet on another chair, smoking a pipe, the evil reek of which followed him
down the hall. The hall smelled of damp, harsh soap, and the linoleum carpet gleamed, sill wet. He followed it and
approached a sound of steady, savage activity, and came upon a woman in a shapeless, gray garment, who ceased
mopping and looked at him across her gray shoulder, sweeping her lank hair from her brow with a reddened forearm . . .
[He] went on and stood on the kitchen steps above an enclosed space barren of grass and containing a chicken
pen, also grassless, in which a few fowls huddled or moved about in forlorn distraction in the dust. On one hand was a
small kitchen garden of orderly, tended rows. In the corner of the garden was an outhouse of some sort of weathered
boards . . . The yard was desolate with ghosts; ghosts of discouraged weeds, of food in the shape of empty tins, broken
boxes and barrels; a pile of stove wood and a chopping-block across which lay an axe whose helve had been mended
with rusty wire amateurishly wound.
William Faulkner and the Tangible Past: The Architecture of Yoknapatawpha
Passages A and B (from the same source) each describe a house. Although both are in the American South, the
house in passage A is quite from the house in passage B in situation and atmosphere. The contrast is undoubtedly
deliberate. Read both passages carefully and infer what you can about the inhabitants and history of each house (what
kind of people live or have lived in each, what kind of life they pursue, and so on. Contemplate in your answer the
atmosphere created by the writer and his attitude towards the inhabitants of each house. Consider the “He” of each
passage as a mere observer.
Exercise 5: Read the passage below very carefully paying close attention to connotation and juxtaposition. Based on
the diction what is the author’s tone? His attitude?
. . . the large-scale blessings of unity and authority in Europe were relieved by a feudal detail of villagers gathered round
the benevolent – or, at all events, protective – despot at the castle whose wimpled wife relieved their affliction, although
the monks in the hospital of the nearby abbey (good, but jolly, men) were always ready to do the same. Every few days
there was a holy-day, given over to song and dance around the maypole, more in the manner of the village of HappyGo-Lucky at the beginning of a pantomime than of the younger Breughel. Knights, very refined and Christian, went off
to the Crusades, and their wives, very resigned and beautiful, stood silhouetted on the battlements, singing and sighing.
There was a gay peripatetic population of troubadours, strolling players, Chaucerian pilgrims, and friars of orders grey
with of course gipsies, and for sport Jews. Deeds of chivalry, hawking, and knightly jousting, with bards, bowers and
battles, made up a picture of romantic glamour in which defeat was the lot only of the pagans, the High Sheriff of
Nottingham, and, in infinitely creditable circumstances, of Richard Coeur de Lion. For full measure there were jesters
as well.
1.
2.
Look for words that have connotation that create images and contribute to the meaning of the work.
What is the writer’s attitude? What mental (or emotional) reaction does he wish to evoke?
Exercise 6: In paragraph one the writer tells about his young son’s typical days while he was attending a private school.
Paragraph two is a summary of paragraph one.
Paragraph 1
His days followed a set routine. He wore overalls and an old sweater, as everyone else did in his school. In the
morning a parent or nurse walked the two blocks with him to the corner where he met the school bus. The bus was
53
always on time. During the six or seven hours of the school day, he had six teachers. The school also employed a nurse
and a dietitian. Games were supervised. The children ate in the cafeteria. Orange juice was served during the morning
session.
Paragraph 2
His days were rich in formal experience. Wearing overalls and an old sweater (the accepted uniform of the
private seminary), he sallied forth at morn accompanied by a nurse or parent and walked (or was pulled) two blocks to a
corner where the school bus made a flag stop. This flashy vehicle was as punctual as death; seeing him waiting at the
curb, it would sweep to a halt, open its mouth, suck the boy in, and spring away with an angry growl. It was a good
deal like a train picking up a bag of mail. At school the scholar was worked on for six or seven hours by half a dozen
teachers and a nurse, and was revived with orange juice in midmorning. In a cinder court, he played games supervised
by an athletic instructor, and in a cafeteria he ate lunch worked out by a dietician.
Read the two paragraphs and analyze the connotations of the words, the tone of the passage, the rhetorical strategies,
and the attitude of the speaker. What words specifically establish the mood and tone of the work?
“Speech is the leader of all thoughts and actions.” – Isocrates
54
55
2000 English Literature Scoring Guidelines
Question 1
9-8: These essays are ordered by a persuasive interpretation that forms an effective basis for comparing the Sirens. They
recognize variations in perspective and approach that differentiate Atwood's contemporary treatment of the Sirens from
Homer's ancient version of the temptresses, and their analysis is insightful and provocative. Although the writers of
these essays may offer a range of interpretations and/or choose different poetic elements for emphasis, these papers
provide convincing readings of both poems and maintain consistent control over the elements of effective composition,
including the language appropriate to the criticism of verse. Their textual references are apt and specific. Though they
may not be error-free, they demonstrate the writers' ability to read poetry perceptively and to write with clarity and
sophistication.
7-6: These essays convey a sound grasp of both poems. However, they may prove less adept than the best essays at
shaping a thesis to define the distinctions and/or similarities that make the juxtaposition of these two treatments of the
Sirens a telling exercise. The interpretations may falter in some particulars, or they may be less thorough or precise in
their discussion of how the poems portray the Sirens. Nonetheless, their dependence on paraphrase, if any, will be in the
service of analysis. These essays demonstrate the writer’s ability to express ideas clearly, but they do not exhibit the
same level of mastery ,maturity, and/or control as the very best essays. These essays are likely to be briefer, less
incisive, and less well-supported than the 9-8 papers.
5: These essays tend to over-simplify: they respond to the assigned task with a plausible reading of the texts, yet they
perhaps say little beyond the most readily grasped observations. They often rely on paraphrase, but nonetheless
paraphrase that contains some implicit analysis. Their discussion of how the portrayals of the Sirens compare maybe
vague, formulaic, or inadequately supported by references to the text. They may suffer from the cumulative force of
many minor misinterpretations. Composition skills are at a level sufficient to convey the writer's thoughts, and surface
errors do not constitute a distraction. However, these essays are not as well-conceived, organized, or developed a
supper-half papers.
4-3: These lower-half essays reveal an incomplete understanding of either or both texts and perhaps an insufficient
understanding of the prescribed task as well: they may not succeed in forging a basis for the comparison of the
portrayals of the Sirens. One poem may be discussed to the exclusion of the other; the poetic analysis may be partial,
unconvincing, or irrelevant. The essay may rely essentially on paraphrase. Evidence from the texts may be meager or
misconstrued. The writing demonstrates uncertain control over the elements of composition, often exhibiting recurrent
stylistic flaws and/or inadequate development of ideas. Essays scored 3 may contain significant misreadings and/or
unusually inept writing.
2-1: These essays compound the weaknesses of the papers in the 4-3 range. They may seriously misread the texts, and
frequently are unacceptably brief. They are poorly written on several counts and may contain many distracting errors in
grammar and mechanics. Although some attempt may have been made to respond to the question, the writer's assertions
are presented with little clarity, organization, or support from the texts. Essays scored 1 contain little coherent
discussion of the texts.
0: A response with no more than a reference to the task.
— A blank paper or completely off-topic response.
56
2000 AP Lit. test Ques. #1 -- The Odyssey and Siren Song comparison
A
In a world where women have been denied their ability to work honestly and have been boxed into
complacent stereotypes, their only power- according to society- is their power to seduce through flattery and
sexuality. In Homers description of the Siren’s song, Odysseus reacts with a masculine arrogance, touting
his own strength to escape seduction while lauding his crew for their loyalty. His voice is somewhat heroic
and grandiose as he relays a first-hand account of a dramatic brush with death, but through his selfcongratulating manner, he reveals his limited understanding of men and women. It is this limited
understanding and hubris emanating from society that provokes Margaret Atwood to write her poem of
protest ‘Siren’s Song’. Through allusion to classical beliefs she illuminates her own frustration at being
confined to a stereotype and through repetition she plays upon the unfounded pride of men like Odysseus.
Odysseus is immersed in a sweaty, masculine world of heraldry that is conducive to his sense of
self-importance. He begins his speech with a vaguely violent sexual image. He states, “with a sharp sword I
sliced an ample wheel of beeswax / down into pieces.” (3-4). Here a phallic object, the sword, cuts up a
piece of wax that is soft and round, a distinctly feminine image. The imagery itself suggests a dominance
over women within this Greek society. Odysseus is united in friendship with other men, through work and
mutual toil as he “stopped the ears of my comrades one by one.” (7) The men come together as comrades,
placing wax in their ears, as they unite to face the common foe : female guile. Odysseus’ attitude towards
these men is loving, benign and gentle.
In contrast, for the Sirens Odysseus harbors only awe and suspicion. Odysseus and the beasts are
separated not only by the sea and cliff, but also by a gap of understanding. He describes their song as “high
and thrilling” (13) suggesting that the song is aloof yet tempting. The physical placement of the sirens, on the
cliffs above the sailors, is symbolic as well. The Sirens perch on the proverbial ‘pedestal’, are idealized but
also feared. The Sirens appeal to Odysseus using flattery, stating “Come closer, famous Odysseus- “Acheus’
Pride and glory-” (14). The Sirens play upon Odysseus’ sense of self-importance. His reaction is
physiological, he reacts to their temptations both with physical arousal and egotistical. He states “the heart
inside me throbbed to listen longer.” He wants only to hear his praises sung over and over- he is lead into
temptation by his own pride.
Margaret Atwood answer’s the pride, presumption, and hubris reflected in Odysseus’ story with her
own “Siren’s Song”. She is frustrated with being placed upon a pedestal, with being limited by society to
being a dangerous seductress, feminine and beguiling. Odysseus’ misconceptions of women are truly the
views of an entire society and have forced Atwood to fight back with the only weapons she has left availableher cunning and powers of flattery and seduction.
Atwood’s voice is distinctly ironic and bitter towards those she is trying to seduce into hearing her
song. She notes the foolishness of men who allow themselves to “leap overboard in squadrons / even
though they see the beached skull” (5-6). Her tone after these lines becomes beguiling but also intentionally
sarcastic. In a reference to the mythical image of the sirens she states, “and if I do will you get me out of this
bird suit?” (11-12) The image of the ‘bird-suit’ causes the vision of seduction- the siren- to become ridiculous
and awkward.
Atwood resorts to flattery of her readers as an ironic device- to prove how hollow the action is and to
demonstrate her resentment at being thought of as merely a seductress instead of an intellect. She states,
“to you, only to you.” (20) The repetition of the word ‘you’ makes the reader feel awkwardly unimportant and
the reader begins to get a sense that they are being patronized.
Essentially, the first passage conveys a sense of machismo and hubris through imagery and a
grandios tone. This then becomes the motivation for the second poem which bitterly demonstrates these
falacious stereotypes.
B
Homer and Atwood present the complexity of the myth of the Sirens through different points of view,
with different tones, and telling imagery. Homer tells the story of a man clever enough to hear the Siren’s
song and not lose his life, while Atwood is a siren, a predator, waiting to trick men onto her island.
The tones of the passages are quite different. In both works, however, trickery and cleverness is
used. Odysseus escapes with his life, and the Siren wins, saying “Alas it is a boring song, but it works every
57
time.” The tone in Homer’s passage is strong and powerful blow with a sharp sword... Hellos’ burning
rays...ship were racing past”, are phrases used to illustrate this tone. However, as Homer’s tone has
masculine qualities, Atwood’s has feminine ones. Her tone is crafty, then pleading. “Come closer...help me!
Only you, only you can,” the siren screams, pleading for attention. These two passages are like two halves of
a whole. Odysseus is prey, trying frantically to escape death, while the Siren is a carnivorous predator,
singing for his supper. The tempo of the two passages is also quite different. Homer’s is quicker, like a
scurrying animal, while Atwood’s is deliberate. Atwood even uses punctuation to her advantage in the last
three stanzas. The last line of each stanza in broken, forcing the reader’s eye to the next stanza without
realizing the trickery. In the same way, the sirens lure men into their clutches, Homer splits his passage into
three sections according to the crews state: at first they are sailing, then preparing, and finally escaping.
The imagery in both passages is also quite different and revealing. Homer’s words are masculine,
powerful, and battle ready. He uses words like “sharp,” “strength”, “strong,” “hands,” “churned”, “racing”,
“sharp sword.” The imagery is that of a man who is not only sailing by the sirens but going to war with them.
Homer describes the Sirens’ song as “ravishing,” “high”, “thrilling”, and “urgent.” Their voices make
Odysseus’ heart throb and there almost is a sense of sensuality taken from this imagery. Atwood’s imagery
is far from masculine and less sexual. The words “bird suit” and “squatting” almost give the image of a
ridiculous situation. However, “feathery maniacs” and “fatal and valuable” give off a more serious image and
tone. The imagery makes the reader identify and feel pity for this poor siren, for she hates what she is. By
the end of her pleading, the reader has been sucked in, like the men who “leap overboard in squadrons”
mentioned in the first stanza. The poem begins seductively menacing, then becomes almost whiny and
innocent, and finally ends with the same grave and clever (fatal) tone.
These two passages each sing the song of opposing sides, yet they have much in common. They
both use trickery to escape or catch their kill, and they both are confident in their abilities except for equal
moments of weakness (Odysseus begging his men to untie him, siren not “enjoy (ing) either . . . I don’t enjoy
singing) in both passages. Yet the two songs are the natural songs of an animal and its hunter.
CC
Both Homer and Atwood portray the sirens in a similar manner. Their mutually unique methods
share common tone towards their subjects. Both authors portray to the reader the sirens as deceptive and
flattering.
Homer tells his story in first person through the eyes of Odysseus. His portrayal of the sirens is thus
subjected to the views of Odysseus’ character. The tone of the passage is fearful and suspenseful. We are
shown the fear of both Odysseus and his crew. Any force which instills the desire to be bound to a ship’s
mast for fear of its seducing nature is indeed a frightful idea. The passage is given a hint of suspense when
we are made to wonder what will become of Odysseus and his crew. Will the crew disobey his orders and
untie him? Their absolute fear of the situation is shown again with “they flung themselves at the oars and
rowed on harder.”
Homer shows the nature of the sirens through their song. His diction shows how they flatter
Odysseus. They call to him, describing the traits he aspires to the most. Those of the hero. They fall
“famous Odysseus” and dub him “Achaeus’ pride and glory,” and their song is “thrilling.” Who would not be
thrilled to be famous and all the rave in your homeland?
Atwood pains for us a similar portrait of the sirens. She too writes in the first person, but she takes
the role of a siren herself. By doing this, the poem become the siren’s song, making it aptly titled. Atwood
shows the siren’s trickery by not showing the audience that the sires is actually using its charming song until
its too late. She too flatters the listener with her diction. The word “you” is used often as though to ask for
help. She cries that “only you” can help, “only you...” and flatter, more by saying “you are unique.” By
making herself seem helpless, Atwood’s speaker seduces even more. The audience is made to feel sorry
for the siren. She is not evil just misunderstood. We should go to her and help her. Their in lies her trickery.
She uses her flattering diction to counter even you negative imagery (the fearful “beaches skull” even we are
made to ignore).
Both authors portray the sirens as fearful, yet seductive. To submit to their beautiful song is to die,
but who could resist? The mighty Odysseus even in not immune, and we the reader too are tricked, despite
how clever we are.
58
XX
Poems are often written as reflections. They can reflect ideas, occurrences, or even each other.
Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song” and part of Homer’s Odyssey both reflect on the song of the Sirens of Greek
mythology. However, the poems each approach their subject from different points of view and with different
tones and diction.
In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus molds wax with his hands “to seal [his men’s] ears.” He himself is
tied tightly down so will be physically unable to follow the Siren’s sweet voices. The men row on as
Odysseus is tortured by the song. Only after they are far past the Siren’s land can he be set free.
Conversely, in Atwood’s poem, the reader is asked if he or she would like to learn the song that no person
can resist. The reader asked, in exchange for hearing this sweet song, if he or she will set the speaker free.
He or she will be the only person to know the song, and although it is “boring”, “it works every time”.
The two poems tell a similar story, but from very different points of view. Homer’s poem is written if
third person. It tells the tale of Odysseus’ struggle against the temptation of the Sirens. The reader is not
drawn into the action, but merely an observer. However, Atwood’s poem draws the reader into the event. It is
written in first person, using pronouns such as “I” and “you”. This poem is asking the reader directly if they
will listen to the song. The speaker is a Siren attempting to lure another person into her world. The reader
feels more a part of the action and experiences some of the temptation Odysseus felt. Though, the poems
contain similar messages of temptations, Atwood’s poem is more effective because it draws the readers into
the action and portrays the Sirens as more devious creatures.
In addition to contrasting point of view, the two poems have different tones as well. Odyssey is
written in a more dramatic manner. The situation surrounding Odysseus’ resistance to the song is described.
Homer writes of “the Sirens [sensing] at once a ship...racing past and [bursting] into their high, thrilling song.”
Odysseus strains to bread free, but is held and forced to resist. The overall tone of Homer’s poem is very
dramatic. Conversely, Atwood’s poem is extremely mysterious. The song is described as “secret’. No one
knows the song “because anyone who has heard it / is dead, and the others can’t remember.” The poem is a
little elusive because the reader never knows what is going to happen. The tones of the two poems portray
the Sirens as dramatic in one version and extremely mysterious in the other.
As well as unique tones and points of view, Odyssey and “Siren Song” each employ unique diction.
Odyssey contains more imagery and descriptive words in portraying the Sirens. Their voices are described
as “honeyed voices pouring from [their] lips”. The words chosen by Homer are soft and flowing. As Odysseus
listens to the song, “the heart inside him throbbed to listen longer.” In “Siren Song”, Atwood uses contrasting
words to emphasize the power of the Sirens. The fifth stanza seems odd as it says, “I don’t enjoy it here...this
island looking picturesque and mythical.” Also, the reader is told he or she is unique multiple times, but the
last line states, “it works every time.” In Atwood’s poem, the Sirens are portrayed as confusing and
temptuous through these contrasting words.
Odyssey and “Siren Song” portray the Sirens differently through the use of unique point of view, tone
and diction.
Here are some prompts from past years that asked students to write about diction:
2000
Joseph Addison’s The Spectator (March 4, 1712): Analyze how the language of the passage characterizes the
diarist and his society and how the characterization serves Addison’s satiric purpose. Consider such elements as
selection of detail, repetition, and tone.
2008
Aran from Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting (1999): Analyze how the author uses such literary devices as speech
and point of view to characterize Aran’s experience.
Prompt: Read the following poem carefully, paying particular attention to the physical intensity of the language. Then
write a well-organized essay in which you explain how the poet conveys not just a literal description of picking
blackberries but a deeper understanding of the whole experience. You may wish to include analysis of such elements as
diction, imagery, metaphor, rhyme, rhythm, and form.
59
Attitude and Tone
DEFINITION: Tone is more than merely an author’s attitude toward his or her audience or
character(s); it is the stylistic means by which an author conveys his or her attitude(s) in a work of
literature. Tone is an integral part of a work’s meaning because it controls the reader’s response which
is essential to fully experiencing literature. In order to recognize tonal shift and to interpret the
complexities of tone, the reader must be able to make inferences based on an active, close reading of the
work.
Tone is the verbal stance the author assumes toward the reader and his subject as reflected in his
“voice.” It is the quality and choice of language and voice used to convey the speaker’s Attitude toward
the subject, character, or audience and is perceived through various methods and diction used to convey
the events of the work. In oral conversation the “tone of voice” may be determined by listening to the
words themselves, their inflection, modulation, denotation and connotation, pitch, stress, or other sound
regulators. However, since words on a page are flat, other methods of discernment must be employed.
Mood is the overall atmosphere of a work created by the speaker, the setting, the events, the character,
and/or the narrator.
Attitude is essentially the complex feeling the speaker holds toward the characters, events, or situation
he is relating to the reader. With few exceptions tone and attitude are usually the same.
Questions for ascertaining Attitude in a work of literature: To help in answering these questions, the
student might circle the words (especially adjectives, adverbs, and verbs) used in the passage, since
diction usually reflects attitude.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How does the author feel toward his subject? Remember most feelings are complex.
How does the author feel toward the characters? Himself?
How does the author feel about the events that occur?
Does the narrator feel the same as the author?
How do the characters feel about each other? The events? The setting? The subject?
A SELECTION OF TONE WORDS
Positive tone/attitude: lighthearted, hopeful, enthusiastic, confident, optimistic, loving,
passionate, amused, elated, sentimental, sympathetic,
compassionate, proud
Negative tone/attitude: angry, disgusted, outraged, accusing, inflammatory, irritated,
indignant, threatening
Irony/Sarcasm: sarcastic, cynical, critical, facetious, patronizing, satiric, mockheroic,
irreverent, mock-serious, taunting, ironic, flippant,
Sorrow/Fear/Worry: somber, elegiac, gloomy, melancholic, disturbed, mournful, solemn,
serious, apprehensive, concerned, hopeless, resigned
General/Organizational:formal, objective, nostalgic, ceremonial, candid, shocked,
60
reminiscent, restrained, clinical, baffled, sentimental, detached, objective, questioning,
urgent, instructive, matter-of-fact, learned, factual, didactic, informative, authoritative
EXERCISES: Read the passage and underline the words that reveal the attitude of the speaker toward the bats. Then
underline the words that reveal his feelings about humans. What inferences can you draw about the tone of the work as
a whole?
1.
Perhaps because bats are nocturnal in habit, a wealth of thoroughly unreliable legend has grown up about them,
and men have made of the harmless, even beneficial little beasts a means of expressing their unreasoned fears.
Bats were the standard of paraphernalia for witches; the female half of humanity stood in terror that bats would
become entangled in their hair. Phrases crept into the language expressing man’s revulsion or ignorance –
“bats in the belfry,” “batty,” “blind as a bat.” Franklin Folsom, “Life in Caves”
2.
It has been called the House of God. It has been called the High One. The Cold One. The White One. On
close acquaintance by climbers, it has been called a variety of names rather less printable. But to the world at
large it is Kilimanjaro, the apex of Africa and one of the great mountains on earth. Passage from James
Ramsey Ullman’s Kilimanjaro
3.
In the selection below, determine the words and phrases in the following passages that make you smile. What
figurative language does the author use to establish his attitude and tone? What is the author’s attitude towards
the male? The female?
The bowerbird is another creature that spends so much time courting the female that he never gets any work
done. If all the male bowerbirds became nervous wrecks within the next ten or fifteen years, it would not
surprise me. The female bowerbird insists that a playground be built for her with a specially constructed bower
at the entrance. This bower is much more elaborate than an ordinary nest and is harder to build; it costs a lot
more, too. The female will not come to the playground until the male has filled it up with a great many gifts:
silvery leaves, rose petals, shells, beads, berries, bones, dice, buttons, cigar bands, Christmas seals, and the
Lord knows what else. When the female finally condescends to visit the playground, she is in a coy and silly
mood and has to be chased in and out of the bower and up and down the playground before she will quit
giggling and stand still long enough to shake hands. The male bird is, of course, pretty well done in before the
chase starts, because he has worn himself out hunting for eyeglass lenses and begonia blossoms. I imagine that
many a bowerbird, after chasing a female for two or three hours, says the hell with it and goes home to bed.
Next day, of course, he telephones someone else, and the same trying ritual is gone through again. A male
bowerbird is as exhausted as a nightclub habitué is before he is out of his twenties. “Through the Ages” by
James Thurber
61
1996 Poem: “The Author to Her Book” (Anne Bradstreet)
Prompt: Read carefully the following poem by the colonial American poet, Anne Bradstreet. Then write a wellorganized essay in which you discuss how the poem’s controlling metaphor expresses the complex attitude of the
speaker.
The Author to Her Book by Anne Bradstreet
Thou ill-form’d offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth did’st by my side remain,
Till snatcht from thence by friends, less wise than true
Who thee abroad, expos’d to publick view;
Made thee in rags, halting to th’ press to trudge,
5
Where errors were not lessened (all may judge)
At thy return my blushing was not small,
My rambling brat (in print) should mother call,
I cast thee by as one unfit for light,
Thy visage was so irksome in my sight;
10
Yet being mine own, at length affection would
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could:
I wash’d thy face, but more defects I saw,
And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw.
I stretcht thy joints to make thee even feet,
15
Yet still thou run’st more hobbling than is meet;
In better dress to trim thee was my mind,
But nought save home-spun cloth, i’ th’ house I find.
In this array, ‘mongst vulgars mayst thou roam
In critics hands, beware thou dost not come;
And take thy way where yet thou art not known,
If for thy father askt, say, thou hadst none:
And for thy mother, she alas is poor,
Which caus’d her thus to send thee out of door.
62
20
ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION – Question
1Question 1 (Suggested time-40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.)
Read the following poem carefully. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze how the speaker uses the varied
imagery of the poem to reveal his attitude toward the nature of love.
The Broken Heart
He is stark mad, who ever says,
That he hath been in love an hour,
Yet not that love so soon decays,
But that it can ten in less space devour;
(5)
Who will believe me, if I swear
That I have had the plague a year?
Who would not laugh at me, if I should say,
I saw a flask of powder burn a day?
Ah, what a trifle is a heart,
(10)
If once into love's hands it come!
All other griefs allow a part
To other griefs, and ask themselves but some;
They come to us, but us Love draws,
He swallows us, and never chaws:l
15
By him, as by chain'd shot,2 whole ranks do die,
He is the tyrant pike, our hearts the fry.3
If 'twere not so, what did become
Of my heart, when I first saw thee?
I brought a heart into the room,
(20)
But from the room, I carried none with me:
If it had gone to thee, I know
Mine would have taught thine heart to show
More pity unto me: but Love, alas,
At one first blow did shiver it as glass.
(25)
Yet nothing can to nothing fall,
Nor any place be empty quite,
Therefore I think my breast hath all
Those pieces still. though they be not unite;
And now as broken glasses4 show
(30)
A hundred lesser faces, so
My rags of heart can like, wish, and adore,
But after one such love, can love no more.
-John Donne
l
63
chews
2
cannon balls chained together
3
small fish that the pike devours
4
mirrors
Copyright © 1995 College Entrance Examination Board and Educaliona1 Testing Service. All rights reserved.
Scoring Guide: AP English Literature and Composition, Question 1 (1995)
GENERAL DIRECTIONS: This scoring guide will be useful for most of the essays you read, but for cases in which it
seems problematic or inapplicable, please consult your Table Leader. The score you assign should reflect your
judgment of the quality of the essay as a whole. Reward the writers for what they do well. The score for an
exceptionally well-written essay 4 may be raised by one point from the score otherwise appropriate. In no case may a
poorly written essay be scored higher than 3.
9-8 These well-organized and well-written essays clearly demonstrate an understanding of how the speaker in "The
Broken Heart” uses varied imagery to convey his attitude toward the devastating nature of love. In their references,
they are apt and specific. Though not without flaws, these papers will "Offer a convincing interpretation of the poem,
as well as consistent control over the virtues of effective composition, including the language unique to the criticism of
poetry. They demonstrate the writers' ability to read perceptively and to write with clarity and sophistication.
7-6 These essays also demonstrate an understanding of Donne’s poem; but, compared to the best essays, they are less
thorough or less precise in their analysis of how the speaker uses imagery to convey attitude. In addition to minor flaws
in interpretation, their analysis is likely to be less well-supported and less incisive. While these essays demonstrate the
writers' ability to express ideas clearly, they do so with less mastery and control over the hallmarks of mature
composition than do papers ~in the 9-8 range.
5 While these essays deal with the assigned task without important errors, they have little to say beyond what is most
easy to grasp. Their analysis of how imagery conveys attitude may be vague. As exegesis, they deal with the poem in a
cursory way. Though the writing is sufficient to convey the writer's thoughts, these essays are typically pedestrian, not
as well conceived, organized or developed as upper-half papers. They may reveal simplistic thinking or immature
writing.
4-3 These lower-half essays often reflect an incomplete or oversimplified understanding of the poem. Typically, they
fail to respond adequately to part of the question. Their analysis may be weak, meager or irrelevant; the nature of love
may be ill-defined, the analysis inaccurate or unclear. The writing demonstrates uncertain control over the elements of
college-level composition. These essays usually contain recurrent stylistic flaws and/or misreadings, and they often lack
persuasive evidence from the text. Essays scored 3 exhibit more than one of the infelicities; they are marred by a
significant misinterpretation, insufficient development, or serious omissions.
2-1 These essays compound the weaknesses of the papers in the 4-3 range. They may seriously misread the poem.
Frequently, they are unacceptably brief. They are poorly written on several counts, and may contain many distracting
errors in grammar and mechanics. While some attempt may have been made to answer the question, the writer's
observations are presented with little clarity, organization, or supporting evidence. Essays that are especially inexact
vacuous, and/or mechanically unsound should be scored 1.
O This is a response with no more than a reference to the task.
-
64
Indicates a blank response, or is completely off-topic.
AP Literature and Composition 1995 - John Donne's "A Broken Heart”
A
In John Donne's "The Broken Heart" the poet is upset at the way his love has been treated and, as a result, uses
harsh, violent images in his description of love. Beginning with the first stanza, words like "starkmal," "devour,"
"plague" all convey negative images about love. Donne, because he has been hurt by love, compares it to a disease that
can quickly "devour" its prey. However, Donne has been so unfortunate in love that he was not able to catch the disease
and die quietly. Rather, as the poet says, "I have had the plague a year." For Donne, the disease was not quick and
decisive, but rather, it has smoldered in him for a year, like a "flash of powder" which takes a day to burn.
In the second stanza this down-hearted, negative imagery continues. Donne continues the idea that love is one
of the worst things that can happen. To him, the heart is insignificant and meaningless when it has fallen prey to love.
There are no mercies in "love's hands." He continues to say that all other griefs have something in common and that
they come to you because people bring them on themselves. But love, he implies, draws us in. It is a trap and it lures us
in only to dash us. Love is so quick it "swallows us," not bothering or needing to chew. Again, love has been
transformed into a ferocious quick animal, later equated to the "tyrant pike." Donne also uses war images of death and
destruction to continue the negative implication of love. Because of love, whole ranks do die.
In the next stanza, Donne presents that love is a merciless thief capable of remorseless destruction. He says that
he brought a heart into the room, or relationship, but that none emerged. Love stole his heart. And, as he continues on,
there was no pity for him in the hands of love. His heart was taken and shattered "as glass" by love. Again, these
negative images continue to express Donne's resentment towards love. He has had his heart broken by love and now
sees it in another light entirely.
In stanza five, Donne offers a muted sense of optimist. After discussing the complete destruction that love has
caused him, the critical change is made in the first line of this stanza. This turnaround lends some sense of optimism.
He suspects that there must be some scraps left, some rubble remaining from love's destruction. The image he presents
is that of a broken mirror reflecting "a hundred faces." He says he is able to "like, wish, and adore," but he is not able to
love anymore. This final image seems to portray the power and influence of love. He implies that the hundred pieces
left over are more equal than the one piece present before love. He implies that although it takes a lot to "like, wish, and
adore," it takes immensely more to love. Also wrapped up in these implications is the idea that love is allencompassing. He says that you can love but once, because love will destroy you afterwards. It is ironic that in this
final stanza Donne offers some hope, some optimism, yet the idea of "destructive" love is still powerful and present.
The image it leaves is that love is an all-encompassing, destructive force. Although at the end, the ideas of death,
disease, and predation have faded, love is still a destructive force which he views with quiet resignation.
C
Love is the single most celebrated human emotion. A vast body of literature examines its nuances and explores
its meanings. Typically, poets and authors champion love's myriad virtues. It is a salve for the wounded and a boon for
the whole, a founder of relationships and a builder of unity. John Donne sees love differently, however, and departs
from his literary comrades in his powerful description of love as the destroyer of his heart.
The poem's first verse addresses the duration of love. Donne opens by offering the impression that passion varies in
length, although he states that the general perception of love is that it is a short term affair. He queries, 'Who will
believe me, if I swear That I have had the plague a year?" The line informs the reader that Donne is operating from
personal experience and at the same time casts a negative light on love, which Donne calls the plague. The same
combination of testimony about the existence of a long love coupled with a negative connotation of the emotion is
found in the next line which reads, 'Who would not laugh at me, if I should say,/1 saw a flash of powder burn a day?"
The striking image is of love as a flash of powder. Donne's' image presses the issue of the abnormality of a long love,
since love is generally explosive like the keg of powder would logically be. At the same time, the powder image
contributes to love's falling reputation in the poem. A barrel of powder conjures thoughts of war and destruction, and
by using it as a symbol of love Donne associates passion and feeling with the powder's destructive capacity.
The second verse carries over the idea of love's ability to damage and destroy. Donne personifies love and
draws the mental picture of it grasping a heart in the lines, "Ah, what a trifle is a heart, / 1f once into love's hands it
come!" The idea that love has the power to grasp and hold the human heart, symbolic of man's capacity for emotion,
reinforces Donne's point of love as a negative force. The poet mentions the griefs associated with love and then
proceeds to weave several disturbing images together, stating, "By him, as by chain'd shot, whole ranks do die, / He is
65
the tyrant pike, our hearts the fry." He is in love, and his ability to lay waste to the hearts of men is directly stated
through Donne's image of carnage and slaughter. As the pike image suggests, Donne believes that love is a predator
ready and willing to devour the defenseless human heart.
The third verse moves from the realm of generalization into the field of personal experience. The poet
rhetorically asks, "If 'twer not so, what did become, / Of my heart, when I first saw thee?" The line establishes the verse
as the relation of a specific event. Donne simply evokes the image of a man walking into a room with a heart and
leaving without it in the lines, "I brought a heart into the room, 1 But from the room, I carried none with me." Once
again, Donne is arguing his main point, this time through personal experience. Explaining the loss of his heart, he says,
"More pity unto me till Love, alas / At one blow did shrive it as glass." No frail heart can withstand the explosive
power of love.
The results of love's deprivation is the subject of the last verse. Donne utilizes the entire verse to express the
shattered feeling he has experienced. He says of his heart, "Therefore I think my heart hath all / Those pieces still,
though they be not unite." The eventual result of his experience was, as the poem's name implies, a broken heart. His
experience led to pain and suffering, not joy and happiness. As he states, "My rags of heart can like, wish, and adore, /
But after one such love, can love no more," meaning that once true love has been experienced, it will not be experienced
again. After the powder keg has exploded, all that is left to do is pick up the pieces and remember the heart of the
passionate inferno.
D
The poem The Broken Heart is rich in imagery that explains the mystery of who and what love is. Through
this poem Donne shows us that the power of love causes our decay by devouring our hearts, leaving us in shambles, the
ability to love lost forever.
The first indication of the immense nature of love is found by the connotations that the imagery brings. The
heart is weak in comparison to love -"he hath been in love an hour, Yet not that love so soon decays" -clearly love
withstands our heart, and can devour 10 of us -10 of our hearts in less time than an hour. The meanings brought by
connotation are profound. The heart is a mere trifle in the hands of love. The word, trifle, is our second indication that
as "yet not love . . .decays" and "devours" were the first, that in comparison to love our heart is just a trifle -on the
fringe of the unimportant, that to love, the core in your being is nothing. The third indication is seen by the mere
denotation of "swallowing - never even stopping to chew" - and then by the astonishing connotation of "our hearts the
fry" we see what love does to us -greedily without a thought to what our heart was to us, devouring our hearts, the prey.
The imagery is great, the meanings are of ultimate magnitude of how love is seen by mere images. And as the persona
realizes in line 23 that love will not pity (his) heart but instead seems to spit it back into his chest, broken like a
shattered mirror, a hundred pieces of insignificant matter that love, after breaking it, put the heart back in disarray and
rags. And so we see what the nature of love really is, through profound imagery. What we find is a heart seeing love
and love glancing at it, devours it as a mere trifle, only to have the heart returned in pieces, only able to wish, like and
adore, love keeping the hearts ability to love. Therefore love's true nature is revealed.
E
Poetic imagery, in its various forms can often express a stronger message than more explanatory sentences
filled with adjectives and nouns. In "The Broken Heart" John Donne uses rich examples of imagery to depict his view of
love as wild, powerful, uncontrollable, and emotionally draining.
Feral aspects of human nature are often expressed through literary devices exploring the primitive, or animallike state of man. In this poem, Donne draws upon pseudo-bestial imagery to illustrate love's wild nature. For example,
the comparison of love to a "tyrant pike" and of man's heart as a "fry" indicates the duality between natural order and
the nature of love: there are predators (love) and there is prey (man's heart). This image, when read on a deeper level
also exemplifies man's inability to resist love. Animal imagery, while sometimes brutal, is an excellent vehicle to
convey the raw power of love. Furthermore, the reference to love that "swallows us and never chaws" is reminiscent of
a predator eating its pretty, with one key difference: love is somewhat kinder in that it does not chew (physically
deform) man. These extended animal-related images throughout the poem convey the primitive, brutal nature of love.
Another aspect of love discussed implicitly through Donne's imagery is love's uncontrollable, unyielding
power. In the first line of the poem, a man in love (supposedly) is decried as "stark mad". This shocking image appeals
to the reader's emotions and helps prepare him for the imagery that is to come. In a circumlocutory manner, Donne
likens love to a "flask of [gun] powder." However, the powder's explosion, normally only a fraction of a second, lasts
66
for "a day." This extended metaphor demonstrates that love is as powerful as a fiery explosion, and that it is a longlived emotion as well. The thought of an extended explosion (the heat, the flames, the sparks) truly give the reader a
sense of the immense power of love. Furthermore, it is implied that love has the power to rip the heart from a man's
chest (as implied in lines 19-20). The shocking image of a heartless man is a testament to love's immense power. The
extended metaphor of love and gunpowder is reintroduced in the second stanza. Here however, the powerful explosion
of love causes "whole ranks to die." This somewhat brutal, if not melodramatic, image ultimately shows love's symbolic
power to rend the hearts of men. There is a certain reverence in Donne's tone as he speaks of love's vast power over
man.
Lastly, Donne paints a draining picture of love with vivid imagery and metaphorical allusions to "glasses
(mirrors). Love's ability to break a heart to "rags" and "pieces" has the potential to emotionally destroy a man. As
Donne speaks of how after "one such love, [ one] can love no more," he seems emotionally drained, and speaks as
though he has resigned himself to the power of true love. This reverence comes from the acknowledgement that man is
at love's mercy and the realization that man has no recourse but to try to cope with the self "pity" and sorrow often
brought on by love. Though Donne uses many varied forms of imagery throughout the poem to
express his perception of love, the constant is that the absoluteness, ultimate power, and sometimes brutal nature of love
must simply be accepted with respect and resignation. The overwhelming capacity of love to affect a person leaves man
powerless to try to fight his own emotions.
Here are prompts that ask students to write about tone and/or attitude:
1979 Poems: “Spring And All” (William Carlos Williams) and “For Jane Meyers” (Louise Gluck)
Prompt: Read the two poems carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you show how the attitudes
towards the coming of spring implied in these two poems differ from each other. Support your statements with specific
references to the texts.
1980 Poem “One Art” (Elizabeth Bishop)
Prompt: Write an essay in which you describe how the speaker’s attitude toward loss in lines 16-19 is related to her
attitude toward loss in lines 1-15. Using specific references to the text, show how verse form and language contribute to
the reader’s understanding of these attitudes.
1985 Poems: “There Was A Boy” (William Wordsworth) and “The Most of It” (Robert Frost)
Prompt: Write an essay in which you describe the speaker’s attitude toward the woman’s death. Using specific references
from the text, show how the use of language reveals the speaker’s attitude.
1995 Poem: “The Broken Heart” (John Donne)
Prompt: Read the following poem carefully. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze how the speaker uses the varied
imagery of the poem to reveal his attitude toward the nature of love.
2002 Poem: “The Convergence of the Twain” (Thomas Hardy)
Prompt: Read the following poem carefully. Then, taking into consideration the title of the poem, analyze how the poetic
devices convey the speaker’s attitude toward the sinking of the ship.
2012 Poem: “Thou Blind Man’s Mark” (Sir Philip Sidney)
Prompt: In the following poem by Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586), the speaker addresses the subject of desire. Read the
poem carefully. Then write a well-developed essay in which you analyze how poetic devices help to convey the
speaker’s complex attitude toward desire.
67
ARCHETYPES IN LITERATURE
An archetype is a symbol, story, pattern, or character type that recurs frequently in literature and
evokes strong, often unconscious, associations in the reader. For example, the wicked witch and
the enchanted prince are character types widely dispersed through folk tales and literature. The
story of a hero who undertakes a dangerous quest, as in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a
recurrent story pattern.
Situation Archetypes
 The Quest — This motif describes the search for someone or some talisman which, when
found and brought back, will restore fertility to a wasted land, the desolation of which is
mirrored by a leader's illness and disability. (The Lion King. Idylls of the King)
 The Task - To save the kingdom, the win the fair lady, to identify himself so that he may
reassume his rightful position, the hero must perform some nearly superhuman deed. This is
NOT the same as the quest; it is a function of the ultimate goal. (Arthur pulls Excalibur from
the stone, Grendel is slain by Beowulf)
 The Journey - The journey sends the hero in search for some truth or information necessary
to restore fertility to the kingdom. Usually the hero descends into a real or psychological hell
and is forced to discover the blackest truths, quite often concerning his faults. Once the hero is
at this lowest point, he must accept personal responsibility to return to the world of the living.
A second use of this pattern is the depiction of a limited number of travelers on a sea voyage,
bus ride, or any other trip for the purpose of isolating them and using them as microcosm of
society. (The
Canterbury Tales. The Odyssey).
 The Initiation - This rite usually takes the form of an initiation into adult life. The adolescent
comes into his/her maturity with new awareness and problems, along with new hope for the
community. This awakening is often the climax of the story. (Huckleberry Finn. King Arthur).
 The Fall - This archetype describes a descent from a higher to a lower state of being. The
experience involves a defilement and/or loss of innocence and bliss. The fall is often
accompanied by expulsion from a kind of paradise as penalty for disobedience and moral
transgression. (Adam and Eve, Lancelot and Guinevere).
 Death and Rebirth - The most common of all situational archetypes, this motif grows out of
the parallel between the cycle of nature and the cycle of life. Thus, morning and springtime
represent birth, youth, or rebirth, while evening and winter suggest old age or death.
 Nature vs. Mechanistic World - Nature is good, while technology and society are often evil
/Mad Max, The Terminator
 The Battle between Good and Evil - Obviously the battle between two primal forces; Mankind
shows eternal optimism in the continual portrayal of good triumphing over evil despite great
odds. (Any western, Satan and God in Paradise Lost).
68
 The Unhealable Wound - This wound is either physical or psychological and cannot be healed
fully. This wound also indicates a loss of innocence. These wounds always ache and often
drive the sufferer to desperate measures. (Lancelot's madness, Scar's envy)
 The Ritual — The actual ceremonies the initiate experiences that will mark his rite of passage
into another state. The importance of ritual rites cannot be over stressed as they provide a
clear signpost for the character's role in society as well as our own position in the world.
(Weddings, baptisms, coronation.
 The Magic Weapon — This symbolizes the extraordinary quality of the hero because no one
else can wield the weapon or use it to its full potential. (Excalibur, Odysseus's bow, Thor's
banner)
Symbolic Archetypes
 Light vs. Darkness - Light usually suggests hope, renewal, or intellectual illumination.
Darkness implies the unknown, ignorance, despair, or evil.
 Water vs. Desert - Because water is necessary to life and growth, it commonly appears as
a birth or rebirth symbol. Water is used in baptismal services, which solemnizes spiritual
births. Similarly, the appearance of rain in a work of literature can suggest a character's
spiritual birth. Desert, in turn, implies the death of a soul and spirituality. (The sea and river
images in The Odyssey.)
 Heaven vs. Hell - Man has traditionally associated parts of the universe not accessible to
him with the dwelling places of the primordial forces that govern his world. The skies and
mountaintops house his gods; the bowels of the earth contain the diabolic forces that inhabit
the universe. (Dante's Inferno. The Divine Comedy)
 Innate Wisdom vs. Educated Stupidity - Some characters exhibit wisdom and
understanding at situations instinctively as opposed to those supposedly in charge. Loyal
retainers often exhibit this wisdom when they accompany the hero on the journey. (Animals,
Sam in The Lord of the Rings).
 Haven vs. Wilderness - Places of safety contrast sharply against the dangerous wilderness.
Heroes are often sheltered for a time to regain health and resources. (The Batcave, Camelot).
 Supernatural Intervention — The gods intervene on the side of the hero and sometimes
against him. (The Bible. The Odyssey)
 Fire vs. Ice - Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth, while ice represents
ignorance, darkness, sterility, and death. (Dante's Inferno, the phoenix).
69
Character Archetypes
 The Hero - This archetype is so well-defined that the life of the protagonist can be clearly
divided into a series of well-marked adventures which strongly suggest a ritualistic pattern.
Traditionally, the herd's mother is a virgin, the circumstances of this conception are unusual,
and, at birth, some attempt is made to kill him. He is, however, spirited away and reared by
foster parents. We know almost nothing of his childhood, but, upon reaching manhood, he
returns to his future kingdom. After a victory over the king or a wild beast, he marries a
princess, becomes king, reigns uneventfully, but later loses favor with the gods. He is then
driven from the city after which he meets a mysterious death, often at the top of a hill. His
body is not buried, but nevertheless, he has one or more holy sepulchers. Characters who
exemplify this archetype to a greater or lesser extent are Oedipus, Jason, Dionysus, Joseph,
Moses, Jesus, Arthur, Robin Hood, and Beowulf.
 The Young Man from the Provinces - This hero is spirited away as a young man and
raised by strangers. He later returns to his home and heritage where he is a stranger who
can see new problems and new solutions. (Tarzan, Arthur, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz).
 The Initiates - These are young heroes or heroines who, prior to their quest, must endure
some training and ceremony. They are usually innocent and often wear white. (Daniel from
The Karate Kid. Luke Skywalker)
 Mentors — These individuals serve as teachers or counselors to the initiates. Sometimes they
work as role models and often serve as a father or mother figure.(Merlin, Raffiki)
 Hunting Group of Companions - Loyal companions willing to face any number of perils in
order to-be together. (Robin Hood and his Merry Men, The Knights of the Round Table).
 Loyal Retainers — These individuals are somewhat like servants who are heroic themselves.
Their duty is to protect the hero and reflect the nobility of the hero. (Sam in The Lord of the
Flies. Watson to Sherlock Holmes).
 Friendly Beast - This character shows nature on the side of the hero. (Lassie, Toto, Trigger).
 The Devil Figure — Evil incarnate, this character offers worldly goods, fame, or knowledge to
the protagonist in exchange for possession of the soul. (Satan, Lucifer, Hitler).
 The Evil Figure with the Ultimate Good Heart ~ A redeemable devil figure saved by the
nobility or love of the hero. (Green Knight, Scrooge).
 The Scapegoat - An animal or more usually a human whose death in a public ceremony
expiates some taint or sin that has been visited upon the community. Their death often makes
them a more powerful force in the society than when they lived. (Oedipus, Jews in the
Holocaust)
 The Outcast — A figure who is banished from a social group for some crime {real or
imagined) against his fellow man. The outcast is usually destined to become a wanderer
from place to place, (cowboys, Cain, Timone and Pumba).
70
 The Creature of Nightmare — A monster usually summoned from the deepest, darkest part
of the human psyche to threaten the desecration of the human body. (Werewolves, vampires,
Frankenstein).
 The Woman Figure
71
o
The Earth Mother - Symbolic of fruition, abundance, and fertility, this character
traditionally offers spiritual and emotional nourishment to those with whom she comes in
contact. She is often depicted in earth colors and has large breasts
and hips, symbolic
of her childbearing capabilities. (Mother Nature, Mammy in Gone with the Wind).
o
The Temptress - Characterized by her beauty, this woman is one to whom the protagonist
is physically attracted and who ultimately brings about his downfall. (Delilah, Cleopatra).
o
The Platonic Ideal — This woman is a source of inspiration and a spiritual ideal, for whom
the protagonist or author has an intellectual rather than a physical attraction. (Dante's
Beatrice, Petrarch's Laura).
o
The Unfaithful Wife — A woman married to a man who she sees as dull or distant and is
attracted to a more virile or interesting man. (Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina).
o
The Damsel in Distress — The vulnerable woman who must be rescued by the hero, she
often is used as a trap to ensnare the unsuspecting hero. (Guinevere, Snow White,
Sleeping Beauty).
o
The Star-Crossed Lovers - These two characters are engaged in a love affair that is
fated to end tragically for one or both of them due to the disapproval of society, family,
friends, or some tragic situation. (Romeo and Juliet, the Titanic lovers).
Satire, like any other form of the double-edged sword of criticism, may surely cut, but may also have a
therapeutic effect. It certainly can abuse, insult, or even ridicule, but it can, with just as much certainty, wash and
cleanse. It does not treat humans and their mistakes or follies with beneficent understanding, since the satirist’s major
justification for his savage art lies in his belief in its necessity in a world constantly threatened by vulgarity, vice, pride,
folly, and other assorted evils created and perpetuated by man himself. Satire then is a technique that blends a
censorious attitude with humor and wit for the purpose of improving human institutions or humanity. It is best
approached in terms of point of view rather than subject or form. It is often the tone of the literature that determines
whether or not the work may be correctly labeled as satire. The purpose of satire is to trivialize, emphasize, or
maximize the impact of a statement. Satirists attempt through laughter and gentle prodding not so much to tear down
as to inspire remodeling.
If the Greeks, with such men as Archilochus and Aristophanes, experimented with literary satire, it was in
Rome that the art was perfected at the hands of Horace and Juvenal whose works directly influenced the development of
satire in the western world. Formal satire then may be divided into two major categories; each named for its
distinguished practitioners. The easiest way to differentiate between the two is through an examination of tone.
HORACE (b. 65 B.C., d. 8 B.C.) followed Lucilius in using hexameters to ridicule folly and bad taste. His
work was humorous and urbane discussing the foibles and vices of mankind. He was known for his ability “to tell the
truth with a smile,” and his work tended to make gentle comments of the failings of mankind, rather than dealing with
these faults with malice.
Horatian satire is characterized by a cheerful, urbane, “tongue-in-cheek” tone. The writer of Horatian satire
attempts to make readers smile at the foibles committed by the individuals under attack. He does not anger his readers
nor make them feel moral indignation; he aims to correct by employing broadly sympathetic laughter.
Juvenal (b. A.D. 60-70) published his 16 Satires in five books. His poetry has none of the gentle humor of
Horace and Lucilius, but is notable for bitter ironical humor, power of invective, grim epigram, sympathy with the poor
and narrow-minded pessimism, whilst he attacks the rich and condemns the female sex. His linguistic register alternates
violently between the elevated and the low.
Juvenalian satire exhibits a cutting, biting, bitter, and angry tone. This form of satire does not attempt to cheer
or amuse the audience. It points with contempt and indignation to the corruption of human beings and institutions and
strives to produce in the reader both contempt and moral indignation. Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal” is a classic
example of formal, Juvenalian satire.
Other methods of classifying satire might be to divide it according to whether it is formal and direct or
informal and indirect. That which is formal and direct occurs when the satiric voice speaks in first person such as in
Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” The second informal and indirect occurs when the characters themselves reveal their
folly and ridiculousness through their own actions, words, and thoughts. The best examples of this classification are
found in drama. Shaw, Moliere, Ben Johnson, and Noel Coward, to name the more famous, have fully exercised their
satiric wit upon the stage. For centuries satire was reserved for expression in long poems such as Pope's “The Rape of
the Lock.” But Dryden, Swift, Pope, Addison, and Steel used both formal and informal essay for satiric purposes.
Magazines such as The New Yorker, The Modern Humorist, and The Onion are excellent sources for satire. The films
Bride and Prejudice, and Shaun of the Dead make satiric comments on The Colbert Report, The Big Bang Theory, The
Daily Show, and Mad TV are satires on modern behavior. Magazines such as Mad and comic strips like “Pogo,” “Non
Sequitor,” and “B.C” are all suitable instruments for commenting upon human follies and affairs. Satire is at home in
any genre and adaptable to any medium and may be found in poetry, drama, short stories, novels, newspaper editorials,
cartoons, art, films, and conversation. Therefore, satire may best be described as a manner of expression and, in fact,
may frequently be an incidental element in many works of art and is most frequently combined with irony.
72
Some Specific Kinds of Satire:
Caricature, Parody, Farce, Cartoon, Fable, Lampoon, Sarcasm, Irony
A parody is also called a spoof, and is used to make fun or mock someone or something by imitating them in a funny or
satirical way. Parody is found in literature, movies, and song.
A good example or a parody is the song “Girls Just Want to Have Lunch” by Weird Al Yankovic, which is a parody of
the song “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper. Following is an excerpt of Al’s song:
Some girls like to buy new shoes
And others like drivin' trucks and wearing tattoos
There's only one thing that they all like a bunch
Oh, girls, they want to have lunch...
I know how to keep a woman satisfied
When I whip out my Diner's Card their eyes get so wide
They're always in the mood for something to munch
Oh, girls, they want to have lunch...
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is a sharp or cutting statement like a taunt or jibe, meant to really drive a point home. It can be meant to give
pain and can include irony. On the other hand, sometimes you can make a point and still be funny. Here are some
examples of sarcasm that are humorous, but still get their meaning across.

Paul Newman said, “It's always darkest before it turns absolutely pitch black.”

Steven Bishop remarked, “It's a catastrophic success” and “I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like
having you here.”

Oscar Wilde wrote, “I am not young enough to know everything.”
Grouch Marx used many sarcastic one-liners in his comedy. Here are a few:

“Marriage is the chief cause of divorce.”

“I didn't like the play, but then I saw it under adverse conditions - the curtain was up.”

“I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception.”
Author: Christy Rakoczy
EXERCISES:
In all exercises below analyze the use of satire by asking these three questions: 1) What is the author
satirizing and what kind of satire is it? 2) What methods –sarcasm, irony, allegory, humor, exaggeration,
understatement, imagery (visual, sensory), pun, allusion, language, punctuation, distortion, verisimilitude, etc. –
help him accomplish the satire: and 3) What is the dominant tone – grim, cheerful, sardonic, optimistic, mock
serious? And 4) What is the purpose and effect of the satire?
Exercise 1: “Seven Percent of World’s Resources Still Unconsumed” – The Onion
A report released Monday by the U.S. Department of the Interior indicates that 7 percent of the natural
resources that existed before the dawn of the Industrial Age still remain unconsumed.
73
“The global environmental crisis has been greatly exaggerated, as there are still plenty of resources to go
around.” Deputy Secretary of the Interior Russell Kohl said, “In addition to more than 30 tons of fossil fuel, the planet
still has literally hundreds of acres of tropical rain forest.”
Exxon celebrated the announcement by spilling the contents of a supertanker.
Exercise 2:
How come when I’m standing in front of a full-length mirror with nothing on but socks, white socks look OK,
but dark colored socks make me look cheap and sleazy?” This letter was passed along to me by my Research
Department, Judi Smith, who attached a yellow stick-on-note that says: “This is true.” Judi did not say how she
happens to know it’s true; apparently – and I’m sure there’s a perfectly innocent explanation – she has seen John Cog of
Norfolk, Va., wearing nothing but socks.
But the point is that dark socks, as a lone fashion accessory, create a poor impression. This is a known fact that
has been verified in scientific experiments wherein fashion researchers put little white socks on one set of naked
laboratory rats, and dark socks on another, then exposed both groups to a panel of leading business executives such as
Bill Gates, who indicated that they would be “somewhat more likely” to hire from the white-sock group, should their
personnel needs ever include a rat. What this means, men, is that if you’re dressing for an important job interview,
church supper, meeting with my Research Department or other occasion where you could wind up wearing nothing but
socks, they should be white.”
Exercise 3: In the following passage analyze how Governor Stevenson uses satire, his tone, and his purpose in his
attempt to persuade his audience.
I herewith return, without my approval, Senate Bill No. 93 entitled “An Act to Provide Protection to
Insectivorous Birds by Restraining Cats.” This is the so-call “Cat Bill.” I veto and withhold my approval from this bill
for the following reasons:
It would impose fines on owners or keepers who permitted their cats to run at large off their premises. It
would permit any person to capture, or call upon the police to pick up and imprison, cats at large. It would permit the
use of traps. The bill would have statewide application—on farms, in villages, and in metropolitan centers.
This legislation has been introduced in the past several sessions of the Legislature, and it has, over the years,
been the source of much comment—not all of which has been in a serious vein. It may be that the General Assembly
has now seen fit to refer it to one who can view it with a fresh outlook. Whatever the reasons for passage at this session,
I cannot believe there is a widespread public demand for this law or that it could, as a practical matter, be enforced.
Furthermore, I cannot agree that it should be the declared public policy of Illinois that a cat visiting a
neighbor’s yard or crossing the highway is a public nuisance. It is the nature of cats to do a certain amount of
unescorted roaming. Many live with their owners in apartments or other restricted premises, and I doubt if we want to
make their every brief foray an opportunity for a small game hunt by zealous citizens—with traps or otherwise. I am
afraid this bill could only create discord, recrimination and enmity. Also consider the owner’s dilemma: To escort a cat
abroad on a leash is against the nature of the cat, and to permit it to venture forth for exercise unattended into a night of
new dangers is against the nature of the owner. Moreover, cats perform useful service, particularly in rural areas, in
combating rodents—work they necessarily perform alone and without regard for property lines.
We are all interested in protecting certain varieties of birds. That cats destroy some birds, I well know, but I
believe this legislation would further but little the worthy cause to which its proponents give such unselfish effort. The
problem of the cat versus bird is as old as time. If we attempt to resolve it by legislation who knows but what we may
be called upon to take sides as well in the age-old problems of dog versus cat, cat versus bird, or even bird versus worm.
In my opinion, the State of Illinois and its local governing bodies already have enough to do without trying to control
feline delinquency.
For these reasons, and not because I love birds the less or cats the more, I veto and withhold my approval from
Senate Bill No. 93.
Respectfully,
Adlai E. Stevenson, Governor
74
It’s high time we stop the shabby treatment of
big-time athletes and show a little respect.
How disgraceful that Americans overpay schoolteachers, glorify social workers, and lavish attention on stayat-home mothers while giving scant money, publicity or deference to the people who really deserve it – namely, our
Super Bowl champions. “Disrespect was the theme of the Rams’ camp this year,” reports the Associated Press. Ask
any player and he’ll say the team was ignored in the off-season.”
“There’s a certain amount of disrespect,” agrees rookie Rams coach Mike Martz, inexplicably bereft of a book
contract or genius grant. Says The Kansas City Star of this veneration vacuum: “You could call it disrespect.”
Damn right its disrespect, and the Rams aren’t the only ones getting dissed this year. “I deserve a lot more
respect than I’m getting,” says unsigned Heat guard Tim Hardaway, who was paid $4.8 million last season. “I’ve got to
look out for Tim Hardaway’s family.”
The truth is, we don’t properly esteem any of our top athletes. College football champ Florida State? “Florida
State bears a grudge of disrespect,” notes The Salt Lake Tribune. “The [preseason] polls relegated the Seminoles to the
lowly spot of No. 2.” Runner-up Virginia Tech? “The critics,” reports The Boston Globe, “disrespected them.” Ninthranked Florida? “It’s disrespect to us as a whole,” says senior Alex Willis, referring to the Gators’ unjustly unheralded
wide receiver corps.
When will we, as Americans, stop fawning over doctors and nurses and recognize the vital contributions of the
Illinois defense? (“Senior linebacker Michael Young,” reports the Daily Illini, “said the defense will make the best of
the disrespect.”) When will this nation stop glamorizing engineers and start appreciating the New Mexico offense? (All
that disrespect,” says Lobos tackle Jon Samuelson,” is a challenge to us.”) Why won’t a single magazine, television
network or sneaker company acknowledge the athletic skills of Raptors swingman Vince Carter and fill the hole in his
self-esteem that evidently opened when he was – according to an article last week in The Toronto Star – “disrespected
by members of [Tracy] McGrady’s family and entourage . . . “?
Society has come to a sorry pass when an NBA All-Star is not given props by his own cousin’s entourage. But
that’s hardly surprising, because nobody in North America believes in, roots for or supports our elite athletes, save elite
athletes. “Nobody thought we could do it last year,” says Rams defensive tackle Nate Hobgood-Chittick of the NFL
title. “But we just believed in ourselves.”
“Nobody thought we could do it,” said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, of winning the Super Bowl (which they barely
lost). “[But] we thought we could.”
Yet, these proud warriors, surrounded by no-men and ill-wishers, constantly prove us wrong. They’re the
Little Engines That Could. “Nobody gave us a chance to be where we are at this point,” Rockies reliever Gabe White
said when Colorado miraculously occupied first place 12 weeks into this season.
“Nobody gave us a chance to do much of anything,” said Karl Malone, whose Jazz didn’t do much of anything
in the NBA playoffs, but that misses the point. The point is this: You must respect a man of Karl Malone’s stature.
When 40-year old Tim Raines, cut last month from the U.S. Olympic baseball team, said, “a man of my stature”
deserved better treatment, I was struck again by how shabbily we treat pro athletes, and a wave of shame wa shed over
me.
Americans now spend so much time doting on scientists, spoiling soldiers, and kissing the pampered fannies of
the layabout middle class that we’ve forgotten those people, invisible and largely unrewarded, who do the important
work of society: People such as Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, who was, The Denver Post reported last week,
“frequently and roughly disrespected all last year.” We’re better than this, America. If you see Tim Hardaway on the
street – walking with Tim Hardaway’s family – salute him, salaam him, show him some respect.
75
76
2003 AP ENGLISH LITERATURE SCORING GUIDELINE
Question2: Mavis Gallant's "The Other Paris"
General Directions: This scoring guide will be useful for most of the essays that you read, but in problematic cases,
please consult your table leader. The score that you assign should reflect your judgment of the quality of the essay as a
whole-its content, its style, its mechanics. Reward the writers for what they do well. The score for an exceptionally
well-written essay may be raised by one point above the otherwise appropriate score. In no case may a poorly written
essay be scored higher than a three (3).
9-8
These well-focused essays offer a persuasive interpretation of how Mavis Gallant uses narrative voice and
characterization to provide social commentary about love and marriage. Specifically, these writers explore the nature of
Gallant's narrative voice and her use of characterization. These essays make apt and specific references to the passage
itself. Although these essays may not be error -free, they are perceptive in their analysis. They demonstrate writing that
is clear, precise, and effective. Generally, the nine (9) essays reveal a more sophisticated analysis and a more effective
control of language than do essays scored an eight (8).
7-6 These competent essays offer a reasonable interpretation of how Gallant creates social commentary through the use
of narrative voice and characterization. Although not as convincing or as thoroughly developed as those papers in the
highest range, they demonstrate the writer's ability to express ideas with clarity, insight, and control. Generally, the
seven (7) essays present a more developed analysis and a more consistent command of the elements of effective
composition than do essays scored a six {6).
5
These essays tend to be simplistic in their analysis of how narrative voice and characterization are used to
create social commentary. They often rely on paraphrase, but the paraphrase will exhibit some plausible analysis,
implicit or explicit. The discussion of narrative voice and characterization may be slight and/or confusing; it may not
have coherent explication of how those literary devices are used by the author as the basis for the social commentary.
These writers demonstrate control of language, but the writing may be flawed by surface errors that do not create
confusion for the reader. These essays are not as well conceived, organized, or developed as 7-6 papers.
4-3
These lower half essays offer a less than thorough understanding of the task or less than adequate treatment of
how the devices of narrative voice and characterization provide for social commentary. The analysis of the devices may
be only partial, unconvincing, or irrelevant and/or may rely on paraphrase only. The essays may demonstrate
misunderstanding of some aspect of the passage. The writing often demonstrates a lack of control over the conventions
of composition: inadequate development of ideas, an accumulation of errors, or a focus that is unclear, inconsistent, or
repetitive. Essays scored a three (3) may contain significant misreadings and/or distracting errors in grammar and
mechanics.
2-1
These essays compound the weaknesses of the papers in the 4-3 range. They may seriously misread the
passage, may be unacceptably brief, or may be incoherent. They may contain pervasive errors that interfere with
understanding. Although some attempt has been made to respond to the question, the writer's assertions are presented
with little clarity, organization, or support from the passage itself Essays scored a one (1) contain little coherent
discussion of the passage. Especially inept, vacuous, and/or unsound essays must be scored a one (1).
O
77
These essays make no more than a reference to the task.
These essays are either left blank or are completely off-topic.
__
Question #2 Mavis Gallant's "The Other Paris"
Sample JJJ
In the excerpt from "The Other Paris” Mavis Gallant presents the characters of Carol and Howard Mitchell.
Throughout the excerpt, their forced decision of marriage is explain by the narrator. Through narrative voice and
characterization, the author provides social commentary in the excerpt. The narrator in the excerpt from "The Other
Paris” uses a certain voice in order to show the character’s positions. The diction used by the narrator is simple and
concrete throughout the entire passage to give it a personal tone. Through the voice the narrator uses the conflict in the
characters becomes evident as personal from society. The narrator's personal tone helps the reader to understand the
social concerns of the characters.
The author also uses characterization in the excerpt to create social commentary. From the beginning of the
passage, the characters are both brought out by the author as insecure about being single at an old age. The author
develops the character of Carol by saying, "She was under the illusion that in a short time she would be so old no one
would ask her again. "' This statement alone creates Carol' s insecurity in society. The author develops Howard’s
character saying, "he was discontented with his bachelor households." Also insecure about his standing in society for
obvious reasons, Howard is forced into marriage by society. The two characters jump into marriage for the wrong
reasons because of society, which provides social commentary in the work.
In the excerpt from "The Other Paris," the author provides social commentary through narrative voice and
characterization. Through the personal tone of the narrator and forced decisions of characters through insecurity, social
commentary is provided for in the passage.
Sample PPP
In this excerpt from "The Other Paris" a third person omniscient narrator describes the confused and unsatisfactory
method with which Carol and Howard Mitchell decided to get married. The characterization of the couple establishes a
relationship started spontaneously due to their imaginations, a relationship that will surely lack fulfillment and never
bring true happiness. Gallant portrays Carol' s ambivalence and Howard' s uncharacteristic spontanaeity to criticize the
trivial motives for which people marry .
The use of a third person omniscient narrator in this piece is important because only an all-knowledgable
narrator could portray the misconceptions of two characters. The narrator describes Carol's dreams of true love in Paris
and her belief in the series of college lectures while also conveying the haphazard way in which Howard decided to cast
of this usually cautious character and spontaneously propose to a work partner.
The characterization of Carol establishes her contradictory beliefs. The first paragraph describing a scene of
moonlight, barrows of violets, acacias in flower. . ." in fact describes the scene she would see in a Hollywood movie but
she also believes " The illusion of love was a blight imposed by the fi1m industry." She believed from the college
lectures "that a common interest. . . was the basis for true happiness" but in the relationship she was looking for "the
right conditions" to fall in love. The contradiction of her beliefs creates her as a confused character that really does not
know what she truly desires. Believing that she had only a "short time" to marry she accepted Howard's proposal
because there appeared" no reason for the engagement or the marriage to fail."
While Howard is characterized much differently, he too decides to marry Carol because time was running out
and there was no one better. He ultimately settled on Carol as "some nice girl." Usually a cautious character, Howard
clearly comes "out of character" in such a quick decision. While Carol imagined love scenes in Paris, Howard imagined
himself alone, living a bachelor's life as 'just a person who fills in at dinner." He was afraid of this image or "he was
deeply moved by it." He was moved to the degree of renouncing his character and marrying some girl from work.
Howard and Carol's characterization shows that they acted prematurely in making such a whimsical decision.
Their situation is intended as a commentary on the haphazard manner with which people make marriage decisions.
Sample R
Love, an emotion of the human heart, takes on several shapes and forms. It is often a descriptive emotion, in
which very few can describe accurately. Love is associated with different places such as Venice, Italy or Paris, France,
78
and has different ideas and goals. In the excerpt from "The Other Paris" by Mavis Gallant, Gallant uses Paris, France as
her location, however her tale is not one of love, but a lack of love or a fake love.
The characters Carol and Howard Mitchell do not love each other, but are to be wed. Carol feels love is
something a person grows into and learns to do over time. She accepts his proposal out of the same fear he proposes-they will soon be too old to marry anyone else. As long as the right conditions are present--Carol believes--she will fall
madly in love with Howard in a short time and she does not understand why it will not come.
Mavis Gallant writes her essay as a social commentary. The elaborate details on Carol's feelings cause the
excerpt to sound as if it is two or more girlfriends gossiping, telling the real details to the story between Howard and
Carol. The narrative voice used causes the excerpt to have a story-telling like quality to it The characterization of
Carol's character as well as Howard's, gives a gossipy feeling to the piece. The complete lack of dialogue also adds to
the feel of the work, sounding more and more like a person recalling events and things that had happened.
Mavis Gallant, in her piece "The Other Paris" writes a tale of a fake and untrue love of Carol and Howard. The
two characters do not love each other, but believe love will come. Her piece sounds like a social commentary between
two gabbing girlfriends, anxious to tell the details of the true feelings and happenings between Carol and Howard.
Their characterization and the narrative voice of the tale gives details and truly sounds like someone telling a story.
Sample 000
Mavis Gallant, in his short story "The Other Paris" uses narrative voice and characterization to provide social
commentary on marriage and the misguided perceptions of love and reasons for marriage that people hold.
Carol is depicted as a gullible, somewhat vain woman. She unquestionably believes the "helpful college
lectures" and decides to marry Howard because he fits the criteria the lecture set for a successful marriage. They had
similar backgrounds and economic situations, which in theory should make them perfect candidates for a prosperous
marriage. Carol also seems to be very naive about love; she believes it to be a product of circumstances rather than an
expression of emotion. Instead of blaming her lack of love for Howard on anything the two of them felt she blames it
on the weather in Paris. According to the lectures, Howard was an ideal husband and a love would form of its own
accord. Carol's vanity is apparent when the narrator states, "she was under the illusion that in a short time she would be
so old no one would ask her again." In her eyes, Carol's youth is one of her best assets and the primary reason someone
would want to many her. She also does not seem to know anything more about Howard than how successful he is and
who his parents are. She has not connected to him in any emotional way before she marries him.
Howard's primary motivation for proposing to Carol is social. After his sister's visit and words of advice,
Howard sought a wife in order to assure he would never be a mere placeholder a "person who fills in at dinner." This
idea, more than his loneliness and discontent, was the main factor in his decision to find a wife. Carol, in his eyes, is a
trophy wife, someone to show off and bring to dinner. He mentions nothing about caring for Carol or wishing to spend
his life with her. He is just as superficial as his new wife.
The narrator describes both Carol and Howard in a tone that seems slightly mocking. The descriptions are dry
and humorless, which makes the couple seem vapid and uninteresting. By making the two seem so shallow, Gallant
shows his disdain for such superficial and meaningless marriages. Vanity, naivete, and being overly socially conscious
are all flaws to the writer. The first paragraph shows that many people have misguided views of how love blossoms;
whereas the rest of the story shows how this leads to loveless marriages and relationships with little emotional depth.
Carol dismisses the medical student's proposal for no personal reason except that he still had eight years of training left
and no money at the time. Howard and Carol get married based on other people's ideas and advice, while barely
knowing each other.
The author, Mavis Gallant, uses narrative voice and characterization successfully in his short story "The Other
Paris."
Sample C
Mavis Gallant presents in "The Other Paris" a couple whose marriage seems inexplicable and foolhardy
outside the world of dillusions which each partner creates. As omnipotent narrator, Gallant presents their simple
thoughts in a tongue-in-cheek manner to portray Carol & Howard as selfish dimwits whose actions are determined
merely by what will fulfill their roles in society.
79
The narrative tone throughout is simple, direct, and comedic, echoing the simple yet misled notions of Carol &
Howard as to who they are, and what they should be. Gallant can tell us all of their thoughts" and though often absurd,
they are consistent with the characters Gallant wants to create. Carols world of dillusions is presented in the first
paragraph, with her seeming inability to recognize the truth of actual events beyond what she desires them to be.
Throughout the piece she will try to create a Paris of sorts in their relationship, when it really doesn't exist at all.
Carol seems to have no concept of real love or relationship, her acceptance of a marriage proposal after only 3
weeks shows her inability to consider long-term consequences. The telling of her acceptance is juxtaposed with the
story of her rejection of the doctor, who had “eight years training still to go," as both contribute to her characterization
as one in need of immediate gratification. In the same paragraph, both Howard & Carol are said to have wanted
champagne, but each was to diffident Indeed, this is a metaphor for their lives & goals: both wanted something more,
something better, but because of their personal flaws were unwilling or unable to get it
There are no illusions as to Carol's feelings for Howard, however, as it is plainly stated that she doesn't love
him. The straitforwardness of the declaration is in stark contrast to the circuitousness with which Carol attempts to
make their marriage work. Gallant sarcasticly describes her classes on marriage as "helpful," and reveals the absurdity
of Carol' s views with such nonchalance as to further mock them. With an ironic twist, Gallant portrays Carol's belief in
the cause of divorce on true love, while Carol's own path is the more likely for divorce. The only thing they have in
common are certain aspects of their parents' professional careers and a vague notion of religious belief. As they have no
real religious-philosophical conviction, they don't have any real convictions about marriage on their own lives. After
presenting the absurdity of their marriage, Gallant ironically & sarcastically reveals Carol's belief that "there was no
reason for the marriage to fail." Carol is constantly describing love in relations to things-dogs, parents, even flowers.
She believes that it, like a concrete object, can be controlled & shaped with accuracy. The relationship is based off of
everything but the people involved, and thus, Carol believes that she can fix it with the right living conditions. Just as
we think that the marriage cannot be anymore of a sham, we get Howard's perspective. Indeed, it appears that his
surprising proposal was completely a reaction to his displeasure with his life so far. His main motivations for marriage
are to have someone clean up after him & to have someone before time runs out. Howard is deeply moved by his
sister's image of him as "just. . .a person who fills in at dinner," he is unmoved by his actual marriage.
Gallant parodies & exaggerates the flaws of Carol & Howard to bring about a larger social critique of
marriage. Although we would expect few to be as blind as Carol & Howard, Gallant reveals that we all have some
degree of their fallacy when we make decisions about love and marriage. By exploding our views of what is considered
in marriage, Gallant challenges us to rethink our motivations.
Sample MM
"The Other Paris" by Mavis Gallant was an interesting excerpt on the foundations of marriage. Through the
author's use of narrative voice and characterization provided a social commentary.
The narrative voice provided a light joyful tone. The vivid use of details captures the reader's attention and
question his beliefs. Furthermore, the combination of such revealed a conversation touch which could easily occur in
reality. The use of a narrative voice presented a familiar scene to the reader especially through its humorous end.
The characterization aided tremendously to the development of a social commentary. The use of familiar, first
names set the picture of "everyday" characters. The in-depth ideals of each character allowed the reader to feel related
to such. The concept of describing two different characters searching for a common goal showed how diverse one's
social society is.
Sample YY
Often, an authors voice and the society's influence can be read within a narrative or other literary work just as
clearly as the characters voices and actions. In this excerpt from Gallant's "The Other Paris," the reader's third person
omnicient view allows the thought processes of the main character to be completely laid out for explanation. Gallant
writes about two people .influenced entirely by society and the social ideas of the 1950's.
The narrator in this selection discusses the thoughts of both Carol, a young woman engaged to Howard, an
unambitious young man. Their engagement seems to be entirely driven by the fact that neither wants to pass up the
80
opportunity to marry before it's too late. The character Carol bases her ideas on marriage from college lectures that
insist "love is a blight imposed by the film industry" and that love is like a geranium, requiring only the right set of
conditions and intelligence to work. She expressly states that she "was not .in love with Howard" and that that fact "did
not dismay her .in the least." This entire situation seems absurd. If Carol has to "set about the bussiness of falling .in
love" then what is the point of marriage? The characterization of a young girl influenced by society's emphasis on the
importance of youth and need for stability in marriage is a comment by the authors on her views of society. Without
directly saying so, Gallant directs the reader's thoughts to the conclusion that love is important, regardless of what
society determines is proper. By describing her characters as free of love's influence and by presenting their situation as
undesirable, she advocates not only love, but free thinking as well.
The characters of "The Other Paris" all flow with the currents of society .They marry because others say it is
time, they go about falling in love from a manual. They are not admirable characters, but they get the author's points
across.
Sample DDD
"The Other Paris,"' a short story by Mavis Gallant is a satirical account of the "business of falling in love."
Through an imposed, almost comical point of view and the characterization of the common fear of old age and all that
goes along with it, the author provide a sharp criticism of the unfortunate state of love in modern society.
Carol" a successful twentieth century government oriented business woman, independent and self-sufficient,” is
obsessed with "what everyone expected." This paradoxical irony makes Carol into a walking contradiction. At
twenty two, she already fears her fate as an old maid. The only proposal for marriage that she had pryor to Howard
was from an "unsuitable medical student with no money and eight years' training still to go." It is interesting that
someone studying to be a doctor, a career on which society relies upon is "unsuitable." The word order also brings
an intriguing point: she mentions his lack of money prior to his lengthy commitment to being without money. This
obsession with money only speaks to the way in which society as chosen to economize something as tangible and
divine as love.
All these societal views that both Carol and Howard characterize stem from the overpowering influences of
outside sources. "From a series of helpful college lectures on marriage," Carol learned all of her crazy love antics.
"Common interest" and not love was the "basis for happiness." "similar economic backgrounds, financial security,
belonging to the same church---these were the pillars of the married union, " claims Carol's college lectures. It is
interesting that two out of the three of these strong and sturdy pills stem from monetary issues.
Only the third really looks to the spiritual, more divine aspects of committed union. Unfortunately, Carol later
mentions casually that "serious discussion of religious beliefs would have gravely embarrassed" not just any type of
regular old embarrassment, but grave embarrassment, the irreversible kind. But lucky for Carol, Howard is "reliable."
No surprise, always stability, two things that Carol swears by. It is too bad that much of the enjoyment and excitement
of love stems from spontinaiety. However, because they share a common interest and possess a least two of the
important pillars of love, the ones that deal with money and economy of course, there was no way for their marriage to
fail. "Her college lectures had stressed" that all you needed for love was the right people and the right climate. The
parenthetical citation of her marriage courses only emphasizes the truth that these beliefs and ideals of a money filled,
perfect marriage were imposed upon her and not necessary her own.
Similarly, Howard had no beliefs of his own. Being the reliable, economical "uncommonly cautious" man that
he was, this proposal was huge leap outside of his realm of comfort. But his sister, like Carol's courses and society
itself, told him "to marry some nice girl before it was too late." This underlying fear of old age and loneliness
ultimately pushed him to do the predictably unthinkable.
Gallant is obviously and successfully satirizing the form of society today. The obsession with monetary issues,
the fear of old age and lastly, the inability to take risks in the name of love alone, are all the reasons why so many are
unhappy and so easily influenced by the "business" of falling in love.
81
Paradox, Dramatic, Situational, and Verbal Irony
Paradox and verbal irony work essentially on a common principle of apparent contradiction and, therefore,
often arise from the same context. Paradox treats opposites in such a way that both elements of the contradiction seem
to be true but in different contexts. Because a statement of this kind works contrary to what we ordinarily expect, the
effect is also ironic. Irony is based on a sense of some difference: things are not as they seem; they do not turn out, as
they should: or there is a discrepancy between intention and effect. The irony of drama and fiction frequently depends
on a situation, hence the term “dramatic irony.” But irony may also be a figure of speech; hence the term “verbal
irony,” in which the meaning of the words is simply reversed by the ironic tone. Popular phrases such as “the home of
the brave,” “the land of the free,” of “America the beautiful” can easily be twisted to mean their opposite. (Have
students think of situations where the opposite meaning might be appropriate.
Dramatic irony and verbal irony are at times not completely separable. Complex circumstances, which are
themselves paradoxical and ironic often, produce language of a similar variety. Sophocles’ Oedipus the King has
become almost the standard example of the way in which dramatic irony works. The play itself is based on a series of
paradoxical situations. Oedipus the king, the savior of Thebes, is also its destroyer. The curse he places on the killer of
Laius he places on himself. Teiresias, who is blind, can see; Oedipus, who can see, is blind. Each element of these
paradoxes holds true because Oedipus, the savior and king of Thebes, is also without his own knowledge the slayer of
his father Laius. Separated from his father as a child, he later unknowingly kills him. Thus, the lines of the play are
constant sources of irony and paradox. When Oedipus prays that the guilty man waste his life away, he concludes his
speech with highly ironic words:
If in my house, I knowing it, he dwells,
May every curse I spake on my head fall.
Without knowing it, he is the one in his own house on whom the curse has fallen.
A later speech turns on the paradox of seeing and not seeing. After the blind Teiresias has told Oedipus that he
is the murderer of his father and the scourge of the land, Oedipus speaks:
In one long night thou liv’st and can’st not hurt me
Or me, or any man who sees the light.
Oedipus’ mocking of Teiresias as one who cannot hurt him because he cannot see produces irony because all that
Teiresias speaks is true and will bring about Oedipus’ grief and tragedy.
Irony, however, does not always strike a serious note. The unexpected turn of events that Marvell describes in
a short couplet from “To His Coy Mistress” produces a touch of ironic humor.
The Grave’s a fine and private place,
But none I think do there embrace
Verbal Irony: In Hamlet the ghost of Hamlet’s father has told Hamlet that the king poisoned his father. Hamlet
devises a plan to “catch the conscience of the king.” He has a group of players present a play which reenacts the actual
murder of his father. As the play is being performed, the king becomes disturbed and asks, “Is there no offence in it?
Hamlet replies, “No, no . . . no offence I’ the world.” The meaning of Hamlet’s words is double. He assures the king
that there is “no offence,” meant by the play, but in addition to this he does not mean that there is “no offence”; he
means that there is offence. The play depicts the murder of a king, the crime of which Claudius is guilty – fratricide and
regicide. The king, as Hamlet intends, does not catch the second meaning. The statement means two things
simultaneously.
for king’s benefit
No offence
incongruous
(from Hamlet’s point of view)
82
no offence
highly offensive
elements
In Hamlet’s deeply tormented emotional state the words he speaks suggest still more. His answer refers not
only to the murder-play and its intended effect on the king – but also to the effect on Hamlet of the act which has
overwhelmed him and to which his imaginative sensibilities assigns all events in the world: the murder of his father and
the marriage of his mother to his uncle, the king. Offensive, yes! And “rotten” and “rank” and “gross” and diseased,
bestial monstrous and “remorseless, treacherous, lecherous” may all be implied in the tone of Hamlet’s statement. In
this case verbal irony serves to express complex and intense emotions.
Situational Irony is a term used to describe a circumstance or a series of events that bring into existence
contrasting elements.
In Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man the narrator, who is living in a coal cellar illuminated by exactly 1,369 light
bulbs, explains,
I am invisible . . . simply because people refuse to see me . . .. Whey they approach me they see only
my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination – indeed, everything and anything except me . . .. That
invisibility to which I refer occurs because of a peculiar disposition of the eyes of those with whom I come in contact . .
.. You ache with the need to convince yourself that you do exist . . ..
From his underground residence, the narrator recalls his past: his invisibility as a high school student
in the South, as a student in a Black University, as a laborer in the North, and now as an underground man in a Harlem
coal cellar, where he drains off current from Monopolated Light & Power to illuminate his world.
The irony of the narrator’s “invisibility” is brought to focus in his situation, in his residence in the
coal cellar. Because people have not seen him – but only “figments of their imagination” – the narrator has, all his life,
been in a hole. But not until he tumbles into the coal cellar – and makes it a warm, well-lighted place by wiring the
ceiling with 1,369 lights – does he really see this hole.
“I am an invisible man and it placed me in a hole – or showed me the hole I was in . . ..
All the narrator’s attempts to achieve visibility have “boomeranged” to illuminate his invisibility. But
now he sees his invisibility, sees the reality of his blackness in relation to the white world that surrounds him, sees it
and affirms it, and to this extent, becomes, for himself, visible. As the lights illuminate the cellar, so the narrator’s
narrative illuminates his life situation.
The hole makes the narrator invisible
Incongruous elements
The hole illuminates the narrator’s invisibility and he becomes visible.
When reading for situational irony, one needs to recognize elements of contrast and ambiguity that may exist
in circumstances or events in a story.
In reading The Importance of Being Earnest, the fact that the main character Jack, who masquerades as Ernest
in the city and Jack in the country, turns out to actually have the first name of Earnest. Later, when his fiancé
Gwendolen says of Ernest “Disloyalty would be as impossible to him as deception,” the audience recognizes this as
irony.
Likewise, the paradox may become comic as well as serious. A short poem by John Donne gives this effect:
“Antiquary”
If in his study he hath so much care
To hang all old, strange things, let his wife beware.
“I must be cruel only to be kind.” Hamlet
“The less you have, the more free you are.
83
“To Althea, from Prison” by Richard Lovelace
“To Althea, from Prison”
When love with unconfined wings
Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair,
And fettered to her eye,
The birds that wanton in the air
Know no such liberty
When flowing cups run swiftly round
With no allaying Thames,1
Our careless heads with roses bound
Our hearts with loyal flames;
When thirsty grief in wine we steep,
When healths and draughts go free
Fishes that tipple in the deep
Know no such liberty
When like committed linnets,2 I
With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetness, mercy, majesty,
And glories of my king;
When I shall voice aloud how good
He is, how great should be,
Enlarged winds, that curl the floods,3
Know no such liberty.
Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage:
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for a hermitage4
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone that soar above
Enjoy such liberty.
84
1. allaying Thames – that is the wine is not diluted with
water from the Thames
2. committed linnets – caged birds
3. flood – sea
4. hermitage – holy refuge
Using a number of images which reinforce both the idea of freedom and restraint, Lovelace essentially creates
a work that in itself is paradoxical, for despite the fact that the speaker is a prisoner, he repeatedly asserts that he is freer
than “the gods that wonton (frolic) in the air,” “fishes that tipple in the deep,” and “enlarged winds that curl the flood.”
The closure of the poem is even more emphatic: “Angels alone, that soar above, Enjoy such liberty.” How can a person
be imprisoned and free at the same time? The situational paradox turns on the word “liberty,” which in the context of
the poem means not the absence of physical restraints but the freedom to love, to enjoy human fellowship and physical
pleasures, and to proclaim “The sweetness, mercy, majesty, and glories of my King.” Within this framework, Lovelace
further defines the nature and value of these ideals. The first is love that is expressed paradoxically in language
suggestive of captivity. The context makes it clear that the words “tangled” and “fettered” describe not the bondage of
actual imprisonment, but the bonds of love, which are emblematic of spiritual freedom.
The second stanza is more difficult to interpret because the pronoun references and situations are ambiguous.
“Our careless heads” and “our heart” may refer to Althea and the speaker, thus reemphasizing the lover’s bond
described in stanza 1. But the reference to “flowing cups” (cups filled to the top) and “healths and draughts” that “run
swiftly round” (passed from one person to another) suggests a larger gathering of people sitting at leisure drinking from
goblets filled with undiluted wine and offering toasts. Regardless of how we interpret the situation, the speaker leaves
no doubts that these pleasures too are essential to his “liberty.” The word takes on patriotic associations in the third
stanza. In keeping with the paradoxical situation of the poem as a whole, the speaker identifies with “committed
linnets” which sing more sweetly in captivity than when they are free.
In the final stanza Lovelace draws together the three strands of the argument with the verbal paradoxes, “Stone
walls do not a prison make / Nor iron bars a cage.” Literally, of course, prisons are built of stone and cages constructed
of iron bars. But in the logic of the poem, walls and bars can enclose only the body. If one has freedom in thought,
love and soul, he can make a hermitage of a prison and attain joyousness comparable to that of angels.
Irony and paradox can be sought out in almost any literary work, because their concern with self-contradiction
is implicit in almost all experience, if one will choose to see it. They can easily be missed unless one reads with an eye
and ear for them. They demand that the reader be able to think from more than one point of view. They ask him to flip
a coin to see what is on the other side. They demonstrate that the literary artist typically does not see everyday life with
a single and simple aim. If he does so, he risks superficiality or dogmatism. Paradox and irony are both literary ways
of coping with many of the seemingly unresolvable complexities of experience. As expression, they do not offer
solutions. They merely reflect the nature of things to help us understand.
A piece may be ironic if: 1. The author/persona/character seems to be suggesting something outrageous or that
would offend most readers, 2. Something mundane is described using elevated diction and/ or lofty language (can
include hyperbole, 3. Something normally considered an important, intellectual or serious topic is discussed in
accessible, colloquial, or even non-standard language (can include understatement, aka litotes), 4. The passage includes
a great deal of hyperbole, understatement, or even absurdity, 5, The passage discusses a human foible or questionable
cultural practice, moral, or attitude.
85
2002 ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION QUESTION 1
In the following excerpt from a recent British novel, the narrator, a young man in his early twenties, is attending a
play with his new girlfriend Isabel when she unexpectedly discovers that her parents are in the theater. Read the
passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author produces a comic effect.
‘Oh my God, I think that's my mum over there,
'she gasped.
'Where?’
'By the pillar. Careful, don't look. What is she
5
here? And what's that dress? It looks like a
willow tree. Where's Dad? I hope she didn't come
with one of her gentlemen friends. She's really too
old for that'
'Did you tell her you were going?'
10 'No, I mean, I said'! wanted to see the play, but I
didn't let on I had tickets for tonight.'
'She's talking to someone. Can you see?'
'Phew, it's my dad. He must have gone off to buy
programmes. And he's about to sneeze. Look, there
15 we go, aaahhtchooo. Out comes his red handkerchief.
I just hope they don't spot us and we can escape
quickly at the end. With any luck, they'll be too busy
arguing to glance up here. This is prime argument
territory for them, Mum will be asking Dad where he
20 put the carpark ticket and he'll get flustered
because he'll just have dropped it into a bin by
mistake.' Luck was not on Isabel’s side, for a moment
later, Christopher Rogers happened to glance up to
the gallery and recognized his eldest daughter, in the
25 midst of trying her best not to recognize him. So
that she might cease to dwell in ignorance,
Christopher stood up in the middle of the elegantly
suited and scented audience, and began making the
vigorous hand gestures of a man waving off a
departing cruise
30 ship. In case Isabel had not spotted this maniac, her
mother was in turn informed of her eldest
daughter's location, an~ decided that the presence of
four hundred people in the auditorium should be no
impediment to her desire to shout 'Isabel' at top
pitch
35 and with all the excitement of a woman recognizing a
long-lost friend on the deck of an in-coming cruise
ship. Isabel smiled feebly, turned a beetroot shade
and repeated in panicked diction, 'I can't believe this,
40
86
please let them shut up." Not a second too soon,
Lorca* came to the rescue, the lights faded, and Mr.
and Mrs. Rogers reluctantly took their seats, pointing
ominously to an exit sign by way of interval
rendezvous.
45 An hour and a quarter of Spanish domestic drama
later, we found ourselves at the bar. 'What are you
doing here, Mum?' asked Isabel.
'Why shouldn't I be here? You're not the only one
who does fanny things with your evenings. Your
50 father and I have a right to go out once in a while'
'I'm sure, I didn't mean it like that, it's just I'm
surprised at the coincidence.'
'Where did you buy this dress? Is that the one I paid
for at Christmas?'
55 "No, Mum, I got it myself last week.'
'Oh, well, it's very nice, pity you don't have more of a
cleavage for it, but that's, your father's fault. You
know what all the women in his family are like.'
'How are you Dad?’ Isabel turned to ask her father,
60 who was looking up at the ceiling with an intent
expression. 'Dad?' repeated Isabel.
'Yes, darling, how are you, my bean? Enjoying the
show?'
65 'Yup, and you? What are you staring at up there?'
'I'm looking at the light fixtures they have.
They're new tungsten bulbs, Japanese things, quite
wonderful, they use only a small amount of
electricity but give off a very nice light.'
70 'Oh, great, Dad. And, ehm, there's someone I'd like
you to both meet'
'Delighted,' said Mrs. Rogers, confiding in me
almost at once: 'She's a lovely girl really,' in case my
theatre companion had inspired doubts to the
75 contrary. Thanks, Mum;' said Isabel wearily, as
though the statement were no one-off.
'Don't mind her, bean, she's had a hard day.'
explained Dad, now looking more horizontally at the
80 world. 'My day would be fine if I wasn't lumbered
with someone who kept losing tickets to the car park,'
snapped Mrs. Rogers. 'Dad! You haven't?'
85 'Yes, I’m afraid I have. They're so fiddly these days,
they fall right out of one's hands.' -Alain de Botton,
Kiss and Tell * Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936):
Spanish poet and playwright
2002 APENGLISH LITERATURE SCORING GUIDE
Question #1: Alain de Botton's Kiss and Tell
General Directions: This scoring- guide will be useful for most of the essays that you read, but in problematic
cases, please consult with your table leader. The score you assign should reflect your judgment of the quality of
the 'essay as a whole. Reward the writers for what they do well. The score for an exceptionally well-written essay may
be raised by one point above the otherwise appropriate score. In no case may a poorly written essay be scored higher
than a three (3). .
9-8
These well-focused essays offer a persuasive interpretation of how Alain de Botton produces comic effect in
his dramatic depiction of a scene in which Isabel unexpectedly discovers that her parents are in the same theatre as she
and her new boyfriend. Specifically, the writers of these essays identify techniques and analyze how the author uses
them to create comic effect. These essays make apt and specific references to the passage, effectively analyzing the
nature of the comic effect that the author derives from the situation itself, from the thoughts of Isabel and her
conversation with her parents, and from the relationship between daughter and parents. Though these essays may not be
error-free, they are perceptive in their analysis of the comic effects and demonstrate writing that is clear and precise.
Generally, the nine (9) essays reveal a more sophisticated analysis and a more effective control of language ,than do the
essays scored an eight (8).
7-6
These competent essays offer a reasonable interpretation of how Alain de Botton produces a comic effect. The
writers identify the techniques and analyze how the author employs them. Although not as convincing or as thoroughly
developed as those in the highest range, these essays demonstrate the writer's ability to express ideas with clarity,
insight, and control. Generally, the seven (7) essays present a more developed analysis and a more consistent command
of the elements of effective composition than do essays scored a six (6).
5
These essays offer a plausible interpretation of how Alain de Botton achieves comic effect, but they often
respond to the assigned task with a simplistic reading of the passage. They often rely on paraphrase, but the paraphrase
will exhibit some analysis, implicit or explicit. The discussion of the techniques may be slight and/or formulaic. These
writers demonstrate some control of ideas~ but the writing may be flawed by surface errors that do not create confusion
for the reader.
4-3
These lower-half essays offer a less than thorough treatment of the task. The analysis of the techniques used for
comic effect may be: partial, unconvincing, or irrelevant. These essays may rely on mere summary or be marked by
observation rather than by analysis. The writing often demonstrates a lack of control over the conventions of
composition: inadequate development of ideas, an accumulation of errors, or a focus that is unclear, inconsistent, or
repetitive. Essays 'scored a three (3) may contain significant misreadings and/or distracting errors in grammar and
mechanics. .
2-1
These essays compound the weaknesses of the papers in the 4-3 range. They may demonstrate an inability to
explain how a comic effect is achieved, or even fail to recognize the comic effect. They may also be unacceptably brief
or incoherent. The writing may contain pervasive errors, which interfere with understanding. Although some attempt
has been made to respond to the question, the writer's assertions are presented with little clarity, organization, or
support. Essays scored a one (1) contain little coherent discussion of the passage.
0
A response with no mor~tliai1 a reference t6the task.
--
A blank paper or completely off-topic response
87
A
Humor is a special combination of variables. In the case of the passage from Kiss and Tell, Alain de Botton’s
characteristically understated British humor produces comic effect by incorporating realistic dialogue, vivid diction and
language, and approachability to the reader.
Botton’s characters are fully believable. They are relentlessly human, and they have human flaws and traits to
show for it: Isabel’s ill concealed embarrassment at her parents, the narrator’s apparent speechlessness at the situation,
Mum’s badgering frankness, and Dad’s all-too-predictable absentmindedness. The speak accordingly, often in a stream
of consciousness, as Isabel does to her boyfriend, the narrator, in the beginning when commenting on her parents: “And
what’s that dress? It looks like a willow tree. Where’s Dad?” and “He must have gone off to buy programmes. And
he’s about to sneeze. Look, there we go, aaahhtchooo.” She wanders freely among thoughts like most people do,
making private observations to the narrator. It is a habit shared by her mother, who interrupts Isabel’s question about
what she and her husband are doing with a brief discourse on her dress and her unfortunately disappointing cleavage,
which is her “father’s fault.” And Dad, Mr. Rogers himself, show himself to be a quirky fellow temporarily amazed by
the tungsten light bulbs on the theater ceiling: “Japanese things, quite wonderful, they use only a small amount of
electricity but give off a very nice light.” The reader is more or less put at ease with this mildly dysfunctional family –
normal, harmless, and entertaining. Botton manages to convey all this through their conversations with one another,
especially in the second half of the passage, with little help from pure narration.
He does succeed in doing this because, in large part, of his skillful use of language. His word choice is funny
because it is purposely understated and occasionally obsequious. When Isabel’s father notices her in the theater, he
resolves to make her “cease to dwell in ignorance,” fanciful language that contrasts humorously with his “vigorous hand
gestures of a man waving off a departing cruise ship.” The sense of unnecessary distance is used again when her
mother shouts at her “with all the excitement of a woman recognizing a long-lost friend on the deck of an incoming
cruise ship.” Botton wants to ensure that the reader understands the excessive and embarrassing vocal force they use to
catch Isabel’s attention and cause her “panicked diction” and beetroot shade.” These, too, are examples of the vivid
adjectives that add life and character to the story.
The dysfunctional situation is described metaphorically as “Spanish domestic drama,” cleverly alluding to the
Latin American telenovela. Botton also calls Isabel’s parents frequent reminders to Isabel that should meet as “interval
rendezvous” – ironic diction that makes apparent the lack of class and restraint involved in the act. He resorts at other
times to blunt language, describing Dad as a “maniac.” The pure variety of Botton’s linguistic devices completely
changes a story that can easily be extraordinary banal.
After all, what could be less exciting than a girl with her boyfriend accidentally meeting her parents at the theater?
Doubtlessly something similar happens every day. But the very commonness of the event adds a degree of
approachability to the story. The reader is comfortable reading it because it is simple and easy to fathom. It is a
familiar experience reminiscent of a television sit-com, interspersed with allusions to pop culture – “Spanish domestic
drama,” “tungsten bulbs,” – and filled with lifelike characters that think, act, and talk like normal human beings. The
reader laughs because the reader sees him or herself in the everyday struggles and discourse of these characters. The
reader laughs because he or she is comforted by the universality of the human experience that allows effective selfmockery and self-criticism. (No doubt he or she has lost a parking ticket at some time.) And such is the value of humor
and why Botton produces it so well – because it reminds us that we are men and women of flesh and blood.
B
Isabel’s situation is one that many people can relate to – a mortifying encounter with parents, complete with
embarassing remarks while trying to impress a member of the opposite sex. Botton understands this universality and
parlays it into a comedic act by using colloquialism, dialogue, and narration by Isabel that sounds more like sports
commentary. In this way, the audience can laugh at the experience they are familiar with.
Botton makes no attempts to formalize his language. Instead of long-winded objective description, he utilizes
common phrases like “oh my God,” to anticipate Isabel’s forthcoming humiliation. Isabel herself contributes to the
informal tone with her entreaty for her parents to “shut up.” The other characters are interacting as people that are very
familiar with one another as they should given the relationship. It is this candid talk that produces comedy because
audiences can identify with the banter. When Isabel wonders “Where’s Dad? I hope she didn’t come with one of her
gentlemen friends She’s really too old for that,” she is giving personal insight into her family. This becomes amusing
because she is not concerned with the audiences standards or societys; in fact she is simply worrying about how stupid
her mother could potentially make her look.
88
The dialogue between Isabel and her parents also provides material for amusement. Isabel must hold her own
as her mother tries hard to embarrass her. “Pity you don’t have more of a cleavage for it, but that’s your father’s fault.”
Again, Isabel has been hit with humiliation that she must try to negate in the presence of her boyfriend. The set-up
provides for a laugh as the audience sympathizes with Isabel’s probable “beetroot” shade. However Botton takes it
further by having Isabel’s mother remark “You know what all the women in his family are like.” The mother’s personal
attack on her husband’s family is humorous because she is essentially complementing her own assets. Meanwhile
Isabel’s father is trying his best to act oblivious to the entire situation by “looking at the light fixtures. The have “The
absurdity of his fascination with something as trivial as “new tungsten bulbs” is comedic on two levels. One that he
knows so much regarding the subject, but also because of the underlying purpose of his discussing the topic: to avoid
being embroiled in his wife’s conversation.
Isabel is well aware of how to control the situation. She takes attention away from the embarrassment by
giving a humorous commentary on her parents actions. After seeing her father she reports that “And he’s about to
sneeze. Look, there we go. Aaahhtchooo. Out comes the red handkerchief.” Presumable as she does this, her father is
performing the same actions therefore allowing the audience to laugh at how accurately she describes the situation.
Furthermore, she even goes so far as to demonstrate her knowledge with onomatopoeia, as she sneezes right along with
him. The crux of the humor is in her delivery, because she is able to transform watching her parents with a horse race
with her “And they’re off!” tone.
Botton has accurately captured the nuances of such a child-parent encounter. He makes use of visual images
that are not conventional, but relatable like Isabel “trying her best not to recognize him,” and the mother’s shout “with
all the excitement of a woman recognizing a long-lost friend on the decks of an incoming cruise ship. With these
images the audience is able to paint a picture and associate an emotion most likely empathy, so that in essence they are
laughing at themselves as they laugh at the characters.
DD
In this scene the author successfully produces a comic effect through the use of overstated imagery, contrasting
diction, and an ironic ending. The reader understands the absurdity of the characters and their actions which adds to the
comic effect.
The overstated description of the parent’s actions creates the humorous imagery specifically the contrast
between the classy theater crowd and the uncouth parents describing the audience as “elegantly suited and scented.”
The author portrays the dignified manner of the crowd, which contrasts with the “vigorous hand gestures” of the father,
or “maniac”. In addition the auditory image of the mother screaming across the auditorium adds to the parents’ almost
uncivilized action. The overstated humor in comparing the parents to over-zealous passengers on a cruise ship creates a
comic effect.
Not only the imager, but also the changing diction add to the humor of the scene. The first line in the story
beginning with “Oh my God . . . “ and the next 21 lines represent simple colloquial diction used by Isabel in describing
her parents’ faults. By using short and simple words and sentence structure the author speeds up the pace of the
speaker.
With the beginning of the narrator’s description of the parents’ acts, however the diction and syntax become
more complex that before, which slows down the narrative pace. The contrast between the two styles adds to the humor
because the reader not only hears the trivial conversation between Isabel and her parents but also visualizes with
extreme detail the images of the parents’ and Isabel’s reaction.
Finally, the ironic ending also produces comic effect because it emphasizes the absurdity of the characters
especially the parents. Isabel humorously characterizes her parents through the hypothetical situation where her dad
will get flustered because his wife is mad he lost the parking ticket. At the end of the scene, the reader finds this
situation to have come true as the mother laments that she would be fine “if I wasn’t lumbered with someone who kept
losing tickets to the car park.” The irony that the daughter’s characterization of her parents comes true adds to the
comic effect because it was an unexpected ending but adds to the ridiculousness of the parents.
Thus, through the imagery, diction, and irony, the author creates a truly comic scene between the parents and
daughter.
89
'By the pillar. Careful, don't look. What is she
I
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being,
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing.
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou,
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed
The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow
Her clarions o'er the dreaming earth, and fill
(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)
With living hues and odors plain and hill:
Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and preserver; hear, oh, hear!
II
Thou on whose stream, mid the steep sky's commotion,
Loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed,
Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,
Angels of rain and lightning: there are spread
On the blue surface of thine aery surge,
Like the bright hair uplifted from the head
Of some fierce Maenad, even from the dim verge
Of the horizon to the zenith's height,
The locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirge
Of the dying year, to which this closing night
Will be the dome of a vast sepulcher,
Vaulted with all thy congregated might
Of vapors, from whose solid atmosphere
Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst: oh, hear!
III
Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams
The blue Mediterranean, where he lay,
Lulled by the coil of his crystalline streams,
Beside a pumice isle in Baiae's bay,
And saw in sleep old palaces and towers
Quivering within the wave's intenser day,
90
All overgrown with azure moss and flowers
So sweet, the sense faints picturing them!
Thou For whose path the Atlantic's level powers
Cleave themselves into chasms, while far below
The sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear
The sapless foliage of the ocean, know
Thy voice, and suddenly grow gray with fear,
And tremble and despoil themselves: oh, hear!
lV
If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear;
If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee;
A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share
The impulse of thy strength, only less free
Than thou, O uncontrollable! If even
I were as in my boyhood, and could be
The comrade of thy wanderings over Heaven,
As then, when to outstrip thy skyey speed
Scarce seemed a vision; I would ne'er have striven
As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.
Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!
I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!
A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowed
One too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud.
V
Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is:
What if my leaves are falling like its own!
The tumult of thy mighty harmonies
Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,
Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce,
My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!
And, by the incantation of this verse,
Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth
Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
Be through my lips to unawakened earth
The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
91
2010 AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION FREE-RESPONSE
SECTION II Total time—2 hours: Question 1
(Suggested time—40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.)
Each of the two poems below is concerned with a young man at the age of twenty-one, traditionally the age
of adulthood. Read the two poems carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you compare and
contrast the poems, analyzing the poetic techniques, such as point of view and tone, that each writer uses to
make his point about coming of age.
To Sir John Lade, on His Coming of Age
(‘A Short Song of Congratulation’)
Long-expected one and twenty
Lingering year at last is flown,
Pomp and pleasure, pride and plenty,
Great Sir John, are all your own.
5 Loosened from the minor’s tether,
Free to mortgage or to sell,
Wild as wind, and light as feather,
Bid the slaves of thrift farewell.
Call the Bettys, Kates, and Jennys,
10 Every name that laughs at care,
Lavish of your grandsire’s guineas,
Show the spirit of an heir.
All that prey on vice and folly
Joy to see their quarry fly,
15 Here the gamester light and jolly,
There the lender grave and sly.
Wealth, Sir John, was made to wander,
Let it wander as it will;
See the jockey, see the pander,
Bid them come, and take their fill.
When the bonny blade carouses
Pockets full, and spirits high,
What the acres? What are houses?
Only dirt, or wet or dry.
If the guardian or the mother
Tell the woes of will waste,
Scorn their counsel and their pother,*
You can hang or drown at last.
1780 —Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
* fuss
92
When I Was One-and-Twenty
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
‘Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
5 Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free.’
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.
When I was one-and-twenty
10 I heard him say again,
‘The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
’Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue.’
15 And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.
1896 —A. E. Housman (1859–1936)
AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION 2010 SCORING GUIDELINES (Form B)
© 2010 The College Board. Question
1
(Samuel Johnson and A. E. Housman)
The score reflects the quality of the essay as a whole — its content, style and mechanics. Students are
rewarded for what they do well. The score for an exceptionally well-written essay may be raised by 1 point
above the otherwise appropriate score. In no case may a poorly written essay be scored higher than a 3.
9–8 These essays offer a persuasive analysis of the two poets’ use of literary techniques to make their points
about coming of age. The writers of these essays offer a range of interpretations; they
provide convincing readings that compare and contrast the two poems and analyze the poetic techniques used
in each. They demonstrate consistent and effective control over the elements of composition in language
appropriate to the analysis of poetry. Their textual references are apt and specific. Though they may not be
error-free, these essays are perceptive in their analysis and demonstrate writing that is clear and
sophisticated, and in the case of a score of 9, especially persuasive.
7–6 These competent essays offer a reasonable analysis of the two poets’ use of literary techniques to make
their points about coming of age. They are less thorough or less precise in their comparisons of and contrast
between the poems, and their analysis of the poetic techniques is less convincing, than essays in the top
scoring range. These essays demonstrate the student’s ability to express ideas clearly, making references to
the text, although they do not exhibit the same level of effective writing as the 9–8 responses. Although
essays scored 7–6 are generally well written, those scored a 7 demonstrate more sophistication in both
substance and style.
5 These essays may respond to the assigned task with a plausible reading of the two poets’ use of literary
techniques to make their points about coming of age, but they may be superficial in their analysis of the
points. They often rely on paraphrase but paraphrase that contains some analysis, implicit or explicit. Their
analysis of the poems’ views about coming of age or of their poetic techniques may be vague, formulaic or
minimally supported by references to the text. There may be minor misinterpretations of the poems. These
students demonstrate some control of language, but the writing may be marred by surface errors. These
essays are not as well conceived, organized or developed as 7–6 essays.
4–3 These lower-half essays fail to offer an adequate analysis that compares and contrasts the two poems.
The analysis may be partial, unconvincing or irrelevant, or may ignore the meanings attributed to coming of
age in the poems or their use of techniques. Evidence from the poems may be slight or misconstrued, or the
essays may rely on paraphrase only. The writing often demonstrates a lack of control over the conventions of
composition: inadequate development of ideas, accumulation of errors, or a focus that is unclear, inconsistent
or repetitive. Essays scored a 3 may contain significant misreading or demonstrate inept writing or both.
2–1 These essays compound the weaknesses of the papers in the 4–3 range. Although there may be some
attempt to respond to the prompt, the student’s assertions are presented with little clarity, organization or
support from the poems. These essays may contain serious errors in grammar and mechanics. They may offer
a complete misreading or be unacceptably brief. Essays scored a 1 contain little coherent discussion of the
poems.
0 These essays do no more than make a reference to the task.
⎯ These essays are either left blank or are completely off topic.
93
AP English Literature and Composition – Form B, Question 1, 2010
A
Coming of age at last and finally in the position to be able to exert oneself as an adult of the world,
on can be overly confident from lack of experience. Both Johnson’s “To Sir John Lade, on His coming
of Age” and Housman’s “When I was One and Twenty” deal with this headstrong yet delicate time in a
young man’s life which is full of optimism and enthusiasm of youth and unaware of the true sorrows or
follies of the real world. Through the use of irony, imagery and contrast, both poems effectively describe
the dangers that may follow from the headstrong confidence of young adulthood, while one expresses
caution from a friend and the other shows a regretful account of the young man past twenty one.
It is significant that the perspective of the speaker is different for each poem. Johnson’s
congradulatory poem (in the traditional abab rhyming scheme and structure oft used for occasional
poems) is from an elder man’s point of view, giving advice to the young man who has come of age.
However, on the outset, his is not the traditional counsel of “woes of willful waste” or the advice that the
wise man gives in Housman’s poem. Rather, the poem has the unexpected effect of grabbing the reader
or the intended young man’s attention with its untraditional daring counsel, uncharacteristic of the usual
fatherly advice. Housman’s poem is from the young man’s perspective, but significantly written after he
has experienced on year of adulthood. He is not giving advice to others but talking about his own
experience and his own feelings. Thus, while Johnson’s poem is in the point of view of the person
giving advice, Housman’s poem is one reflecting on the advice received and unheeded, by a man given
advice at twenty-one years of age.
Johnson’s poem’s unconventional advice is even more surprising and unexpected in effect because of
the flippant, jolly and daring tone of the speaker. The speaker flatters the young man’s sense of
importance by encouraging his newly found “pomp and pleasure, pride” through witty alliteration.
Money is described to sound trivial while lavish spending and generosity is described to sound
courageous and the true “spirit of an heir.” Through humor (Call the Bettys, Kates, and Jennys,) the
speaker almost dares the young man to enjoy . . . the world and his riches – presumably his inheritance
received from coming of age, but there is, underlying the almost false sense of jolly and humor, a darker
implication which seems to make the outward advice sound ironic. The mention of the lenders and
contrasting with the gamester, presumably the man, indicates a darker possibility to this supposed fun.
The flippant way acres and houses are reduced to “only dirt, or wet or dry,” when it is evident that the
land is important in contrast to “bonny blades carouses” elicits the opposite effect of what the speakers
outward intention is. At the end of the poem, with the only unrhymed line, “you can hang or drown at
last, “we realize that the actual advice intended is to warn the young man of precisely these elements so
vividly and upliftingly described and advised. This flippant tone of the speaker, with the verbal irony of
the counsel gets across the “woes of willful waste” in a roundabout yet more effective way.
By contrast, Housman’s poem is straightforward in its message. The two stanzas each present
contrasting tones and attitudes, showing the young man at the first turn of coming of age and then after a
year when he has gained wisdom from experience. The speaker is given advice of the same message as
Johnson’s implicit advice, but in more straightforward, expected terms. The wise man contrasts material
things and more spiritual internal things, paralleling “crowns and pounds and guineas” and “pearls” and
“rubies” with the man’s “heart” and “fancy.” However the tone of the speaker is “no use to talk to me”
indicated his arrogance and confidence at the time tinged with regret that he did not listen to the advice.
The second stanza also quotes the wise man’s advice but this time by relating the heart (the spiritual or
internal) in terms of money ((‘sold). The speaker’s tone is more regretful and humbled, almost sighing
as he exclaims “tis true, tis true” with realization. The poem is regretful in tone as the young man looks
back at his foolish initial ways.
94
That the poems are from different perspectives has shaped the tone or attitude of the speaker and are
reflected by the different way of presenting the age of twenty one. Both have the same ultimate message
and objective of cautioning another young man by relating to possible consequences (hanging or
regretting). However, through use of different tones, one full or irony and sarcasm and the other of
regret in retrospect, as well as the use of contrast, the poems leave different impressions and give
different perspectives on the delicate of twenty-one.
B
While the age of adulthood varies from culture to culture, two-one has in American and Great Britain
been the traditional age to enter the adult world of money, work, and serious relationships. One’s
twenty-first birthday is a momentous occasion to be celebrated. The two poems however take conflicting
attitudes toward this event. “To Sir John Lade, on His Coming of Age” gives its subject advice on
enjoying his new found freedom. Conversely “When I Was One-and-Twenty” laments foolishly
ignoring an elder’s advice. This contrast gives the poems their conflicting tones on the same subject,
carefree and rueful, respectively, while both offering advice.
“When I Was One-and-Twenty” uses repetitive comparisons to emphasize the advice that the heart is
more valuable than any riches and is often paid for with pain. By strongly quoting the wise man’s
advice, the author allows the reader to realize the speaker’s foolishness in ignoring the advice. The
speaker himself states at the end of the poem his own regret, an appeal to the reader’s emotions which
emphasizes the theme of the poem: the heart should be carefully guarded rather than carelessly given
away. The overall tone is remorseful and reflective rather than a joyful celebration of coming of age.
Rather than the direct approach taken by Housman in “When I Was On-and Twenty,” Johnson uses
subtle irony in “To Sir John Lade . . . “to convey his theme. The tone of the poem is carefree and jolly,
emphasized by descriptions of carousing, gambling, and games. The subject of the poem is often
compared to a bird, freed from its “tether,” “wild as wind and light as feathers, “imagery of a carefree
bird. However the dangers of carefree and foolish spending are more subtly described as those who
“prey” on such people. The author quickly brushes them aside, writing about the pleasure of gambling
and urging the subject to ignore his mother’s warnings, an ironic way of emphasizing the dangers of wild
spending.
Both poems offer strong advice on turning twenty-one. “When I Was . . ." ruefully implores the
reader to be cautions, while “To Sir John . . ." promotes a wild and carefree lifestyle. It too however
contains a subtle warning: as an adult one can “hang or drown,” bringing about their own ruin if he or
she is not careful.
C.
In the poems “To Sir John, on His Coming of Age,” by, Samuel Johnson, and “When I Was Oneand-Twenty,” by A. E. Housman, a young man has just turned twenty-one. The ideas of both poems are
similar to that being a man and taking on the world, but they also contrast each other.
“Lavish of your grandsire’s guineas” (Johnson), “Give crowns and pounds and guineas” (Housman)
are both telling the twenty-one year old man to give money and riches, help the world, show who you are
now. The poems are similar, in that, they are telling the man to be new, be fresh, make your newly age a
big bang. But Johnson’s poem tells the man to “call the Bettys, Kates, and Jennys, every name that
laughs at care . . . .” Since he’s twenty-one, he should go out and pursue a girl, maybe not one, but two
or three to live his life up to the fullest without his knowing what could become of it. However,
Housman’s poem tells the man, “I heard a wise man say . . . Give crowns and pounds and guineas, But
not your heart away . . . keep your fancy free. . .” He’s telling the twenty-one year old man to give and
95
help rather than giving your heart away, right away; to keep his solitude as a new found man. He
shouldn’t waist his life trying to pursue every girl, when in due time, the right girl will find him.
Johnson’s poem is more of a “yes, I’m 21, I can do what I want, sort of an attitude with a tone that
enhances the absurdness of going after a bunch of girls whereas Housman’s poem delivers a more of a
“I’m 21, I can live my life and make it great,” kind of attitude the tone used in this poem is more solome,
and determined than “To Sir John, on His Coming of Age.”
The “coming of age”, when a man, or a woman for that matter turns twenty-one, is a time in a
person’s life where they really feel like a true adult, where they can finally take their mark on society. It
shouldn’t just be waisted on nonsence, But instead, put to a better use. You only turn twenty-one once,
so make the Best of it.
SYNTAX AND STRUCTURE OBJECTIVE:
Students will be taught methods and strategies which will allow them to recognize how syntax and structure
work together with other stylistic techniques to develop meaning in a sentence, a passage, or an entire prose or poetry
piece.
The beginning and end of the sentence (or paragraph) are its most important parts – the center is generally for
details rather than emphasis, although there are exceptions. The loose sentence is the most commonly used form and
begins with the subject followed by the very and then complements. It puts emphasis on both the subject and the verb.
Ex.
She rode in a standing position, the blood of exertion showing faintly through the tan of her skin.
The first and most basic form of syntactic structure is parallel structure. This covers any kind of syntactic
structure used in a series to create a pattern. Another kind of pattern can be identified as repetition. Usually repetition
is the term used to identify the multiple use of an exact word or phrase, while parallelism is used for the repetition of a
structure.
Ex.
The teacher said he was a poor student because he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed
his lab problems in a careless manner, and lacked motivation.
Adding levels to a sentence can ADD specificity, depth of meaning, and connotation. It also gives the writer
an opportunity to INCLUDE details that reveal the Persona. Multiple levels can also CREATE connections between
items of information (e.g. cause and effect). Usually writers subordinate more than they coordinate which helps readers
to see relationships between main and supporting ideas.
SENTENCE PATTERNS
Declarative (strong, active verb):
1.
Washington offers the tourist two unique spots of interest.
Interrogative (question): Places responsibility on audience
1.
For what two reasons do little boys enjoy stomping in mud puddles?
Exclamatory: Emphasis
96
1.
I absolutely will not ride that donkey!
Imperative:
1.
You must finish your homework before watching television.
Loose Sentence: Main clause first; subordinate clause / phrases follows
1.
The detective interviewed the witness carefully
Periodic Sentence: Subordinate constructions first; main clause closes the sentence
1.
After clearing out the furniture, covering the carpet, and removing the pictures, I began painting the large
room.
Balanced or Parallel Sentence: Two or more words or constructions must be in the same
grammatical form – infinitives, verbs, gerunds, participles, prepositional phrases, clauses, etc. This style is
impressive and pleasing to hear, elaborates rhythm and order, and shows economy by using one element of a
sentence to server three or four others.
1.
To complain of the age we live in, to murmur at the present possessors of power, to lament the past, to
conceive extravagant hopes of the future, are the common dispositions of the greatest part of mankind.
Convoluted Structure: Main clause is split in two; subordinate material is between.
1.
The pizza delivery boy, no matter how late, still expected a hefty tip.
2.
The talk-show host, even though his opinions were one-sided, conducted an excellent interview.
Centered Structure: main clause occupies the middle, subordinate material between.
1.
After digging a large hole, I planted the tree, which was also large and hard to manage.
Freight Train: sentence consisting of short, independent clauses coupled for a sense of immediacy; the effect produces
a rhythmical quality to the test.
And I’ll look out for you, and you’ll sign out as soon as you see me, And we’ll go down the street arm in arm,
and into all the shops, and then I’ll choose my house, and you’ll choose your house, and we’ll live there like
princes and good fellows.
1.
Adverbial or Dependent Clause Opener: creates emphasis by putting important information first
1.
In the middle of shopping for groceries, I found three ways to save money.
2.
When I was younger, I liked simple foods.
3.
After the dictator seized control, the situation in the country changed dramatically.
Verb Before Subject or inverted word order: again, used for emphasis
1.
2.
Beside the houses grew two large maple trees.
Along the boulevard sped two sleek, fast cars.
Appositive:
1.
Tucson combines two cultures: the Spanish/Indian and the American West.
Rhetorical Question: creates active involvement with reader or audience by asking them to think
1.
A good student-body is perhaps the most important factor in a great university. How can you possibly make
good wine from poor grapes? From a student paper
Form Follows Content:
1.
97
He had listened to it for years: the long legend of corncribs rifled, of shoats and grown pigs and even calves
carried bodily into the woods and devoured, or traps and deadfalls overthrown and dogs mangled and slain, and
shotgun and even rifle charges delivered at point-blank range and with no more effect than so many peas
blown through a tube by a boy – a corridor of wreckage and destruction beginning back before he was born,
through which sped, not fast but rather with the ruthless and irresistible deliberation of a locomotive, the
shaggy tremendous shape. From “The Bear” by William Faulkner
Opening and closing positions: These areas of a sentence are especially sensitive to emphasis.
Poor - It suddenly began to rain.
Better – Suddenly, it began to rain
Antimetabole -- repetition of words, in clauses, in reverse grammatical order.
1.
Mankind must put an end to war – or war will put an end to mankind. From Inaugural Address, 1961 John F.
Kennedy
2.
I am stuck on Band-Aid ‘cause Band- Aid’s stuck on me. From television ad
3.
If you cannot control your spending, your spending will control you.
Chiasmus –The criss-cross or reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses.
1.
By day the frolic, and the dance by night. From “The Vanity of Human Wishes” by Samuel Johnson
2.
His time a moment, and a point his space. From Essay on Man by Alexander Pope
Epanalepsis – Repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the clause
1.
Blood hath bought blood, and blows have answer’d blows. From King John, II by William Shakespeare
2.
Year chases year, decay pursues decay. From “The Vanity of Human Wishes” by Samuel Johnson
Anadiplosis – Repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause.
1.
Labor and care are rewarded with success, success produces confidence, confidence relaxes industry, and
negligence ruins the reputation which diligence had raised. From Rambler No 21 by Dr. Johnson
2.
Queeq: “Aboard my ship, excellent performance is standard. Standard performance is sub-standard. Substandard performance is not permitted to exist. From The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
Anaphora – repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginnings of successive sentences.
1.
The Lord sitteth above the water floods. The Lord remaineth a King forever. The Lord shall give strength
unto his people. The Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace. From Psalm 29
2.
It is a luxury, it is a privilege, it is an indulgence for those who are at their ease.
From “Letter to a Noble Lord,” 1796 by Edmund Burke
Epistrophe – Repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive clauses.
1.
Shylock: I’ll have my bond! Speak not against my bond! I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond! The
Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
2.
Free at last; free at last; Thank God Almighty, free at last.
Puns – generic name for those figures of speech, which make a play on words.
1.
Your argument is sound, nothing but sound. From Benjamin Franklin
2.
Although we’re apart, you’re still a part of me. From song “On Blueberry Hill”
Understatement – deliberate use of understatement, not to deceive someone but to enhance the impressiveness of what
we say.
1.
It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain. From The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
2.
For four generations we’ve been making medicines as if people’s lives depended on them. From ad for Eli
Lilly Drug Company
98
Paradox – an apparently contradictory statement that nevertheless contains a measure of truth.
1.
Art is a form of lying in order to tell the truth. – Pablo Picasso
2.
The less we copy the renowned ancients, the more we shall resemble them.
From Conjectures on Original Composition by Edward Young
4.
Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink
Punctuation – Use of periods, commas, dashes, semi-colons, colons, or other marks in order to
control the pace of effect of a work of prose or poetry.
1.
“No rays from the holy Heaven come down / On the long night-time of the town; / But light from out the lurid
sea / Streams up the turrets silently --/ Up domes – up spires – Up kingly halls – Up fanes – up Babylon-like
walls --“ From “A City in the Sea” by E. A. Poe
Utilizing negative-positive restatement creates emphasis by using opposites. An idea is stated twice, first in negative
terms; then in positive
Using pairing and piling modifiers with sets of adjectives impress themselves upon a reader.
Isolated and interrupting elements cut off by punctuation creates “compression” – to quote Poe – which does impress a
reader.
Ex. Children, curled in little balls, slept on straw scattered on wagon beds.
Finally – pay attention to the verbs which determine active and passive voice but also tend to reveal much about the
speaker, attitude, and tone of the work.
Methods of Structure / Organization / Movement in Literature
All good writing has a pattern of organization or structure. Syntax is concerned with the sequence of the words
as they form sentences; organization is concerned with the sequence of paragraphs or stanzas.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
99
General to specific (deductive) or specific to general (inductive)
Chronological (time sequence)
Narrative (order of occurrence of events}
Association / memory (one object to another or by memories)
Movement or lack of movement (storm to calm or calm to storm)
Sensory (organized by senses)
Spatial (inside to outside, far to near, top to bottom, flight to pursuit etc.
In medias res (beginning in the middle and using flashbacks to fill in background)
Comparison and contrast
Order of importance
Dominant impression to least dominant impression (or reverse)
Abstract to concrete (or reverse)
Past to present or present to past
Disorder to order or order to disorder
EXERCISES – SYNTAX (AND STRUCTURE)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Next morning when the first light came into the sky and the sparrows stirred in the trees, when the cows rattled
their chains and the rooster crowed and the early automobiles went whispering along the road, Wilbur awoke
and looked for Charlotte. From Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
In the grass and the grain, beside the road, and in some places scattered over the road, there was much material;
a field kitchen, it must have come when things were going well; many of the calfskin-covered haversacks, stick
bombs, helmets, rifles, sometimes one butt-up, the bayonet stuck in the dirt, they had dug quite a little at the
last; stick bombs, helmet rifles, entrenching tools, ammunition boxes, star-shell pistols, their shells scattered
about, medical kits, gas masks, empty gas-mask cans, a squat tri-podded machine gun in a nest of empty shells,
full belts protruding from the boxes, the water cooling can empty and on its side, the breech block gone, the
crew in odd positions, and around them in the grass, more of the typical papers. From “A Way You’ll Never
Be” by Ernest Hemingway
Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet
Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four
on the Dursley’s front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on
the night when Mr. Dursley had seen the fateful news report about the owls. Only the photograph on the
mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what
looked like a large pink ball wearing different-colored bonnets—but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and
now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a
computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that
another boy lived in the house, too. From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rawlings
There is another and curious class of cases in which close external resemblance does not depend on adaptation
to similar habits of life, but has been gained for the sake of protection. I allude to the wonderful manner in
which certain butterflies imitate . . . other and quite distinct species . . . The mockers and mocked always
inhabit the same region; we never find an imitator living remote from the form which it imitates. The mockers
are almost invariably rare insects; the mocked in almost every case abound in swarms.
Charles Darwin, “analogical Resemblances, “The Origin of Species
5.
No sooner had the reverberation of my blows sunk into silence, then I was answered by a
voice from within the tomb! – by a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then
quickly swelling into one long, loud, and continuous scream, utterly anomalous and inhuman – a howl! – a
wailing shriek, half of horror and half of triumph, such as might have arisen only out of hell, conjointly from
the throats of the damned in their agony and of the demons that exult in the damnation. From “The Black Cat”
by Edgar Allan Poe
6.
When I am too sad and too skinny to keep keeping, when I am a tiny thing against so many bricks, then it is I
look at trees. From The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
7.
But George sat stiffly on the bank and looked at his right hand that had thrown the gun away. From Of Mice
and Men by John Steinbeck
8.
He should be firm, yet gentle; sensitive to others, insensitive to himself; look to the past and the future, yet be
firmly planted in the present, both visionary and sound; affable, yet reflective; know the value of a dollar and
realize that ideas cannot be bought; inspiring in his visions yet cautious in what he does; a man of principle yet
able to make a deal; a man with broad perspective who will follow the details conscientiously; a good
American but ready to criticize the status quo fearlessly; a seeker of truth where the truth may not hurt too
much; a source of public pronouncements when they do not reflect his own institution. From The Uses of the
University by Clark Kerr
9.
As long as the white man sent you to Korea, you bled. He sent you to Germany, you bled.
He sent you to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese, you bled. From Speech by Malcomb X.
100
10.
“I’m clean, Carlito, I’m not using.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m not using,” And oh, God, I found
my mind thinking. Wonder what it would be like again? Wonder what it would be like again? Wonder what it
would be like again? Wonder . ... From Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas
11.
When the moment is ripe, only the fanatic can hatch a genuine mass movement. Without him the disaffection
engendered by militant men of words remains undirected and can vent itself only in pointless and easily
suppressed disorders. Without him the initiated reforms, even when drastic, leave the old way of life
unchanged, and any change in government usually amounts to no more than a transfer of power from one set of
men of action to another. Without him there can perhaps be no new beginning. Eric Hoffer, “The fanatics”
12.
Down by the depot, the postmistress, a gaunt woman, who wears a rawhide jacket and denims and cowboy
boots, presides over a falling-apart post office. The depot itself, with its peeling sulphur-colored paint, is
equally melancholy; the Chief, the Super Chief, the El Capitan go by every day, but these celebrated expresses
never pause there. No passenger trains do – only an occasional freight. Up on the highway, there are two
filling stations, one of which doubles as a meagerly supplied grocery store, while the other does extra duty as a
café --- Hartman’s Café, where Mrs. Hartman, the proprietress, dispenses sandwiches, coffee, soft drinks, and
3.2 beer. (Holcomb, like all the rest of Kansas, is “dry.”) From In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
© S. Counsil
A Guide for Advanced Placement English Vertical Teams – pages 39-48.
Corbett, Edward P. J., and Conners, Robert J. Style and Statement. New York: Oxford, 1999.
Dean, Nancy. Voice Lessons Classroom Activities to Teach Diction, Detail, Imagery, Syntax, and
Tone. Gainesville, FL: Maupin House, 2000.
101
No one has adequately defined poetry. Even poets tend to speak abstractly when defining their domain. Samuel
Taylor Coleridge called poetry, “The best words in the best order.” T.S. Eliot explained poetry as “not the assertion that
something is true, but the making of that truth more fully real.” Poetry is more than literature that is not prose. There is
hardly any tribe so primitive that it does not have poetic forms of expression. American Indians and natives of Easter
Island produced chants and ballads that are unmistakably poetic. The holy book of the Hindus and part of the Old
Testament are written in poetry. The Greeks and Romans embody their great contributions to civilization in epic, lyric,
and dramatic poems.
It is reasonable to ask why poetry, which is more difficult to write and to read than prose, has nearly always occupied
a more prominent place in world culture. This question may best be answered by a description of some of the unique
functions and characteristics of poetry. It is a special and challenging genre, an emotional outpouring of ones’
innermost feelings. It is often dramatic and powerful. Language is our most flexible and most sophisticated medium,
but everyone has felt at one time or another limitations. It is accurate enough to cover only the most commonplace
distinctions. We have a word “green” for describing the color of a leaf or a blade of grass, and we are able to
distinguish between light green and dark green as well as shades in between. However, a leaf that is in shadow has a
distinctly different appearance than one in sunlight, and the exact shade of green a leaf takes on as the sunlight dapples
through the trees is . . . indescribable. That is to say our language provides no easy and familiar way of communicating
all the subtleties of this distinction. The fact is that even the most ordinary experience is far more complicated than
language can possibly be. How would you describe to someone who has never had these experiences how an orange
tastes, what is feels like to run your fingers over velvet, or what it is like to experience your first kiss. To consider this
problem is to realize that the primary experiences that make up the texture of life are, in the final analysis,
incommunicable. In attempting to convey them, a person seeks the most expressive, specific words he can find, but he
is also likely to go beyond mere words and resort to exclamation, intonations, comparisons, and appeals to the senses.
Poetry is language of this sort, and its natural subject matter is the kind of experience that ordinary language is
insufficient to communicate. Poetry works at the limits of knowledge, seeking to express the inexpressible.
Rhythm is a quality of all high art. There is rhythm in painting and sculpture and in the curves and dips, which
recur and repeat each other. There is rhythm obviously in the dance -the graceful flow of motion from finger to toe,
involving every part of the body in patterned movement. There is rhythm in music, beaten out perhaps by the drum or
bass and inviting the listener to tap his foot in time to it. There is rhythm in well-written prose, where the lines flow
gracefully and in cadenced movement rather than proceeding spasmodically. In fact, there is rhythm in almost allhuman activity when it is performed well, whether it is rowing a boat, skipping a rope, swinging an ax, raking a yard, or
doing some repetitive activity on an assembly line. The poor performer operates jerkily and clumsily, while the efficient
performer operates smoothly, with a certain recurrent and measured motion in space and time. There is rhythm even in
breathing -the act of life itself. All good poetry is rhythmical and a major part of the best poetry has been composed in
meter or ordered rhythm. In pronouncing all words or phrases of more than one syllable, certain syllables are given
heavier stress of accent than others. Meter arranges these stresses so that they recur with certain regularity. It separates
the stresses with a more or less fixed number of unstressed syllables. Meter thus imposes order on language, which is
spoken or read aloud. It gives language an oral and aural pattern. Meter means measure, and metrical language may be
measured by the number of feet in each line. However, perfect regularity n meter is not usually desirable. The
uniformity of "tick-tock, tick-tock" or "pocketa-pocketa-pocketa" suggests machinery rather than the organic rhythm of
life. A poem, which continues for long periods with such mechanical regularity, would soon become monotonous. The
good poet seeks repetition with variety, which reflects the subject and content of the poem thereby reinforcing the
meaning of the words he is using. He can do this either by making the meter emphasize the words that are important to
the poem's meaning or by making the movement of the lines correspond to the mood or movement of their content.
Meter is pleasurable for its own sake as evidenced by the pleasure all children take in nonsense verse. If skillfully used,
it may serve as an emotional stimulus and may heighten the reader’s attention to what the poem is saying, i.e. mood,
atmosphere, etc. It can also increase the expressive power of language by adapting the sound and to its content and
meaning
102
Poetry has a primal and historical relationship to music. However, with music the instruments that accompany
the lyrics, whereas in poetry the human voice becomes the initiator of rhythm, ordinarily generate the rhythm.
Consciously or unconsciously, everyone uses a rhythm of stress and unstressed emphasis when speaking. Otherwise, all
humans would sound like robots.
I.
Meter:
A.
Meter is pleasurable for its own sake as evidenced by the universal pleasure that
children take in purely nonsense verses.
B.
If skillfully used, meter serves as an emotional stimulus and may heighten the reader’s
attention to what the poem is saying, i.e. mood; atmosphere, etc.
C.
If skillfully used, meter can increase the expressive power of language by adapting the
sound and movement to its content.
D.
In other words, by his choice of basic meter and by his departures from perfect
regularity within the meter, the poet may reinforce the meanings of the words he or she is using.
He can do this in two ways: 1. by making the meter emphasize words that are important to the
poem’s meaning; and 2. by making the movement of the lines correspond to the mood or movement
of their content.
E.
Poetry has a primal and historical relationship to music. Whereas in music the instruments generally generate rhythm; in poetry the human voice becomes the initiator of rhythm.
Consciously or unconsciously, everyone uses a rhythm of stressed and un- stressed emphasis on
syllables when speaking. Otherwise, we would all sound like robots.
Examples:
divide
abrupt
return
labor
mental
window
apropos
interrupt
overjoyed
poetry
yesterday
thirstily
VERSE has both meter and rhyme. BLANK VERSE has meter but no rhyme. FREE VERSE
has only the natural cadence of speech.
F.
Metric Pattern – the accents of the syllables in the words that fall at regular intervals
creating a rhythm like the beat of music. Dumm is accented and de is unaccented.
G.
103
1. Iambic - de Dumm
2. Trochaic - Dumm de
3. Anapestic - de de Dumm
4. Dactylic - Dumm de de
Metric feet – The beat of poetry “feet” is called meter. One metric pattern equals one foot of
poetry. The number of feet in a line is expressed as follows:
1. One foot – monometer
2. Two feet – dimeter
3. Three feet – trimeter
4. Four feet – tetrameter
5. Five feet – pentameter
6. Six feet – hexameter
7.
8.
9.
Seven feet – heptameter
Eight feet – octameter
Nine feet – nonameter
*Note: Sometimes a pause (caesura) may take the place of an unaccented syllable
*Marking lines of poetry to show the number of feet is called scansion.
H.
Examples of verse:
1. Iambic –
“O where have you been Lord Randal, my son?
O where have you been my handsome your man?” Anonymous
“And now there came both mist and snow
And it grew wondrous cold;
And ice, mast high, came floating by
As green as emerald. (Imperfect rhyme)
“But soft what light through yonder window breaks!” – Shakespeare
2. Trochaic Jenny kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in.” - Hunt
“Tyger, Tyger, burning bright”
In the forest of the night” – Blake
Go and catch a falling star” – Donne
3.
Anapestic –
“When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbors;
Let him think of the glories of Greece and Rome
And get knocked on his head for his labors.”
“Oh young Lochinvar is come out of the West, -Through all the wide Border his steed was the best,
And save his good broadsword he weapons had none. – Scott
104
“Now this is the Law of the Jungle /as old and as true as the sky,
And the Wolf that shall deep it may prosper / but the wolf that shall break it must die.” –
Kipling
4.
Dactylic –
“Maggie and Millie and Molly and May,” - Cummings
“Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, /
Tears from the depth of some divine despair.” - Tennyson
“Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?” – Mother Goose
“Take her up tenderly,
Lift her with care
Fashioned so slenderly
Young and so fair.” – Thomas Hood
*
Scansion is the analysis of these mechanical elements within a poem to determine meter. Feet are marked off
with slashes (/) and accented appropriately (/-stress and unstressed)
“Because/I could/not stop/for Death
He kind/ly stopped/ for me
The car/riage held/but just/ourselves
And im/mortality. – Emily Dickinson

Iambic and anapestic meters are called rising meters because their movement rises from an unstressed syllable
or syllables to stressed. Trochaic and dactylic meters are called falling meters. Also called feet, though they
contain no unaccented syllables are the monosyllabic foot (/) and the spondee (//).
Example: “To the freight cars in the air / all the slow / clank clank / clank clank/ moving about the treetops.”
William Carlos Williams – “The Descent of Winter”
II.
Sound Devices - Melody:
Rhyme – a condition where two words have the same sound on their last accented vowel(s) but are
preceded by different consonants.
A.
1.
Single rhyme - late, date; rate, bait; grim, slim
2.
Double rhyme – battle, rattle; tattle, cattle; flavor, savor
3.
Triple rhyme – discovering, uncovering, recovering; remember, September
4.
Imperfect rhyme or eye rhyme or slant rhyme is that which appears visually to rhyme, but
when actually spoken does not. Ex. touch – couch, cough – tough, good – mood
5.
105
Internal rhyme – a situation where a word inside the line of poetry rhymes with the
end word. Ex. “Let’s beat the heat.”
“The splendour falls on castle walls / And snowy summits old in story; /
The long light shakes across the lakes / and the wild cataract leaps in glory.”
B. Alliteration – the repetition of consonant or vowel sound at the beginnings of the words
in a line of verse.
Ex. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew;
The furrow followed free.
Or The Austrian army, awfully array’d
Boldly by battery besieged Belgrade
C. Assonance – The repetition of vowel sounds in stressed syllables that end with
different consonant sounds.
Ex. Swift Camilla skims the silken sea.
“Doctor Bell fell down the well, / And broke his collar bone.”
While in the wild wood I did lie, / A child—with most knowing eye. (Poe)
D. Consonance – the repetition of consonant sounds at the end of or in the middle of words in a line of poetry.
The consonant sounds are similar, but the vowels which precede them differ – add read, bed; bill ball,
bowl;
Freezing breezes easily cause sneezes.
“Orthodox, Orthodox, who believe in John Knox,
Let me sound an alarm to your conscience:
There’s a heretic blast has blown I’ the wast,
‘That what is not sense must be nonsense.’”
E. Onomatopoeia – a blending of consonant and vowel sounds designed to imitate or suggest a situation or
action. In English many words are echoic in origin – that is they verbally echo the action they describe.
Ex. buzz, pop, hiss, slap, sweep, meow, etc.
F. Euphony is the use of compatible, harmonious sounds in close conjunction to produce a pleasing effect.
Consonants that have a mellifluous sound are known as “liquids” and are l, m, n, r, s, and the soft v and f
sounds along with the semivowels w and y. Vowels are generally more pleasing than are consonants; the
long vowels are generally more resonant that are the short ones.
G. Cacophony is the use of harsh, inharmonious sounds in close conjunction for a sharp effect. Examples of
consonants that are cacophonous are the “plosives,” such as b, d, g, k, p, and t.
Ex. “True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, / as those move easiest who have
learned to dance. / 'Tis not enough no harshness gives offense, / The sound must seem an
echo to the sense.” – Pope
“Or, my scrofulous French novel / on grey paper with blunt type!” - Browning
Rhyme
A.
Rhyme Scheme: The pattern in which the rhyming occurs in a stanza or poem.
106
II.
“The time I’ve lost in wooing
a
In watching and pursuing
a
The light that lies
b
In woman’s eyes
b
Has been my heart’s undoing”
a
B.
Poetry with End-stopped rhyme has a natural pause at the end of a line as indicated by
punctuation as well as by meaning.
“I eat my peas with honey –
I’ve done it all my life.
It makes the peas taste funny,
But it keeps them on my knife.” - Anonymous
C.
Enjambment is the continuation of the sense and grammatical construction of a verse on to
the next line without a pause.
“A line can be end-stopped, just like this one,
Or it can show enjambment, just like this
One, where the sense straddles two lines, you feel
As if from shore you’d stepped into a boat.”
Ex. “With just enough of a breeze for him to ride it
Lazily, a hawk sails still winged
Up the slope of stubble covered hill.”
IV
Figurative Language (imagery) – in a literal sense it means a collection of images in a literary work created
with words. Generally, imagery comes as a figure of speech and is usually called figurative language; it is
designed to help the reader visualize something in the work. There are many kinds of images, but they may be
divided generally into either comparisons or exaggerations.
A.
Comparisons
1.
Simile – a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared.
a, “The Assyrians came down like a wolf on the fold.” – George Gordon, Lord Byron
b. “Our throats were tight as tourniquets.”
c. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” – Mohammad Ali
2.
Metaphor – a figure of speech involving the direct comparison of two unlike objects. A metaphor
may be literal (named) or implied
a. “All the world’s a stage.” - Shakespeare
b. “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player who struts and frets his hour on the
stage and then is heard no more.” – Shakespeare
c. “Death is the broom I take in my hands / To sweep the world clean.” – L. Hughes
Conceit – an extended metaphor comparing two unlike objects with a powerful effect; it owes its
roots to elaborate analogies in Petrarch and to the metaphysical poets, particularly Donne.
Example – “Valediction Forbidding Mourning” – John Donne
3.
Personification – giving human qualities to nonhuman objects, concepts, or animals.
a. “The hands of the clock,” “The foot of a mountain,” “Cruel the storm tonight,”
107
b “When it comes, the landscape listens, / Shadows hold their breath.” - Dickinson
c.
“Slowly, Silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon; (shoes)
This way and that, she peers and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees; - Walter De La Mare “Silver”
d. “Into the jaws of death; / Into the mouth of Hell.” “Charge of the Light Brigade”
4.
Antithesis – a figure of speech in which opposing or contrasting ideas are balanced against each
other in grammatically parallel syntax and used for effect:
a. “Man proposes; God disposes.”
b. “Art is long; time is fleeting.
c. “Ask not what your country can do for you; / as what you can do for your country.”
J. F. Kennedy
d. “There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a
king among his.” – Helen Keller
5.
Apostrophe – an address to some abstract quality or quantity or to a nonexistent
personage“
a. “O Captain, My Captain, our fearful trip is done.” - Whitman
b. “The sky is changed! – and such a change! Oh night,
And storm, and darkness, ye are wondrous strong.” - Byron
c. “Little lamb who made thee?” - Blake
6.
Literary Allusion – referring metaphorically to persons, places, or things from other
literature that the writer assumes the reader will recognize such as:
a. “Tom’s fall occurred when he accepted Satan’s offer.”
b. “Chocolate is my Waterloo.”
C
“Oh, not by sun and not by cloud
And not by whippoorwill, crying loud,
And not by the pricking of my thumbs,
Do I know the way that summer comes. – Phyllis McGinley “Season at the Shore”
B.
Exaggerations:
1.
Hyperbole – conscious exaggeration that is used without the intent of literal persuasion
but used instead for emphasis.
a. “I put my foot in my mouth.”
b. “He wore his fingers to the bone,”
c. “I’ve told you a million times.”
d. “I grieve and dare not show my discontent, / I love and yet am forced to seem to hate, / I do, yet
dare not say I ever meant, / I seem stark mute but inwardly to prate, / I am and not, I freeze and
yet am burned, / Since from myself another self I turned.” “On Monsieur’s Departure” –
Queen Elizabeth
108
2.
Understatement – saying less than is true or Litotes – a form of understatement in which the negative
of an antonym is used to achieve emphasis.
a. Her face is not unpleasing. (Litotes)
b. “The grave’s a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace.” Herrick (Litotes)
c. Losing his job meant he could sleep late. (understatement)
c. “A man who holds his hand for half an hour in a lighted fire will experience a sensation of
excessive and disagreeable warmth.” – Artemus Ward (understatement)
3.
Irony – a statement that means the opposite of what it appears to mean.
a. “I just love to stay home and wash my hair on Saturday night!”
b. (On a stormy day.) Nice day, Huh?
c. “The Golf Links be so near the mill / That almost every day, / The laboring
children can look out / and see the men at play.” – Sara Cleghorn
d. “You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille!” – some country singer
e. “I saw a jolly hunter / With a jolly gun / Walking in the country / In the jolly sun. In the jolly
meadow / Sat a jolly hare. / Saw jolly hunter. / Took jolly care. / Hunter jolly eager- / Sight of jolly
prey. / Forgot gun pointing / Wrong jolly way. / Jolly hunter’s jolly head / Over heels gone. / Jolly
old safety catch / Not jolly on. / Bang went the jolly gun. / Jolly hunter dead. / Jolly hare got clean
away. / Jolly good I said.“
Charles Causley “ I Saw a Jolly Hunter.”
4.
Paradox and Oxymoron – a paradox is a statement containing two seemingly
contradictory terms, which put together may contain an element of truth. A short
paradox is often called an oxymoron.
a.
b.
c.
“The child is father of the man.”
“She was too tired to sleep.”
“The longest way round is the shortest way home.” Edward Albee
d. Oxymorons – mute cry, guest host, freezer burn
5. Synecdoche – a trope or a metaphor in which a part signifies the whole or the whole stands for the
part.
a. “The rancher had twenty thousand head of cattle on the ranch.”
b. “The tickets cost twenty dollars a head.”
c. “Give us this day our daily bread.”
d. “When their neighbor’s party became violent, they called in the law.”
6.
Metonymy – a figure of speech characterized not the naming of the object itself, but
by a substitution of another word for the name of the object.
a. “The pot is boiling.”
b. “The subjects came to pay tribute to the crown.”
c. “A little rule, a little sway, / A sunbeam on a winter’s day / Is all the proud and mighty have / Between
the cradle and the grave.” “Grongar Hill” - John Dyer
V.
Stanza Forms: The stanza is the basic organizational principle of most formal poetry.
A.
109
Couplets – Two lines of poetry, any meter, any length with rhyme. “The Ballad of Dick Turpin”
B.
Heroic Couplets consist of two rhyming lines of iambic pentameter, the first ending with a light
pause, the second more heavily end-stopped.
“As I in hoary winter’s night stood shivering in the snow.
Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow.”
C. Tercets – three lines of poetry.
“Julius Caesar,
The Roman Geezer,
Squashed his wife with a lemon squeezer.”
D. Terza Rima consists of tercets linked together by the rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc, ded, efe, and so on.
“In moving-slow he has no Peer. / You ask him something in his ear; / He thinks about
it for a Year;
And, then, before he says a Word / There, upside down (unlike a Bird) / He will
assume that you have Heard - “The Sloth” by Theodore Rothke
E. Quatrain – four lines of poetry
“A quatrain has four lines
As one can plainly see;
One of its strict designs
Comes rhymed abab.”
Ballad Quatrain – four line stanzas with the rhyme scheme abab, and the first and third lines are iambic
tetrameter and the second and fourth lines are iambic trimeter.
F. Five lines – Rare: usually not a legitimate form (limericks do not count as real poetry.)
G. Six lines – Sestet – often three sets of couplets
“In the garden there strayed
A beautiful maid
As fair as the flower of the morn;
The first hour of her life,
She was made a man’s wife,
And was buried before she was born.
H. Septet is seven lines of poetry.
I. “Rhyme Royal is a stanza form of seven
Pentameter, which Chaucer filled with scenes
From Troilus and Criseyde and with heaven—
Sent birdsongs in the Parlment, its means,
More limited than are The Faerie Queen’s
“Royal”? – from a poem by Scotland’s first King James.
(Some scholars differ; so it is with names.”
110
J. Octet is an eight line of poetry stanza or the first eight lines of a sonnet, especially one structured in the
manner of the Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet
K. Spenserian Stanza – eight lines of iambic pentameter followed by six lines of iambic hexameter
L. “A true Spenserian stanza wakes up well
With what will seem a quatrain first; in time
The third line rings its “a” rhyme like a bell,
The fourth, its “b” resounding like a dime
In a pay telephone—this paradigm
Demonstrating, the kind of interlocking
Of quatrains doubling back on the same rhyme
End is alexandrine, gently rocking
The stanza back to sleep, lest the close be too shocking.
L. Sonnets – A sonnet is always fourteen lines of iambic pentameter.
1.
VI.
111
The Italian or Petrarchan Sonnet consists of eight lines (octet) of iambic pentameter followed by six
lines (sestet) of the same. The rhyme scheme is (abba abba) (cde cde) or (cd cd ee).
2. The Elizabethan sonnet consists of three quatrains followed by a couplet. The rhyme scheme is (abab
cdcd efef gg).
Kinds of Poetry:
A.
Narrative - This kind of poetry tells a story and grew out of the need of whole nations of people for
entertainment and for a means of “recording” and “transmitting” accounts of important events.
1. Epic – a long poem about some hero or about a group of people along with a description of their
morals, values, and customs. Ex. “The Odyssey” – Homer
2. Metrical romance – a romantic tale of adventure, love, chivalry, and deeds of bravery and
chance told in verse. This is a form most popular in the Middle Ages. Ex. “Lady of Shalott” –
Tennyson
3. Ballad – a short story told in verse and easily set to music, often using a refrain. It often has an
abrupt beginning, simple language; the story is told through dialogue and action. The theme is
often tragic. Ex. “Danny Deever” - Kipling
4. Fable – a short story told in verse containing a moral and usually about animals. Ex. “An Ant on
the Tablecloth” – Frost
B.
Lyric poetry is verse whose sole purpose is the expression of an individual’s emotions, mood,
experiences, or attitude. It is usually short and musical and may appear in the form of an ode, elegy,
or sonnet. This form of poetry is more like a snapshot than an entire story.
1. Ode – a short poem of elaborate metrical form expressing exalted, dignified, or lyrical feelings
and which pays tribute to a thing of beauty or interest. Ex, “Ode to the West Wind” Shelly
2. Elegy – a poem of mourning, usually over the death of an individual. It may also be a lament
over the passing of life or beauty or a meditation on the nature of death.
Ex. “In Memoriam” – Tennyson
3. Epigram – a short, witty, pointed statement in the form of a poem. Ex. “I am his Highness dog at
Kew; / Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you? - Pope
4. Au bade – poem about dawn; a morning love song; or a poem about the parting of lovers at
dawn. Ex. “Au bade” – Phillip Larkin
5. Pastoral - poem dealing with country life (shepherds) Ex. “A Passionate Shepherd to his
Love.” - Marlow
6. Dramatic lyric – poem consisting of one character speaking to one or more listeners whose
replies are not given in the poem. Ex. “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” – Eliot
7. Epitaph – an inscription on a gravestone or a short poem in memory of someone who has died.
Ex. “In Memoriam” – Tennyson
VII.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Styles
Classical poetry is quite formal in treatment, highly structured, with elevated vocabulary.
Romantic poetry is imaginative, deals with nature, love, adventure but has strict metrical patterns.
Realistic poetry candidly presents everyday life with no glossing.
Psychological poetry is concerned with man’s inner thoughts, needs, and motivations.
Abstract poetry is highly symbolic and contains the poet’s own personal views.
© Shirley Counsil
SENSORY WORD LIST
Sight Words
Sound Words
Touch Words
Taste and Smell Words
Radiant
Raucous
Prickly
Salty
Coppery
Roar
Dry
Sugary
Lofty
Bleat
Ridged
Fermented
Lanky
Babble
Gritty
Acidic
Scrawny
Trumpet
Dank
Fruity
Sashay
Whisper
Clammy
Tart
Creep
Clanging
Satiny
Savory
Shuffle
Serenade
Bristly
Scorched
Miserable
Giggle
Gnarled
Zesty
Skulking
Pulsing
Powdery
Meaty
Merry
Grating
Oily
Charred
Oval
Lilting
Waxy
Putrid
Spinning
Squeal
Crumpled
Smoky
Puffy
Chatter
Downy
Medicinal
112
Stout
Bray
Woolly
Biting
Miniature
Sputter
Frozen
Earthy
Gargantuan
Boisterous
Velvety
Musty
Slight
Clank
Scorching
Floral
Dense
Creak
Slippery
Fragrant
Stiff
Ringing
Sticky
Woodsy
Waddle
Thunderous
Yielding
Nutty
Sullen
Uproarious
Icy
spicy
“I taste liquor never brewed” Dickinson
I taste liquor never brewed,
From tankards scooped in pearl;
Not all the vats upon the Rhine
Yield such an alcohol!
Inebriate of air am I,
And debauchee of dew,
Reeling, through endless summer days,
From inns of molten blue.
When landlords turn the drunken bee
Out of the foxglove’s door,
When butterflies renounce their drams,
I shall but drink the more!
Till Seraphs swing their snowy hats,
And saints to windows run,
To see the little tippler
Leaning against the sun.
5
Miniver sighed for what was not,,
And dreamed and rested from his labors;
He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot,
And Pram’s neighbors.
Miniver mourned the ripe renown
That made so many a name so fragrant;
He mourned Romance now on the town,
And Art, a vagrant.
10
15
“Miniver Cheevy”
Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,
Grew lean while he assailed the seasons;
He wept that he was ever born,
And he had reasons.
Miniver loved the days of old,
5
When swords were bright and steeds were prancing;
113
The vision of a warrior bold
Would set him dancing.
Miniver loved the Medici,
Albeit he had never seen one;
He would have sinned incessantly,
Could he have been one.
10
15
20
Miniver cursed the commonplace,
And eyed a khaki suit with loathing;
He missed the medieval grace
Of iron clothing.
Miniver scorned the gold he sought,
But sore annoyed was he without it;
Miniver thought and thought and thought,
And thought about it.
Miniver Cheevy, born too late,
Scratched his head and kept on thinking’
Miniver coughed, and called it fate,
And kept on drinking.
25
30
Sonnet 73 - Shakespeare
“Delight in Disorder” – Herrick
That time of year thou may’st in me behold
When yellow leaves or none, or few, do hang
Upon these bough which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet bird sang.
A sweet disorder in the dress
Kindles in clothes a wantonness.
A lawn about the shoulders thrown
Into a fine distraction.
In me thou see’st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by’ black night doth take away,
Death’s second self that seals up all in rest.
5
An erring lace, which here and there
Enthralls a crimson stomacher,
A cuff neglectful, and thereby
Ribbons to flow confusedly,
In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
10
As the deathbed whereon it must expire,
Consumed by that which it was nourished by.
A winning wave, deserving note,
In the tempestuous petticoat.
A careless shoestring, in whose tie
I see a wild civility,
This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
Do bewitch me than when art
Is too precise in every part.
“I Am A Rock”
“One Art” - Bishop
A winter’s day,
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am A Rock;
I am an Island.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
I’ve built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate,
I have no need of friendship;
Friendship causes pain;
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain.
I am a Rock;
I am an Island.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster
places, names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
Don’t talk of love,
But I’ve heard the words before;
It’s sleeping in my memory.
I won’t disturb the slumber of feelings
That have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a Rock;
I am an Island.
I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb,
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a Rock;
I am an Island.
And a rock feels no pain,
And an island never cries.
114
5
10
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent,
the art of losing isn’t hard to master.
I lost my mother’s watch. And look! My last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
5
10
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.
20
--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
Though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
“Success is Counted Sweetest” – Dickinson
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear, of victory,
As he, defeated, dying,
5
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Break, agonized and clear.
10
Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows,
And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;
But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar;
Sound and Sense - Pope
True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those who move easiest who have learned to dance.
‘Tis not enough no harshness gives offense,
The sound must seem an echo to the sense:
When Ajax strives some rock’s vast weight to throw
The line too labors, and the words move slow;
Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain,
15
Flies o’er the unbending corn, and skims along the
main,
Hear how Timotheus’ varied lays surprise,
And bid alternate passions fall and rise!
“Terrence this is stupid stuff:
You eat your victuals fast enough,
There can’t be much amiss, ‘tis clear,
To see the rate you drink your beer.
But ho, good Lord, the verse you make; 5
It gives a chap the belly-ache.
The cow, the old cow, she is dead.
It sleeps well, the horned head.
We poor lads, ‘tis our turn now
To hear such tunes as killed the cow.
10
Pretty friendship ‘tis to rhyme
Your friends to death before their time.
Moping, melancholy mad:
Come, pipe a tune to dance to, lad.”
Why if ‘tis dancing you would be,
There’s brisker pipes than poetry.
Say, for what were hop-yards meant,
Or why was Burton built on Trent?
Oh, many a peer of England brews
Livelier liquor than the Muse,
And malt does more than Milton can
To justify God’s ways to man.
Ale, man, ale’s the stuff to drink
For fellows whom it hurts to think:
Look into the pewter pot
To see the world as the world’s not.
And faith, ‘tis pleasant till ‘tis past:
115
15
20
25
The mischief is that ‘twill not last.
Oh, I have been to Ludlow fair
And left my necktie God knows where,
And carried half-way home, or near,
Pints and quarts of Ludlow beer:
Then the world seemed none so bad
And I myself a sterling lad;
And down in lovely much I’ve lain,
Happy till I woke again.
Then I saw the morning sky: --Heighho, the tale was all a lie;
The world, it was the old world yet.
I was I; my things were wet.
And nothing now remained to do
But begin the game anew.
Therefore, since the world has still
Much good, but much less good than ill,
And while the sun and moon endure
Luck’s a chance, but trouble’s sure.
I’d face it as a wise man would,
And train for ill and not for good.
‘Tis true, the stuff I bring for sale
Is not so brisk a brew as ale:
Out of a stem that scored the hand
I wrung it in a weary land.
But take it; if the smack is sour,
The better for the embittered hour;
30
35
40
45
50
It should do good to heart and head
When your soul is in my soul’s stead;
And I will friend you, if I may,
In the dark and cloudy day.
There was a king reigned in the East
There, where kings will sit to feast.
They get their fill before they think
With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
He gathered all that spring to birth
From the many venomed earth;
First a little; then to more,
55
60
65
He sampled all the killing store;
And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
Sate the king when healths went round.
They put arsenic in his meat
And stared aghast to watch him eat;
70
They poured strychnine in his cup
And shook to see him drink it up:
They shook, they stared as white their shirt;
Them it was their poison hurt.
-- I tell the tale I heard told.
70
Mithridates, he died old.
Read the above work slowly, stopping to think about what you have read. This work may need to be read line by
line. “Terrance is Housman’s name for himself; what do you think the “stupid stuff” is?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify the two speakers in the poem? What complaint does the first speaker make? What does the second
speaker answer?
What is the tone of the work? Explain the poetic conventions (rhyme, meter, verse, structure, etc.)
Find the various allusions and explain what they add to the meaning of the work.
Briefly explain the section beginning, “Oh I have been to Ludlow fair . . . “
Identify the similes and metaphors and explain how they add meaning and give insight to the work.
*King who lived in 61 BC, and it is reported that he had taken small doses of poison in order to build immunity against
his enemies who might attempt to poison him.
“Swan and Shadow” by John Hollander
Dusk
Above the
water hang the
loud
flies
Here
O so
gray
then
What
A pale signal will appear
When
Soon before its shadow fades
Where
Here in this pool of opened eye
In us
No Upon us As at the very edges
of where we take shape in the dark air
this object bares its image awakening
ripples of recognition that will
brush darkness up into light
even after this bird this hour both drift by atop the perfect sad instant now
already passing out of sight
116
toward yet-untroubled reflection
this image bears its object darkening
into memorial shades Scattered bits of
light
No of water Or something across
water
Breaking up No Being regathered
soon
Yet by then a swan will have
gone
Yes out of mind into what
vast
pale
hush
of a
place
past
sudden dark as
if a swan
sang
Out, Out—
The buzz-saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,
Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the other
Under the sunset far into Vermont.
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened: day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said
To please the boy by giving him the half hour
That a boy counts so much when saved from work.
His sister stood beside them in her apron
To tell them “Supper.” At the word, the saw,
As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,
Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap—
He must have given the hand. However it was,
Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,
As he swung toward them holding up the hand
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all—
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
117
Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart—
He saw all spoiled. “Don’t let him cut my hand off—
The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister!”
So. But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then—the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.[1]
1. Look at the personification of the saw and the repetition. What is the effect of this?
2. What inference can you draw about the description of the surrounding (lines 5-6) as
juxtaposed with lines 7-8?
3. What is the purpose of the repetition of onomatopoeia in lines 7-8?
4. What do lines 14-16 suggest about the saw? What figure of speech is this and what is the
effect of its use?
5. What inference can you draw from line 18? What does this suggest about “the meeting”
between hand and saw?
6. Lines 23-24 show Frost’s attitude about the fact that this boy was doing a man’s work.
What is his attitude?
7. What possible reasons are there for the boy’s death (line 31)? How is the line “Little – less
– nothing!” and example of form follows content?
8. How does the fragment “But the hand!” function to add meaning to the poem?
9. What is the purpose and significance of the major allusion to the title of the poem?
10. Why is this poem in the form of a narrative?
11. What inference might you draw from the watcher’s reaction to the boy’s death?
118
2008 AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION FREE-RESPONSE
QUESTIONS
© 2008 The College Board. All rights reserved.
(Suggested time—40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.)
In the two poems below, Keats and Longfellow reflect on similar concerns. Read the poems
carefully. Then write an essay in which you compare and contrast the two poems, analyzing the
poetic techniques each writer uses to explore
his particular situation.
When I Have Fears
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen’d grain;
5 When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of
chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
10 That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.
1818 —John Keats (1795-1821)
119
Mezzo Cammin1
Written at Boppard on the Rhine August 25,
1842,
Just Before Leaving for Home
Half of my life is gone, and I have let
The years slip from me and have not fulfilled
The aspiration of my youth, to build
Some tower of song with lofty parapet.
5 Not indolence, nor pleasure, nor the fret
Of restless passions that would not be stilled,
But sorrow, and a care that almost killed,
Kept me from what I may accomplish yet;
Though, half-way up the hill, I see the Past
10 Lying beneath me with its sounds and
sights,—
A city in the twilight dim and vast,
With smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming
lights,—
And hear above me on the autumnal blast
The cataract2 of Death far thundering from
the heights.
1842 —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (18071882)
1 The title is from the first line of Dante’s Divine Comedy: “Nel
mezzo del cammin di nostra vita” (“Midway upon the journey of
our life”).
2 A large waterfall
AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION 2008 SCORING GUIDELINES
Question 1
(Keats’s “When I Have Fears” and Longfellow’s “Mezzo Cammin”)
The score reflects the quality of the essay as a whole—its content, its style, its mechanics. Students are rewarded for what
they do well. The score for an exceptionally well-written essay may be raised by 1 point above the otherwise appropriate
score. In no case may a poorly written essay be scored higher than a 3.
9–8 These essays offer a persuasive comparison/contrast of the two poems and present an insightful analysis of the
relationship between them and the techniques each writer uses to explore his particular situation. Although these essays
offer a range of interpretations and choose to emphasize different poetic techniques, they also provide convincing readings
of both poems and demonstrate consistent and effective control over the elements of composition in language appropriate
to the analysis of poetry. Their textual references are apt and specific. Although they may not be error-free, these essays
are perceptive in their analysis and demonstrate writing that is clear and sophisticated, and in the case of an essay that
earns 9 points, especially persuasive.
7–6 These essays offer a reasonable comparison/contrast of the two poems and an effective analysis of the relationship
between them and of the techniques each writer uses to explore his particular situation. Such essays demonstrate the
ability to express ideas clearly with references to the text, although they do not exhibit the same level of effective writing
as those in the 9–8 range. They are less thorough or less precise in their discussion, and their analysis of the relationship
between the two poems is less convincing. Essays scored 7–6 are generally well written, but those earning a 7 demonstrate
more sophistication in both substance and style.
5 These essays may respond to the assigned task with a plausible reading of the two poems and their relationship, but they
may be superficial in their analysis. They often rely on paraphrase, but paraphrase that contains some analysis, implicit or
explicit. Their comparison/contrast of the relationship between the two poems may be vague, formulaic, or minimally
supported by references to the texts. There may be minor misinterpretations of one or both poems. These essays
demonstrate control of language, but the writing may be marred by surface errors. They are not as well conceived,
organized, or developed as those in the 7–6 range.
4–3 These lower-half essays fail to offer an adequate analysis of the two poems. The analysis may be partial,
unconvincing, or irrelevant, or it may ignore one of the poems completely. Evidence from the poems may be slight or
misconstrued, or the essays may rely on paraphrase only. The writing often demonstrates a lack of control over the
conventions of composition: inadequate development of ideas, accumulation of errors, or a focus that is unclear,
inconsistent, or repetitive. Essays scored a 3 may contain significant misreading and/or demonstrate inept writing.
2–1 These essays compound the weaknesses of those in the 4–3 range. Although some attempt has been made to respond
to the prompt, assertions are presented with little clarity, organization, or support from the poems themselves. The essays
may contain serious errors in grammar and mechanics, may offer a complete misreading, or may be unacceptably brief.
Essays scored a 1 contain little coherent discussion of the poems.
Question #1: Keats’s “When I Have Fears” and Longfellow’s “Mezzo Cammin”
Sample Essays
120
Sample OOO
“When I Have Fears” by John Keats and “Mezzo Cammin” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, are poems that reflect on the
prospect of death. Several poetic devices are used to characterize and explane the situation of poem. Although the exists the
similarity of little time to fulfill their desires, “When I Have Fears” shows that the man worked hard in his life but was not able to
obtain his goal. The other exemplifies a wasted life.
John Keats explores the situation of his poem through use of metaphors. He says, “When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,”
(line 5). This can be seen as a metaphor, characterizing the night as the closure of his life. Continuing, “. . . I may never live to trace
their shadows, with the magic hand of chance” (line 7-8). This quote characterizes the speakers lonelinesses and regret that his life is
coming to a close. It is a metaphorical representation that he will never possess the chance to explore true love. Finally, he says,
“And when I feel, fair creature of an hour, that I shall never look upon thee more, never have relish in the faery power of unreflecting
love. . .” (lines 9-12). Here the speaker explains that if he finds love, it will only be for a short period. He will not be able to
experience what love really is before his time on Earth runs out.
Similarly, Mezzo Cammin was characterize as a poetic work, reflecting on the failed accomplishment. However, this poem
reflected more so on the past and was less metaphorical. It did, however, contain much imagery. The poem reads, “Though, half-way
up the hill,” referring to the middle of life he was going through, “I see Past lying beneath me with its sounds and sights – a city in the
twilight dim and vast, with smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights. . .” (lines 9-12). The imagery paints a picture to the reader
of what kind of vibrant life the speaker was into. However, it also serves as an illustration that the speaker was not fulfilled despite
the fast-paced exciting place in which he dwelled. He continued, “And hear above me on the autumnal blast, the cataract of Death far
thundering from the heights.” (lines 13-14). This quote is an assertion of the speaker’s unfulfilled life. The “cataract of Death” is in
the speaker’s view. So it is evident that death is upon him and he had not yet filled the void in his life.
Several poetic devices where used to characterize the similar, yet contrasting, poems presented.
Sample AA
Each speaker in both poems speak about death whether it is about anticipating death happening or just the mere thought of death,
both speakers have different views and express their views using poetic techniques.
Both speakers use a rhyme scheme throughout the whole poem. The rhyme schemes give the poems rhythm and balance.
Sample UU
While Keats’s “When I Have Fears” focuses mainly on future goals before the end of life and Longfellow’s “Mezzo Cammin” is
a reflection on unachieved goals of the past, the two poems relate to the temporariness of life and the pressure to meet one’s goals,
past or present. Keats uses imagery and diction pertaining to the vastness of nature to highlight the narrator’s loss of control over
time, while Longfellow uses diction relating to “half”-completed tasks and personification of the “past” and of “Death” in order to
emphasize the narrator’s feelings of inadequacy or lack of “fulfillment.”
The description of the enormity of nature in “When I Have Fears” reveal the narrator’s feelings of insignificance. Words such as
“night,” “Huge cloudy symbols,” and “shadows” clarify the presence of a larger universe that the narrator cannot control. Reminders
of “the shore/of the wide world” make the narrators efforts to prolong time and accomplish his goals futile, as the work of nature
progresses. Just as waves on the shore continue relentlessly, time progresses without any interruptions, and the notion that the narrator
may not achieve his goals becomes all the more possible when considering that he “[stands] alone.” The overwhelming size and
power of nature establishes a force greater than the narrator, or a force, that, in its uncontrollable state, has more authority over the
narrator’s life than he does himself.
Longfellow’s diction that relates to “halves” along with his personification of the “past” and “Death” emphasize the lack of
realization of personal goals and the pressure to achieve them in the future. “Mezzo Cammin,” which, similar to “When I Have
Fears,” deals with the inescapable passing of time, focuses on a lack of completion and overall dissatisfaction in terms of goals
achieved. However, its examination of the past in relationship to the present render the “past” a force that works against the narrator,
as it only grows larger with the passing of time. Longfellow’s use of phrases such a “Half of my life” and “not fulfilled” clarify the
level of dissastisfaction of the narrator and the notion that he must still take action in the future to meet those goals. The notion that he
is “half-way up the hill” demonstrates his journey through life and reiterates the idea that time has prevented him from truly finishing
a desired task. The personification of the “Past” and “Death” leave the narrator caught between two forces, where he is unable to
121
recapture one and is weary to face the other. As the “Past” “[lies” beneath [him],” it dons a power greater than his own in its inability
to be regained which especially is especially clear through the description of the “city in the twilight dim and vast.” “Death” becomes
undesirable, but the past cannot be revisited, leaving the narrator stuck with unfinished dreams.
Sample LL
Both poems by Keats and Longfellow reflect on unfulfilled dreams and the imminence of death, yet their conclusions are
somewhat different. Longfellow mourns his inaction and seems to view the past as comfortable compared to an uncertain future. On
the other hand, Keats worries that he will not be able to accomplish all that he wants to, but as he recognizes the enormity and
possibility of the world, he realizes that his mortal goals are meaningless. Longfellow’s ultimate tone about death is fearful and grim,
but Keats’ is more appreciative of the wonder of life and therefore more hopeful.
The similarities between the poems lie mainly in the openings which begrudge the fleeting nature of life. Keats’ fear that he
“may cease to be” parallels Longfellow’s statement that “half of [his] life is gone.” The men continue to express their fears about not
having the time or being able to accomplish what they want to. Keats’ repitition of the word “before” as an anaphora emphasizes his
concern that he may die before he is able to attain his literary goals or harness the opportunity of “the full ripen’d grain,” a simile for
the possibility that he sees in his work. Longfellow, too, acknowledges his failure to “fulfill the aspiration of [his youth]” and “build
some tower of song with lofty parapet,” which is similar to Keats’ hope to leave behind his legacy of words. The beginnings of the
poems both depict men who fear that time is running out.
The middles, or second parts of the poems illustrate the contrast between the two situations. In line5, Keats starts to talk about
the beauty and mystery of love with images of “shadows” and “huge cloudy symbols of a high romance.” He seems to believe that
love comes by fate, and he is sad to miss out on such “chance” when it comes time for him to die. He speaks of never having the
opportunity to “look upon thee more” and indulge in innocent, “unreflecting love,” showing that he has experienced love before but
now his chances for pure love are ruined because he is so aware of death. Longfellow’s poem takes a different tone as he says he has
not experienced “pleasure” or “passions,” but has experienced “sorrow” and too much “care” which has paralyzed him. Longfellow’s
fear of death seems to stop him completely from accomplishing his goals, while Keats has taken advantage of the time that he has had
and is merely scared now that he does not have time to continue living.
The end of the poems show these different attitudes toward life and death by using similar situations. Keats walks to a shore and
Longfellow to a hill to contemplate life, and both look out before them. While Keats sees the “wide world,” which alliteration
emphasizes the possibility of, Longfellow look out and sees a city as a metaphor for the past. Keats realizes that his goals for literary
fame and love before he dies are “nothingness” compared to the grand scope of life. However Longfellow sees the “smoking roof,
soft bells, and gleaming lights” of a hazy and idealized past with a clear and powerful waterfall of death right overheard. Keats seems
to recognize the opportunity left in his life when he looks out, though it may be daunting but Longfellow sees only a past haunted by
death and no future to speak of.
Sample CCCC
The poems “When I Have Fears” and “Mezzo Cammin” by John Keats and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow both discuss how the
speakers have not accomplished all that they wanted to during their youth. While the style of each writer is completely different form
the other, the message is still the same—you fear that you can never accomplish all your dreams. The poems are different in that
Keats uses older diction and looks upon his life in a romantic perspective while Longfellow uses diction that is easier to understand
and sees his life like a dream world. It is interesting that both writers end on the same “watery” note. Keats’ love and fame will
“sink” and Longfellow well inevitibly drown in the “cataract of Death far thundering from the heights.”
Sample ZZ
When reading “When I Have Fears” and “Mezzo Cammin” a can first and foremost see that both authors use a repitition in
rhythm until the end of the poem where they then break off into a separate rhythm.
As John Keats explains his fear at dying and losing love he has the attitude of a worried man doesn’t feel that he is going to live
long. (line 7) One can see that there is no more hope left in the character in the poem because the author paints a picture of a man who
is alone and almost seems ready to die.
However in Henry W. Longfellow’s poem “Mezzo Cammin” he paints a picture of a man who isn’t ready to die and in fact has
an urge to go on in life. The tone of the character is one of pride and yet the fear of unsuccess.
122
Both authors have expressed a fear in one way or another but the difference is that one give you a sense of hope (Henry W.
Longfellow) and the other a sense of worry and failure (John Keats). Both authors do indeed capture their audience and leave them
with a thought.
Sample PP
Due to a largely heightened consciousness, many humans have a fear of the unknown and, inevitably, of death. Humans desire to
be in control, to have the power to predict the future so time will not be wasted. In the poems by Keats and Longfellow, both narrators
present the fear of a wasted life in their recognition that time is forever in motion. Through metaphors and personification, the
narrators describe the contrast between the past and the future, and the hope that their lives will not be spent consumed by trivial
matters.
With a more optimistic approach, Keats’ narrator in “When I Have Fears” forms a solution to his overwhelming fear of death.
The narrator is metacognitive, acutely aware of his desires and how he may obtain them. He recognizes the brute unimportance of
trivial pursuits such as fame and love referring to love as “cloudy” and romance as “high”, giving the euphoric feeling of one’s
inability to be in control, the extreme opposite of being grounded in one’s own thoughts. He continues, using personification to
characterize the matters of love and fame, the ridiculous desires of the greater population. Chance, he says, has a “magic hand,” one
that is unreliable and often disappointing, and love has a “faery power,” an unbelievable and often sporratic appearance. The narrator
recognizes his innate desire to attain these things, to achieve fame and experience love, yet he is able to reconcile with the fact that
fame and love are often fleeting and that to achieve a greater self-actualization he must “sink” these desires and focus on the future,
embracing the “creature of an hour.” He is aware of himself and is optimistic about the future, confident that he can achieve
greatness.
Longfellow’s narrator, in contrast, takes a pessimistic approach in his similar fear in “Mezzo Cammin.” He looks to the past with
regret, as opposed to Keats’ determination, using the fact that his life is half over as a signal to give up hope. He states that he has not
yet built “some tower of song” as he has not been able to accomplish anything concrete; he has no grand tower by which he can prove
his capabilities. He blames his wasted years on sorrow, characterizing his emotions as oppressors that smothered his aspirations and
choked his dreams. He describes his life as a hill up which he is halfway, a mountain of despair that must overcome. He sees the Past
behind him, depicted as a city in “the twilight dim,” sinking into the darkness of gloom that he has created in his inability to embrace
his past. The Past has “soft bells and gleaming lights”, images of comfort that make the past seem welcoming and safe. The narrator
realizes, though, that the Past is now behind him and that he cannot turn back, as the impending brutality of Death approaches quickly,
a “cataract” that drowns the hope that the past once held. Longfellow’s author looks to the past, not to the future, for inspiration and
comfort, though the past is quickly being swallowed by years.
Both narrators utilize metaphors and personification to characterize their lives and to contrast their past with their future, though
each takes a strikingly different approach in doing so. While Keats’ narrator is proactive and optimistic, sure that he can overcome
trivial matters, Longfellow’s narrator is trapped in the past, unable to recognize that the lights behind him can be found in the future, if
only he clears the heavy water. These narrators, in describing their fears, embody the collective unconscious fear of death and the
unknown, each provoking the audience to embrace each hour and live with high hopes, as the future will quickly become a part of the
past.
54-55 Questions over four or five passages / counts 45% of total score. Usually the exam contains one or two American writers and
two others. Expect something from previous centuries. Give practice test before actual exam. There is a mixture of prose passages
and poems.



123
Kinds of questions: About 60% inferences, 30 % purpose or function questions, as many as 55% refer to line or lines in the
passage. There will also be questions about diction, meaning in context, tone, attitude, main idea, etc.
Over half of the questions will require close reading on the part of the student.
The answer to most rhetorical strategies questions is a simple one.









The answer to most “meaning in context” questions frequently does not involve the most common definition.
Ironically, short passages may often be more difficult than longer ones.
Often there will be a question near the end that asks bout tone, attitude, or narrative style.
There probably will be questions about a speaker’s perspective, the relationship between characters, or how a speaker
characterizes someone.
There will be a number of questions about literary elements and their purpose and/ or function.
Expect a number of questions about poetry, terms, poetic devices, and imagery.
Among the questions that have options of answers involving individual or combinations of I, II, or III, the choice with only
one Roman numeral is almost never right.
The first portion of questions usually begins by asking the reader to refer to one or two lines, and as the passage progresses,
the questions may increase the number of lines the reader is asked to examine.
The questions that asked students to infer, analyze purpose, rhetorical function or to see what something refers to or
characterizes were the one that were often the ones that more than 50% of students missed on the exam. However, the
questions that asked students to identify “all of the following EXCEPT were the most frequently missed.
Test-taking Strategies












Number one suggestion: After reading the passage, put hand over the five choices and anticipate what the answer might be
before looking at the answers.
Mark out answers that are clearly incorrect.
Read actively rather than passively and mark the text. Underline anything that seems to be significant and make brief
notations.
Visualize but do not memorize. This results in higher retention. Make what is on the page come alive. Note where it is on
the printed page so it will be quicker to find the answer.
Paraphrase of summarize each passage mentally as you read each paragraph separately and then the entire passage before you
answer. Practice this skill often so that you do not suffer brain lag. Write in the margins as you paraphrase.
Read the questions carefully to be sure what the question is asking. Read all the answer choices and eliminate any that are
obviously wrong.
Skim the questions first eliminating any and all questions that refer you to line numbers as you have to go back and reread
those anyway. Try to remember three questions that will help you to focus on your reading.
Since the questions are generally in chronological order you can utilize chunking.
Generally the exam will have about 30% easy questions, 44% medium questions and 30% hard questions. All questions are
worth the same value. There is no longer a deduction for incorrect answers. A smart strategy is to watch you time. Make
sure to answer all the easy and medium questions. Skip hard questions and if time allows come back to those.
Every ten questions check the question number and the scantron number to be sure they match.
Skip the “All of the following EXCEPT” questions unless they are limited to one paragraph.
If you find yourself running out time, try to employ the following strategies:
A. Scan the remaining questions and look for either the shortest of the questions that direct you to a specific line or lines.
B. Look for questions that are self-contained, that is they do you require you to refer to the passage.
C. Look for meaning in context questions.
Some Pitfalls to Avoid




124
Answer is irrelevant, doesn’t answer the questions
Answer is a contradiction; poor readers do not paraphrase well
No evidence; Never addressed in the passage
Unreasonable; occasionally just does not make sense


To narrow or too broad
Look for specific words that make the answer incorrect. Do this first and cross them out.
The Orange Sheet! Advanced Placement Multiple-Choice Test Practice
Do Not Lose This Handout! Keep it in Your Notebook Forever!
The purpose of this assignment is to give you practice in reading quite difficult passages. Your faithful and earnest completion of
these assignments will result in improved reading skills. You will also raise your IQ, grow several inches taller, and become a much
nicer person! You will win the lottery, make new friends, and be cast in a move with the star of your choice! Okay, stop rolling your
eyes!
PROCESS: I will give you a passage from a former literature exam. Your homework assignment will be to read the passage and
complete the questions below. On the day that this assignment is due, you will turn in the assignment, and then answer multiplechoice questions over the passage. Each passage will include a short list of words that you will need to know in order to be successful
on the multiple-choice test.
Your grade for the assignment will come from your completion of the written homework and your performance on the multiple-choice
test. Because the completion of homework is crucial to success on the multiple-choice test, you will make no higher than half-credit if
the assignment is late.
This is a STANDARD ASSIGNMENT that we will complete on a regular basis as we prepare for the AP exam, and for any upcoming
SAT/ACT exam you might need to take.
KEEP this handout in your notebook because I am going to give it to you only ONCE. I will give you different passages each time we
do this exercise; however, the process will remain the same.
ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IN INK (OR TYPE THEM) CAREFULLY AND THOUGHT-FULLY. Don’t turn this handout in with
your assignment. Remember you will use it again . . . and again . . .).
QUESTIONS:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
125
PARAPHRASE the passage (rewrite it in your own words). Do this paragraph by paragraph and make sure that your
paraphrase includes all the major points in the passage. Remember paraphrasing is not changing every fifth word. It is
rewriting a passage completely in your own words. Fully explain the passage’s Main Idea.
Identify and explain any interesting details, diction, or syntax and explain their PURPOSE or EFFECT and how these
contribute to the meaning as a whole.
Identify major images and explain how they enrich or add meaning to the passage.
Look up any words of which you do not know the definition. Write these words and their definitions. Remember that
you will not be able to use a dictionary on the multiple-choice test over this passage.
COPY DOWN three salient examples of literary elements such as characterization, point of view, setting, symbols or
others (label the example), and then explain the PURPOSE or EFFECT of the element and how it contributes to the
meaning of the passage .
Create three questions that make inferences about the passage. You do not need to create five choices, only the
questions.
7.
8.
If the passage is a poem, identify three salient elements or poetry devices evident in the work and explain the PURPOSE
or EFFECT OF THE element.
Identify and significant imagery (figurative, sensory, or visual) and explain how it contributes to the meaning of the
work.
© Shirley M. Counsil
Time was, a sober Englishman wou’d knock
His servants up, and rise by five a clock,
Allow him but his Play-thing of a Pen,
Instruct his Family in ev’ry rule,
He ne’er rebels, or plots, like other men:
And send his Wife to Church, his Son to school.
(5)
To teach their frugal Virtues to his Heir;
To cheat a Friend, or Ward, he leaves to Peter;
To prove, that Luxury could never hold;
The good man heaps up nothing but mere metre,
And place, on good Security, his Gold.
Enjoys his Garden and his Book in quiet;
(40)
And then—a perfect Hermit in his Diet.
Has seiz’d the Court and City, Poor and Rich:
Of little use the Man you may suppose,
Sons, Sires, and Grandsires, all will wear the Bays,
Who says in verse what others say in prose;
Our Wives read Milton, and our Daughters Plays,
Yet let me show, a Poet’s of some weight,
To Theatres, and to Rehearsals throng,
And (tho’ no soldier) useful to the State.
(45)
What will a Child learn sooner than a song?
I, who so oft renounce the Muses, lye,
What better teach a Foreigner the tongue?
Not ---‘s self e’er tells more Fibs than I;
What’s long or short, each accent where to place,
When, sick of Muse, our follies we deplore,
And speak in publick with some sort of grace.
And promise our best Friends to ryme no more;
I scarce can think him such a worthless thing,
We wake next morning in a raging Fit,
(20)
Flight of Cashiers, or Mobs, he’ll never mind;
And knows no losses while the Muse is kind.
And all our Grace at Table is a Song.
(15)
(35)
To worship like his Fathers was his care;
Now Times are chang’d, and one Poetick Itch
(10)
And rarely Av’rice taints the tuneful mind.
(50)
And call for Pen and Ink to show our Wit.
Unless he praise some monster of a King,
Or virtue, or Religion turn to sport,
He serv’d a ‘Prenticeship, who sets up shop;
To please a lewd, or un-believing Court.
Ward try’d on Puppies; and the Poor, his Drop;
Ev’n Radcliff’s Doctors travel first to France,
Nor dare to practise till they’ve learn’d to dance.
(25)
Who builds a Bridge that never drove a pyle?
(Should Ripley venture, all the World would smile)
But those who cannot write, and those who can,
All ryme, and scrawl, and scribble, to a man.
Yet Sir, reflect, the mischief is not great;
(30)
These Madmen never hurt the Church or State:
Sometimes the Folly benefits mankind;
126
1.
The Englishman pictured in lines 1-8 is best
described as which of the following?
(A) Scholarly and reclusive
(B) Pious and conscientious
(C) Solemn and melancholy
(D) Mirthful and carefree
(E) Hypocritical and false
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
127
The Englishman described in lines 1-8 is pictured
chiefly in his role as
(A) banker
(B) poet
(C) patriarch
(D) suitor
(E) critic
The change referred to in line 9 is described as one
from
(A) piousness to sinfulness
(B) sincerity to hypocrisy
(C) straightforwardness to irony
(D) freedom to restraint
(E) seriousness to frivolity
In line 11, the phrase “wear the Bays” is best taken
to mean which of the following?
(A) Claim renown as poets
(B) Set the fashion
(C) Exhaust the opposition
(D) Become more religious
(E) Become the objects of ridicule
The relationship between lines 1-8 and lines 9-14
is best described by which of the following?
(A) Lines 1-8 establish a thesis; lines 9-14 refute
it
(B) Lines 1-8 present a description; lines 9-14
present a contrasting description
(C) Lines 1-8 present a rule; lines 9-14 describe
an exception to it.
(D) Lines 1-8 pose a question; lines 9-14 answer it
(F) Lines 1-8 begin a narrative; lines 9-14
embellish it.
In lines 9-20, the desire to write is seen chiefly as
(A) evidence of wit
(B) a political threat
(C) the result of meditation
(D) a need for self-justification
(E) an irresistible compulsion
In lines 15-20, the speaker regards himself as
(A) superior to other rhymesters
(B) essentially a moralist
(C) more learned than other poets
(D) genuinely repentant of his errors
(E) another example of an incorrigible breed
8.
The main point made about writers and poets in
lines 21-28 is that they
(A) feel no need to study and learn their art
(B) are all about equally untalented
(C) prefer to write than to do useful work
(D) will never achieve the greatness of people in
other professions
(E) make themselves ridiculous by attempting to
ridicule others
9.
Lines 23-24 suggest that Radcliff’s doctors
(A) are as much concerned with social
accomplishments as with medical training
(B) prefer French medical education to English
(C) are more skilled as physicians than as
entertainers
(D) have more interest in the writing of poetry
than in the practice of medicine
(E) are more skillful because of their dedication
to the fine arts
10.
Beginning in line 29, the speaker does which of
the following?
(A) Begins to comment on another subject.
(B) Summarizes his previous argument.
(C) Qualifies his previous position.
(D) Provides support for an earlier thesis.
(E) Anticipates an objection to his argument.
11.
In line 30, the phrase “These Madmen” refers to
(A) the speaker’s enemies
(B) Ward and Radcliff
(C) medical doctors
(D) charlatans
(E) poets
12.
According to the speaker, “These Madmen” (line
30) lack all of the following vices EXCEPT
(A) greed
(B) seditiousness
(C) fraudulence
(D) vanity
(E) gluttony
13.
In lines 43-52, the speaker attempts to do which of
the following?
(A) Recapitulate his argument
(B) Recount an anecdote
(C) Offer a justification
(D) Draw an analogy
(E) Chastise the reader
14.
15.
128
According to line 47, the speaker finds value in
which of the following aspects of poetry?
(A) Versification
(B) Moral themes
(C) Metaphor
(D) Rhetorical innovation
(E) Logical paradigms
According to the speaker, a positive aspect of
poetry is its
(A) moral value
(B) didactic usefulness
(C) resemblance to other languages
(D) uncomplicated nature
(E) irreverent wittiness
16.
According to the speaker, poets are despicable if
they
(A) imitate the style of other poets
(B) become involved in political controversy
(C) fail to follow established rules
(D) mock what is worthy of respect
(E) compose only lyric verse
17.
This excerpt is written in which of the following?
(A) Dactylic hexameter
(B) Heroic couplets
(C) Ballad meter
(D) Rhyme royal
(E) Iambic tetrameter
129
“Making the World Safe for Stupidity” by Leonard Pitts Jr.
Analyze the following essay, including any and all rhetorical devices and answer all the questions.
1. What is the purpose of the beginning sentence? Why does the author us a rhetorical
question?
2. Explain Pitts’ purpose in using a supermodel as his reference to stupidity?
3. Who is Pitts’ audience? How do you know?
4. Which sentence serves as Pitt’ thesis?
5. What is his purpose in admitting his rudeness?
6. Why use the auto ad as his example? Why not use a jeans ad, for example?
7. After his supermodel comment, what is his next sarcastic comment? What purpose does the
sarcasm serve?
8. Why does Pitts allude to his idiot warning column?
9. What is the purpose of mentioning Homer Simpson?
10. What is persuasive about his statement, “…much like the intelligence of a couple of smart
cookies like you and me:
11. What is Pitts’ purpose in mentioning the car ad again? (Structurally, why was this done?)
12. What is Pitts inferring when he presents the example of the toy hard hat?
13. “Rant resonated” is an example of alliteration. Why6 might Pitts have used this figurative
language?
14. What may be inferred about the order in which Pitts presents his examples from his readers?
Why did he choose this method of organization?
15. What persuasive technique is Putts using when he writes, “Don’t get me wrong.” In fact,
how does this entire paragraph serve his purpose?
16. There is a shift between paragraph 10 and 11. What is Pitts’ thesis now?
17. Pitts begins paragraph 12 with “Follow me on this.” What is his purpose for using this
imperative sentence?
18. At the end of the above paragraph, Pitts writes, “To procreate.” What is his purpose in
presenting only the infinitive and not part of the previous sentence?
19. What is the purpose of using the vernacular, “Used to be”? (paragraph 14)
20. To whom is the sarcasm directed in paragraph 1-4? Who is Bobby Brown? Why does Pitts
use, “Is it just me?”
21. What is kudzu? Why is this word apropos as a simile?
22. Based on the article as a whole, what is Pitts’ tone in this piece? Does it change?
23. What is his attitude? Does it change?
24. What is Pitts inferring in his final sentence?
25. Discuss the irony in the title.
130
Question 3
(Suggested time –40 minutes. This question counts
one-third of the total essay section score.)
In questioning the value of literary realism, Flannery O’Conner has written, “I am interested in
making a good case for distortion because I coming to believe that it is the only way to make
people see.”
Write an essay in which you “make a good case for distortion,” as distinct from literary
realism. Base your essay on a work from the following list or choose another work of
comparable merit that you know well. Analyze how important elements of the work you
choose are “distorted” and explain how these distortions contribute to the effectiveness of
the work. Avoid plot summary.
131
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
THE TRIAL
WISE BLOOD
THE HAIRY APE
KING LEAR
CATCH 22
NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND
INVISIBLE MAN
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
MOBY-DICK
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS
FRANKENSTEIN
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE
THE METAMORPHOSIS
THE LOVED ONE
BENITO CERINO
AS I LAY DYING
MISS LONLEYHEARTS
THE WINTER’S TALE
THE HOUSE OF SEVEN GABLES
BRAVE NEW WORLD
WAITING FOR GODOT
WIDE SARGASSO SEA
2013 AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
© 2013 The College Board. Question 2
(Suggested time—40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.)
Carefully read the following poem by Mary Oliver. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze
how Oliver conveys the relationship between the tree and family through the use of figurative language and
other poetic techniques.
My mother and I debate:
we could sell
the black walnut tree
to the lumberman,
and pay off the mortgage.
Likely some storm anyway
will churn down its dark boughs,
smashing the house. We talk
slowly, two women trying
in a difficult time to be wise.
Roots in the cellar drains,
I say, and she replies
that the leaves are getting heavier
every year, and the fruit
harder to gather away.
But something brighter than money
moves in our blood – an edge
sharp and quick as a trowel
that wants us to dig and sow.
So we talk, but we don't do
anything. That night I dream
of my fathers out of Bohemia
filling the blue fields
of fresh and generous Ohio
with leaves and vines and orchards.
What my mother and I both know
is that we'd crawl with shame
in the emptiness we'd made
in our own and our fathers' backyard.
So the black walnut tree
swings through another year
of sun and leaping winds,
of leaves and bounding fruit,
and, month after month, the whipcrack of the mortgage.
132
2013 AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
© 2013 The College Board. Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org. Question 2 (Suggested time—40 minutes
This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.) This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.)
The following passage is from D. H. Lawrence’s 1915 novel, The Rainbow, which focuses on the lives of the Brangwens, a farming
family who lived in rural England during the late nineteenth century. Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you
analyze how Lawrence employs literary devices to characterize the woman and capture her situation
It was enough for the men, that the earth heaved
to see what man had done in fighting outwards to
and opened its furrow to them, that the wind blew to
35 knowledge, she strained to hear how he uttered
dry the wet wheat, and set the young ears of corn
himself in his conquest, her deepest desire hung on
wheeling freshly round about; it was enough that they
the battle that she heard, far off, being waged on the
5 helped the cow in labour, or ferreted the rats from
edge of the unknown. She also wanted to know, and
under the barn, or broke the back of a rabbit with a
to be of the fighting host.
sharp knock of the hand. So much warmth and
40 At home, even so near as Cossethay, was the vicar,
generating and pain and death did they know in their
who spoke the other, magic language, and had the
blood, earth and sky and beast and green plants, so
other, finer bearing, both of which she could perceive,
10 much exchange and interchange they had with these,
but could never attain to. The vicar moved in worlds
that they lived full and surcharged, their senses full
beyond where her own menfolk existed. Did she not
fed, their faces always turned to the heat of the blood,
45 know her own menfolk; fresh, slow, full-built men,
staring into the sun, dazed with looking towards the
masterful enough, but easy, native to the earth,
source of generation, unable to turn around.
lacking outwardness and range of motion. Whereas
15 But the woman wanted another form of life than
the vicar, dark and dry and small beside her husband,
this, something that was not blood-intimacy. Her
had yet a quickness and a range of being that made
house faced out from the farm-buildings and fields,
50 Brangwen, in his large geniality, seem dull and local.
looked out to the road and the village with church and
She knew her husband. But in the vicar’s nature was
Hall and the world beyond. She stood to see the far20
that which passed beyond her knowledge. As
off world of cities and governments and the active
Brangwen had power over the cattle so the vicar had
scope of man, the magic land to her, where secrets
power over her husband. What was it in the vicar, that
were made known and desires fulfilled. She faced
55 raised him above the common men as man is raised
outwards to where men moved dominant and creative,
above the beast? She craved to know. She craved to
having turned their back on the pulsing heat of
achieve this higher being, if not in herself, then in her
25 creation, and with this behind them, were set out to
children. That which makes a man strong even if he
discover what was beyond, to enlarge their own scope
be little and frail in body, just as any man is little and
and range and freedom; whereas the Brangwen men
60 frail beside a bull, and yet stronger than the bull, what
faced inwards to the teeming life of creation, which
was it? It was not money nor power nor position.
poured unresolved into their veins.
What power had the vicar over Tom Brangwen—
30 Looking out, as she must, from the front of her
none. Yet strip them and set them on a desert island,
house towards the activity of man in the world at
and the vicar was the master. His soul was master of
large, whilst her husband looked out to the back at sky
65 the other man’s. And why—why? She decided it was
and harvest and beast and land, she strained her eyes
a question of knowledge.
133
2013 AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
© 2013 The College Board. Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.
Question 3
(Suggested time—40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.)
A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, recounts the psychological or moral development of its protagonist from
youth to maturity, when this character recognizes his or her place in the world. Select a single pivotal moment in the
psychological or moral development of the protagonist of a bildungsroman. Then write a well-organized essay that
analyzes how that single moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.
You may choose a work from the list below or one of comparable literary merit. Do not merely summarize the plot.
The Adventures of Augie March
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Jasmine
All the Pretty Horses
The Joy Luck Club
Atonement
The Joys of Motherhood
Black Boy
The Namesake
Breath, Eyes, Memory
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Brown Girl, Brownstones
Purple Hibiscus
The Catcher in the Rye
The Secret Life of Bees
Cat’s Eye
A Separate Peace
The Chosen
Siddhartha
The Cider House Rules
Song of Solomon
The Color Purple
The Sorrows of Young Werther
David Copperfield
The Sound and the Fury
The God of Small Things
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
The Grapes of Wrath
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Great Expectations
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The House on Mango Street
To Kill a Mockingbird
Invisible Man
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Jane Eyre
The Woman Warrior
STOP
END OF EXAM
134
The English Literature and Composition Examination tests your ability to read poetry and/or prose sections and
to discern meaning and literary techniques; your ability to write, your knowledge of literature, The test takes three
hours: one hour is taken for the multiple-choice section and two hours to complete 3 essays, The essay section counts
for 55% of the total grade and the multiple choice for 45%.
Multiple Choice Section: This section is made up of several smaller passages on various topics, It is designed to
measure the student's ability to discern through close reading obvious meaning and details, metaphorical significance,
rhetorical strategies, aspects of style, and even vocabulary in context, Since many students find this section extremely
difficult, there are strategies that might be used to gain improved scores.
1.
Look at the total number of questions on the exam and the total time allotted. Divide the time by the number
of questions to get an approximation of the time you may spend on each question.
2.
Many students get to only three or four passages. Look over all four or five quickly. Don't waste time here.
Pick a passage to do last by choosing the passage that might give you the hardest time. Put an X on the page to remind
you. Pick a passage to do first.
3.
Skip the questions that you don’t know the answer to and any ones that require a great deal of re-reading to
find the answer (all of the follow EXCEPT questions). If you have difficulty with particular questions, don't
stress out, blank out, or scream. Leave it and come back if you have time. The idea is to get credit for what
you know. In any test of 55 questions, there is a certain number that you will answer correctly. These are the
ones you want to answer and get credit for. After you have accomplished that, then go back and work on the
other questions.
4.
Read the passage carefully, and paraphrase as you read. Read sentence by sentence, (especially the poetry
passages) stopping to make sure you understand what you are reading. Read actively by underlining words or
phrases that you consider important. This is important because you are playing a psychological trick on
yourself, but reading actively increases focus and comprehension.
5.
You may scan the questions first, since hints as to the meaning and content of the passage may be contained
there. Don’t read the answers, just the questions. This can give guidance to your reading.
6.
When answering questions, mark out the answers that you KNOW are incorrect. It is much easier to juggle
three oranges than five, just as it is easier to consider, weigh, and sift three answers rather than five.
7.
Check your scantrons every ten questions to make sure that the number on the exam and the number on the
scantron match.
8.
When asked a question about “meaning in context,” be sure to go back at least one sentence before the one in
which the word or words are found and read at least one sentence after the sentence in which the word appears.
9.
Past experience indicates that more often than not, first answers are probably the best. Think long and hard
about changing answers unless you see definitive evidence.
135
10.
Since there is no longer a penalty for guessing, make sure that you fill in every blank with an educated guess.
11.
In the poetry sections, read quickly for an overall literal understanding, then read more slowly for the
metaphorical and symbolic meaning.
12.
If you get to the last passage and have very little time remaining, here are some strategies that you can employ.
A. Answer any self-contained questions (the ones where you do not have to go back to the passage to
determine the answer.) For example, “The sea slid silently from the shore,” is an example of
alliteration. You do not have to refer to the passage to answer the question.
B. Answer questions that have the line numbers in them.
C. Answer questions about meaning in context, specific detail, attitude, and tone.
ESSAY PORTION OF THE EXAM:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
136
Read and circle elements in the prompt that you need to cover in your essay. Understand what is important.
Make sure that you do all the prompt requires. A good strategy is to literally check off the portions of the
prompt that you have addressed. This is one part of the exam over which you have control. Determine what
you must prove, what support you will use, how you will discuss purpose, and how much time you have to
finish.
Read the passage. Think and plan before you write. Time spent planning and thinking of specific analysis and
support always results in a better essay. Remember to analyze the author’s purpose for including strategies and
language. Additionally, with your essay all planned out, you can write it in a very short time.
Spend very little time on an introduction. Read various rubrics. There is nothing there about introductions and
conclusions. Spend your time where you will reap rewards. Try not to repeat the prompt. The readers read
the same essay for seven days; they know the prompt. Instead, try to formulate a thesis that shows immediate
insight and understanding, one that shows the reader that you understand the passage and have something to
say. Begin your response as soon as possible. Look for motifs, repetition, strong verbs and adjectives,
parallelism, and other rhetorical, literary, and stylistic devices.
Follow these steps: A) show insight and understanding when making assertions about the work. B.) Support
your assertions with apt and specific references to the text. C.) Make sure you do not just point and name.
Show the purpose, effect, or reason for the use of the methods or strategies. For example, don’t just point out a
periodic sentence; explain why the writer used it.
Use clear transitions that assist the reader in following your ideas. Write or print legibly. Indent new
paragraphs. Develop a logical and consistent structure.
Write to express, not impress. Clear, logical, easy to follow writing is preferred by all readers.
Demonstrate that you have both voice and style.
Maintain economy of language. Good planning can prevent redundancies and wordiness.
Don’t make excuses. Let your work speak for you and stand on its own merit.
Strive to finish your essay but don’t be upset if you cannot finish your conclusion. The readers are told that if
an essay is complete, but lacks a conclusion, there is no penalty.