Essay Question 1 Study Guide

2010-04-28T03:54:00.000-07:00

Thematic

L.A.S.O – Literary Elements, Annotation, Summarizing, Organizing.

Here are four points based on strategies to help get maximum points in the first essay question of the AP English exam all in which are connected.

a) In many of the poem essay question they will always ask for you to include literary elements such as word choice, rhyme, meter, imagery etc… so it is extremely important in understanding literary devices as well as looking for them in the poem they don’t do this for no reason. Understanding literary devices and finding them will help you understand the poem much better.

Ex. When we look at the poem “After Blehnheim” thesis asked how speaker conveyed attitude towards the battle and the effect of war on characters. Knowing your literary devices you will look at imagery or diction and you will find the negative pictures of skulls and deaths, as well as repetition you will find ignorance from war.

Finding literary devices can help you in terms of what you should be looking at in the poem itself and find a connection it to the thesis.

b) Summarizing poetry is the second step, in your essay you don’t want to summarize the poem, but an easy strategy is summarizing the poem to understand the poem better. With a few words for each stanza pointing out the main point made in the stanza it can help understand the poem itself as a whole in the end.

c) Annotation is the third step, understanding literary techniques helps summarize the poem better, summarizing helps annotation since if you understand the passage you understand what can support the thesis and you write down those points as this will then help the next step which is writing the actual essay.

d) Fourth and final strategy in doing well in the first essay question which can be applied to any essay and that is organizing what you are going to write before writing the actual essay. Through annotation this should help

Ex. Body Paragraph 1 – First evidence for thesis

- Literary element of imagery stanza 1

- Line 34-35

- Characterization and Tone shown in stanza 3 and 4

When you do something for each paragraph simply putting small bulletins it’s a quick rough draft for your essay it better organizes your ideas and most of them should be based on your annotations made while reading so it shouldn’t be too time consuming.

Analytical Focus-

Point of View- Point of view is important when analyzing and trying to understand essay question # 1 because knowing what point of view the poem is coming from may give the reader a better understanding of what the poem is about or just a better understanding of the poem in all. For example, in Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken, the poem is told in the first point of view. Robert wanted to express to readers that individuals are in control of themselves and in control of making their own decisions.

Figurative Language- Figurative language is basically a way of saying something other than the literal meaning of the words. Pointing out and understanding figurative language is important in understanding and analyzing various poems because it gives a greater understanding. Figurative language has many aspects though. One is Symbolism. Since we’re all in MS. CONN’S AMAZING AP ENGLISH CLASS, we’ve all also read Robert Frosts, The Road Not taken. (This is obviously my favorite poem =)). In the Road Not Taken, the forked road symbolizes choices in life.

Imagery- When focusing on analyzing poems, imagery plays a huge role in the understanding. I myself am a visual leaner. Although there may not be pictures drawn on the pages of the poem, if I can visualize what is being said, then most likely I can understand it. Or have a better chance at understanding the work. Imagery brings the literature to life, as well as captures people. Imagery is basically what the words of the poem make the reader visualize in their imagination. It is the colors, sounds, and sometimes feelings evoked by the poem.

Tone- Tone is an appropriate literary element when dealing with essay question #1. Poets often use tone to set a mood for their poems. “Tone is the manner in which a poet makes his statement; it reflects his attitude toward his subject.” Tone also expresses the poets attitude toward the audience. Maybe they want to teach a lesson, or just express themselves. Tone is the overall MOOD of the poem itself. One famous poet that is known to have a dreary, mundane, dark tone is Emily Dickinson.

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Essay Question 1 Study Guide