Advanced Placement Module 2 The Poetry Question English Literature & Composition Wednesday, May 6 th, 2015

AP Literature & Composition The Essays Eratophobia – The Fear of Poetry

HOW TO SUCCEED The beauty of poetry is in its generally succinct nature. You DO have time to read a poem more than once. So, here’s the plan:

Skim the Poem Just get a feel for what is going on. Look for anything that stands out to you: particular words, images, punctuation marks, the way the poem appears on the page etc.

Read it again, this time carefully Understand what the poem is saying literally and what emotions the poet is seeking to arouse. Every AP prompt asks the same thing: What does the passage mean, and how does the author/poet get us to see the meaning?

IMAGES and DICTION Identify what important images exist in the poem and what those images suggest. What specific words or phrases produce the strongest feelings?

OPPOSITION How can you get to the heart of what you read on the AP English test? How can you find something interesting and important to say about a passage quickly? What do you look for to see what makes a poem or passage tick? OPPOSITION.

OPPOSITION OPPOSITION is everywhere in good writing, and the passages on the AP test will always be good.

SO WHAT IS IT? OPPOSITION is any pair of elements that contrast sharply. Opposition may be as blatant as night and day. Or, it may be less obvious: a character who is naïve and a character who is sophisticated; a scene that begins in a parlor but ends with a scene around a campfire.

OPPOSITION OPPOSITION can be found in style: the author or poet employs a cerebral, intellectual style in a discussion of pig farming functions as OPPOSITION. So, keep an eye out for any elements that are in contrast to each other: they will often lead you to the heart of a poem or story.

THE FIRST PARAGRAPH Again, we are back to first impressions. After the first paragraph, do an essay check. Have you discussed the meaning of the poem and how the poet gets his or her point across? This is the foundation that the rest of your essay will build on. What you are doing is simply pausing to make sure you are on the right track.

Oops! I Forgot! If you think of something or see something that you initially missed, should you add it? YES! It is nearly impossible to write a perfectly constructed essay in approximately 40 minutes. As long as your comments have a faint connection to what the prompt asks, include them.

geboard.com/apc/p ublic/repository/ap_2 012_frq_eng_lit.pdf

board.com/apc/memb ers/exam/exam_informa tion/2002.html#name12 Student Responses