1. Poetry Pre-assessment Reflection

2. Use of Detail- needs improvement
Poems are short and don’t require as much reading time- therefore you can take more time to look for additional supportive details when writing your essays
Practice good annotation skills to assure your evidence is plentiful
1 instance of a prominent technique is ok, if you can talk about how it plays into the overall meaning of the poem (for instance, the shift).

3. Thesis statements
Many of you still need to add descriptors and be specific.
Don’t just say “uses imagery and structure” but describe these techniques
-uses sensory imagery
-in this essay uses religious imagery depicting innocence
-uses a rhyming poetic structure
-in this essay it was rhyming couplets, or an AA, BB format (not AB as some noted)

4. Developing argument
Don’t stop at 2 techniques even if that is all the prompt asks for
For poetry- try to balance between the different aspects we focus on in analysis:
Sound devices (rhyming, alliteration, rhythm)
Structure (stanzas, shifts, enjambment, movement of “plot”)
Figurative Language (simile, metaphor, personification, allusion, imagery)
Also, you need to remember that you can explain the purpose of the quote or technique in more than 1 statement. Take your time and really provide a clear connection between your interpretation and the text itself. Bridge the gaps!

5. Quote integration
Incorporate quotations into your own sentences, or provide introductory statements to give context to your quotes instead of just plopping them in.
Instead of: The passage uses imagery to help convey the speaker’s younger years. “Angel infancy”.
Use: The image of the speaker’s “angel infancy” in the passage supports his longing for the innocence of childhood.

6. Don’t forget titles
In this poem in particular, title played a dominant role and could be a point of discussion. “The Retreat” provides connotations of both the idea of “going back” and also of the religious aspect of a retreat, a time of reflection and renewal of one’s own religious beliefs, which would both be supported in the rest of the content of the poem.

7. Amazing Intro
Henry Vaughan, in his 1650 poem “The Retreat”, uses a tone of anguished reminisance to convey the contrast between the speaker’s initial purity and subsequent impurity and sin. Vaughan further uses rhyming couplets and exclamatory remarks, as well as personification and imagery to develop the sense of disparity between heavenly purity and earthly sinfulness.

8. Body paragraph analysis
…Vaughan begins to silently intermingle alliteration with his words “Some shadows… conscience with a sinful sound… a several sin in every sense.” Unmistakably replicating the sound of a snake, Vaughan emulates, and intertwines the common held belief of the deceitful, and sinful, snake of the Bible; subtly intermingling a common- held allusion to corruption and sin. This entourage helps show the progression and contrast of the speaker’s past; once full of happy structure, and as time progresses, and both the reader and the speaker’s past self learn more, sin slithers slyly into the speaker’s life.

9. Purpose beyond contrast
“Vaughan’s purpose for penning this reminiscent poem is to dwell on the glorious burdened-free lifestyle that accompanies youth, and express his regret for not having retained that lively, pure spirit of innocence and delightful ignorance.”

10. Step 1: Take out your essay and open to Poetry Section 4 in Notebook:
Reference “Corrections and Commendations Guide”
Step 2: Write down your score stats on your AP Essay Log
Step 3: Make a list of the numbers you received or make 2 columns- one for strengths and one for weaknesses- and list numbers AND comments. Write out what the numbers stand for so you can learn them!
Step 4: Write out, in sentences, your strengths and weaknesses per my comments and codes. Analyze your grade, and acknowledge my feedback
Step 5: Set a goal for the next essay, from specifics (i.e. “no more misspelled words”) to more generalizations (I will raise from a 3 to a 4)
Justify why you set that goal for yourself.
This should be in-depth, not one or two sentences, and show reflection.