1. Death Essay
Common errors in the Death of a Salesman timed essays, tips for improvement, and metacognition.
AM prompt

2. Scoring
Based on student performance, the following conversion will be used for this essay:
5 = 20
4 = 18
3 = 16
2 = 15
1 = 10
0 = 0 (only if you did not complete the essay)
Remember that the conversion is subject to change with each essay

3. The Parts of the Prompt “…tragic figure”
“…functions as an instrument of the suffering of others”
“…contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole.”
Talk with your partner: Did you address all three?
(“address” doesn’t mean mention, it means to prove it entirely.)
The Parts of the Prompt
3. “Central idea” means THEME

4. Chose literary techniques that were not provable without text support (i.e. alliteration, ? diction, ____ flashbacks, etc.)
Skipped part of the prompt (typically part 2 and/or 3)
Addressed all items in the thesis, but did not follow through in the essay itself
Lacked a thesis all together (many simply restated the prompt)
Talk with your partner: Were any of these issues ones with which you struggled?
Common Oversights

5. More Common Oversights
Analysis was simplistic (one must tie simplistic ideas [like a literary device] to big picture thinking [like a theme])
Repetitive ideas / formulaic organization (a conclusion paragraph shouldn’t be a simple repeat of the introduction)
Casual diction choices—stuff, etc.
Talk with your partner: Were any of these issues ones with which you struggled?
More Common Oversights

6. Three Thesis Examples One student’s weak thesis:
The author uses descriptive diction & symbolism to bolster scenes of violence which adds to the tragic figure.
One student’s better thesis:
Miller uses emotional empathy, dramatic conflict, and self-sacrifice to create a scene of family conflict, designed to convey a main idea or theme that one’s suffering may affect and hurt those around them.
Miller uses Biff and Linda to show that a tragic figure can function as the suffering of others in order to clearly demonstrate the idea that lies can cause the downfall of yourself and others.
Three Thesis Examples
Discuss issues with the first thesis:
“descriptive” isn’t specific enough—”diction” is hard to prove without text support—”&” should be written out—the rest of the thesis is simply a reworded prompt, answering nothing
Discuss the pros of the second prompt”
Emotional empathy, dramatic conflict and self-sacrifice—more specificity needed; wording between family conflict and designed; theme provable
Discuss pros of third prompt
Characters or characterization?? Yourself?? answers prompt—mostly, although a more powerful thesis statement would link all aspects of the prompt in one sentence

7. A Bit About the Internet
Many students research books we study in class on the internet. While the internet is wonderful, keep the following in mind:
There is no Googling a text while taking the AP exam (in other words, this shortcut in thinking is hurting the development of the skill set you’ll need on test day)
Just because you read it online doesn’t make it true, and it doesn’t mean it fits the essay prompt
Even if the idea came from a website, you still have to support it if you use it in an essay
A Bit About the Internet
Specifically, this is true for students talking about “Zodiac parallels” within Grendel.

8. Do this in the back of your reader’s journal.
Metacognition
Do this in the back of your reader’s journal.

9. The Questions When done, file essays
Looking only at your thesis, how could you have constructed it better? What are the issues with it as is and exactly how would you rephrase it?
Did you successfully address all three parts of the prompt in your thesis AND in the essay as a whole? What did you do well? What did you miss?
If you could fix three elements of your essay, aside from those noted in questions 1 and 2, what would they be and why?
In what two areas are you showing improvement when you compare this essay to the first two timed, in-class essays?
The Questions
When done, file essays