1. Writing an essay for Mrs. Fisher

2. Always Use MLA Format & Double Space Typed Papers!. Name Date Period Title of Essay Is Centered Do Not Underline Your Own Essay!

3. Italics, Underlining, & Quotation Marks. Use quotation marks around the titles of short pieces (songs, short poems, short stories). Use italics for the titles of lengthy pieces (novels, textbooks, etc.)

4. Write maturely and formally! Avoid slang words (cool, stuff,) Don’t abbreviate (b/c, &) Remember, you are writing for a grade, you are not writing to your best friend. Make sure your work is as perfect as it can possibly be. Take pride in it!

5. Analyzing literature If you are writing about a piece of literature—DO NOT use first person point of view: I believe, I feel, etc. STAY IN 3 rd PERSON Example: The author effectively uses symbolism throughout the novel…. NO NO: I really liked how symbolism was shown in …

6. Always address the prompt Never, never, never give a plot synopsis (telling what the story is about). Focus on what is being asked: Discuss Swift’s purpose in choosing the targets of his satire. Make sure to provide support from the text to back up each of your essays. Do NOT merely sum up the plots of each journey. Discuss WHY Swift chooses his description of each land and how it represents England.

7. Support Your Discussion Gulliver is a character who portrays the typical English citizen. How so? He endured many hardships in his travels Which hardships?, yet handled himself bravely How exactly did he show bravery?

8. Always interpret citations and provide author’s purpose! In one instance, Gulliver tries to impress the royal court through a display on the uses of gunpowder. Yet shortly after the demonstration, the unimpressed king claims the English to be the “most pernicious race of little odious vermin…” Here Swift appears to voice is own beliefs about the abuses and hazards of weaponry, claiming those who wage war are no better than rats and other vile creatures.

9. Do Not Sum Up the Plot! I know what the story is about—and so do the AP evaluators. If you are asked to analyze a literary device—ANALYZE IT and provide only the detail that supports your analysis.

10. Always Write in Present Tense The literature you are reading is alive in the present tense. Stay consistent with present tense. Gulliver finds himself tied down by his hair. When he does try to raise his hands, he feels several pinpricks on his hands.