AP Lit & Comp

Second Semester Exam Study Guide

Vocabulary:
Matching—Study the drama vocabulary from your textbook.

Hamlet:
Review your reading journal to help you review for this portion.  I’ll give you quotes.  You’ll need to identify and explain them—who said it, what it’s referring to, and its significance to the overall meaning of the play. 

Poetics, either The Glass Menagerie, A Doll House, or Death of a Salesman and your 4th quarter novels (Tess, Dalloway, and 100 Years):
Long answer—Look over your notes and reading journals for these works.  I’ll ask long answer questions over these major pieces we read this semester.  Your answers will not require an entire essay, but you will need to answer in complete sentences and paragraph form.

AP Multiple Choice:
I’ll give you two sections of an AP exam (a brief drama piece and a longer prose section).  

AP Free-Response Essay:
I’ll give you one essay question for which you should allow yourself 40 minutes.  This will be an open question/statement about literature in general.  You should answer the question by writing an essay on the topic as it directly relates to a piece of literature (one from a provided list or, if you choose, another novel or play of “similar literary merit”).

Evaluative Book and Essay--LAST ONE!!! =)

AP Literature

Grissom

Evaluative Essay

(You’re finally ready to place judgment ☺)

For your independent reading book,  choose a book that is NOT what the critics would consider great literature OR a book that some would consider merely more of the formula fiction that fills the libraries of the literary inferior while others would place it in the upper echelon of fiction, even labeling it serious literature.  I think it’s probably safe to say that whatever novel you chose won't hold par with Faulkner or Shakespeare, but “literary greatness” is a sort of continuum.  Your assignment is to place your novel on that continuum and argue your case for that placement.

Your argument:              Your “questionable” book’s literary merit--Great or not? How great or crappy?

Your challenge:              You must establish your own credibility.  Why should anyone care

                                       whether you think this novel is great or not?  What standards do you use? 

                                       What experience do you have that would make anyone take your opinion of

                                       this book seriously?

Your support:                 Nabokov’s standards of great writers

                                       Calvino’s characteristics of classic literature

                                       Comparison of this novel to clearly established “greats”

                                       Textual evidence from the novel

Other decisions:             Will you use compare/contrast? Definition?  Research?

                                       How will you provide evidence for every part of your argument?

                                       How will you create style and voice in this essay?

It HAS to be fun to read!  Your audience is regular people who are wanting to read serious literature and want to know whether your book is worth their time.  Make sure they actually want to read your argument--by the way, it IS an argument.  Also, make sure I want to read it.  I'm pretty jaded and tired of papers right now...so make it fun for me too.

KEEP IN MIND THAT THE DECISIONS YOU MAKE SHOULD ALL BE MADE TO STRENGTHEN YOUR ARGUMENT, TO APPEAL TO YOUR AUDIENCE, TO COMMUNICATE YOUR THESIS MOST EFFECTIVELY.  THEREFORE, CHOOSE WISELY!

Be specific, be concise, and use everything we’ve discussed this year about good writing, good analysis, good reading, and good literature.

Your length:            Long enough.  Long enough to effectively establish your credibility and argue your

                                thesis.  Long enough to persuade me that you know something about all of this

                                literature and greatness. =)  AND short enough that your audience will read it.

One Hundred Years of Solitude Project

Objectives:

• Use your critical reading skills to determine a "correct" theme (as defined by Perrine who says there is not just one correct interpretation but there are incorrect interpretations--those that do not account for all the details or that contradict some details)
• Use your lit analysis skills to back up that theme with evidence from the book
• Use creativity to illustrate this argument in a medium other than an essay

Directions:

1. Determine your theme.  Use your understanding and reading of the book, class discussions, and details from your reading to help you determine what you believe Marquez is arguing.  Remember that it must be an argument (it's debatable) and that the details must help him make that point.
2. Determine the details that best show how Marquez creates that argument.  You need at least six details/aspects from the book to help you do that.
3. Create a project that allows you to demonstrate the theme and the details that support it.  This can be artsy/crafty (collage, poster, mobile, etc.), techie (Prezi, Voice Thread, video, etc.), or artistic (drawing, painting, sculpture, etc.).  Honestly, it can be anything that is NOT an essay but helps you show your interpretation of the book.
4. Be sure to include any needed explanations that help me see how the details support the theme.  If you expect me to "fill in the dots" myself, be prepared for me to potentially misinterpret.

Rubric:

A
Reasonable, "correct" theme is clearly supported by at least 6 details.  Needed explanations are there to help me see what the project is trying to illustrate.  Fulfills the objectives, demonstrating strong critical reading and argumentation skills.

B
Reasonable, "correct" theme that is not as clearly supported by at least 6 details.  Explanations may be unclear or absent so that I "see where you were going" but your strong critical reading and argumentation skills are not as clear or strong.

C
Unreasonable, "incorrect" theme that is contradicted by details/parts of the book.  Project does not demonstrate critical reading skills because your interpretation ignores details that don't jive with what you're saying.  You still include at least 6 details and may explain them, but not in a way that makes your theme reasonable.

D
Clear misunderstanding of the book or inability to complete the assigned project.  Perhaps the explanations of the details/book make no sense or there is no clear theme communicated or there are less than the required 6 details to support a stated theme.  This is an unsuccessful project that does not fulfill the first two objectives.

Degree of letter (+ or -)
Creativity, effort, and choice and execution of an effective medium to make your point.  This part of your grade measures the third objective of the assignment which is less important to me, but still part of your grade.  Disclaimer:  failing this objective completely (writing an essay) will merit a lower grade.  You can't write an essay and get an A-. =)

100 Years of Solitude

Here is the link to the document I projected in class yesterday introducing the author, novel, etc.  If you missed class, I'd recommend a little peek at the document plus a conversation with a peer you trust to fill you in or who may have taken some good notes.