ap literature essay format

ap literature essay format

How to Write a Persuasive AP Literature Essay

1. Introduction

The structure and order of an AP Literature essay are almost the same as those of a classic American persuasive essay. It starts with an Argument essay (in the so-called Free Response questions with a 40 minutes range), proceeds with more than two sections in the Analysis essay (which is the longest exam for the essay, providing a 60-minute time limit), and changes to the third kind of essay — a more synthetic Discussion. But do not think that you are free not to read prose excerpts (verses may also be among the fragments given for an essay). The fact is that they exist and consist of at least three questions. They concern writing about a specific passage from the literary work, and there are a few marginal moments, which makes a significant difference between the terms of an AP Literature essay from an ordinary one.

It is important not only to learn to understand and enjoy literature but also to create a fair and reasonable literary criticism essay. One of the most popular tasks among students is writing an AP Literature essay. The latter is a type of literary criticism, and in order to write it, one should demonstrate the abilities to understand the argumentative structure of a long work; make a reasonable organization of textual evidence; effectively develop and support an argument; present an awareness of diction and/or syntax; properly explain the stylistic and eloquent effects; and properly use secondary sources. In this paper, one will read about the features of the AP Literature essay, as well as some of its sections.

2. Crafting a Strong Thesis Statement

The common method of developing your thesis is to develop an essay map. The thesis should communicate the clear purpose of the literary work and indicate the relationship between its characters and setting. Write it at the top of your outline. With contrasting words and phrases, the evidence you have found—rules of persuasion—will be indicated so there is no confusion or doubt. You or your readers may not have beliefs in a story if your statement has no meaning. Your background information should demonstrate that you are not concerned about the literary work you could be writing. Only then will it show passion. Use the present tense type of writing for analysis. Always use appropriate citations in a work, including direct quotes or paraphrases. By doing so, you are not proving to be misleading yourself. Finding supporting evidence will help readers follow your ideas.

Structure your thesis sentence according to the format you chose. This is no different from the other literary analysis disciplines or principles. The thesis statement generally goes at the end of your introductory paragraph. Follow standard sentence capitalization rules. This means that the first word is capitalized, and all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are not. Words of preposition are not capitalized. The thesis statement might be the make it or break it point of your paper. Please note that there are alternative methods that can be used instead. This method can offer a unique perspective and help compose original ideas. Also, the key objection to your argument can be handy as the information will assist you to refute the conflicting opinion and strengthen your claim.

3. Analyzing Literary Devices

Try to give more weight to these points than to the interpretation, since your analysis should tie no matter the interpretation. Your analysis has to show what the themes or purpose of the work is. The AP Literature people love themes, so the more thoroughly you analyze your concrete details, the more you can delve into these. To help in this, be sure the actions show some character traits that will add to a theme or statement of purpose and add to the richness of the work as a whole. This is also essential in understanding how this article can lead to a conclusion about the whole of the text from which it is taken. The AP Literature exam is, first, a reading test, so the more you can connect it to the whole work, the better. In order to get the most out of your concrete details, you need to give advice to each one as a single thesis in your essay.

Your analysis of the literary devices used in the passage is essentially the backbone of your essay. It helps tie your thoughts together; your discussion of the points in question, and how they are connected to the author’s purpose or theme. Ask yourself what each concrete detail (quote analysis) is doing in the work. Why does the author use the particular word, or the simile? What does it suggest about their character or the character being described? Why did the author write this implied metaphor? Understanding the particular literary device being used is only half the battle. You must discuss what it adds to the passage as a whole, how it contributes to the work’s richness and meaning, and why the author chose this device rather than another one on the list. At the end of every concrete detail, you should write 1-2 sentences which analyze that detail showing the connection between what the author is doing in the passage and the author’s purpose or theme or the work as a whole.

4. Incorporating Textual Evidence

For example, to comment on an aspect of Lady Macbeth’s characterization through her dialogue with Macbeth about her committing murder, you might say something like: Even as Macbeth shrinks from the evil he wishes to do, Lady Macbeth’s strength only seems to grow, escalating to its height at the play’s climax when she can declare that she is undauntedly prepared for anything as monstrous as killing a beloved visitor: “Nor time, nor place. / Did then adhere, and yet you would make both: / They have made themselves, and that their fitness now / Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know / How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me:/ I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, / And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this” (Macbeth, Act I, Scene VII).StringRef, cite, embed it correctly in your paragraph, interpret it, then be sure and use it to drive home your ultimate argument.

Use quotation marks, and remember that long quotations are often not the best way to incorporate that evidence into your own essay structure. Use them infrequently and to bring attention to important points you want the reader to focus on as they read through your paragraph, be sure to comment on the words and phrases selected. Short quotations can be effectively embedded into a sentence with a mind towards logical connection and progression of ideas. Be sure to introduce them fully and carefully with signal phrases, citing author and work, and with a sentence or two to provide context.

5. Conclusion

When everything is typed up neatly, it is time once more to revisit the tools available from the College Board. All released questions explicitly link the topic of the work to the author. This is done to narrow the scope of answers based on thematic or character interpretation, but by incorporating this link into your essay, you will also be eliminating a step before being able to comment on the importance of this relationship. Also, on the scoring guide for past years, will be found a checklist that “highly concentrated and thorough discussion” would include a detailed exposition on all the work’s major images and/or symbols. The right or wrong indicator of the aforementioned concentration is there on the page for anyone to see: anything above and beyond your explanation of its importance will be phased out. All the theme of your argument will probably stand or fall at this point. Enclosing exemplary discussions from students who have already taken this exam on the list will certainly help you in deciding the work’s best images and symbols to which you will direct your argument.

Summary. Finally, all the previous work has culminated in the writing of this definitive essay. Introductions should lead from the textual evidence to a very narrow and specific topic. By working through the thesis and thematic statements, it has been determined what relations your interpretation has to the work. The next logical step is the creation of an argument. You could try writing this essay on any topic by this point, but by writing a series of first-draft arguments you can see which one best fits your focus. After proofreading the arguments, with the claim in mind, writing these statements will reveal the quickest route that will express the clarity of the argument in the fewest words. Then and only then, write the introduction. This creates the opportunity to refer to some key image or symbol mentioned in the argument. The most polished your thesis and thematic statements, the better the following argument will be at driving the selection or creation of evidence that can be used to support it, and the better the introduction will work as the gateway to your essay.