how to write an ap literature essay

how to write an ap literature essay

A Comprehensive Guide to Writing an AP Literature Essay

1. Introduction to AP Literature Essays

Stated or implied, explicit or tacit, you are always guiding your reader through essays. Practicing good transit informs your reader of the shape and argument of your essay without repeating yourself. There are no fixed rules for this elusive practice. Both the discipline and the reader shape the movements and rhythms of your essays. Nevertheless, rules of thumb can be a good reference. Aristotle proposed that good essays should begin with an overview of the actions of predecessors, proceed to present the argument of the essay, critique the argument, and conclude with your own argument. Writers of academic essays should generally stick to a formula – introduction, body, conclusion. In sensible educational settings, a transitional approach will lead you nicely around the rough spots. An introduction should be anywhere from a sentence to several paragraphs long. Briefly anchor your topic to its historical and textual context. If your feature (the short name of your historical or literary reference) is not immediately internationally recognized, you should include a short title. That being said, good introductions should include more than mere logistical assignment markers. Pull content from the topic being discussed to establish your structure for the essay. Doing so will help set the terms of your essay debate. With rare exceptions, good essays will also include a sentence, and sometimes even a couple of sentences, discussing definitions or conceptual territory, to position the remaining comments within the field.

Every writer should understand the principles of structure, argument, and evidence. In elite educational settings, this means the academic essay. Assignments in the humanities or in religious studies offer the subspecies known as the critical essay—meaning analysis, interpretation, and argument. In this guide, we will refer to both kinds as academic essays. Nearly without exception, you will write essays on the advanced placement (AP) American Literature and Composition, the AP English Literature and Composition, the AP Spanish Language and Culture, the SAT Subject Test in Literature, and the AP United States History exams.

2. Analyzing the Prompt and Selecting Textual Evidence

If there is a sentence or phrase that is not specific, which you can place your finger on in a specific passage or book section (literary device), then you need to spend extra time explaining it. If the prompt touches on unfamiliar themes, such as repetition, duality, or figurative language, then you need to sit down and brainstorm some of the things that fit that prompt effectively. You are given a few services to get to your ultimate destination. You should find these helpful in navigating the process of writing a response. The sources are meant to be used during the organization process. When you have brainstormed and made a list of how you can use these sources and study, you can move on to examine how you may use this information.

Since the entire essay is based upon “textual evidence” – i.e., supporting your ideas with details, facts, examples, etc. from the writing of others – it is critically important to discern thoroughly and thoughtfully – who you are writing about, and to clearly indicate such when you offer your analysis. In your argumentation essays, which include the synthesis essay based on multiple passages and argument essay based on one passage, you want to show that you understand what the author is saying, and that you can draw information from a specific passage. The prompt for an essay will generally already have a presentation of the passages that you are to answer. Most prompts are given, but the wording of the essays get changed from time to time. You must take some time to consider the prompt, brainstorm, and decide how you will analyze the passages given. The reading time is the time I suggest you use to brainstorm and prep yourself for the essay you are given.

3. Crafting a Strong Thesis Statement

In a well-organized essay, discuss both sides and provide matters material, this has never been an assignment in more than soil science trout creek essay contest classes all at the regular level, though. AP English teachers are constantly searching for strategies to help students analyze literature more thoroughly, pitch claims in conversations more persuasively, and understand the writing craft better. The thesis statement is the key to a successful introduction and provides a sense of focus for the rest of the essay. There are several formats for thesis statements, but the key is that the thesis statement not only states the topics to be discussed but also lets the reader know how the topics will come up for discussion. In this argument, the thesis statement should answer “how” but “why,” “so what,” and make a point.

The majority of high school students feel uncomfortable creating a thesis. After all, a thesis statement is a frame around the most important part of any piece of writing. However, creating a strong and declarative thesis is important. The given passage will provide you with a strong understanding of what a thesis is and how to draft one. The thesis is the sacred cow of all English teachers with good reason, as I think all would agree. After all, it’s what students are trained to perform in English class. Writing a thesis statement is always challenging to our students. While they have done it countless times by the time they reach “AP Lit.”

4. Structuring Your Essay: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion

The writer has read numerous essays on this subject in the past that make statements and then do not support them with the proper, relevant evidence to explain the view. They often view the argument in their head, know exactly what their point is, are able to infer what they mean from their own words, but the reader cannot. The writer hereby implores the reader to include the following directly in the extended essay, whether it consists of one paragraph or twenty. The writer advises that if you write an intro paragraph, then you must write a concluding paragraph. If you write a concluding paragraph, then include two more paragraphs to develop the conclusion. If you throw in these two extra paragraphs, then you will have also written an introduction. The writer, forever the optimist, chooses to believe that anyone that has obtained a pre-AP or AP title has already learned about introductions and conclusions and can thus compose a brief summary of the work. However, this topic bears revisiting.

Introduction: The historical structure for the AP Literature essay consists of the opening paragraph in which you tell your reader which book you are writing about and a brief summary of the central clash of the book, and then the body of the essay in which you prove your points with quotations. The writer repudiates strict attention to this structure. Those that cling to it refuse to accept an essay over five paragraphs, argue that this is the only way to write an AP Literature essay. However, it is not the length or “format structure” that causes low scores. The requirements for a high-scoring AP Literature essay are coherence, clarity, powerful analysis, relevance, and insight. The writer cannot stress strongly enough the necessity of coherence and clarity. On the AP essay, readers do not have the leisure to figure out what you are trying to say and what point you are trying to make. Those essays that are incoherent and unclear will be given the lowest scores.

5. Incorporating Literary Devices and Close Reading Techniques

To produce an effective literary analysis essay, students must consider and have effective written analysis paragraphs. This guide was formulated for discussion of what English teachers prefer students to discuss. It includes ideas for sample paragraphs and correct examples to use for reference. Often, during Discussion Posts online, students are asked to refer to passages or quotes from the literature to substantiate what is being discussed. Misinterpretation of literature is the biggest problem in their discussions. To effectively discuss, students must be sound in their close reading techniques. A craft reading allows students to go beyond the surface level of a passage and see it in a new way. English includes the analysis and interpretation of literary works within their discussion. They will utilize these three stages of literary interpretation to invent a thesis that incorporates close reading for a strong discussion post and impressive essay.

It is necessary for students to know literary terms in order to write effectively about literature. This includes rhetorical terms, and a comprehensive glossary allows students to stay on top of their literary terms. Additionally, to properly craft the best essays, students must know the kind of literature to expect, including both formal and informal terms and genres. Rhetoric and examples are also included for ease of understanding. Finally, it is important to know who the writers are in order to more efficiently write about their works. A clear summary of their works is also indicated in a breakdown of their works section, including titles of major works, full names, and birth/death dates.