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Lit. Analysis/Summer reading



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Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:08 pm
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Emerson says...



So, I'm starting my summer reading for my next years class, AP American Lit. and I'm reading over the things we should say, and I'm "shaking in my boots". I don't trust my abilities with lit. analysis.

Here are the things my teacher listed for responses:

1. Comments on what memory of feeling a particular incident, setting, character, or event brings to mind.
2. Reactions to a particular setting, character, incident, or event that you strongly agree or disagree with.
3. Questions about an incident or idea that confuses you.
4. responses to ideas that confirm a question or particular belief
5. interpretations of ideas, characters, actions, and events.
6. Challenges which the text presents while you read.

Rather easy, right? Straight forwards and all, though the last one does have me confused.

Basically, are there any tips someone could give me on how I should go about this? I did it last year, but it's an AP class, they'll be looking for... better. I'm scared!
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Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:00 pm
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Crysi says...



Yay, I'm done with English forever! *laughs*

Anyway. Quotes always earn bonus points. Once you choose a quote that represents the idea you're trying to explain, you should explain how that quote explains it! Good things to talk about are the word choices, metaphors, allusions, etc. that the author uses. Actually, we had a list last year of things we could talk about... Tone, attitude, diction, language, figurative language, figures of speech, imagery, organization, sentence structure, syntax... That's all I can remember right now, but I hope that helps!

You'll do fine, Clau. If you have any questions, just ask me. :)
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Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:07 pm
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Emerson says...



Thanks Crysi ^_^

I wrote my first entry, I don't think it's so bad... He'll probably love it. So far the only problem I have is not writing POV or MC. hahaha. It's so weird writing those out. I think I'd just get stairs of, "What...are you doing?" if I don't, though.
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Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:40 pm
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something euclidean says...



I did AP Lit last year and it wasn't that bad. Considering how much you read, both online and off, you won't have as hard a time as some people will -- a lot of people arrive in AP Lit and freak out royally when they discover that they have to analyze poetry.

Crysi is right: quotes are the best thing you can put into an essay. AP essays aren't looking for plot summaries as much as they're looking for meaning - if you can point to one or two incidents and describe their meaning and how relates to the theme, rather than summarizing the plot, that will get you points. If you need to generalize something because it's too big to quote - the general characterization of someone important, for instance - then you can slide in quotes to illustrate smaller points or devices along with the general stuff.
  





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Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:49 pm
Snoink says...



Pretend you're doing a thorough critique on somebody from YWS. The grammar is good, which astounds you and, because it's so good, you're going to do a thorough critique on the characters, plot, setting, etc. Because the writer's grammar is so good, assume that the word choice and everything is purposeful and means something, and then derive the meaning from it and tell the author your thoughts on what is going on.

And, if you want, I think there a bunch of tips from the SPEW archives on how to critique really well, so... um... check them out.
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Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:33 am
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Emerson says...



Pretend you're doing a thorough critique on somebody from YWS. The grammar is good, which astounds you and, because it's so good, you're going to do a thorough critique on the characters, plot, setting, etc. Because the writer's grammar is so good, assume that the word choice and everything is purposeful and means something, and then derive the meaning from it and tell the author your thoughts on what is going on.


What if I absolutely HATE the writing? XD

*smites East of Eden*
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Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:02 am
Incandescence says...



To wit, they won't be looking for "better"--just "more".

The obvious "challenge" East of Eden presents is one of class struggle and tension. Less obvious challenges include questions of identity (obviously), and also some meditation on family/houses/homes/home. That the story begins "east of Eden" and the family's westward matriculation leads not to "Eden" but to another kind of Hell (forgive me) is in no way insignificant to contemplating the (currently fashionable) idea of "finding oneself" by traveling. What does travel present to its journeyers? and, more importantly, what do journeyers present to travel?

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Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:00 am
Lynlyn says...



I took AP Language and Composition last year (I'm doing Literature this year...) so I don't know if I would be much help for AP Literature, but we did do some literary analysis.

Basically, we were told to sort of look at everything as if we were expected to make an argument. Avoid summary, just pick out a few quotes or concepts that you like, and analyze them. Most of the prompts that our teacher gave us were related to theme somehow - I remember with Huck Finn we had questions about racism, the book as a picaresque novel, analyzing it as a bildungsroman, et cetera.

For the last one, maybe it would help if you thought about it as "assumptions that the author is making" - does that makes sense? What is something that the author obviously believes, something that he is expressing through writing? Could you challenge this belief? How does/doesn't he support it?

Sorry I'm not more help. :P
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