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Basics of Writing in AP Literature

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Title: Basics of Writing in AP Literature


1
Basics of Writing in AP Literature
  • This is your one-stop shop for putting this paper
    together. Use it as you need it, but make sure
    you use it! Ignorance is NOT bliss.

2
Table of Contents
  • Paper Basics
  • The Prompt
  • Theme
  • Thesis statement
  • Topic Sentence Review
  • CEW
  • ICE
  • Integrating Quotes (a must read)
  • Example paragraph
  • Introductions and Conclusions

3
Basics
  • Have a proper heading Your name, AP English
    12-hour, teachers name, due date. THIS IS NOT A
    HEADER. Upper left corner of paper.
  • Have a header in the UPPER RIGHT HAND corner of
    page (last name and page number) Dont know how
    to do this? Ask! YOU WILL NEED TO INSERT A
    HEADER. IT WILL SHOW UP ON EVERY PAGE.
  • 12 point font, double-spaced, 1 margins,
    readable font (Times New Roman or Calibri are
    standard)
  • Title should be simple and point to thesis
    directly or indirectly
  • Your paper will have several paragraphs and
    should be about 3-4 pages long.
  • Include author and title in the introduction
    short story titles go in quotation marks.
  • Back to Table of Contents

4
Choose ONE prompt
  • Your thesis should make it clear WHICH prompt you
    are answering.
  • Throughout your analysis you will make use of the
    critical literary vocabulary.
  • On the following slides, I have given you
    questions to consider as you put your paper
    together.

5
Prompt A
  • Prompt A In the story Recitatif by Toni
    Morrison, Twyla and Roberta, casual friends who
    encounter each other five times throughout the
    story, confront some difficult socio-political
    truths. Read the story carefully. Then write a
    well-developed essay in which you analyze how
    Morrison portrays these two characters and their
    complex relationship as friends. You may wish to
    consider such literary devices as narrative
    perspective (point of view) and selection of
    detail.
  •  
  • How would you characterize their friendship?
    What makes it complicated and why?
  • What is Morrison trying to accomplish through
    this friendship? Why? What is she trying to get
    at?
  • How does the POV help establish what we
    understand about the characters? What selection
    of details are given to us (or not given to us)
    because of the POV. Why does this matter? What
    is Morrison up to with these choices?
  • Through these relationships, what is her message
    for the reader?

6
Prompt B
  • Prompt B The story Recitatif by Toni Morrison
    chronicles the relationship between two women
    one black, one white through the social changes
    of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and early 80s. Analyze
    how Morrison uses elements such as point of view,
    selection of detail, dialogue, and
    characterization to make a social commentary.
  • How would you characterize their friendship?
    What makes it complicated and why?
  • What is Morrison trying to accomplish through
    these encounters? Why? What is she trying to
    get at?
  • How is the POV helping establish what we
    understand about the characters? What selection
    of details are given to us (or not given to us)
    because of the POV. Why does this matter? What
    is Morrison up to with these choices?
  • Through these characters, what is Morrisons
    social commentary? Consider the things that the
    characters say and do throughout the short story.
  • Back to Table of Contents

7
Theme ideas
  • Theme is not a word. It is a universal truth
    that the whole story supports. It is a full
    statement.
  • It is not an absolute, but a generalization.
  • Once you have gone through your short story, you
    should have a few messages to consider for your
    paper. These will be incorporated in the so
    what? and tie back to the prompt. This is what
    Morrison is trying to get at. See next slide for
    some examples.

8
Example Themes for Story of an Hour
  • These could all be ideas that Chopin is getting
    at. These would show up in my paper. All?
    Some? A few? An overarching idea will show up
    as part of your thesis.
  • Women need an identity to call their own. Living
    a life for someone else is not fulfilling enough.
  • While marriage can benefit a person, it loses its
    appeal if a person has to forget who they are in
    the process.
  • Sometimes true freedom comes during the greatest
    crisis. (a little cliché)
  • A person doesnt realize how suffocated she is
    until it is too late.
  • When the moment presents itself, a woman must be
    able to stand on her own two feet.
  • Societys expectations an play a role in a
    womans oppression and her inability to be her
    own person.
  • True fulfillment is sometimes found is letting go
    of all that is familiar and comfortable.
  • Back to Table of Contents

9
Rules for a Thesis
  • A thesis is never a question.
  • A thesis is never a list.
  • The thesis must advance an argument.
  • A thesis should never be vague, combative or
    confrontational. Avoid being seen as moralistic
    and judgmental.
  • An effective thesis has a definable, arguable
    claim. Say to yourself, Perhaps what the author
    says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to
    read further to see how the author argues this
    claim.
  • A thesis should be as clear and specific as
    possible. Avoid overused, general terms, and
    abstractions.
  • Cannot be answered with a simple yes or no.
  • Is not a topic Is not a fact Is an opinion.

10
An Effective Thesis
  • It is the MAIN claim. All topic sentences point
    back to it.
  • Has two parts.
  • Should declare what will be argued. This is what
    the author is getting at. This will be an
    overarching theme idea.
  • Should telegraph how you plan to argue. What
    big ideas from the s.s. will you advance in your
    paper.
  • Could declare the particular support to be used
    to uphold the claim. (The list kind of thesis.)

11
Example for Story of an HourPrompt A
  • In Kate Chopins Story of an Hour, the author
    uses Louises complicated relationship with her
    husband to highlight a womans struggle between
    being the dutiful wife and a free thinking
    individual who must know who she is in order to
    be a complete person.
  • In Kate Chopins Story of an Hour, Chopin uses
    the death of Louises husband and her new found
    freedom to highlight the complexities of marriage
    and the need to know oneself.

12
Another variation Prompt B
  • Through her characterization of Louise Mallard in
    Story of an Hour and Louises reaction to her
    husbands death, Kate Chopins argues for the
    need for a woman to be an individual.
  • In Kate Chopins Story of an Hour, Louises
    ironic reaction to her husbands death and
    miraculous return highlight societys
    oppressive expectations of women.


13
Thesis Statement Websites
  • UNC
  • Indiana University
  • Northwestern
  • Purdue
  • If these links dont work, just Google
    writing a good thesis statement and you will
    find these sites.
  • You must be in View Show mode to get to the
    links
  • Back to Table of Contents

14
Basics of a Topic Sentence
  • 1. It fits the size of the assignment.
  • 2. It states a single main point or position
    related to the thesis.
  • 3. It is specific.
  • 4. It is an idea you can show, explain, or prove.
  • 5. It is a forceful statement written with
    confidence.
  • 6. It is NOT a summary of the short story. It
    broadcasts something you will prove with
    evidence. It is a mini CLAIM!

15
Examples topic sentences A Story of an Hour
  • Upon hearing the news of her husbands death,
    Louise puts on the airs of a dutiful wife which
    at first makes her look like a woman who is truly
    devastated at the loss of her husband.
  • However, this dutiful wife begins to have
    stirrings about what life will be like as a free
    woman showing her deep-rooted desire to be her
    own person.
  • The struggle between what she was and what she
    could be is seen when she questions her feelings
    for her husband, but then quickly embraces her
    new found freedom, allowing her voice to be heard
    for the first time. She finally gets a handle of
    what she wants for life.
  • Though Louise joyfully embraces her new life, the
    story ends with a twist that symbolizes her
    unwillingness to be trapped in a marriage that is
    suffocating her.
  • These would be revised to fit my thesis
    statement. Notice none are a summary. Back to
    Table of Contents

16
CEW
  • Claim or Thesis (your topic sentences all go back
    to proving your thesis think of these as mini
    claims)
  • Opinion, not fact
  • Debatable
  • Provable (Reasonable)
  • Evidence
  • From the text
  • Specific (needs to say something that supports
    the claim)
  • You must cite your source even if you paraphrase
    or quote directly you must cite your source (See
    power point for ICE information.
  • Warrant
  • Explanation answers the so what?
  • How and why evidence proves the claim (thesis)
  • Ties back to your thesis/theme (the overall
    meaning of the work)
  • Must explain all the connections in your head.
  • Pretend you are explaining to someone who has
    never read the book.
  • Key to a good warrant Re-use key phrases from
    the claim and evidence.

17
What to notice Claim (topic sentence)
  • In Meeting at Night by Robert Browning, his
    vivid use of visual and auditory imagery evokes
    the urgency of an important moonlit rendezvous
    between two young lovers. The visual and auditory
    imagery helps the reader envision the night as
    dreamy and the lover as bold. The first two
    lines of the poem set up what the night looks
    like The gray sea and the long black land/And
    the yellow half-moon large and low. The reader
    can see the water gleaming under the light of a
    large harvest moon low on the horizon. And this
    image helps the reader feel as though they are
    watching this scene unfold as they themselves are
    standing on the beach, the long black land.
    These images are important because they are meant
    to create feelings of secrecy, longing, and
    romance. The next lines help the reader hear and
    see the ocean And the startled little waves
    that leap/In fiery ringlets from their sleep.
    The reader can see the movement of the waves as
    they leap, and the word startled connotes that
    the waves are frightened by something, giving the
    reader the sense that the waves are short and
    choppy as they hit the shoreline.

18
What to notice Evidence
  • In Meeting at Night by Robert Browning, his
    vivid use of visual and auditory imagery evokes
    the urgency of an important moonlit rendezvous
    between two young lovers. The visual and auditory
    imagery helps the reader envision the night as
    dreamy and the lover as bold. The first two
    lines of the poem set up what the night looks
    like The gray sea and the long black land/And
    the yellow half-moon large and low. The reader
    can see the water gleaming under the light of a
    large harvest moon low on the horizon. And this
    image helps the reader feel as though they are
    watching this scene unfold as they themselves are
    standing on the beach, the long black land.
    These images are important because they are meant
    to create feelings of secrecy, longing, and
    romance. The next lines help the reader hear and
    see the ocean And the startled little waves
    that leap/In fiery ringlets from their sleep.
    The reader can see the movement of the waves as
    they leap, and the word startled connotes that
    the waves are frightened by something, giving the
    reader the sense that the waves are short and
    choppy as they hit the shoreline.

19
What to notice Warrant
  • In Meeting at Night by Robert Browning, his
    vivid use of visual and auditory imagery evokes
    the urgency of an important moonlit rendezvous
    between two young lovers. The visual and auditory
    imagery helps the reader envision the night as
    dreamy and the lover as bold. The first two
    lines of the poem set up what the night looks
    like The gray sea and the long black land/And
    the yellow half-moon large and low. The reader
    can see the water gleaming under the light of a
    large harvest moon low on the horizon. And this
    image helps the reader feel as though they are
    watching this scene unfold as they themselves are
    standing on the beach, the long black land.
    These images are important because they are meant
    to create feelings of secrecy, longing, and
    romance. The next lines help the reader hear and
    see the ocean And the startled little waves
    that leap/In fiery ringlets from their sleep.
    The reader can see the movement of the waves as
    they leap, and the word startled connotes that
    the waves are frightened by something, giving the
    reader the sense that the waves are short and
    choppy as they hit the shoreline and that the
    lovers have surprised even the water as they
    boldly meet at night.
  • Back to Table of Contents

20
ICE
  • Make sure to see the section on integrating
    quotes and evidence. It will help vary up your
    sentences and ideas.

21
(I)ntroduce
  • Introduce the evidence smoothly According to the
    author, the night
  • No matter what, dont orphan evidence, a direct
    quote or paraphrase. You must some how set it
    up. I strongly encourage you to read the slides
    on Incorporating Quotes.
  • This will not be a part of your claim. This will
    be part of our evidence that comes AFTER the
    claim.

22
(C)ite
  • For this paper you will simply add the page
    number at the end of any sentence that contains
    evidence (direct quote or paraphrase).
  • For example
  • When Louise finally realizes that her life is her
    own, the reader is witness to her first words,
    Free! Free! Free! (2).
  • Notice the page number in the parenthesis ( ).
  • Notice the PERIOD on the OUTSIDE of the ( ).
  • Notice nothing else goes in the ( ).
  • This will be enough for this assignment. You
    must indicate page numbers when using evidence.

23
Explain
  • Explanation how this piece of evidence helps
    prove your thesis. This is the warrant in CEW.
    This is the so what? This is the heart of the
    analysis. Here you should use key words from the
    prompt that tie back to technique.
  • Back to Table of Contents

24
Writing Incorporating Quotes Effectively
  • Mini-Lesson
  • Back to Table of Contents
  • Back to ICE

25
Reason Is Important
  • Does the quote strongly support your point or
    argument?
  • Is it something that can't be paraphrased or
    summarized effectively in your own words?

26
Reason Is Important
  • Quotes work when you cant say it any better and
    the authors words convey the idea best.
  • Jane Smith, a clinical psychologist, claims that
    cats are better than other pets because "cats are
    an alien race come to earth, and have much to
    teach us about our place in the universe" (111).
  • In that example, an exact quote works well
    because the information is specific and new.

27
  • A word about paraphrasing
  • Use it when your own words will be sufficient.
  • A paraphrase is changing all the words or
    rearranging the order of the words to say the
    same thing, but in your voice. It is about the
    same length.
  • If there are 4 or more words in a row from the
    original then you MUST use quotation marks. You
    are not paraphrasing. You are PLAGARIZING.
  • You must still cite the page number when you
    paraphrase.

28
Punctuation Is Important
To avoid confusing your readers, punctuate
quotations correctly, and work them smoothly into
your writing.
  • Punctuation shows your readers
  • which words are yours
  • which words you have quoted

29
Punctuating Brief Quotations
  • Quoting a Sentence or Sentences

Gene begins to reveal his internal war with Finny
when he says, What was I doing up here anyway?
Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things
like this? (5).
Notice how my words (Gene begins to reveal his
internal war with Finny when he says) lead into
the quote I have chosen to use.
30
Punctuating Brief Quotations
  • Quoting a Fragment

Jack is not able to kill the piglet during their
first attempt at hunting for food because of the
enormity of the knife descending and cutting into
the living flesh because of the unbearable
blood (31).
Again, notice how my words lead into the quote.
31
Quoting A Quotation
Ron said, Dad yelled, No way!
Golding writes, Jack seized the conch. Ralphs
right of course. There isnt a snake-thing. But
if there was a snake wed hunt it and kill it.
(36).
Just like Leper in A Separate Peace, my brother
Shaun said, You always were a savage
underneath.
32
Quotations with Omissions
(Using ellipses)
According to Gene, the faculty at Devon treated
the boys differently during the summer session
because we reminded them of what peace was like
of lives which were not bound up with
destruction (10).
Use ellipses when words are omitted from the
quotation.
33
Quotations with Brief Insertions
(Using brackets)
It is evident that Finny believes in the war
before his fall from the tree because he tells
Gene, Im wearing this his pink shirt as an
emblem. We havent got a flag, we cant float
Old Glory proudly out the window. So Im going to
wear this, as an emblem (11).
Use brackets when you are inserting your own
words into a quote in order to make the meaning
of the quote more clear.
34
Quoting Poetry A Single Line
Caesar is obviously crushed by Brutus disloyalty
when he states Et tu, Brutè? Then fall Caesar
(III.i.78).
Set off the quoted verse from your written prose
by using a colon.
For a single line of poetry, use quotation marks.
Include the line number of the verse followed by
a period. If from a play, include the Act, scene,
and line number.
35
Quoting Poetry Two or Three Lines
We know the conspirators feel that they have
acted in the best interest of Rome when Cinna
cries, Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead! / Run
hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets
(III.i.78-79).
Use quotation marks.
Separate the lines of the quoted verse with a
slash / and a space on each side.
Include the line numbers of the verses followed
by a period. If from a play, include Act, scene,
and line number.
36
Quoting Poetry More Than Three Lines
Antony uses the rhetorical devices of repetition
and irony in his speech to the plebeians Come
I to speak in Caesars funeral. He was my
friend, faithful and just to me But Brutus
says he was ambitious, And Brutus is an
honorable man. He hath brought many captives
home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general
coffers fill Did this in Caesar seem
ambitious? (86-92)
Block indent 10 spaces (tab twice) and do not use
quotation marks or slashes.
Include the line numbers of the verses preceded
by a period.
37
How To Integrate Quotations
  • When you are using brief quotations, you must
    integrate them--

work them smoothly into your sentences
and
show their relevance to your ideas.
38
How To Integrate Quotations
  • Use TIE to smoothly integrate quotes into text
  • T tag
  • I    introduce
  • E   embed

39
How To Integrate Quotations
  • T tag
  • "You brute.  You brute," Holden mutters as he
    leaves the compound where he and Ameera have
    spent many happy hours.
  •  
  • "Secretly, of course--I was all for the Burmese,"
    Orwell confides.

40
How To Integrate Quotations
  • I    introduce
  • As Holden leaves the compound where he and Ameera
    have spent many happy hours, he mutters, "You
    brute.  You brute."
  •  
  • Orwell confided he "was all for the Burmese." 

41
How To Integrate Quotations
  • E   embed
  • Holden mutters, "You brute.  You brute," as he
    leaves the compound where he and Ameera have
    spent many happy hours.
  • Orwell was "all for the Burmese" and hated
    working as an agent of the British Empire in
    Burma.

42
Not Integrated Avoid this!
  • Brinker becomes disillusioned with the war, and
    Ralph becomes disillusioned with the glory of
    being chief. He found himself understanding the
    wearisomness of this life, where every path was
    an improvisation and a considerable part of ones
    walking life was spent watching ones feet (76).

43
Integrated Do this!
  • In the same way that Brinker becomes
    disillusioned with the war, Ralph begins to feel
    a sense of disillusionment toward the glory of
    being chief. Goldings narrator begins to allude
    to Ralphs waning enjoyment of being the leader
    on the island when he states, He found himself
    understanding the wearisomness of this life,
    where every path was an improvisation and a
    considerable part of ones walking life was spent
    watching ones feet (76).

44
Integrated
  • Introduce quotations using varied wording.
  • According to Jane Doe, "..."
  • As Jane Doe goes on to explain, "..."
  • Characterized by John Doe, the society is "..."
  • As one critic points out, "..."
  • John Doe believes that "..."
  • Jane Doe claims that "..."
  • In the words of John Doe, "..."
  • Possible verbs for use in the introduction of
    quotations
  • acknowledges, adds, admits, affirms, agrees,
    argues, asserts, believes, claims, comments,
    compares, confirms, contends, declares,
    demonstrates, denies, disputes, emphasizes,
    endorses, grants, illustrates, implies, insists,
    notes, observes, points out, reasons, refutes,
    rejects, reports, responds, states, suggests,
    thinks, underlines, writes

45
Methods For Inserting Brief Quotations
Final Position
For several reasons, all of them, all except
Phineas, constructed at infinite cost to
themselves these Maginot Lines against an enemy
they thought they saw across the frontier (123).
Beginning Position
Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the
darkness of mans heart, and the fall through the
air of the true, wise friend called Piggy (202),
declares Goldings narrator at the end of his
novel.
46
Methods For Inserting Brief Quotations
Middle Position
In the same way William Goldings novel has been
considered a body of work that speaks to the
tragedy of the human condition, John Knowles A
Separate Peace can be considered a work of
literature that shines a light into the dark
recesses of the human heart.
47
Interrupted
  • As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods,
    proclaims King Lear, They kill us for their
    sport" (King Lear IV.i.40-44). This proclamation
    by an old king who has just realized that
    everything he once held dear-- territory and
    power has been stripped from him by his own
    flesh and blood daughters Regan and Goneril is
    said to have inspired the title of William
    Goldings Nobel Prize winning novel, Lord of the
    Flies.

48
Long Quotations
  • Long quotations should be set off from the text.
    Usually "set off" text is preceded by a colon
  • George Orwell had a difficult time acting as a
    police officer in Lower Burma .  As demonstrated
    in the following excerpt from Shooting an
    Elephant, he was frustrated by his conflicting
    need to maintain law and order while remaining
    faithful to the idea that the Burmese had the
    right to be free
  • All this was perplexing and upsetting.  For at
    that time I had already made up my mind that
    imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I
    chucked up my job and got out of it the Better. 
    Theoretically--and secretly, of course--I was all
    for the Burmese and all against their
    oppressors, the British. (Orwell)
  • Back to Table of Contents

49
Example Paragraph this would be one in a bigger
paper
  • THESIS In Kate Chopins Story of an Hour,
    Chopin uses the death of Louises husband and her
    new found freedom to highlight the complexities
    of marriage and the need to know oneself.
  • Upon hearing the news of her husbands death,
    Louise puts on the airs of a dutiful wife which
    at first makes her look like a woman who is truly
    devastated at the loss of her husband. As Louise
    was afflicted with heart trouble, her sister
    Josephine and Richards take great care to be
    gentle in breaking the news of her husbands
    death, and Louise responds not with a paralyzed
    inability to accept its significance but with
    sudden, wild abandonment, sobbing in her
    sister's arms (1). Right away, Chopin
    establishes Louise as a loyal wife, naturally
    devastated by her husbands death. This public
    display of emotion, while somewhat vulgar,
    conforms to societys and readers expectations
    for grieving widows. We expect Louise to be
    distraught. However, after she has left Richards
    and Josephine for the privacy of her bedroom,
    Louises reaction becomes more complex. Chopin
    takes us further into Louises private grief,
    using the third person limited point of view to
    show how Louises reflections on her husbands
    death and its implications might affect her.
    Chopin writes, Louise was pressed down by a
    physical exhaustion that haunted her body and
    seemed to reach into her soul quite motionless,
    except for when a sob came up into her throat and
    shook her (1). Chopins characterization of
    Louises private reaction to the death is more
    personal, more inwardly emotional. Mr. Mallards
    death has touched something deep in Louises
    soul, and in the privacy of her room and her
    individual thoughts, Louises character and her
    relationship to her husband become more complex
    and muddled. Back to Table of Contents

50
Introductory Paragraphs have three main purposes
  • to capture the readers attention, making him/her
    want to read the essay
  • to set the larger context for the essay begin
    the paragraph with broad statements and end with
    specifics. This includes mentioning the author(s)
    and title(s) by name
  • show the plan for the rest of the paper through
    the thesis sentence. Remember that the thesis has
    the TOPIC, PLAN OF ORGANIZATION, and SIGNIFICANCE
    (so what)
  • Thesis statement is the LAST sentence of your
    introduction.

51
When writing an introduction paragraph, follow
ANT
  • Attention getter
  • Necessary information
  • Thesis statement

52
Attention getter get the readers attention.
  • With a dramatic incident
  • With a contrast
  • By telling a story an anecdote
  • By setting the scene
  • With a question or problem
  • With a description
  • With a brief historical background (if
    applicable)
  • With unusual facts and figures
  • With a quotation/epigram
  • With a definition
  • With an idea to be refuted
  •  
  • Whichever method you decide to use, make sure the
    attention-getter is relevant to the topic of your
    paper and not distraction Here is an example of
    a distracting introductory paragraph from a
    newspaper article

53
Necessary information when writing about
literature
  • Authors full name (use authors full name the
    first time only. After that, use only the
    authors last name).
  • Title of story in quotation marks if a short
    story or poem title italicized if a novel, play,
    or epic poem.
  • Brief plot summary in two to five sentences
    briefly highlight the major action of the story
    that is relevant to your paper.

54
Thesis
  • Your thesis should consist of a statement (never
    a question) that identifies the topic, plan of
    organization, and significance for the essay (the
    so what?).

55
Conclusions
  • Dont
  • Simply restate thesis
  • Bring in new arguments
  • End with what the technique is doing
  • Summarize the story or your paper or the prompt
  • Get long-winded or repetitive. Keep it to a
    paragraph
  • Do
  • Say something thought provoking. So what!?
  • Tie it to real world applications
  • Leave the reader with something to think about
  • Make your voice strong here
  • End strongly!

56
Example Back to Table Contents
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