Blog #3: AP English Literature Benchmark Prose Essay & Reflection/Revisions & Reflection

A child's upbringing as well as their surroundings both play a pivotal role in the child's development. The true extent of this truth is well explained in the The Beet Queen, by Louise Erdrich. In this novel, Erdrich depicts the struggles and complexities of Karl and Mary Adare. By depicting their lives vividly through literary devices such as tone, imagery, selection of detail, and a unique point of view, Erdrich uncovers the truth to the reader of how deep the effects of an environment truly goes.

Karl and Mary's story is presented vividly and lively through literary devices such as such as imagery and selection of detail. Erdrich utilizes these two devices to further enrich the experiences of Karl and Mary for the reader. Erdrich depicts the places in the novel as houses with "...a scratch of light against the gray of everything else..." and having the reader feel Karl's reaction as he was "...like a sleepwalker..." when "he buried his face in white petals." Ultimately, this is done to further support Erdrich's purpose that the environmental impact on children is monumental. Along with this, Erdrich tries to present the fact that the negative effects and the positive effects of a child's environment will most likely be equal.

The contrast Erdrich implements between Karl and Mary highlights the importance of how an environment can affect children in distinct ways. This contrast is well executed due to Erdrich's use of tone shifts when switching between Karl's responses to events and Mary's responses. The most abundant use of this can be seen when Erdrich introduces the two children and lists their characteristics through detail. Karl is depicted in a straightforward manner as "tall" and "very pale". However, as this paragraph transitions into Mary, a negative slant is placed on her as Erdrich sways from simply naming characteristics to minorly antagonizing them. This tone shift along with others later on in the chapter, such as when Mary and Karl react differently to the dog, brings to light how uniquely a child is affected by his or her own environment.

Erdrich's choice of utilizing third person point of view was an exceptional decision. By doing so, not only does she manifest on one specific character, rather broadens the book's spectrum to cover more characters and their specific individual reactions. When the dog charges after Karl, a yell of "Run!" is exclaimed. However, Mary returns home to Aunt Fritsie while Karl treks to his home at heart, the boxcar and the train. This is the perfect depiction by Erdrich that once again, the environment of the child is one of the most influential parts of childhood.

Reflection:
The task was to write a prose passage essay for which we had 40 minutes to write. The prompt was straightforward as it just asked for analysis of the author's use of certain literary devices. The passage, an excerpt from The Beet Queen,was not difficult to understand, but it was easy to miss some of the underlying complexities. And this is what I believe to be the hardest part of reading and soon after writing a prose passage essay. After re-reading my essay, I would score this essay a 5. The reasons for this score is that the analysis was present but was superficial and the relationships made to the literary devices were slight. I relied to much on textual evidence and not enough analysis to support all the quotes used from the passage. One measurable goal is to limit, but not omit, the use of quotations as the centerpiece of my essay. I should focus on lengthening my analysis. Along with this, I need to work on finding the hidden meanings within the passage by spending more time on reading the passage. This is the quickest way to get a deeper analysis for my next essay.

Blake Nissen Peer Review:
Hi Blake, I believe your essay did deserve a score of a 6. The reason for this score is that you had a fairly reasonable analysis of the impact of the environment on the children in regards to the literary devices. Also, your ideas were presented with clarity and you had control of how you used the text in your essay. I feel that if you include a couple of statements that relate everything back to the thesis, a score of 7 or higher will be easily achieved. Overall, well done!

Blog #2: AP English Literature Benchmark Poetry Essay & Reflection/Revision & Reflection

In the poem, For that he looked not open her, written by George Gasciogne, Gasciogne uses brevity and well executed rhyme schemes throughout the verse. By depicting such vivid images through his excellent choice of diction, the reader can clearly see and understand the speaker's attitude, or Gasciogne, that regret is the only feeling when your love, your significant other is no longer with you. George Gasciogne effectively forms his poem to highlight his feelings and attitude and depicts those through well chosen diction and clear imagery.

Gasciogne utilizes a key literary device to present his point of view in a clear and concise manner, diction. If used correctly, the right diction can show powerful and raw emotion of the subject, context, or any other part of the text. Gasciogne implements this through words like ticed, feedeth, and grievous to allow the reader to comprehend his feeling of loss, regret, and his point in life at the stepping stone into depression. All due to the loss of his true love. Gasciogne truly accomplishes his transportation of inner feelings to the reader by not just restating his current feeling but instead building off on that to create a more powerful and everlasting thought for the reader to walk away with. For example, "Is seldom ’ticèd with the trustless bait, But lies aloof for fear of more mishap, And feedeth still in doubt of deep deceit." These three do not only insinuate Gasciogne feelings and inner thoughts, but they build and dive deeper into the emotions that were revealed prior to these lines. Along with the effective choices in diction, Gasciogne as well implements vivid imagery to depict his feelings in a physical manner to the reader. Despite its brevity,  For that he looked not open her, is immensely filled with elaborate details and oriented visuals of the emotional state of Gasciogne to a physical representation. Gasciogne accomplishes this through his use of the literary devices form and imagery. By continuously depicting his feelings and the events that caused those emotions to rise, Gasciogne further builds his point of view as well as his complexity as an individual. As seen towards the end of the poem, " So that I wink or else hold down my head, Because your blazing eyes my bale have bred." Gasciogne reveals to the author in a most vivid way of his regret and sorrow for the loss of his loved one.

Gasciogne's lack of length is more than compensated for with his complexity. For that he looked not open her his is carefully and wonderfully executed to allow the reader to understand Gasciogne's emotions but is written in such form with such selective diction and clear imagery for the reader to keep thinking and keep interpreting the poem long after it has been read. Gasciogne's use of these literary devices allow the poem to offer his feelings and attitudes in a complex yet meaningful way.

Reflection:

It was a matter of seconds before I was expedited from the classroom and across the building to a computer lab with the instruction. "time is of the essence". This could only mean two things: an essay or an essay. And since life is unfair, the essay was centered on poetry, a topic as close to my knowledge as making traditional Scottish haggis. However, since this is the way of life and most likely this class, I sat down and endured the prompt. The most vital piece of advice when writing this essay or any of the three is to make connections between analysis and interpretation. Along with this, there are many other important factors to consider for the essay such as timing and elevated writing. Similar to standardized tests, reading and analyzing the prompt and writing the essay should have the same time given. Also, writing at a college level is the quickest way to show that you can handle a college class. With this experience, I have understood the necessity of pre-writing to attain a solid score for this essay as well as the others. This will ultimately help maintain and hopefully raise my AP score. In regards to the essay above, I would score it a 6 because it offers a reasonable analysis of the use of form, diction, and imagery, but is less convincing in its connection of the devices and the speaker's attitude. A quick measurable goal to improve the score to at least a 7 would be to rely less on the quoting of the essay rather to rely on the analysis of the essay. Short quotes is the goal for the next round.

REVISED DRAFT:

In the poem, For That He Looked Not Upon Her George Gasciogne presents the reader a dilemma of love. Gasciogne's depiction of his everlasting confusion of his hate-love relationship of the powerful woman is his life is a complex contradiction used to add depth to the poem. Written as a short and concise manner, the poem uses soulful imagery and precise tone shifts to make a presentation of his complications of love for a woman.

Gasciogne utilizes a key literary device to present his point of view in a clear and concise manner, diction. If used correctly, the right diction can show powerful and raw emotion of the subject, context, or any other part of the text. Gasciogne implements this through words like ticed, feedeth, and grievous to allow the reader to comprehend his feeling of loss, regret, and his point in life at the stepping stone into depression. All due to the loss of his true love. Gasciogne truly accomplishes his transportation of inner feelings to the reader by not just restating his current feeling but instead building off on that to create a more powerful and everlasting thought for the reader to walk away with. For example, "Is seldom ’ticèd with the trustless bait, But lies aloof for fear of more mishap, And feedeth still in doubt of deep deceit." These three do not only insinuate Gasciogne feelings and inner thoughts, but they build and dive deeper into the emotions that were revealed prior to these lines. Along with the effective choices in diction, Gasciogne as well implements vivid imagery to depict his feelings in a physical manner to the reader. Despite its brevity,  For that he looked not open her, is immensely filled with elaborate details and oriented visuals of the emotional state of Gasciogne to a physical representation. Gasciogne accomplishes this through his use of the literary devices form and imagery. By continuously depicting his feelings and the events that caused those emotions to rise, Gasciogne further builds his point of view as well as his complexity as an individual. As seen towards the end of the poem, " So that I wink or else hold down my head, Because your blazing eyes my bale have bred." Gasciogne reveals to the author in a most vivid way of his regret and sorrow for the loss of his loved one.

Gasciogne's lack of length is more than compensated for with his complexity. For that he looked not open her his is carefully and wonderfully executed to allow the reader to understand Gasciogne's emotions but is written in such form with such selective diction and clear imagery for the reader to keep thinking and keep interpreting the poem long after it has been read. Gasciogne's use of these literary devices allow the poem to offer his feelings and attitudes in a complex yet meaningful way.

Reflection:
After reviewing my revised essay, I have seen how impactful the use of the three-sentence thesis template truly is. I now see how much time I save by not trying to come up with a catchy introduction statement knowing now that there was no need for it in the first place. Also, I see how my thesis statement can become more complex and insightful by using the template. Before my thesis was described as adequate, but now I believe that will change for the better. The tone shift chart was tremendously helpful as well as I was able to actually have insight for my analysis instead of just keeping it superficial due to lack of understanding. I realized how I can incorporate evidence for my tone shifts as well. Overall, I hope to continue the use of these items in the future.

Comment for James Zhu:
Congratulations on completing your first poetry essay! As I read through the essay, I noticed your clear and concise points in regards to the explanation of the speaker's attitude. However, the lack of connection between the analysis of the form, diction, and imagery to the speaker's attitude did draw back on the potential of this essay. Such things as specific breakdowns of the structure of the poem and solid understanding of the poem helped to elevate your score. The fastest improvement I can advise is to make sure the connection between devices and speaker's attitude is the same length or longer then the description of such things as rhyme schemes or diction. I do believe that this essay had enough command of the elements of effective composition to be scored a 6. This is a great starting point and it will most likely improve with repetition.  

Comment for Noah Tong:

Congratulations on writing your first poetry essay! After reading your essay, I noticed that some of the analysis, despite its accuracy, is somewhat vague. However, this essay did provide control of language and some connections between form, diction, imagery and the speaker's attitude. The quickest improvement I can advise is to omit clichés like "...right off the bat..." because they are not really your words and your analysis will be more effective than these phrases. For these reasons I would score this essay a 5 because it met all the characteristics of a 4 but had enough conciseness and development for a 5.

Blog #1: AP Literature Multiple Choice Test Reflection

Instructions were given to open the prep book to a particular page for an unannounced practice test. As I groaned internally others had no reaction as earlier classes dealt them the news prior to this. The only task that consumed my mind was to manage my time and work efficiently because I thought, there is no point knowing the vocabulary if you don’t have time to answer it. This task was not new to me as I implemented it previous years and have had success. However, success from this exam will rely on not only time, but the understanding and implementation of more heavily used concepts such as symbolism and poetry. Ultimately, it is paramount that I devote time and attention to learn these concepts and know how to interpret their meaning and their impact on the text. Hopefully, with this battle plan I can conquer the AP Literature and Composition Exam this coming May.