ap literature essay outline

ap literature essay outline

Analyzing Literary Devices and Themes in AP Literature Essays

1. Introduction to AP Literature Essays

Essays will be scored primarily according to the following criteria: A. The quality of the writing and the clear flow of sentences and paragraphs contribute to the score more than length, for length can make a long, boring essay to grade. B. Essays must avoid plot summary or character summary. A passing apology of the prompt is forbidden. These essentials of the essay are necessary for a clear and uniform development of a central idea or argument. C. The finishing statement made by the idea is received for all writing in order to add to the completeness and harmony of expression. Without losing invaluable time on factual content, address essential points concerning the work with generalizations about meaning, i.e. themes, of the literary work must be relevant. Although the readings include works from contrasting times and cultures, the theme of universality will introduce a universal truth about people, a focal point regarding human activities or changing conditions will be made valid and should be considered meaningful and relevant to the time-period studied. Whether your point of view is strict or broad, be challenged; the specific conclusions or arguments about the topic are without value. Keep your topic general; assess the topic index for common literary themes which you could elect to write on. Literary trends may also be revealed as accepted beliefs which shed light on the topic’s temporal, cultural origins.

The key to effectively responding to the free-response essay portion of the AP English Literature Exam is to consider the overall structure of the essay and to observe the logical conclusion with an insightful extension. Each essay will take you through a prompt question in the introduction. Then the body of the essay will follow the introduction, expressing the student’s ideas with support from the work. A not-so-simply restatement of the thesis wraps the essay up. Clarity, coherence, organization of writing, including the convention of language and mechanics, are all essential elements of essays graded on this exam. Since essays should not be rewritten, AP readers may accept writing with occasional imperfections in grammar and mechanics; however, these imperfections are less tolerable if comprehension is diminished.

2. Identifying and Analyzing Literary Devices

One thing that an author can do to help focus a reader’s attention is to include a high concentration of one or more of these devices. For example, when an author uses both “all” and “person” as opposed to “every” and “body,” this can establish a warmer tone. By choosing the words “he danced” instead of “dancing,” the reader may be led to think of the action as graceful rather than hurried. Parallel structure also helps to reinforce the focus on the words. When you are analyzing, explain how the author’s specific word choices promote the desired response. Also, be sure to include any allusions and imagery that may be specially intertwined with the use of diction.

There are some techniques that are frequently used in literature to convey a particular effect or to create a specific response in the readers. These are generally referred to as literary devices. You will want to be aware of many of the most commonly used devices. Here are some of the most frequently noted literary devices that point back to theme: allusion, analogy, aphorism, climax, conflict, contrast, denouement, diction, euphemism, flashback, foil, hyperbole, imagery, irony, metaphor, metonymy, paradox, parallel structure, personification, protagonist, satire, simile, situational irony, stream of consciousness, structure, suspension of disbelief, symbol, synecdoche, syntax, tone, etc.

3. Exploring Major Themes in Literature

A theme may be stated or implied. Usually it is a statement or idea that the author never really proves, but what the story is meant to communicate. It is the subject of the story naturally being connected to what is going on. Look at the Hallmark movie commercials. Nearly every movie is about true love, but the way the love is shown or accomplished is different or unique for each story. However, because they are all love stories and hold the same general ideas about love, their themes are similar in description but different in statement and evidence. Every story has a unique identification of love (subject) and how it is experienced (theme). That is just some fluff to make it easier to understand. Identifying theme requires you to be a detective. Most of the time, it is not directly or immediately exposed. You must ask some questions about the subject to identify the theme.

Theme in literature is a topic we see over and over. It may be stated or it can be inferred. It is different from the subject in that it is a statement that a story makes about said subject. After taking AP Literature last year, my students who are now taking AP Language asked for help. They had to choose 3 books and select an excerpt from a piece that gave dramatic evidence of a theme. They wanted to know how to identify theme. This is a response given to my AP Language students and can be useful to AP Literature students as well.

“Topic” – Analyzing Major Themes in Literature.

4. Crafting a Strong Thesis Statement

The elements that a writer should consider including in an AP Literature essay thesis statement are a defensible claim, an interpretative, specific, and precise insight about the literary work in question, and an indication of at least one element of its stylistic or artistic excellence. When creating a thesis statement for a thematic essay, it is also necessary to use the “so what” test to be sure that the statement is explaining why its argument matters to the outside world. Each of these four elements is discussed in detail below to provide you with an understanding of what a strong thesis statement looks like in fine detail. After the definitions of each aspect, resources are included for students to practice identifying the merit of sample thesis statements. With a continued understanding of what a strong AP Literature essay thesis statement encompasses, students can confidently begin to craft higher quality thematic essays.

Because the thesis statement is the central element of nearly all essays, it is essential that writers not only understand what a thesis statement is, but that they also understand how to craft a strong AP Literature essay thesis statement. While one could spend years learning how to write a good thesis statement, it is the most important theme of AP Literature essay writing. Thematic essays must frequently and consistently use targeted textual evidence to support the elements described in the thesis statement to be considered strong and complete.

5. Structuring Your AP Literature Essay

If you choose to go with the four-part structure, you could use the first paragraph for discussing literary terms and definitions, and then use the second paragraph for analyzing poetry, the third paragraph for analyzing one work of prose, and the final paragraph for analyzing a second piece of prose (or for analyzing theme or formal structures). You would first indicate how the basic literary devices act as “foundations” for the thesis you are putting forth. You might want to label this first section “Overall Thesis Point,” and would want to use several different examples of the “Big Five” literary devices (tone, diction, syntax, figures of thought, and figures of speech) to support your point in this general area. In this first major body paragraph, you will be reminded that the fewer literary devices you have used, the less successful your essay will be. In the second paragraph, SWIRL language (Symbol, Words, Imagery, Rhythm, and Line) should be featured as you focus specifically on the first selected poem. In the third paragraph, you will need to balance your general discussion of the novel with specific references to its text. When you come to the final paragraph for this moderately-structured essay, it would be a good idea to use three or more interpretations of the prose text for emphasis, especially if the work is relatively short.

Unless your essay focus is very specific and you have a detailed outline, it’s a good idea to choose the more familiar three-part structure (beginning, middle, and end with a clear introduction, solid body paragraphs, and a strong conclusion). A tempting option would be to write a four-part structure with an introduction and conclusion, sandwiched between three mid-section paragraphs. This would offer a more detailed focus for your essay than the three section structure, but still leaves your essay lying open for a wild variety of interpretations.