Response to Class Material #5

From the last response to course material that was posted, we, as a class, have continued to read and work with Hamlet through analysis and discussion. For a more in-depth explanation of Hamlet see Summary and Analysis of Hamlet. The Hamlet open prompt proved to be somewhat of a challenge for me for some reason. When we were given the open prompt in class I did nothing short of panic and forget every word that I know. Upon rereading and reworking the essay, I realized that I really REALLY need to practice timed writing. My initial essay was rough as heck, but after rereading and reworking it, I feel that it turned out okay and I was okay to attach my name to the work. The key things that I had to work on were really nailing my intro and forming a solid thesis that I could easily revisit throughout my essay. From there the essay was much easier to write and made my ideas a lot more clear and understandable.


Onto Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard, the second to last book that our class is reading for the year (wow... that went fast). For an in-depth analysis check out my Summary and Analysis on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which shall come shortly after this post. R&G was a harder story for me to grasp and understand due to the confusing and pretty ambiguous nature of theater of the absurd. To help myself I just need to notice motifs and themes and stick with them through all the nonsense.


We have also been working on my questions for the AP exam in may. I often find those more daunting than writing the prompts because of how confused I can become when all the words do not make sense and you do not know what you are reading in the first place. The silver lining is that I am getting better at faking it, and acting like I totally know what I am talking about. The confidence seems to help my score when it comes down to it, so even if I'm still unsure, at least I am getting some of the questions correct.

Open Prompt 2 #2 (I think...?)

1979

Choose a complex and important character in a novel or a play of recognized literary merit who might on the basis of the character’s actions alone be considered evil or immoral. In a well-organized essay, explain both how and why the full presentation of the character in the work makes us react more sympathetically than we otherwise might. Avoid plot summary.

As it is often said, our actions do not always define who we are as a person, but at what point do those action reflects who we are? In The Kite Runner, The main character Amir is put into several circumstances where he is in between a rock and a hard place, causing his actions to reflect that internal struggle. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, uses themes of betrayal and forgiveness to show that no matter how bad an action is, it does not have to define you as a person.


In the first half of The Kite Runner, Amir is faced with the the judgement of the other boys over his best friend, Hassan, being a Hazara in a community of Pashtuns. The boys, although different in race, were inseparable until Amir started listening to the hurtful words of the other boys. The apex of the betrayal was when Amir pretended not to see the rape of Hassan, even though he could of helped the situation. Such a serious moment is nearly impossible to process as a child, hence the hesitation and fear that Amir felt in the moment. Without any other context, it would seem that Amir left his friend to suffer without any second though; whereas in reality, he was nothing more than a confused child that was scared to tell anyone or do anything. The innocence of the situation cuts the malevolence tenfold, hence not making this one act of betrayal reflective of Amir’s personality as a whole. Furthermore, Amir let the burden of watching his childhood friend’s rape weigh on him throughout his adult life. The guilt that Amir bore also reflects on his personality showing how even though he made a horrible mistake he held himself credible for it.


On the flipside of the situation, Hassan used the power of forgiveness to rise above the evil that Amir committed. Beyond ignoring Hassan’s rape, Amir also falsely accused Hassan of stealing and furthermore got him and his father kicked out/ moved out of Baba’s home that they shared. The action on Amir’s behalf was done out of anger and frustration that he could not find his father’s love. Although not an excuse, Hassan understood and followed Amir’s will, like he always would and left the safehaven that was Baba’s home. From the point of moving out on, Hassan never held it against Amir because he understood and choose to forgive Amir for feeling the way he did. Although the evil was committed and the pain was felt, Hassan chose to forgive Amir and chose to see him still as the wonderful friend he had been. That forgiveness allowed Hassan to not let Amir’s actions define him and chose to see past the pain and hurt to remember who Amir once was to him.


Amir is that of a tragic hero, it took him falling apart and doing so much wrong to see that he could do good in the world. Although it took time and consideration, Amir learned to not let his acts of betrayal towards Hassan define him. With the cure of forgiveness, Amir was able to free himself from the actions that once defined his childhood.

Response to Class Material #4

As the last semester came to a close our class was working on our read and lead projects. It was very interesting to see how others deciphered their poems. It was also very interesting how to some things meant one thing to someone and a completely different thing to someone else. I must say after a while the charm of listening to people read their poems did lose some of its charm, not so much that I did not enjoy the presentations, but it could get redundant when you are listening to one after the next.


At the same time we were working on our poetry read and lead, we were also assigned final exam assignments. My group decided that we were going to make a playlist that held all the characteristics of The American Dream (see The American Dream Summary and Analysis blog). The playlist was a quite diverse musical collection, check the playlist out for yourself here.


We, as a class, also read Oedipus Rex (see Oedipus Rex Summary and Analysis blog), and discussed the concept of fate and free will. This was mostly taken care of during the first semester, but it ran over slightly into the second semester. Currently, our class is in our Hamlet “unit” and are discussing Shakespearean literature and the themes within Hamlet (see Hamlet Summary and Analysis blog- soon to come). Under the Hamlet “unit” as a class, we have read and listened to some interesting material- to review visit Google Groups, AP Page. We also talked early in the unit about Shakespearean theater and how it was much different than today's theater. Back in the day, only men were allowed to act and often times there was very little action on stage, only drama on the stage as they discussed the goriest of meetings.


Since the second semester has started, our class has had to write an open prompt essay on anything that was literally applicable to the prompt. I surprisingly did not mind writing this essay because it allowed me to be more creative than in a normal closed prompt essay. I believe I did okay on my essay, both my partners rated it a 7/8 through our partner assessments (see comments on closed prompt #2 for suggestions). In the future, I plan on making an effort BEFORE I start writing to plan out how I want to write my essay so it does not just spin into nonsense.


My goals for the next to months are to go back and study the literature that we have read in class, I believe this will prepare me for the AP exam in may. I also plan on returning to the vocab and truly learn it and not just cramming my way through assessments. The assignment we had in class to make our own AP questions was very beneficial to me, and I plan on doing that for myself and practicing on mock AP MC assessments. I believe that I have the most room to grow when it comes to the MC part of the exam. My goal is to receive at least a 6 on the AP exam but ideally, I would like a 7 or 8!

Summary and Analysis of Oedipus Rex

Summary:

“Oedipus” stars right in the thick of the action, as per the style of an in medias res and also takes place for the duration of a day as a tragedy typically does. Before the story officially stars, there is a family in the city of Thebes where king Laius and Queen Jocasta who give birth to a son Oedipus. Prior to his birth the king and queen were told by an oracle that they were doomed to have a son who will kill his father and marries his mother. With that in mind, when baby Oedipus was born, The king and queen of Thebes had Teiresias, a herdsman take him out to a field for death- so that the prophecy could not come true. Not only was Oedipus left for dead, his ankles were bound so he could not move anywhere. Ironically Oedipus means bound ankles in greek, and no one caught that in the world of Oedipus Rex. On his way to dump the child, the Teiresias runs into another herdsman from Corinth. Meanwhile, in Corinth, the king and queen were trying desperately to conceive a child of their own. So when the herdsman from Corinth came across Teiresias he offered to take the baby off his hands knowing of the king and queens situation back home- he took Oedipus back to Corinth. Oedipus was raised like any other child in the city of Corinth with mother,  queen Merope, and father, king Polybus. During one of the many grand dinners held by the queen and king of Corinth, a prophet claims that Oedipus is bound to kill his father and marry his mother. Although Oedipus was raised normally in Corinth, he was never made aware of the fact he was adopted and therefore not biologically related to the king and queen of Corinth. Oedipus, fixed on the idea of not following the prophecy, decides it best to leave Corinth. While on the road away from Corinth he runs into a caravan of people- long story short Oedipus kills everyone over a disagreement over who had the right of way, leaving only one survivor. The one survivor ends up being Tiresias- unbeknownst to Oedipus that Tiresias knew the whole story. As Oedipus continued on his quest away from Corinth he ended up in Thebes and beat the sphinx that was terrorizing the city. The legend was that if the traveler missed the riddle that the Sphinx gave, the traveler would be killed on the spot. As Oedipus entered the city he met her and beat her and became the hot man on campus and soon thereafter attracted the affections of Jocasta the queen of Corinth. Jocasta, newly widowed took to the new handsome stranger and sought to marry him. And with that Oedipus became king of Corinth with his wife (mother,) Jocasta at his side.

Now with that background information in mind, the play actually starts with Oedipus questioning why the city of Thebes is being cursed and plighted. To figure out what was going on, he requested that Creon, the brother of Jocasta, go to Delphi to seek the wisdom of Apollo. During his brief time in Delphi, Creon discovers that the curse will be lifted once the city finds out who killed the late king Laius and prosecute him. Since Oedipus was the leader he was he went right to work at finding who was the murder of King Laius. While interviewing citizens of Thebes, Oedipus comes across Teiresias- the herdsman who was not only present for the removal of Oedipus but the killing of Laius. Teiresias fights at first, saying that Oedipus did not want to know the truth. After several pushes, Teiresias tells Oedipus that he was responsible for the death of Laius. Rattled, Jocasta tries to calm Oedipus by saying Oracles are not always right. As an example, she shared how her and Laius’ child was prophesied to kill his father and marry his mother but he was killed and that the prophecy did not come true. The story that Jocasta told reminded Oedipus of what was told to him when he was back in Corinth- that he was to kill his father and marry his mother. Not only that but he was reminded of how he also killed a man at crossroads, which sounds eerily similar to how Laius had died. Jocasta desperately pleads with him not to keep looking into the murder because she is scared of what will be found. After a couple more interviews with other people around The Ribs, it is connected that Oedipus was Jocasta’s child. Horrified, she kills herself and shortly after Oedipus stabs his eyes out and pleads to be exiled from Thebes.

Theme:

In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles uses themes of ignorance and sight to show that fate is inevitable, humans can choose how they confront it.

Motifs:

Blindness- all blind characters can “see” more and are more enlightened. Can be seen in the blind prophet, Tiresias.

Ignorance- throughout the story characters face their own ignorance and their own “blindness” to the situation. For example, Oedipus lives through the whole story and it takes him the longest to connect all the dots.

Fate vs. Free will- There is a constant struggle within the characters whether they have the option and or power to go against fate. The removal of Oedipus from Thebes was the first shown example of characters trying to deny fate. Laius thought he was above fate and could fight it- he did not succeed.

Quotes:

"Ah! my poor children, known, ah, known too well,

The quest that brings you hither and your need.

Ye sicken all, well wot I, yet my pain,

How great soever yours, outtops it all."

This quote is important to the setup of the story because this quote sets up the feeling of extreme self-importance that Oedipus feels. Although he sees himself in such high esteem, he still feels for the people of Thebes and all that they endure. The quote is ironic in and of itself because Oedipus is talking of the great pain he feels when in reality the pain and suffering have not even started since he is not aware of his wife is his mother at this point in the story.

"The trusty Creon, my familiar friend,

Hath lain in wait to oust me and suborned

This mountebank, this juggling charlatan,

This tricksy beggar-priest, for gain alone

Keen-eyed, but in his proper art stone-blind.

Say, sirrah, hast thou ever proved thyself

A prophet? When the riddling Sphinx was here

Why hadst thou no deliverance for this folk?

And yet the riddle was not to be solved

By guess-work but required the prophet's art

Wherein thou wast found lacking; neither birds nor sign from heaven helped thee, but I came.

The simple Oedipus; I stopped her mouth."

In this quote, Oedipus is puffing his chest in the face of Creon. As Oedipus questions Creon’s credibility and skills. He also highlights his own accomplishments and how he, “the simple Oedipus,” was able to take down the sphinx when no one else could, especially Creon- the brother of Jocasta who grew up in Thebes. With this being said, Oedipus thinks himself to be just the greatest thing, and how dare anyone question his legitimacy when it came to his alibi of where he was when King Laius was killed.

Responce to Class Material #3

From 11/12/17 to 12/15/17 Our class has worked on reading and analyzing the kite runner, Reference kite runner summary, and analysis blog post. As a class, we discussed a lot of the symbolism behind the what seemed to be quite straightforward text. I go into more detail about this in the previous post though so I will not go into much more detail.

We also have been working a lot on closed prompt poetry responses for the AP test in May. personally, I find poetry responses to be MUCH harder than straight literature responses. the reason for that being that poetry is a lot less literal and it could mean any number of things without the right background knowledge. Through the peer reviews that I have received I have become more aware of making my thesis and points very clean in the essay so they do not get lost in the confusion of the interpretation (or my attempt at an interpretation.) For future note- take your time in identifying the point of the question and what it wants from you, and then write your thesis accordingly.

not only have we been working on the poetry prompts we have also been working on reading and analyzing poetry and more pieces of literature in the form of practice multiple choice tests. This is to help us learn how to take the AP MC test in may. I have learned that I personally have to take more time in slowing down and actively reading the story, not just buzzing through and guessing at the questions.

Lastly, as a class, we have our read and lead poetry assignment that will be due in early January for my partner and me. It fits in with the trend of reading and analyzing poetry. 

Closed Prompt 2 #4

Eros by Robert Bridges and Eros by Anne Stevenson are both on the same topics of Eros, Greek god of love, but with striking differences in their interpretations. Bridges' version of Eros is classic and beautiful whereas Stevenson's version is dark and disheartening as she describes what people have done to the idea of love. While both poems are written out of sympathy for the god of love, Bridge's tone is a lot more praising, whereas Stevenson is critiquing the way humans have handled love.

Firstly in Bridges' poem, a picture adoration and sympathy towards Eros is pained. First, the adoration, as seen in the first 3 lines of the poem where Bridges refers to Eros as an "Idol" and a "tyrant." Both idol and tyrant show the great respect that Bridges feels towards Eros and his powers. Bridges goes as far as to call Eros, "[The] king of joy," which is a very literal way of expressing his adoration of the god. The poem also flows with the end-rhyme that bridges instilled throughout the peom. The sweet flow of the words makes the poem sound as if it were to be a song of praise to Eros and not just something for the entertainment of meer men who wish to appreciate love and literature. The final token of appreciation that is given to Eros in this poem would be where Bridges says, "And wouldst in darkness come, but thou/ Makest the light where’er thou go." The reason that this is at the end is that Bridges wanted to leave the reader with the feeling that no matter what darkness lays ahead or in their life, Eros can come in and bring with him, light that will eat the darkness up. This is important to the contrast of the poems because it is here that Bridges makes his statement that humans are worthy of Eros attention.

On the flip side, Stevenson's ideas of Eros are that of a beat up god who has become an abused slave to humankind. The first example of Stevenson's view on Eros is seen right in the beginning where she calls for love and immediately thereafter Eros shows up, "With boxer lips/ And patchy wings askew?’. This is to show that as Eros has been called upon frivolously by many others and his talents have been abused to the point of his unrecognizable demise. In Eros' dialogue in Stevenson's poem, he speaks of how he is,"‘the brute you see/ Is what long overuse/ Has made of me." He feels as though he has been overused and underappreciated. The short choppy lines make the reader feel exacerbated- like they are looking into the damage their recklessness has caused. Later in the poem, Stevenson writes through the words of Eros, "We slaves who are immortal" as to say that humans have elevated themselves to such a place of undeserved privilege that they feel they can make a god their slave.

Although both Stevenson and Bridges wrote of their sympathy for the god of love, Eros, They both did so in a way that reflected their individual views on his role within humankind. Bridges chose to do so in a way that reflected his classical writing style and his personal appreciation for Eros. Whereas Stevenson only wrote of Eros' overuse and underappreciation from the mere morals

Closed Prompt 2 #3

Both Keats and Longfellow's poems are about unfulfilled desires and the ever-present idea that death is coming. Later on in both poems, their views shift slightly on the matter of life and what needs to come out of it. Longfellow's view on life stays grim and depressing throughout his poem, whereas Keats wants to see all that life has to offer but is daunted by the fear of death and not accomplishing that which wants.

The most similar part of the poems was in the beginnings of them, both start grim and depressing as they express their disdain towards eventual death. Keat's, "I may cease to be," parallels Longfellow's, "Half of my life is gone," by both expressing their common belief that they may stop living at any point. The similarities between the poems extend to Longfellow saying, "gone, and I have let/
The years slip from me and have not fulfilled/ The aspiration of my youth," and Keats' ominous use of the word "before," implying that there is still so much that he has not done that he wishes to do.

The middle part of both of poems is where Longfellow and Keats start to differentiate their points. Keats starts sharing his desire for romance in line 5, "When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,/
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance," to convey his desire for romance before his passing. In contrast, Longfellow says, "But sorrow, and a care that almost killed,/ Kept me from what I may accomplish yet." Longfellow's views are much grimmer and he believes that overwhelming sorrow and dismay is enough to keep him from acting on his desires. Between the two poems, Longfellow is much more depressing and believes that his desires are not able to be pursued because it is all futile, whereas Keats believes that his desire is enough to keep wishing for it and striving for it.

When I Have Fears and Mezzo Cammin both conclude in a scenic way, hence making them similar on the surface, but different once you read a little beneath the surface. "Then on the shore/ Of the wide world I stand alone, and think/ Till love and fame to nothingness do sink," the conclusion of Keats' poem uses imagery to paint this picture of a man standing and looking out onto the world and reflecting his life. Keats shares his view on his past, and how it was filled with more important ideas, other than if you completed a desire or not. In sharp contrast, Longfellow paints a similar image with a man standing and contemplating his life. " A city in the twilight dim and vast, ....The cataract of Death far thundering from the heights," is Longfellows interpretation of a man looking back at his life. The city is a metaphor for his life- vast and dim, filled with missed opportunities and a sorrowful outlook. The real contrast between Keats' and Longfellow's poems is that Longfellow ends his poem with the cry of death, as to say there is no point because all is futile in the end.

Responce to Class Material #2

VOCAB VOCAB VOCAB!!! Over the past couple of weeks, our class has focused very heavily on literary terms that the AP test goes over and uses. Without going into it, here is a list of words that we went over and learned as a class:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qMle5ATnv4AOAEhsidTlwCRCIwukMVXp_yr8_mdbfHI/edit
We also did read and were tested on The American Dream by Edward Albee (See Summary and Analysis of The American Dream).

Those are the two big things we have been focusing on but we have also read a couple of sheets and done a couple practices for the AP exam in May.

Some of the papers that we have read were about different theories of different types of humor and why they are funny, one was on existentialism theory and another on the theater of the absurd. All of the papers helped us to read The American Dream. The main ideas were as simple as what their titles suggest. They were helpful, but their titles say it all. We also read a biography of sorts on Edward Albee and some of his life experiences- abusive parents and what not.

We also had several blog posts that we were to do over the last couple weeks; a couple responses to student responses, a couple mock AP essays and the summary for the American Dream that I mentioned earlier.

From reading student responses along with writing my own essays, I have learned that I need to be careful of summarizing and paraphrasing events and simply focus on making my retelling and referencing more concise when it comes to my explanation and answering of the essay question.

Over the last three days (11-7,8,9) our class also did a tone activity to show how very subtle changes in wording and inflection can change the tone of the phrase. I enjoyed it because several kids in the class made theirs humorous.

Summary and Analysis of "The American Dream"

Summary (With symbolism and side notes):
The American Dream, by Edward Albee, is a play first performed in 1961 that reflects the values that the American Dream entails. The characters In the play are Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Mrs. Barker, and the young man. The play starts off in the family room in Mommy and Daddy's apartment, and Mommy is telling complacent Daddy about her trip to the store. She went to buy a new hat and got into an argument with a woman outside of the store over whether the hat was wheat-colored or cream-colored. This was important to show the materialistic nature of the women in the 50s and 60s.  Shortly after that, Grandma enters the scene with her beautifully wrapped boxes. The boxes represent the quantification of material objects that are included in the dream. Throughout the play, Grandma talks about how you need substance to make anything worth anything. Soon thereafter, Mrs. Barker shows up to the scene. There is an abundance of confusion and Daddy can't remember Mrs. Barker's name, and no one knows why she is there or what she has to do. It is here that Mommy and Mrs. Barker start their pleasantries. Mommy asked questions, but they were not as you would expect. They were with the same diction as a normal question, but they were questions such as "would you like to take off your dress, as to be more comfortable?" (Not an actual quote, just a paraphrased example.) This was included to show the shallowness of the interactions and how they are nothing more than an empty ritual. Fast forward a little further the scene is just Grandma and Mrs. Barker, Grandma is trying to hint to Mrs. Barker why she is there. The hint was what happened a while back; This was written is a very specific style of something like this has already happened. The short story of what happened was Mommy and Daddy mangled their first child because he cried and "touched himself." As punishment for his human actions, they cut off his limbs and finally, he died. Mrs. Barker is trying to connect the dots, and it is there that the audience is aware that Mrs. Barker is there supposedly as a representative/ agent for an adoption agency. Then the American dream comes knocking at the door, literally. Grandma welcomed the final character into the scene, the young man. One of the first things she does is comment on his beauty and she calls him "The American Dream." The American Dream aka the young man talks, says that he is empty and hurts in all the places that Mommy and Daddy harmed the other child. This leads the audience to believe that the young man was the twin of Mommy and Daddy's first (failed) child. The play concluded with Grandma leaving the scene with the young man being welcomed into Mommy and Daddy's lives alongside Mrs. Barker who supposedly facilitated the whole thing. The truth of the matter is that Grandma seemed to be the only character who knew what was going on most if not the whole time.

Theme Statement:

Albee’s The American Dream critiques the shifting American values of materialism, social behavior, and individual morals.

Important Quotes:

"What a masculine Daddy! Isn’t he a masculine Daddy?" - Mommy 

This quote shows how Mommy is trying to convince/tell Daddy how masculine he is. In context, Mommy was trying to get him to open the door to let Mrs. Barker in, so she was building him up so he would do as she said. I also have speculations that this effort to enforce a masculine facade regardless of if that is who Daddy really is, or wants to be.

" I no longer have the capacity to feel anything. I have no emotions. I have been drained, torn asunder disemboweled. I have, now, only my person, my body, my face. I use what I have I let people love me I accept the syntax around me, for while I know I cannot relate; I know I must be related to." - the young man
In the summary, I briefly touched upon the meaning of the young man explaining his pain and emptiness to Grandma. The main idea that was discussed as a class was that of the young man and the first child being related because not only did the stories line up, but so did the pains that were felt. This I believe to be symbolic of Albee's childhood and upbringing. He was thought to be a possession of sorts, not a real person who learns and makes mistakes. In the biography the class read on Albee, it was said that his parents were not super loving and parental, but could show him off like no one's business. That is seen in this part of the play, whether it is admitted or not. There are simply too many similarities to situations and emotions that Albee must have felt towards his parents during his upbringing.

"What I'll really have to do is to see if it applies to anything. I mean, after all, I do do volunteer work if an adoption service, but it isn't very much like the Bye-Bye Adoption Service is the Bye-Bye Adoption Service and while I can remember Mommy and Daddy coming to see me, oh, about twenty years ago, about buying a bumble, I can't quite remember anyone very much like Mommy and Daddy coming to see me about buying a bundle."

This quote was important due to the plot of the play because this is the first time someone implores Grandma to share her thoughts and explain things. The compromise as made by Grandma is that she talks about experiences though comparisons versus just stating what she is thinking. I believe this to be a fundamental idea of theater of the absurd, having ideas that are shrouded with a little crazy and confusion. Keeps the audience of their toes and their mind sharp so they do not miss any little details during the seemingly unimportant dialogue between characters. back to the quote- this quote is the climax of the play where the audience finds out that this has all happened before and that Mommy and Daddy were unhappy with their "bumble" so their solution was simply to find a new one (20 years later.)

Closed Prompt 1 #2

2009
1A: I believe that this student deserved an 8 on the AP grading scale. It was an extremely well-written essay that I hope that I will be able to emulate when it comes time for me to take the AP exam. Student A did a wonderful job delving deeper than the surface of the speech. As written by Shakespear, it pretty hard to understand and so the fact that student A was able to both comprehend and interpret the work was pretty amazing in and of itself. Specifically, I appreciated the fact that the handwriting was legible and grammatically correct. My one nit-picking detail was I would have appreciated a couple more examples, but that is pretty objective considering I am not an AP reader and have not read a thousand other essays.

1B: Student B, in my opinion, deserves a 6 on the AP grading scale.  Just like Student A student B did a great job on their essay and did a pretty good job tapping into the depth of the piece. Granted, I think that A did a little bit better than B but that is simply because A was a lot more thorough in their points regarding the play. One of my critiques of student B  is the fact that they fell victim to the paraphrasing bug when writing their essay. This is something that I will have to be very careful about when it comes to my own AP essay when it comes time to write it. Besides that, I feel that student B did a good job with their introduction and conclusion introducing and finishing their ideas.

1C: Although student C had the nicest handwriting, their essay only deserves a 4 or 5 on the AP essay scale. Just as B did, C used a lot of paraphrasing to cover the fact that the content was pretty shallow. Student C's intro was super promising but fell apart when it came to application. As the essay progressed student C lost a lot of the focus that the initial points needed to execute. C did a great job with their introduction paragraph, they laid their ideas and thoughts out very well. On the other hand, their conclusion was not as great. I believe it was due to the lack of focus that was demonstrated in the body paragraphs. My other critique would be, I would have appreciated more concise examples throughout the essay versus paraphrased sections that had to do with the subtopic.

Closed Promt 2 #2

In the introduction to Ann Petry's novel, The Street, she uses personification, imagery, and figurative language to show Lutie Johnson's relationship to the weather and urban setting. Perty's use of musical devices throughout her introduction gives the reader a sense of if they were reading lyrics to a song or lines of a poem. The beautiful language juxtaposes the ugly weather and bleak city setting, by emphasizing how unpleasant it is outside on the street.

Throughout the introduction, Perty uses an abundance of personification to give the scene movement and life. A couple of the many examples are phrases such as: "Fingering its way along the curb, the
wind set the bits of paper to dancing high in the air", "stuck its fingers inside their coat collars", and "It found every scrap of paper along the street". All of these examples are discussing the biting wind on the street, and by calling the wind "it," Petry gives a sort of life to the wind as it plays with the passers-by on the street. Personification is an important tool that allows the author to turn the wing into something more than just that: something meaningful, and alive.

Secondly, Ann Petry uses imagery to paint concise pictures of the screen on the street and the weather affecting the passers-by on the street. As the reader reads, "A few hurried pedestrians who bent double in an effort to offer the least possible exposed surface to its violent assault" they gain a feeling as if a memory of having to cover all their body so the biting wind outside will not be able to rip the warmth off of their skin. "Her eyeballs were bathed in a rush of coldness and she had to blink in order to read the words on the sign swaying back and forth over her head," is another example of Perty using distinct feelings such as being cold to paint such a vivid picture of the screen. The most vivid of all sentences in this excerpt would have to be, "because its original coat of white paint was streaked with rust where years of rain and snow had finally eaten the paint off down to the metal and the metal 55 had slowly rusted, making a dark red stain like blood," due to the scenes graphic description of the slowly receding pain and the stains that were left in the original paints place.

Finally, Petry used an abundance of figurative language in this excerpt of The Street, by doing so it makes the scene feel like that of one that would be in a song or poetry. The abundance of figurative language can be seen in sentences like, "It even took time to rush into doorways and areaways and find chicken bones and 20 pork-chop bones and pushed them along the curb." The wind did not literally rush into doorways and find chicken bones and exactly 20 pork-chop bones, Petry simply wrote this to explain how strong the wind was, in that it could have picked up and taken away the bones. Another example is, "It found all the dirt and dust and grime on the sidewalk," because yet again the wind did not literally lift up all of the dirt. Although the wind pay of scooped up plenty of dirt and make it swirl throughout the air, the figurative language allows the reader to imagine a scene of chaos and whether attacking the streets of this city.

The Street, by Ann Petry is a beautiful literary work that shows an abundance of musical devices such as, personification, imagery, and figurative language to paint the picture of a cold and windy day in the city. With that being said, Petry did a wonderful job of showing the reader exactly what she wanted them to see on that unpleasant November day in the city.

Closed Prompt 2

This excerpt from, Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai, the author uses literary devices such as language, point of view, and several actions to show the reader how uncomfortable Arun is in his surroundings. By doing so, it forces the reader to sympathize with Arun and his new surroundings, hence making it more clear to the reader what Arun is experiencing.

Language is a strong literary device used throughout the whole excerpt to illustrate the emotional setting. In the first paragraph, Desai describes Arun as despondent- in low spirits due to loss of courage. This sets up the excerpt with a sad and lethargic setting. later on in the excerpt when Arun is outside he sees " these grasses stirring with insidious life, and bushes with poisonous berries." This description of nature is written in such a way that you can feel how uncomfortable Arun is with being outside. The language that Desai uses throughout the excerpt paints a picture of an uncomfortable boy in a foreign environment. By using more of a more dark and unhappy vocabulary, the writer shows us exactly how her words should illustrate how uncomfortable Arun is.

The excerpt, written in third person, allows the reader to witness Arun and his surroundings in an unbiased manner. This excerpt is primarily showing Arun's experience and how he sees and thinks. If the story had been told in a first person view than the reader would only be able to feel and think as Arun does, but by writing in third person it allows the reader to perceive situation in their own way- and allows them to draw their own conclusions. A good example of a situation that would of changed if written in first person is, "Melanie and Arun follow silently. they try to find a way to walk that will not compel them to stand side by side or in any way close together. Who follows whom? Is is an awkward problem." The reason this is a good example is because it allows the reader to contemplate why they can't stand side by side? why do they feel awkward with each other? If this had been written in first person then it would of only explained one view leaving the rest of the picture neglected.

Lastly, Desai uses the actions of her characters to highlight Arun's discomfort. the interactions between Melanie and Arun show the awkward and forced nature of their relationship, "Melanie comes to the door, dressed in her bathing suit with a big shirt drawn across her shoulders, and she stares at him challengingly, he starts wildly to find an  excuse." Here Melanie is trying to get Arun to go sailing with herself and the rest of his host family, and Arun is trying desperately to find a way out of doing so. Even an exchange as simple as that shows the readers how Arun feels and how he views the common activities of his host family.

At first glace the except of fasting, feasting, seems lighthearted and like a family trying to go sailing on a nice day. After looking a little deeper it is made clear that Arun, the main character, is uncomfortable with his family and going outside. Desai uses actions of characters, point of view, and language to contribute to the emotional profile of Arun.

Closed Prompt 1

2A: After reading student A's response, I would agree with the AP reader, and give them an 8. The reason for me giving them an 8 versus a 9, would be due to the lack of direct quotes from the reading. Other than that, their response was very concise and showed their deep understanding of the reading. Student A did a good job taking ideas that the characters shared within the reading, and comparing them to one another. In addition to the ideas the characters shared, student A looked into the meanings of what they were saying and how it contributed to their overall outlook on the power division. Along side everything else, student A did an excellent job finding the metaphorical meaning of all the symbols in the passage, such as how playing cards was to symbolize marriage.  Finally I would thank student A for having legible handwriting, because if they had written in chicken-scratch then it would of a. made my score decrease and b. made it a lot harder to read and understand their response.

2B: Student B's response was okay, and yet again I believe the AP reader graded them fairly in giving them a 5. If student B had used their quotations more purposefully, that would bring them up to a 6 and to get them to a 7 if they had used their concise quotations in a way that would have added to the meaning not just recite themes within the reading. Student B showed  a basic understanding of the meaning of the reading, but nothing more than the basics. Although student B determined what the quotes that the characters were saying, they failed to get the deeper meaning. Student A found the metaphorical meaning behind their quotations, whereas student B simply recited the quote and said what it meant. This shows that they can comprehend the reading, but they fail to give it practical meaning as to how it adds to the depth of the character.

2C: Student C's response is the only response that I read that I disagreed with the scoring of the AP reader. I did not disagree by much, but I believe that they deserved a 4 more than just a 3. The reason for this disagreement is that I believe, although shallow, Student C was able to make a deeper meaning out of the reading, which implies some level of understanding. The one thing I really appreciated about student C's response was how neatly it was written! The neat writing made it A LOT easier to read. Student C's main downfall within their response was how they did not stay 100% focused on their prompt that they were supposed to answer. If student C had focused more so on how the meanings of what the characters had said, contributed to the meaning and depth of the reading, versus how the reading connected to real life problems; the piece could of become a 4 if not a 5.