Blog Post #13: Semester One Reflection

Cumulative AP English Literature Semester One Reflection:

In this first semester of AP English Literature, we practiced, revised, and reviewed specific elements that will be on the AP Exam. These included the Prose Passage Essay, the Poetry Passage Essay, and the Open Essay. I set individual goals for each of these three essays after our first experiences with them, but all three lined up in that I set a goal for myself to consistently score at least sevens on the essays by this point in the year - the end of semester one. Hopefully, along this same path of improvement, I would be scoring sevens, eights, or nines consistently through the rest of the year, with my own "average" essays still falling in this upper-range area.

Although I have not yet reached my goal, I know that I have made significant improvements on my writing and my approach to the essays. More specifically, our work on the thesis statements this semester has allowed me to better understand how the thoughts, arguments, and notions put forth in an essay should be organized and related. A strong AP Literature essay does not hit on imagery, diction, and tone in a five-paragraph essay format - it can, but by no means does that make a strong essay. A strong essay is supported not only by a depth of analysis and understanding of the text and/or prompt, but also by the complexities that are addressed in the thesis and in the rest of the essay. Now, it seems easy enough to say "find the complexities in the text," but this is no easy task. Understanding in depth what it is that makes everything the writer does - figurative language, rhetorical devices, attitude towards the subject, etc - more than what it is; in other terms, finding this complexity means understanding what it is that these choices do to add to the unique, complex, and nuanced nature of the text and argument of the author. My essays, including my most recent "paired-poetry" essay from the Poetry test, have improved; each thesis I write grows a little more nuanced, a little more aware of the complexities in the text, and a little shorter - which, for me, is a good thing.

Looking back at what I've produced this semester, I would not say that I am disappointed in myself. I would not say that I have missed the mark (even though I didn't quite reach my goal), and I would not say that I have missed the opportunity to learn from my past essays. I would, though, say that I have grown as a writer. Although my most recent essay from the poetry test scored only a 5.5, I know that it is significantly better than the essays I was putting out at the beginning of the semester. Looking back at my blog, I almost have difficulty recognizing some of my writing; while this is true, I can still say that my mark as a writer hasn't been lost and my voice hasn't been distorted, just refined and improved. Ultimately, I would call this semester a success; there is, however, much more room for improvement, and I want to make use of the second semester to further refine my writing in these essays as much as possible. I am holding myself to the same goals I initially set, but I am adding one more: I want to go above and beyond the call of the classroom in improving my writing and preparing for this exam. I plan to find old AP prompts for the open, poetry, and prose essays and practice, on my own, writing in appropriate testing conditions. I would say that one of my greatest challenges in writing is time, and I have all the resources I need already available to me to prepare even further for the second semester and for the AP Exam.

Blog Post #12: "Five Flights Up" and "Five AM"

Paired Poetry Essay: “Five Flights Up” and “Five AM”

While Elizabeth Bishop and William Stafford both personify the harbingers of morning in their poems “Five Flights Up” and “Five AM,” the two poets discuss the morning from very different perspectives. Bishop’s use of antithesis, which ironically plays on her envious attitude towards morning, and personification contrasts Stafford’s pairing of personification with enjambment, which illustrates his beloved unfamiliarity with his surroundings. Stafford discusses the rejuvenating properties of morning, while Bishop’s frustrated attitude towards the morning marks the persistence of her troubles through the morning's dew.

Bishop creates a quietly distant interplay with the morning in “Five Flights Up.” In discussing the morning as an uninvolved, removed observer, a clear distance is created between her and what lay outside her window, perhaps from “five flights up.” Bishop’s distinct use of personification creates this “distance,” allowing everything that she sees outside to act in an understandable, human way. After recognizing the distant question of the bird and of the dog, Bishop personifies the coming day which possibly answers these questions, “simply/by day itself.” (ll. 8-9) In allowing the day , not herself, to take action in answering the questions of the morning, Bishop further removes herself from the events unfolding before her, from the events she has difficulty relating to; she is almost jealous of the simple beauty of morning, a simplicity she doesn't feel in her own life, self-sufficient and sure of itself. The bird that Bishop watches from afar, and “unknown” bird, “sits on his usual branch.” (L. 2) Bishop’s use of antithesis here reinforces her removal from the morning. Bishop recognizes that this spot is frequented by a bird, but it isn’t until this moment that she questions “who” the bird is; although she sees him time and time again in his “usual” spot, Bishop observes this bird from afar, and all it ever can be to her is a discernible stranger. Just as she knows the morning is answering the questions of the bird and dog, but fails to understand the answer, Bishop’s unfamiliar familiarity with this bird further removes her from her observations. Though the morning is so simple, so honest, so rejuvenating for the bird, Bishop can’t escape the troubles of yesterday from five flights up.

In “Five AM,” William Stafford takes a clearly different attitude towards the morning. His use of personification is limited to the opening and closing of his poem where he describes the rain touching his face and “the early morning breath[ing].” (L. 1) Between these distant, removed observations, though, Stafford contrasts Bishop by stepping back from his observations and generally discussing humanity. His observations of the morning are more concrete, more significant than Bishop’s distanced encapsulation in her observations; this allows Bishop to divert from his immediate surroundings and contemplate their relevance, their significant in the world beyond his scope, the world beyond Five AM. Staffords use of enjambment adds to this contemplative attitude towards morning; by stopping mid-line in the middle of his poem with lines like, “People in every country who never…” allows for breaks in his pacing (L. 9). This pacing, which like Bishop’s is slow, includes breaks, pauses, which suggest a turn in Stafford’s thought from the immediate to the worldly. Clearly, Stafford’s attitude towards the morning is more interested, involved, and contemplative.

While Bishop envies the simple, routine morning from her place of grief, Stafford contemplates the overarching significance of morning, Bishop looks at what morning is while Stafford considers what it means.  

Blog Post #11: Compare and Contrast Poetry Essay

William Blake's Poems "The Chimney Sweeper," convey an augmentation in the speaker's, a young chimney sweep, understanding of his parents' betrayal. Blake traces the boy's growth out of innocence and into a ",'heaven of [his] misery.'" in his use of lists and counter-point discussion of light and dark, black and white. This listing and reliance on binary oppositions, which demarcate a transition from immaturity to sobering maturation, illustrate Blake's increasingly bitter attitude towards the chimney sweep's situation.

Both Blake's 1794 and 1789 poems "The Chimney Sweeper," demonstrate a natural organization and trail of logic, following a path very similar to that of unfettered human thought. The tone behind this organization, seen clearly in Blake's lists, however, is drastically different between the two poems. The 1789 poem structures lists in an expected manner - point one, point two, and point three - which is very similar to the type of speech used when speaking to other people, people like "Dick,  Joe, Ned, and Jack," (11). The expected, calculated speech reinforces Blake's notion that the boy's are disillusioned in thinking that "if all do their duty, they need not fear harm." (24) The 1794, in contrast, is less measured and more emotionally driven. In describing the parents' false sense of reassurance, the boys cries, "[they] are gone to praise God & his Priest & King," (11) Blake's use of polysyndeton at this point in the poem illustrates the boy's bitter frustration about his parents' own disillusioned thoughts of innocence. The transition from the 1789 poem to the 1794 poem clearly marks a growth in the boys thinking, an evolution from innocence into understanding.

The binary opposition between the colors black and white is present in both of Blake's poems, but their connotations are vastly different. In the 1789 poem, the color white is clearly symbolic of hope, rebirth, and cleanliness; the words "naked and white," are the two most pertinent examples of this notion (17). The Angle is described as being a "bright," figure who come to tell they chimney sweeps of all there is that lies for them beyond the pains and labors that they face in the "dark" world they live in (13). This is a clear slight towards truth, however, the honest realization that the boy comes to is not quite as bright. (STOP)

Paired Poem Essay Reflection:

This prompt was our first exposure to a poetry compare and contrast essay, and it was not as intimidating as I thought it would be. Reading pages 41 through 57 before writing this essay was helpful in understanding how to organize my thoughts and approach the paired poetry essay, specifically regarding the writing of the thesis. When this type of essay was introduced, I was worried that it would be fat too easy to fall into the trap of working just with surface features and basic details without elaboration; especially when the amount of material we are working with doubles in quantity, it can be significantly more difficult to pull out and original, nuanced argument. While originality isn't necessarily immediately aligned with success on these essays - I'm sure they have been many original responses to this prompt that couldn't have scored higher than a two - it is always reassuring to feel like you are solving a puzzle when writing an essay; putting together the hidden, nuanced parts of an argument is really almost like a game, with time, your own knowledge, and your preparedness competing against you. Specifically, on my first draft of this essay, I did not win the battle against time. Unfortunately, this immediately drags down the value of my writing; although I felt confident in the thoughts I had and the way I was going to relate them, by not finishing, my trail of logic was hazy and my support was severely lacking. This mistake would likely result in my essay scoring a two. The first body paragraph still provides some support for my argument, but it is incomplete which significantly hurts the value of my writing. One significant goal that I need to set for myself is regarding time; I've noticed that, even though I now better understand what an effective, efficient thesis looks like, I spend too long on this part of the essay, trying to perfect it to set the right initial impression of my writing. In the future, I need to spend no more than five minutes writing this part of the essay so that I can move on and actually write an entire essay in the time provided. I know that once I address my time-management problems, it will be much easier to break into the 7-9 essay score range. Hopefully, my revision of this essay will allow me to tie together the thoughts and evidence that I was unable to work with because of time constraints.

Paired Poem Essay Revision:

William Blake's Poems "The Chimney Sweeper," convey an augmentation in the speaker's, a young chimney sweep, understanding of his parents' betrayal. Blake traces the boy's growth out of innocence and into a ",'heaven of [his] misery.'" in his use of lists and counter-point discussion of light and dark, black and white. This listing and reliance on binary oppositions, which demarcate a transition from immaturity to sobering maturation, illustrate Blake's increasingly bitter attitude towards the chimney sweep's situation.

Both Blake's 1794 and 1789 poems "The Chimney Sweeper," demonstrate a natural organization and trail of logic, following a path very similar to that of unfettered human thought. The tone behind this organization, seen clearly in Blake's lists, however, is drastically different between the two poems. The 1789 poem structures lists in an expected manner - point one, point two, and point three - which is very similar to the type of speech used when speaking to other people, people like "Dick,  Joe, Ned, and Jack," (11). The expected, calculated speech reinforces Blake's notion that the boy's are disillusioned in thinking that "if all do their duty, they need not fear harm." (24) The 1794, in contrast, is less measured and more emotionally driven. In describing the parents' false sense of reassurance, the boys cries, "[they] are gone to praise God & his Priest & King," (11) Blake's use of polysyndeton at this point in the poem illustrates the boy's bitter frustration about his parents' own disillusioned thoughts of innocence. The transition from the 1789 poem to the 1794 poem clearly marks a growth in the boys thinking, an evolution from innocence into understanding.

The binary opposition between the colors black and white is present in both of Blake's poems, but their connotations are vastly different. In the 1789 poem, the color white is clearly symbolic of hope, rebirth, and cleanliness; the words "naked and white," are the two most pertinent examples of this notion (17). The Angel is described as being a "bright," figure who comes to tell the chimney sweeps of all there is that lies for them beyond the pains and labors that they face in the "dark" world they live in (13). This is a clear slight towards truth, however, the honest realization that the boy comes to is not quite as bright. Blake's 1794 poem contrasts the white of the cold, winter snow with the the chimney sweep, a "little black thing," dressed in the garments of death (1). Although pure and fair in contrast to the suit-stained sweep, this bright snow does not yield the joyous, enlightening truth that the first poem seemed to promise; the blinding white of the snow is more reminiscent of "a heaven of [the sweeps'] misery." (12) The boy, here, is implicating God in his suffering, tainting the purity and promise that the color white carried in Blake's 1789 poem. When the sweep was young, too young to even speak his own trade, "'weep! 'weep," he saw the world through suit-stained rose colored glasses (3); the transition, then, into the 1794 poem clearly delineates his stark realization that he has lost his faith.

In the 1789 and 1794 poems "The Chimney Sweeper," a young sweep, disillusioned by the thought that work will equate to safety, "Arbeit macht Frei," serves as a mouthpiece through which author William Blake demonstrates his bitterly resentful attitude towards the decrepit situation for young chimney sweepers in the 18th century. Blake's contrasting somber and bitter tones between the two poems illustrate the boy's transition from vain hopefulness to resignative animosity.  

Blog Post #10: Mythology Presentation

Blog Post #9: A witch? Which witch? Fairy Tales and Poetry Presentation

Blog Post #8: Ode on a Grecian Urn (John Keats)

Poetry Project Reflection: Ode on a Grecian Urn, by John Keats In our first full project as a group (the Falling Leaves), we created a performance music video to better understand the inherent nuances in classic forms of poetry. In these videos, we made choices regarding the visual elements, music, and reading of the poem the we felt best reflected our interpretation of the shifts and purpose of the form. After beginning research on the ode form, we quickly found that this project was not as simple as putting a dramatic reading of the poem to some music. While the Ode itself dates back to ancient Greece, John Keats used a modified version heavily inspired by sonnet-form to maintain the appreciation of a single object or idea while adding his own stylistic touches to the actual writing of the piece. Similar to "Yellow," by Coldplay, our style inspiration for this project, Keats speaks directly to the object, the urn, about which he speaks. His use of apostrophe is a defining characteristic of this ode and when Keats finishes speaking to the urn in the last two lines, the inanimate object to which Keats was chatting metaphorically speaks, leaving the reader with two of the most widely debated lines between scholars of poetry. While it was difficult to fully understand the ambiguous nature of these lines and other parts of the poem, by pushing ourselves to develop our own understanding, meaning, and interpretation of the poem before looking for outside resources, Alex, Alex, Dan, and I forced ourselves to make bolder conclusions in our analysis and interpretation of the text. While this was frustrating at first for some of us, taking a step back allowed us to focus less on what the "correct" answer is and more on what "an" answer is. Upon later cross-examination, we found that the meanings we found in Keats' writing lined up well with those devised by experts in the field. What we relied on mostly for this conclusion were the tone shifts (specifically the Strophe, Anti-strope, and epode in an ode), the literary devices used, and historical context surrounding Keats' writing of the poem. We dissected and looked-over these elements very closely, but by working in a group, we were all able to add little bits of the poem's meaning to the incomplete puzzle that we are all able to make on our own. I was also surprised in my group's ability synthesis these smaller elements and stay organized in the process; Maybe it was the 12 google docs, but given the time restrictions we all had over the course of this project, I think we handled such an involved task well. Specifically, we didn't have time to film either in class or outside of school, but we were able to all record our respective parts in a certain space in our homes. This actually fit well with our stylistic choices, as we were going to have the listener, "the urn" follow around various speakers through the poem. I know that by the next project, I want to have everything finished about one day sooner to give use time to run through the presentation and make sure it is coherent, clear, and clever.

Blog Post #7: Group Identity

Blog Post #6: Creative Project

Blog Post #5: The Namesake Compare and Contrast Essay

The Namesake Compare and Contrast Essay

In the novel and the film adaptation of The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, both Lahiri and Mira Nair connote cultural dissonance between the the parent-culture and the youth-culture of children of immigrants. Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli, two Indian immigrants, give birth to their son Gogol in the United States, who consequently feels the burden of having to uphold both the expectations of American culture and of Bengali culture. Especially in his rebellious teenage years, Gogol grows to resent the values his parents’ culture expects him to uphold, specifically regarding respect towards elders and towards tradition. Gogol struggle to find a balance in his dual-heritage, but, as Lahiri suggests, he doesn’t fully understand identity until he undergoes personal growth in his acceptance of the inevitable coexistence of his American and his Bengali Heritage. Both versions of the Gangulis’ story outline Gogol’s  retaliation against the Bengali part of his identity and recreate the persistent tension Gogol feels between attitudes towards elders in American life and in Bengali culture.

    It is clear that Bengali culture is deeply rooted in tradition. Far more-so than the American culture that Gogol grew accustomed to in school, Bengalis are expected to carry out and uphold the values of those who came before them; this expectation instills a sense of respect for elders in their cultural community, especially for family members. This respect is evident in many part of Bengali culture, but most relevantly, in family naming rights; after giving birth to Gogol, Ashima and Ashoke do not have a name picked out for him, that decision is saved for Ashima’s grandmother, their son’s great grandmother. By giving the power in naming their child to an elder in their family, the Gangulis would be immediately linking their child to the traditions of the Bengalis who are most experienced in life, honoring the respect they feel for these family members. When the letter from Calcutta does not arrive because of Ashima’s grandmother’s decaying health, it is clear that Ashoke is pained to pick a name for their child - to dishonor the values that they have held so closely their whole lives. Ashoke and Ashima clearly find it difficult to be so separated from the source of their culture, which influences them to hold onto the values that are within their control much tighter.

    This compensation is clear on Gogol’s fourteenth birthday in Lahiri’s novel. On this day of celebration, “close to forty guests come from three different states,” to gather at his parents modestly-sized Pemberton Road house; none of these guests, however, are his friends from school (72). In comparing this celebration, the Bengali one, to the “tame” affair with his friends the day before, Lahiri parallels the two events. While the ‘American’ birthday party is paired with “pizzas that [Ashoke] picked up on his way home from work,” she details the food Ashima prepared days in advance for the Bengali celebration using three lines describing Gogol’s ‘favorite’ traditional dishes (72). Lahiri’s listing of the Bengali food prepared for the party is marked with a disinterested tone. The use of a list to describe the foods that, once again, Ashima is preparing “as usual,” parallels the disdain Gogol feels for the Bengali celebration (72). As a fourteen year-old boy, Gogol isn’t interested in reminiscing about Calcutta and life before America, a life he hasn’t been exposed to, let alone anything his parents want of him. In keeping with the typical American-teenage attitude, Gogol is resistant to participate in what he feels is yet another excuse for his parents to bring Bengali culture back into their home and entertain “their crowd,” not his crowd (73). Lahiri’s use of synecdoche here marks the generalizations Gogol makes about Bengali culture; all he had ever known of Bengalis was his parents “crowd,” so he associates all of their actions with other Indian-immigrant parents in the United States. The uniformity of their parties, their beliefs, and their actions bored Gogol, further settling in his resentment of Bengali culture.

    The direction of the film further explores the children’s resistance to the importance of respect toward elders in Bengali culture. Nair films the scene in the Gangulis’ warmly-lit, small living room; positioning only one or two characters within the narrow frame at a time, she creates an intimate feeling, as if each audience is another guest at Ashoke’s and Ashima’s home. While in American culture parties are valued for their activities - watching baseball games, playing pool in the den - Nair’s direction of this Bengali gathering makes it clear that the people in the room are what matter, the true value lying in spending time with one another. In the scene, however,  Gogol’s, Sonia’s, and Moushumi’s body language interrupts the intimacy Nair creates in her bosom positioning of characters within the frame. Dressed in a dark-purple American dress, Sonia walks into the frame as the scene opens and looks up at Gogol as he walks in with a roll of her eyes. As Gogol walks in with a messily-fitted blue button down and long, shaggy hair, it is clear that neither of the Ganguli children have any interest in reciprocating that excitement their older ‘family members’ have in spending time with other Bengalis. After asking where he was going to study at university, Gogol’s Mashi suggests, “have as much fun as you want, but remember…” Without a moment of hesitation, as if he had heard this same piece of advice hundreds of times before Gogol, with a smile and a roll of his eyes, speaks over her, “marry a Bengali.” Gogol’s parents and his parents’ friends expect their children to marry other Bengali children and carry on the values and traditions of their culture; their children, however, have different plans. Kal Penn, the actor who portrayed Gogol, repeats this command alongside his Mashi in a mocking way. As an American teenager, marriage isn’t really a concern for Gogol, but it is very important in their culture that Bengali children be able to carry on the traditions that were established hundreds of years before them. Although he may not be immediately concerned with the notion of marriage, his patronization of his elders’ beliefs shows a deep disrespect that is not characteristic of a Bengali - something that would be more expected of a typical American teenager.

    The Namesake is an examination of the nuances of life between two distinct cultures and how identity can be found by accepting and understanding both cultures. This bildungsroman follows Gogol Ganguli as he works his way towards becoming a “master of both worlds,” a master of American and Bengali culture. The central opposition to this path of mastery, or self-acceptance, is the contrasting values between the two cultures, specifically the attitude towards elders. Although Lahiri relies on listing and synecdoche to reinforce the dissonance in this value and Nair utilizes the positioning of objects within the frame and body language, both creative works depict Gogol in a state before accepting and understanding both of his cultures, a state before he truly understood who he was.

Works Cited

Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. 72-73. Print.

The Namesake. Dir. Mira Nair. Prod. Mira Nair and Lydia Dean Pilcher. By Sooni Taraporevala.

Perf. Kal Penn, Tabu, and Irrfan Khan. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2007.

Blog Post #4: Open Essay and Reflection

The presence of cruelty doesn't always involve an aggressor and a victim; an inevitable part of the human experience, cruelty is a scar left on many characters in literature. In Ali Smith's How to be Both, Francesca, an Italian-Renaissance painter, finds her true sexual and emotional identity as a victim of personal conflict.

As a young girl, Francesca demonstrated a passion for the arts, specifically painting. Although her family had no money to support her passions, Francesca's mother supported her with all her heart. After her mother's death, Francesca grew to be comforted by femininity, a gentle reminder of her mother's presence. These two parts of Francesca's life, however, could not coexist. Italy in the 16th century was not an easy place for women to find work as a painter, in fact, it was unheard of. This meant that Francesca had to pick between the two most meaningful aspects of her identity. In tearing apart two such valuable parts of herself, it would have been impossible for Francesca to reinvent herself without compromising her integrity. This reformation from Francesca into Francesco, her 'male' ipseity, left seeds of regret and self-loathing that would fester in Francesco's mind for the next thirty years.

Francesco did all he could to keep his physical identity a secret. Not only was his reputation as a fresco-painter on the line, but he had committed herself to a completely new life - to be exposed as a woman would be to admit that the past ten years of his life were a complete and utter lie. Francesco frequents a nearby brothel to use prostitutes as live models for his artwork, but it isn't long before the nature of his visits changes; within months, several of the prostitutes have learned of his "missing manhood," and have grown to seek out the gentler touch of a woman. With the scar still tender after stitching her identity back together, this sexual revelation only drove Francesco into a state of greater self-loathing. Was he supposed to love women? Was she supposed to love men? Was she capable of loving either? Torn by these questions daily, Francesco repressed this part of his life, only making the cruel torment in her head grow stronger and louder.

After establishing a career as a painter and finding moderate success, Francesco still struggled to find sexual and emotional harmony within herself. He painted himself into a mural of St. Vincent Ferrer, and upon revisiting the image, he sees a boy looking up at the eyes of his self-portrait. These eyes force Francesco to look back on his life, to look back on the young girl he once was who yearned to dance around in dresses. All the hatred he she had for himself, the years of self-oppression, had finally been resolved. The honesty Francesco found within the eyes of his own painting drove him to question the true value of gender. Her years of rumination and emotional cruelty towards himself had finally come to reason. Although she never answered the very questions that pained her for a majority of life, she found an answer to a question she never thought to ask himself: how to be both. 

In How to be Both, Francesca uses cruelty as a means of reflection, a way to finally end the bickering between the two versions of herself living within him.
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The presence of cruelty dresses in many robes. As an inevitable part of the human experience, cruelty is often a scar left on many characters in literature. I Ali Smith's How to be Both, Francesca, an Italian-Renaissance painter, finds her true sexual and emotional identity as a victim of social conflict.

As a young girl, Francesca demonstrated a passion for the arts, specifically painting. Although her family had no money to support her passions, Francesca's mother supported her with all her heart. After her mother died, Francesca's farther made the hardest decision of his life: transforming Francesca into Francesco. Italy in the 16th century was not an easy place for women to find work as a painter, in fact, it was unheard of. After years of cutting her hair short and wearing trousers and loose linens, Francesco passed as any normal, young, girlish boy. As a child, this reinvention had little effect on her, but as Francesco hit his late teens, the demands of his lifestyle grew unbearable.

"Freak," "prim," "homosexual." Francesco met many challenges trying to make friends, but a culture so set in gender roles was not accepting of androgynous he. The stones thrown by silly boys and names yelled by conservative community-members did not bother Francesco, rather, it was his sexual revelations that drove him to the edge of her sanity. This instance of cruelty was not one of society or of his father, it was cruelty within' her own mind, her own heart. Was he supposed to love women? Was she supposed to love men? Was she capable of loving either? Torn by these questions daily, Francesco repressed this part of his life, only making the cruel torment in his head grow stronger and louder.

Francesco worked for the wealthy, spending hours one end painting, re-painting, then re-painting again, murals and frescoes all across southern Italy. This time spent alone painting allowed Francesco to further torment himself, endlessly questioning who he was. After painting for hours on end without questioning what his brush was detailing, Francesco had painted himself into the mural. Standing up and looking at the two bright eyes before him, she knew. She knew who she was. In the eyes, she saw Francesco and Francesca. She saw her true identity - an end to the cruelty she was forcing upon himself.  

In How to be Both, Francesca uses cruelty as a means of reflection, a way to finally end the bickering between the two versions of herself living within him.
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Open Passage Reflection:

In this essay, I responded to the 2015 AP Literature and Composition Open Essay Prompt. This prompt was different than the Poetry Prompt and Prose Prompt in that it did not provide a passage or specific text to use in the essay, it was just as it is named: open. This meant that we could chose any of the novels listed below the prompt or any work of equal literary merit. I chose to write about How to be Both by Ali Smith, one of the books I read for AP Literature over the summer. I initially wanted to analyze cruelty in The Crucible, which would have worked out much better for me than Smith's novel. In my essay I analyzed the cruelty Francesca put upon herself and its significance in her path to self-discovery. Although this is a theme in the book and Francesca does force cruel judgment upon herself, the nature of cruelty in this work is not necessarily in keeping with the prompt. The 2015 AP Prompt asks about the significance of cruelty in the book as a whole, and Smith's novel is divided into two parts, each with two very different stories. In both works, cruelty is not a prevalent theme and connects very little between the two halves. In the moment, I thought that I would be able to make the book fit the prompt, but that completely disregards the value of the prompt - the goal here should be to find a novel that fits the prompt and can be used more effectively to craft an argument that is specific and relevant to the question. My essay contained a lot of summary as a result of my poor book-choice, which immediately drew it down to a five. I struggled to find relevant and concrete examples to draw from the text that related back to the prompts discussion of the function of cruelty as a motivation or a major social or political factor. In fact, I failed to even discuss the social or political value of cruelty, which weakened my already limp analysis, pulling my essay even further down to a four. Although a four is what my essay deserved, I still think that there are elements of the writing that I can be proud of; I feel that my artistic selection of pronouns was definitely reminiscent of higher-level thinking and writing, but as it wasn't in keeping with the lens of the prompt, it was all for none. In future Open Essays, I want to take more time selecting a text and pre-writing to ensure I have appropriate material to provide a sufficient response to the prompt. More specifically, I want to bring my essay score up to a seven within the next month. Although this is three point higher in a much smaller time-frame than my previous goals, I know that this essay was not a strong reflection of my writing ability, even as a novice to the Open Prompt. 
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Responding to Ainsley White's Open Essay:
(http://whiteainsleyapenglish2015.blogspot.com)

Ainsley responded to the 2015 AP English Literature Open Prompt by discussing Lord of the Flies. Unfortunately, she forgot the author of the novel (William Golding), which could be a significant drawback on the AP Exam; any AP reader could easily argue that if a student can't remember the author of a literary work, they can hardly be capable of providing a thorough and significant analysis of the work that is much more than just plot summary. In my personal opinion, Ainsley was still able to provide a few pieces of apt reference to the text that included specific and accurate evidence, which restored some of the ethos that was lost in the very beginning. Although there were a few pieces of specific, supporting evidence, Ainsley's essay relied heavily upon plot summary to support her thesis. This immediately pulls her essay down to a five, even without taking any other factors into consideration. Her third paragraph was pretty bulky, and she could have easily made the information here more concise. Though there is this room for improvement, with the essay as it sits, the chunky and unstructured paragraph is an organization distraction and disrupts the essay's flow of logic. Ainsley's essay falls somewhere in the three to four range, but I feel that her essay is far from demonstrating inept writing, and there weren't necessarily any errors with misreading, so a four would be a more appropriate score. Once Ainsley sets a few measurable goals, she will be on the right track to take another swing at the Open Essay. One goal I might suggest she set is to find five novels that she is comfortable writing about. Building a bank of knowledge regarding these texts, including Themes, Characters, Motifs, and Author Names, would help her to establish more credibility in her writing. Overall, this essay may not have scored very high on the one-to-nine scale, but there is a lot Ainsley can take from just having the opportunity to write an Open Essay, something she is totally new to - something we all are totally new to.

Blog Post #3: Prose Passage Essay and Reflection

In literature, indirect characterization can express an unbelievably wide array of information while using very few words. In Louise Erdrich's The Beet Queen, the distinct contrast in tone, selection of detail, and imagery clearly depicts the impact of Eastern North Dakota on the two siblings. 

After aborting the rail-car they hitched a ride on, Mary and Karl find themselves lost in the town of Argus. As Mary "trudged froward," Karl was stopped by the scent of a blossoming tree. Without taking notice as a dog starts barking at him or as a woman starts to yell, Karl is entranced by the beautiful scent of the blossoms. The stock-still tone Erdrich uses to describe Karl's fascination is a sharp contrast to the agitated tone used to describe Mary. As she shouts for her brother, Mary is "frightened" by his behavior and is worried both by his distraction and by  the unfamiliar street lined with "weathered grey houses." This tone contrast suggests that, while the vast unknown of Argus was frightening to Mary, it was far more intriguing for Karl.

Karl's fascination is not limited to the single tree. Erdrich reinforces this notion by chosing to add the while Mary ran back towards their Aunt's house in the east, "Karl ran back to the box-car and the train." Karl saw the blossom as an opportunity, as an example of all the wonderful and new unknowns existing out in the world - even beyond Minnesota and North Dakota. Erdrich also chose to explain that Mary ran to the East, to her Aunt's house, a very different approach than Karl. While he ran towards adventure and new opportunities, she retired to a place she already knew, a place where she was comfortable. The unknown world that Karl longed for was the very idea that Mary ran away from.

After introducing Mary, Erdrich describes that "there was only more bare horizon for her to see." For Mary, this horizon was exactly that - bare. Erdrich's selection of detail further solidifies the contrast between the environment's impact on the two children. Mary's attention is caught by the bare horizon and Karl is stopped by the "delicate perfume" of flower blossoms. The imagery used in describing Mary's experience is far more hopeless than the appreciative and vivid imagery used to describe Karl's.
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Prose Passage Essay Reflection:

As our first exposure to the AP Literature Prose Passage Prompt, we were given the 2015 Prose Passage. An excerpt from Louise Erdrich's The Beet Queen, the 1986 passage is set in eastern North Dakota during the Great Depression. The prompt asked us to "analyze how Erdric depicts the impact of the environment on the two children. [we] may want to consider such literary devices as tone, imagery, selection of detail, and point of view." The passage follows two siblings, Mary and Karl Adare, as they hop off of a box-car and stroll through the town of Argus, North Dakota. I approached this essay as if it were an analysis essay in AP Composition and Language. The prompt was similar enough to an analysis prompt to help me in understanding how to approach this first essay, but after finishing the essay and Norming the AP Prose Rubric, there are quite a few distinct aspects to the AP Lit Prose Passage. Successful essays should "make a strong case for the interpretation of the impact of the environment on the two children." In my essay, I did not consistently hit on the exact impact of the environment, and dug more into the characterization of Mary and Karl. Although, when writing the essay, I tied these two elements together indirectly, it was not as clear and specific as a more persuasive analysis. In fact, I opened my essay by pointing out the value of indirect characterization, which slightly distracted the essay from the central theme of the prompt: the environment's impact on the children. Although this does deviate slightly from the prompt, I tied the nature of this information back into the environment's impact in my thesis, which allowed the essay to sustain a reasonable analysis and convey a sustained, competent reading of the passage. My analysis of the contrasts between the environment's impact on Mary and Karl were superficial in the beginning, but more nuances and complexities were pulled out in my third and fourth paragraphs. For these reasons, I feel like my essay deserved a six or a seven; a six would likely be the most appropriate score as my command of effective composition left much to be desired. Again, although this score is not ideal, I think it is a fine place to build off of for the rest of the year; with this in mind, I don't think I am far from scoring a solid seven on the Prose Prompt, and at that point, I want to pull my essay score up one point every six points. This goal would allow me to consistently score upper-level essays (eight and nine) by winter. Prose analysis is one of my strengths, and I know that after this initial exposure, there is a lot of room for improvement, and many paths to achieving that.
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Responding to Alex Chung's Prose Essay and Reflection:
(chungalexanderenglishliterature2015.blogspot.com)

Before I even begin to discuss Alex's Prose Essay, I have to point out how much I appreciate his blog title. Up until a few days ago, his blog was headed by "AP English Lit," but now, in bold letters, the top of his blog reads: "An INCREDIBLY AMAZING TITLE that shall BEDAZZLE the CASUAL READER through CLEVER use of WORDPLAY." I have seen many blog titles for this class, but I have to say that his use of the word "BEDAZZLE" really made his new title something 'incredibly amazing'. Titles aside, Alex wrote an essay and reflection in response to the 2015 Prose Passage. An excerpt from Louise Erdrich's The Beet Queen, the prompt asked us to "analyze how Erdric depicts the impact of the environment on the two children. [we] may want to consider such literary devices as tone, imagery, selection of detail, and point of view." The passage follows two siblings, Mary and Karl Adare, as they hop off of a box-car and stroll through the town of Argus, North Dakota. Alex analysed the impact of the environment on these children by discussing Erdrich's neutral tone, use of third person omniscient, vivid imagery, and selection of detail. His essay starts very similarly to mine, describing the significance of characterization of literature. Although this is also how I chose to start my essay, I pointed out in my reflection that it "slightly distracted the essay from the central theme of the prompt: the environment's impact on the children." His discussion of characterization wouldn't necessarily pull down his score, as it is very closely related to the main theme of the prompt, however, it could very easily be the one part of his essay that could hold him back from receiving a higher score. Alex's essay does tend to be quite repetitive, but only when trying to reinforce a point, which is why I think it wouldn't count against him. The AP graders look at the essays as rough drafts, and as long as he is making those points and making them clear, a little repetition shouldn't hurt him. A little. In his reflection, Alex pointed out that his use of "literary realism" in his essay was off-topic, and I completely agree with his point. By removing this point, Alex could have given himself more time to go into a more thorough and relevant discussion about Erdrich's tone. Taking this into account alongside his lack of more specific and apt textual references, I agree with him that this essay would likely score a five. Although his points were not necessarily superficial, their strength was marred by weak textual support. At the end of his reflection, Alex noted that he "think[s] [he] can improve by annotating the essay, using more textual evidence, and studying more about the types of prompts." Though these goals can be qualified, I think that even more thorough and specific goals would be beneficial in his reflection. It may sound like a cliche, but sometimes goals that include numbers are the easiest to work with, because there is an established and clear way of determining if they have been met and to what degree. Although this was a lower-scoring essay for Alex, I think it was a great first Prose Essay and at this point there is a lot of room for Alex to fine-tune his approach to the essay, which he feels will improve his final product. 

  

Blog Post #2: Poetry Passage Essay and Reflection

Poetry Essay Revisions:

In "For That He Looked Not upon Her," George Gascoigne confesses the fragility of his heart to his lover. Gascoigne's relation to both a mouse and a fly injured by trap is in direct comparison to his own injured state of regret. Defending his "louring head," Gascoigne uses passive diction and increasingly bitter imagery to explain his defeated reaction. 

Gascoigne established his passive tone in the first quatrain of his English sonnet. In discussing "the gleams on which [her] face do grow," he recognizes the persistent beauty in his lover's eyes - a beauty he can't bring himself to deny. Gascoigne does, however, demand that his "eyes take no delight" to look upon hers creating a distance between himself and his bitter memories. Although he still finds her beautiful, he knows of the temptation that lay behind her enticing "gleams," and he knows of the consequences for falling victim to to this temptation. Gascoigne's passivity is used as a defense against these temptations in the first quatrain, but that does not mean that he doesn't recognize his own guilt.

The next four lines of the sonnet mark a shift from Gascoigne's passive tone in the first quatrain to a more self-pitiful tone. In comparing himself to a "mouse which once hath broken out of trap," he says far more about himself than about "her," the trap which he had finally escaped. Gascoigne's decision to metaphorically assimilate with the mouse, a feeble creature, suggests that his indisposition is not solely a result of her trap; he had always been fragile, but "she" further damaged the integrity of his heart. For having fallen into her trap and letting her chip off a part of him that is already so thin, Gascoigne knows that he can only allow himself to be hurt so much more before he breaks like the neck of a mouse under a rat trap.  

This building disgruntled tone further progresses into a more bitter tone in the third quatrain of Gascoigne's sonnet. This shift explores the active side of Gascoigne's voice, where he more directly compares himself to another creature singed by trap. After suggesting that a "scorched fly.. will hardly come again to play with fire," he uses the "I" pronoun to explain that he has "learn[ed] that grievous is the game." This ending to the third quatrain is in sharp contrast to the opening of Gascoigne's poem both with respect to its lack of passivity and vengeful imagery of the raging, scorching flames.

Although his bitter attitude was clear in the previous lines, Gascoigne resorts back to passivity in the couplet. In an attempt to push action off of himself, he finished the sonnet by reasoning that "[her] blazing eyes [his] bale has bred." In holding down his head, Gascoigne deepens the nature of his passivity, though, now with more a sense of defeat. Like a mouse or a scorched fly, Gascoigne is too weak, too fragile, to return to the very person that hurts him the most. Like a shard of broken glass, Gascoigne is fragile, injured by an unwanted force. His second and third quatrain reveal that, though fragile, he still has a sharp edge capable of harboring anger and his bitter tone.
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Poetry Essay Revision Refection:

After writing and reflecting on our first AP English Literature poetry essay, we rewrote our essay in response to George Gascoigne's "For That He Looked Not upon Her."  In the prompt we were asked to analyze how the "complex attitude of the speaker is developed through such devices as form, diction, and imagery." The poem, written in 1573, was Gascoigne's explanation as to why he could never again look into the eyes of a certain woman. Upon further analysis of the form of the poem - a sonnet - I was able to note far more of the complexities in the poem. Looking at the tone shifts from quatrain to quatrain, I was able to trace the emotional state and attitude of Gascoigne, shifting from a passive tone, to self-pity, to bitterness, then a resort back to passivity. The beginning and ending on a more passive tone reinforces the idea of fragility that I established in my new 'three sentence thesis'. This new thesis made it much easier to get to the point of the essay sooner on, while still addressing a unique take on the complexities of the prompt. Although I definitely see a lot of improvement from my first essay to the revision, I still feel there is more room to delve deeper into this idea of "fragility." In the revised essay, I focused on the structural elements of the sonnet, the tone shifts, and the imagery/metaphors used by Gascoigne; this approach helped me to better understand what a working, effective poetry essay feels like to write, but again, my focus was a little limiting. To further improve, I could try to, as I said, dig deeper into the overall relevance of the complexities that we are digging out using the new techniques we worked with in class. I would give my new poetry essay a score of seven. This was definitely a better essay, but I don't feel that the level of analysis was quite strong enough to bring the essay up to an eight. Within the next few poetry essays, I want to be comfortable enough in my writing to be able to feel more solid in the 'upper-level essay' range.  
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Sixteenth-century poet George Gascoigne was a victim of love. Though it seems a far simpler time, the 1570's were not unlike the 2010's with regards to matters of the heart. In his poem For that He Looked Not upon Her, Gascoigne speaks directly to "Her" and distances himself from "He," a version of himself that is so mangled he is afraid repair it. Gascoigne develops a complex attitude, balancing somewhere between lust and fear, towards "Her" as he explains why it is that he can never again look into her eyes.

This fear that Gascoigne feels is more primal than the feelings of love he once had; before he, "[a] muse which once hath broken out of trap," had escaped her embrace, he would have felt emotion far less natural - as if he were flying. But as thing that go up must come down, he, like "The scorched fly," came to terms with the true nature of being up in the air. By comparing himself to animals in peril, Gascoigne expresses the true visceral nature of the emotions he felt after his escaping her gaze: fear, anxiety, pain. Like the "mouse which once hath broken out of trap," or "The scorched fly which once hath 'scaped the flame," this injured man has learned to avoid at all cost the one thing that has hurt him more than anything else: love. 

Gascoigne is drawn to love, to his love, and like a mouse drawn to cheese on a trap or a fly drawn to light from a fire in the dark, "[She]" calls to him like a wolf in the night. He knows that a mouse must stop smelling the cheese to disregard its presence and a fly  must turn away from the flame to avoid its enticing glow; his desire is riled by the "dazzle" of her eyes.

What is the significance of her eyes? Something more sincere than a promise, something more tender than a feather, Gascoigne sees her eyes as the gleaming epitome of his deceit. Like bait on a trap, her eyes were the one part of her that he always knew he could trust, the one part of her that would never lie to him. The trap snaps shut. He was mistaken.
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Poetry Essay Reflection:

In the 2014 College Board poetry prompt, we read George Gascoigne's poem For That He Looked Not upon Her and were asked to analyze how the "complex attitude of the speaker is developed through such devices as form, diction, and imagery." The poem, written in 1573, was Gascoigne's explanation as to why he could never again look into the eyes of a certain woman. Heart-broken and distraught, he used melancholy imagery and paralleled himself to other animals who have felt, and learned to avoid at all costs, the sting of a trap. The three benchmark essays we read - 1A, 1B, and 1C - each took an interesting approach at responding to the prompt. Both essays 1B and 1C failed to respond with the complexity and depth of analysis that the prompt called for, but 1C fell even further behind by misinterpreting the mouse and fly metaphors above and by failing to adequately use the information in the text to craft its already poorly structured argument. Essay 1A, however, engages in a more comprehensive discussion of the poem, hitting on the very complexities and nuances that were missed by essays 1B and 1C. The capturing of these essential aspects of Gascoigne's message are what set apart essay 1A as an upper-level essay; if the writer of 1A wanted to bring his or her 8 to a 9, a stronger command of language and a more sophisticated explanation of analysis could be the very elements to kick an already strong 8-essay into the 9 pile. The essay above, that I wrote in response to the Gascoigne prompt, would definitely have fallen in with the mid-to-lower level essays. My essay directly and appropriately responded to the prompt, but did so with fumbled and awkward presentation. Although there were no blatant misinterpretations in my analysis, the essay was poorly organized, which distracted from the direct and effective interaction with the text. The organizational issues and the weak trail of logic really pull down the quality of the essay, but the strength of my analysis, albeit brief because of time constraints, bring the essay up to a mid-level range. My essay would likely have scored a 5, which is far better than "off-topic or inadequate," but is far from where I want to be when the AP exam get closer. My first goal is to take my poetry essay scores from a 5 and into the "upper-half" range (6,7,8, or 9); more specifically, I want to bring my essay score up at lest one point every two months so I can write essays that consistently  score either an eight or a nine. I have always found that analyzing and interpreting poetry has been one of my strengths, and with the knowledge of what sets a strong poetry essay apart from the large pool of mid-level essays, I think that I am in a good place to begin presenting strong and apt analysis in a clear and organized essay.
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Responding to Alex Chung's Poetry Essay and Reflection:
(chungalexanderenglishliterature2015.blogspot.com)

In his poetry essay, Alex responds to the prompt directly and efficiently. He wastes no time getting to the core of Gascoigne's dilemma: heartbreak. He comments on the three points, form, diction, and imagery, in his thesis; this accomplishes exactly what the prompt suggests, but at the same time, the prompt is merely that, a suggestion. "Such devices as..." leads the writer in the right direction, but doesn't have to be so strictly followed. Going beyond the obvious devices, like he did with his analysis of the balance between first and second person, would allow for a more nuanced and complex analysis of the piece. Alex's interaction with the text is both apt and specific, drawing clear references to the text. The analysis, however, leaves something to be desired, as the thorough and relevant quotes and textual evidence are limited impact because of the lack of much analysis. In his first body paragraph, Alex uses six sentences of 'summary' and only two sentences of convincing analysis. Although this analysis was clear and perceptive, it comes across as an after-thought to the references to the text. To improve the surface value of this analysis, Alex could cut out some of the summary and further develop his argument in the classification of the textual evidence. Alex had a very fair reflection of his essay, but I think that a 6 would be a more appropriate score because of the lack of developed and concrete, original analysis. To pull the score up, he could try to go beyond an explanation of what the evidence he pulls "does" and tie it into the prompt; how does it develop the complex attitude of the speaker. In his reflection, Alex hit the nail in the head by pointing out the better time-management could help him to improve the weak-links in his analysis; a stronger reflection, however, would have more measurable goals. The instructions for the reflection said to "provide specific, measurable goals for improvement," and this is something that wasn't really present in Alex's reflection. This was a great first poetry essay, and if Alex establishes some more specific, measurable goals, he will be in a great place to climb up even higher into the 'upper-level' essays. 
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Responding to Ashley Kramer's Poetry Essay and Reflection:
(kramerashleyaplit2015.blogspot.com)

Ashley's essay has a great start; her thesis statement responds appropriately to the prompt without sounding redundant or immature as many 'restate-the-question' thesis statements do. By directly addressing the speaker's "complex attitude" from the start, Ashley set herself up well to write in line with the prompt, a task that can be far more difficult than it appears. Unfortunately, in describing the author's use of imagery, she does make minor misinterpretations of the fly and mouse metaphors. The author had not intentions of implying he himself was small or insignificant, rather that he was vulnerable and injured just like the two creatures. I think that a 5 is a completely appropriate score given time constraints and our lack of familiarity with poetic analysis. To continue the promising start in the thesis statement, she should discuss the sonnet form and iambic pentameter the poem is written in. These features, as much as any other device, are essential aspects of the poems form and organization, which can reveal a lot about an authors analysis. On top of this, Ashley could have used more textually significant evidence to support the already strong ideas that she is putting forth. And as a final suggestion, Ashley's essay came across as a bit informal, so to make the writing more persuasive and to further bolster her ethos, she could remove some of the more colloquial words and contractions that frequent her writing and supplement them with more higher-level, scholarly diction that reflects the true level of analysis required to show mastery and understanding of the prompt and of the text. As it was for many students, time was obviously a constraint for Ashley, but with more time, I am confident that she would be able to refine her textual evidence and analysis to bring her essay from a 5 to a 6 or even a 7. Taking into account that this was the first poetry essay we've written in AP Lit, I think Ashley did a good job at tackling the Gascoigne prompt. 

Blog Post #1: Multiple Choice Reflection

The AP English Literature and Composition multiple-choice test, section one of the AP exam, is broken into multiple passages, each followed by 10-15 multiple-choice-style questions. To understand what this test looks like in application, my AP Literature and Composition class completed two passages out of the Practice Exam 2 Multiple Choice in Rankin's and Murphy's 5 Steps to a 5. The two passages included a poetry passage, a soliloquy from Shakespeare's King Richard II, and a non-fiction passage, The Solitude of Self by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Having the opportunity to take this practice exam gave me the freedom to make all the observations and comparisons I wanted. First and foremost, in putting this exam up against the AP English Language and Composition multiple-choice tests I am used to taking, I realized that the value in the passages lies more in the overall message of the piece than in the smaller details. This doesn't, however, mean that the stylistic choices and rhetorical devices aren't important; this means that more understanding can be gained by looking at the small details through the lens of the passage's message, rather than collect devices and details to build up to a message. Having noticed this I can see that the AP Literature multiple-choice passages, especially the non-fiction passage, should be approached more deductively than an AP Language and Composition multiple-choice. I have yet to fully implement this idea in my approach to the test, as three out of the four questions that I missed - out of the questions I /actually/ had time to finish - were focused more towards the general ideas presented in both of the passages, rather than the fine details and devices. This understanding will allow me to work far more efficiently on future multiple-choice exams; I ran out of time with five questions left to answer - I went into the test with no strategy for time management. In doing this, I spent far too long looking for devices and details that wound up being completely irrelevant to the valuable information available in the text. I am more comfortable working from the general message of a piece into the details, and because of that, I think it is a reasonable next step for me to approach future exams through deductive means. Ultimately, I did not do as well as I wanted to on this practice multiple-choice test, but there is an opportunity to take something from everything; the quantity of information found in a text is worth a fraction of the quality of information found in a text - this is especially true on the AP English Literature and Composition multiple-choice test.