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.