1. A SEMINAR ON THE AP ESSAY How to write a solid essay

2. Does your essay answer these questions? (warm-up) 1) what is the meaning of the work? A. What is the literal, superficial meaning of the work B. What feeling (or feelings) does the work evoke? 2) How does the author get the meaning across? A. What are the important images in the work and what do those images suggest? B. What specific words or short phrases produce the strongest feelings? C. What elements are in opposition?

3. A Deeper Meaning The superficial understanding of the passage will not have enough substance to write a whole essay on. To develop a full understanding ask yourself these two questions: 1) What is the basic meaning of the passage? 2) what emotions are involved both for the characters in the story and for you, the reader? Does the meaning you put in your rough draft answer these questions?

4. The Parts After you have identified the meaning of the passage you must fold in the specific literary elements the question asks you to analyze. For this specific question you need to identify: Find a line that represents each device Diction Imagery Point of view

5. Synthesize You have the basic meaning down and you have the parts that influence that meaning. Now you have to put it all together in an introductory paragraph. Make sure when combining all the information to structure things in an academic way. DO NOT USE CONTRACTIONS DO NOT USE THE & SYMBOL DO NOT USE SLANG KEEP A FORMAL TONE DO NOT TRY AND BE FUNNY

6. A Teacher Tries My introduction to this question: The assassination of John F. Kennedy is viewed by some as the day when Americans lost their innocence. The assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, is an enigmatic figure. He was assassinated himself by Jack Kirby and the country never received the closure of seeing Oswald express the reasons for murdering the President. Writers rely on mystery to create fascinating worlds to immerse the reader. Don DeLillo uses the mystery of Oswald and creates a character for his novel Libra. The passage below provides a brief psychoanalysis of Oswald and expresses the dark desires he harbors. DeLillo uses understated diction to express violent events and to demonstrate the numbness Oswald's feels towards human beings. DeLillo also employs imagery that reveals the sadistic character of Oswald. He rides the trains to feel “the friction... In his teeth.” Oswald wants power, but a dark power. However, all the information provided to the reader about the inner thoughts of Oswald come from a narrator. Oswald never directly addresses the reader and keeps the mystery of Oswald alive. DeLillo gives the reader a direct view into the mind of an assassin, but at the same time only makes his mind murkier by removing any direct address.