AP Literature and Composition

February 25, 2009

Ms. Cares

Agenda:

1. Synthesis Essay: outlines and questions

2. Emily Dickinson poem: strategies and answers

Homework: refine your outline and begin drafting your initial draft - DUE Tuesday, 3/2.

Emily Dickinson Poem:

• What interpretations did you make BEFORE you began unpacking the multiple choice questions?

• How did you use the questions to shape your interpretation?

• How did you feel about this poem, overall?

• Did you use the grammar of this poem to help construct meaning?

1. In the second line of the poem, the word “Were” is

• Make sure to read “Were” as the beginning of a complete idea (STOP/GO).

• “Were the universe one rock” = If the universe were one rock… (conditional verb)

• DO NOT FORGET POE!• Answer = B

2. In line 3, the word “far” probably modifies

• “Were universe one rock / And far I heard his silver call…”

• Modifies = alters• “far” is used as an adverb to

describe how the speaker hears the silver call

• Inverted syntax• Answer = C

3. The lines “I’d tunnel till my groove / Pushed sudden through to his” are an

example of

• Use POE to get you to the happy place: between A and B

• “I’d tunnel till my groove” = exaggeration as any action has its limit

• Answer = A

4. In line 7, the word “recompense” is best understood to mean

• Vocabulary in context

• Attempt to establish meaning before looking at the answer choices

• Use POE

• Answer = E

5. Which of the following is an example of synesthetic imagery…

• Notice that the AP exam provides you with the definition of this literary element.

• “silver call”• Silver = visual

• Call = auditory

• Answer = C

6. Which of the following phrases requires some adjustment according to

conventional grammatical rules?

• What does this question ask?• Which phrase uses abnormal grammar?

• “pushed sudden” is abnormal because adverbs (suddenly) typically end in -ly.

• The interchange of adverb and adjectives is commonly used in poetry written before the 20th Century.

• Answer = D

7. All of the following words are used to suggest the same quality EXCEPT

• Which one of these is not like the others?

• Use POE.

• “walls,” “rock,” “block,” and “adamant” all connote hardness.

• “groove” has nothing to do with being tough.

• Answer = D

8. Line 9 begins with “But” because

• Notice that “But” marks the beginning of a new sentence that spans two stanzas. In other words, it is significant.

• Use POE• The poem turns on the word “But,” and the

last two stanzas present the opposite of the finite walls and rock and connote much softer - and less negative - “walls.”

• Answer = A

9. All of the following words are used to suggest the Middle Ages EXCEPT

• Use POE

• “adamant” has nothing to do with the Middle Ages, specifically.

• Answer = A

10. All of the following words are used to suggest the same quality EXCEPT

• Which one of these is not like the others…

• Most of the words connote those things that are pliable and soft… EXCEPT limit.

• Answer = E

11. On which of the following do lines 11-16 chiefly rely?

• RTFQ - CHIEFLY meaning mainly• POE• Paradox = situation of contradictory

events or images• “cobweb wove of adamant” or

“battlement of straw” are paradoxical (conflicting)

• Answer = B

12. To fully understand the situation presented in the poem, a reader would have to know more about the specific reference of which of the following…

• Unpack the question - which word is most difficult to interpret based on the poem alone?

• “block,” “groove,” “recompense,” and “veil” are all used figuratively and can be interpreted within the poem.

• “law” seems to be literal; it is impossible to identify which or what type of “law” is mentioned in the poem.

• Answer = D