Monday, May 2, 2016
Question 3...What will it be???
Review the prompts from past APE exams. The complete list of prompts can be viewed HERE; you might also want to review the list of key topics for most of them HERE. Then, try to predict what the 2016 question 3 will be, and explain which text you would use to answer that prompt.
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ReplyDeleteFolks...quick FYI>>>>They WILL NOT repeat a prompt....you need to come with an original prompt. Look at the type of question they have asked and how they have asked it. Then create and post an original one. What haven't they asked yet????
ReplyDeletePick a novel or play and comment on how social hierarchy effects the outcome of the piece of literature as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI would use The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and write about how self-hatred within the black community, imposed by white standards and superiority, ends up driving Pecola to insanity.
I could see King Lear working for this as well....good thinking!!
DeleteMany characters withstand a journey in which they are forced to discover his or her needs or wants as an individual which may differ from what they initially perceived as necessary. Choose a novel or play in which a character is forced to undergo self discovery and how it contributes to the purpose of the work as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI would use Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and comment on how Janie bounces from husband to husband until she finds Tea Cake and later enjoys a new, fulfilling independence.
Many stories result from the evil or cruel acts from characters opposing the protagonist. Choose a novel or play and discuss how the actions of evil characters against the protagonist contribute to the purpose of the work as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI would use King Lear and discuss how the actions of Regan and General against their father drive him mad and force him to see the true good in Cordelia.
Often times in literature, there are examples of characters who do not portray their true selves, but rather, hide behind a facade. Select a novel or play where a character fails to portray his or her true self, but rather hides behind a veneer and discuss how the reflects the meaning of the text as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI would use The Great Gatsby for this prompt. It is obvious that Gatsby hides behind a facade of wealth and extravagance in order to win back the affection of his former lover Daisy. This contributes the the text as a whole because it shows that people in the 1920s care more about wealth and social status than they do about what a person is like on the inside.
Pick a novel or play and comment on how a character's disguise effects the work as a whole.
ReplyDeleteYou could definitly use King Lear for this promt and Poor Tom. However, I really liked the plotline of Septimus in Mrs. Dalloway so I would talk about how he is so effected by the war that he must create his own paralell universe that really is his disguise from the world and suppresses his true feelings.
Choose a novel or play in which two characters function around conflicting depictions of power. How do these two interpretations of power and their use of characterization shape the meaning of the text as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI would choose Their Eyes Were Watching God with this prompt. Janie's individuality (her hair, mixed ancestry, pear tree, own horizon) is considered a power to those around her. It even ignites jealousy in Jody Starks, who is power hungry and builds himself up by putting others down(Janie in the head rag). These two ideas of power both characterize Janie and Jody, but also provide evidence of a greater effort towards equality and freedom for women like Jane.
It is often said that suffering builds strength of character; people grow by facing adversity. Choose a work of literary merit in a character reaches or fails to reach self understanding as a result of his or her suffering.
ReplyDeleteKing Lear clearly fits the prompt; the suffering of Lear (among others) in the play allows him to understand the fundamental nature of living with nothing, granting him a humility and peace he would not otherwise possess.
Pick an important time period in history, or a literary era, (ex. 1920s, renaissance, romanticism, naturalism) and a novel that reflects the time period or era. Analyze the novel to prove how the overall purpose is portrayed given your specified era.
ReplyDeleteI would choose The Great Gatsby and use the 1920s as a lens to describe how Gatsby's view of the American Dream is skewed. Then I would describe how Gatsby is an example of someone who has misinterpreted the American Dream as a quest for wealth, oppose to gaining freedom and opportunity.
Pick a novel or play in which a character’s love interest changes/influences their actions and/or thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI would choose Their Eyes Were Watching God and comment on how Janie hides her true self during her first two love interests, Logan and Jody. One could also talk about family love and use King Lear, Cordelia and Lear.
The most important scenes in a novel or play is a scene in which a death occurs. Choose a novel or play in which a death takes place that helps illuminate the of the work as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI would use Hardtimes by Charles Dickens because of the death of Blackpool which creates sympathy and empathy for the poor, makes him a martyr and shows that the wealthy have no time sacrificing the poor for their benefit. Also, his death shows that utilitarian philosophy is killing humanism.
Pick a novel or a play in which a character undergoes a major development due to a traumatic event. Make sure that the development illuminates the piece as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI would use Edgar in King Lear. Not only does his fall from grace drive a great amount of the plot, but also allowed for Shakespeare to explore major ideas such as nothingness and survival ("Edgar, I nothing am").
Literary works often present commentaries on the social standings of their time periods. Pick a character from a work of literary merit whose socio-economic standing impacts his/her relations with others and explain how this changes the work as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI would write this essay about Stephen Blackpool. Hard Times is an extensive social commentary and Blackpool is the integral character in Dicken's point. Blackpool is put in a situation specifically because of his social status, and he has an obvious impact on the novel.
Doesn't answering AFTER the exam kind of defeat the purpose of the post???!!!! Just saying!! ;-) Thanks for all the feedback on exam prep....glad so many of you felt cautiously optimist/confident!
ReplyDeletewell i missed this blog post but if i failed high school and had to take the ap exam again next year I would predict the prompt would be something about the ending of a literary work of merit.
ReplyDeleteChoose a literary work of merit that doesn't end the way you expect it to. Then discuss why the author chose to end it the way they did and how it influences the work as a whole.
I would chose to write about In the Lake of the Woods because the ending of that pissed me off.
Prediction for 2017 prompt:
ReplyDeleteOften times a character in a novel or play with go through a traumatic experience and find themselves irreparably changed because of it. Choose a character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you analyze a character who is irreparably changed.
I would choose Septimus from Mrs. Dalloway because he is suffering from ptsd. There's a lot of imagery, such as the sailor on the rock, that would back up this character.
Before I took the AP exam, I thought the prompt would be about character deaths and how it has an overall affect on the characters and the story as a whole (i was wrong)
ReplyDeleteIf this was the prompt I would have chosen Metamorphosis of Beloved.
Prediction for 2017:
ReplyDeleteOften times in works of literature a person faces an event that often determines their fate which often alters other characters fate. Choose a character from a novel or play and write an essay in which you analyze how this event plays a role in determining the other characters fate.
I would chose Oedipus the King for this prompt because the entire basis of the story is the alteration of Oedipus' fate based on others actions as well as others actions as a result of what Oedipus does.
Prediction for 2017
ReplyDeleteOften times in literary works there are different characters that represent different social and economic social classes. Choose a novel that demonstrates how power imbalances between characters can put a strain on relationships with others
I would use Jane Eyre because Jane and and Mr Rochester can only end up together once Mr Rochester goes blind and the power imbalance between them is resolved