They other key concepts we have spent time learning in AP Lit have been general facts and ideas meant to expand our knowledge of literature in general. For instance we spent a significant amount of time reviewing literary terms, which allow us to acknowledge more literary devices, as well as being able to articulate responses to them. Other topics we have spent time learning include discussions of Theatre of the Absurd and the various definitions of a Tragedy (in relation to The American Dream and Death of a Salesman respectively). These discussions allow for more complete analysis of the works we read in class, but also expand our knowledge base for all of literature.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Key concepts 3
In order to write effectively (and score a 9 on the ap essay) we learned about plain style. This is a style guide to eliminate pretense, waste, and other masturbatory aspects of writing. The essence of plain style is to be succinct, direct, and efficient. This is an especially effective tool when writing academically, ensuring that it is the ideas and not flashy style or roundabout answers that carry a paper.
Key conepts 2
In order to effectively communicate our skillful analysis of literature (and earn a 9 on the AP essay) we have learned we must address how the author uses techniques to create meaning in their work. To address this, we learned the tool DIDLS, or Diction Imagery Details Language and Syntax. This acronym is a way to succinctly address ways in which an author communicates meaning in their work.
Key concepts 1
A key concept we have learned so far in AP Lit has been how to effectively read literature. This involves close reading and analysis to heighten understanding. To accomplish this, we have read and re read many books, until we finally get it right. We have learned patterns and ideas to look for. In Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature like a Professor, general trends in literature were laid out and explained. There are familiar patterns and ideas that seem to transfer across most of literature, similar to the concept of Archetypes. Authors use these to enhance connection with the reader and condense their artistic message. We familiarized ourselves with some of these common wells of literary inspiration such as the bible and greek mythology.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Revision of Open Prompt 12/4/11
1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The cyclical nature of time and nonlinear narratives are a central device in American Indian literature, and particularly in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony. The novel jumps in its chronology constantly. Sometimes, a past event or memory will begin in the middle of a paragraph or sentence without warning. Silko uses the nonlinear narrative to show the interconnectivity between all things, and the cyclical nature of time.
After he returns from WWII, Tayo suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and falls ill. The narrative constantly switches between his memories and his current life. An artifact or event will take him into the past, where another element may remind him of another memory, and his narrative constantly shifts between his past and present. He is confused and disoriented by this, mistaking Japanese soldiers for his uncle thousands of miles away, or becoming ill at the sound of a crack, which reminds him of his friends skull crushing. Silko weaves time periods and memories together seamlessly and constantly because everything is the same. A key point throughout the novel is that things repeat themselves, and time works in circles, not lines. By connecting the past and present, Silko shows the unitary nature of time.
The story of Spider Woman, or Thought Woman, runs throughout Ceremony creating a literary backbone. Spider Woman is a primary Laguna deity, who weaves the world with her thoughts. Silko mimics this idea in her story’s chronology, which is not laid out in a line, but is woven into a web. Everything is connected, and everything repeats. Completely separate events, like a sunrise and nuclear explosion, can be the same. The mysterious old woman his father has an affair with is not so different from the mysterious young woman Tayo has an affair with. By bending and shaping the way that time operates in her story, Silko shows the cyclical nature of the world and everything in it, emphasizing her motif throughout the story.
Revision of Open Prompt 10/30/11
2005, Form B. One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work.
The struggle for power is a central theme of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Lady Macbeth urges her husband to seize power and murder Duncan. Macbeth desperately defends his power by murdering his best friend. Ultimately though, the three witches are the only characters with any true power. Shakespeare portrays the struggle for power as brutal and bloody, but ultimately insignificant, as Fate is inescapable; the only real power in the world.
When Macbeth and Banquo first hear the witches’ prophecy, Macbeth is plagued with uncertainty. Does he really want to be king? Is he capable of cold blooded murder? It is Lady Macbeth that holds the power in their relationship, and it is she that urges Macbeth to seek more seize the king’s power. Shakespeare plays with gender roles by making Lady Macbeth yearn for masculinity, which she equates with power, yet it is the three witches, women, who ultimately control the play’s events.
As Macbeth struggles to understand the witches’ prophecy, he desperately clings to his newfound power by having his friend Banquo killed. The quest for power has driven Macbeth insane, and tortured by guilt. Even Lady Macbeth, who wishes her blood ran as cold as ice and that her mother’s milk would turn to bile, is driven to suicide by her tortured mind. By showing the gruesome ends of those who crave power, Shakespeare is noting the fact that tyrants do not often die in their beds, they die bloodily in the streets.
Throughout the play, it is not Macbeth, or Lady Macbeth, or the rebels who fight Macbeth that have any true power, it is only the witches. The three Fates. They pull the strings of the world, manipulating kings and peasants alike. Lady Macbeth’s best laid plans are no match for fate. This is one of Shakespeare’s central themes in Macbeth, that it is chaos that rules the world, not men.
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