The AP Lit* CED includes the function of contrasts as an essential skill. Specifically, it says, that contrasts can affect a text's "focus; tone; point of view; character, narrator, or speaker perspective; dramatic situation or moment; settings or time; or imagery." Another word you can use in ...
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Narrator
NAR 4.A, the first skill in the Narration category, is relatively simple. It asks students to examine the narrator of a text. In poetry students would study the speaker, but this spotlight is examining the narrator in a prose text. The CED lists only 2 suggested questions for 4.A: *AP® is a ...
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Plot Order & Sequencing
STR 3.A includes elements of pacing or structure in a plot, including any time the linear narrative is reorganized, sped up, slowed down, or otherwise rearranged. Helping students identify (and name!) these plot ordering elements can strengthen prose analysis and make them more active readers. ...
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Characterization in Prose
Studying characters is easy when it's a novel or full play. But asking students to study textual details for characterization, motive, and perspective can sometimes be difficult. This is especially true if the text is an excerpt or a short story. However, by practicing on short texts students learn ...
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Identifying Setting
AP* Lit Skill 2.A is a simple one, asking students to identify and describe the story's setting using details from the text. While it can be simple to identify the setting, it's a good opportunity to push students into identifying different aspects of the setting. The CED lists elements such as ...
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Literal and Figurative Meanings
This skill, AP* Lit FIG 5.A, asks students to distinguish between the figurative and literal meanings of words and phrases. Once again, this ties back to ambiguity and interpretation. While the author may use one word, darkness for example, the connotations of that word (night, evil, black) could ...
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