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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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Personification
Most students can identify personification, especially when an animal does something a human would do. However, that's not exactly what AP* Lit teachers are looking for in analyzing personification. The AP® Lit CED includes the skill question, "How does making a comparison between a nonhuman entity ...
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The Importance of Student Reflection: A Post-Essay Writing Lesson
In my past years of teaching AP®* English Lit, timed essays were usually given out right from the start. But now that I'm following the new CED closely, I postponed full essays and we focused on paragraphs for the first three months. Yesterday, at the culmination of our Frankenstein unit, my ...
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Imagery
I was so excited to tackle STR 5.D (the function of imagery) at first, and then I became completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of imagery. It wasn't that I couldn't find an idea, I had way too many ideas. Finally, I decided to go to my comfort zone, which is film analysis. Also, the good folks in ...
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Allusion
AP* Lit Essential Skill 6.D focuses on the function of allusion. Allusion is not a complicated device to spot, but students sometimes struggle with explaining its function. The key lies in analyzing the bridge between the text and the alluded work.
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AP Lit Skill Spotlight: Diction
AP* Lit skill 5.B, explain the function of words and phrases in a text, seems to function as a bit of a catch-all. When looking at the subordinate questions related to the skill, it mentions ambiguity, connotations, alliteration, hyperbole, antecedents, and plenty more. If I had to bottle this skill ...
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