Prose Analysis

As with any other AP© Exam thesis, using a three-pronged thesis with a three literary devices you will explore is rather limiting and boxes in your paragraphs to a specific device. You, instead, want to focus on creating space for complexity in your thesis.

For the Prose Analysis, the exam almost always asks you to think about Characterization in relation to another Character/Relationship, a Setting, a Narrator, etc. Within this format, your thesis should focus on showing what the author reveals through that character or the relationship.

Sample Breakdown and Thesis for the prompt above:

• Idea: From the prompt.

  • • The "complex portrayal of Father Declan."

• Insight: What is the author trying to reveal about the character and our world through the character?

  • • We are getting insight into how being alone takes on value when we ultimately are able to return to others.

• Aspects: Show two contrasting character traits. You'll use these to discuss why the Insight matters and contains complexity within it.

  • • We could explore 1) Father Declan's happiness while he is out on a fishing trip (alone), and 2) the sorrow that he has no one to celebrate his adventure with when he returns.

• Thesis: Haien uses Father Declan‘s drive home to reveal that moments of solitude only take on value when we are ultimately able to return to others. She explores this through a shift from Father Declan's happiness while he is out on a fishing trip alone to his sorrow that there is no one waiting from him to celebrate when he returns.

There are two suggested ways to organize your prompt, which have a degree of overlap. Organize the response either by the Insight and Aspects of your Thesis OR chronologically.

Insight: 

If your thesis has two clear Aspects, those are perfect topics for Body Paragraphs. Each Body Paragraph should address one Aspect. The beauty of this approach is it allows you to pull evidence from throughout the passage and use a range of literary devices in each Body Paragraph. This makes for more well-rounded and less cookie-cutter writing. The main drawback of this approach is that students are more likely to forget to explain how the author develops their insight using literary devices to support their analysis.

Example Layout from the Prompt Above:

• Thesis: Haien uses Father Declan‘s drive home to reveal that moments of solitude only take on value when we are ultimately able to return to others. She explores this through a shift from Father Declan's happiness while he is out on a fishing trip alone to his sorrow that there is no one waiting from him to celebrate when he returns.

• Body Paragraph 1 Topic Sentence: Haien develops the notion that solitude only takes on value when we return to others by first noting Father Declan's happiness when he has a chance to be by himself on a fishing trip.

• Body Paragraph 2 Topic Sentence: In contrast to Father Declan's happiness while he is alone on his fishing trip, as he drives home, he beings to reflect on how no one is waiting for him, which emphasizes that his moment of solitude on the fishing trip ultimately feels empty. It lacks the specialness it would have if he had someone to return to and escape his time alone.

Chronologically:

The other recommend approach for this response is by organizing your response Chronically, which tracks how a character develops from the start to the end of the story. The benefits of this approach are that you are able to incorporate the whole text and treat every part of it as importance and following the character arc often is a clear structure to imitate. The drawbacks of the approach are that it is easy to fall into a plot summary rather than an analysis and it becomes easy to lose the central idea of the Thesis as you develop the character arc. Remember that your goal isn't just to show how the character changes (the author has already done that), you want to think about what the character's changes reveal about the world.

Example Layout from the Prompt Above:

• Thesis: Haien uses Father Declan‘s drive home to reveal that moments of solitude only take on value when we are ultimately able to return to others. She explores this through a shift from Father Declan's happiness while he is out on a fishing trip alone to his sorrow that there is no one waiting from him to celebrate when he returns.

• Body Paragraph 1 Topic Sentence: At the start of this passage, Father Declan is returning from his fishing trip and reflecting on how lonely it feels to make a midnight drive home, especially knowing that no one awaits him.

• Body Paragraph 2 Topic Sentence: As his drive progresses, Father Declan reflects on what it would be like to have a dog to return to, someone to give him comfort.

• Body Paragraph 3 Topic Sentence: In the end, however, we return to Father Declan's midnight drive home as he rejects the notion of a dog, or any company, as he remembers his obligations as a priest and the expectations that come with that role.

There are three main types of evidence that you can use to analyze this prose prompt that could make a difference in the evidence you pull out. It also makes sense to go through these as steps, first identifying the Tone, seeing how the Conflict reveals the Tone, and then how the author uses Figurative Language to effectively convey the importance of different parts of the Conflict. To think about it in terms of Structure, use Tone and Conflict to help come up with the major moments in the passage (in your paragraphs), and then focus on how the Figurative Language draws attention to those parts of the Tone/Conflict and conveys their importance (in your sentences).

Tone:

Pay attention to the Diction, Syntax, and Details and what they show about the character's attitudes in a moment. Tone is focused on whether they have a positive, negative, or neutral attitude and how that attitude changes over the course of the text.

The basis of a good analysis using Tone will think about how the Tone of the passage changes over the course of the passage, HOW Diction, Syntax, and Details help to reveal that shift, and WHY that shift matters for the overall meaning.

While identifying the Tone as positive, negative, or neutral is a good starting point, it is also useful to start bringing in a more enhanced vocabulary to describe that Tone. See this Tonal Scale for ideas of other Tone words.

Conflict:

Conflict is at the core of any story and it reveals so much about characters and their perspective. Show me what a character is willing to fight about or struggle with, and you can show me what they value and their approach to the world.

As you go through this, consider both Internal and External Conflicts. As you break down the Conflict, discuss why a character is facing this conflict, what it shows about their values, whether it pulls out inconsistencies in their values or actions, and how conflicts cause characters to have an epiphany or realization about themselves. These are great ways to pay attention to the complexity of a character.

The moment a Conflict is introduced, the turning point of the Conflict, and when the Conflict is resolved are all key moments in a text that could be important to look into as part of the structure of your response.

Figurative Language:

In addition to Tone, pay attention to Imagery, Symbols, Similes, Metaphors, Personification, and Allusions used throughout the passage. These elements are sprinkling on the cake. An author can have just Tone and Conflict and have a good piece of writing, but they will use Figurative Language to draw attention to certain parts of the Conflict or help the reader better understand the Conflict by putting it in terms and images that readers are more likely to understand.