Using the questions asked by students, I have created a page for students. If you have a question that is NOT answered here, feel free to email me at richard.ehrlich@palmbeachschools.org .

NOTE: Lessons, updates, notes, assignments, etc. will be posted on the GOOGLE CLASSROOM, under the TAB at the top marked CLASSWORK. Students should not rely the STREAM to keep track of class activities. The AGENDA option on the STREAM may also change without due notice. So, again, students should check the CLASSWORK tab each class for lessons, updates, notes, assignments, etc.

This is about the demonstrating the ability to make substantiated arguments AND interpretations!

THIS IS NOT A CLASS OF SUMMARY! THIS IS A CLASS OF PROVING AN ANALYSIS!

This is a test on BIG IDEAS!

The skills most tested?

The use and function of characterization

The use of and function of plot and structure

The use of and function of point of view / speaker / narrative

The use of and function of setting

The use of and function of imagery

The use of and function of symbolism

The use of and function of diction

The use of and function of syntax

The ability to compare ideas, concepts, etc.

What are the "dirty" words or words that you NEVER write in a literary analysis essay? Click here for info.

SUMMARY (or any variation) because a literary analysis essay NEVER summarizes. It is an analysis of the work and the elements used by the writer for a purpose.

DEFINE (or any variation) because a literary analysis essay NEVER defines terms or concepts. The terms or concepts are the tools of the writer. Explain HOW they are being used, not that they exist. NEVER just list terms or concepts either (a common mistake made, especially in introductions).

CLEAR or OBVIOUS (or any variation) because NOTHING is clear nor is ANYTHING obvious. The essay must make everything clear through EVIDENCE and COMMENTARY.

What should your essay / free response include?

Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible interpretation.
Select and use evidence to support your line of reasoning.
Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.
Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.

Your essay MUST-DO's include coming up with an ORIGINAL and INTRIGUING argument that...

Uniformly offers evidence to support claims.
Focuses on importance of specific words and details.
Organizes argument as line of reasoning composed of several supporting claims, each with adequate evidence.
Explains how use of literary techniques contributes to interpretation.

Is there a way you could post the structure of each of the essays? Like what we need to write about, what should be in each paragraph, etc? Click here for more info.

If asking what should be in each individual paragraph, that is impossible. Each essay would be different.

Each paragraph of the body would be a POINT made from the works themselves and explained using evidence and commentary. Instead, think of this way:

The introduction would introduce the works (titles if you have; often though a title is not provided to you), the genre (novel, poem, etc.), the movement (Contemporary, Modernism, etc. based on the year, which they often provide), and the defensible thesis (the fighting stance you have taken that is shown through the work).
The body would be pieces (evidence, such as quotes from the work or paraphrased examples AND your explanation or commentary on the evidence, connecting to the defensible thesis).
The conclusion or final statement would be a reiteration of the defensible thesis and the major points made in the essay.

What content and terms should I know?

THAT is a big question.

There are LOTS of places to learn literary terms, besides just in the classroom. Two of the BEST are Literarydevices.net and Americanrhetoric.com .

Where is the best place to review literary terms, rhetorical techniques, types of poetry, and more?

Click here for more information.

You can go on-line and find great resources like Quizlets. Here is one on TYPES OF POETRY.

Click https://quizlet.com/10767614/ap-lit-on-poetry-1-types-of-poems-flash-cards/

Click here for some amazing QUIZLETS at Fiveable.me

You can also make your own QUIZLETS and FLASHCARDS. The process of making them is amazing for your memory.

Feel free to email me good links to Quizlets, websites, etc. so I may add them here to share with others: richard.ehrlich@palmbeachschools.org

What are some of the things that students need to KNOW or need to AVOID when writing LITERATURE ESSAYS?

Know the difference between a simile and a metaphor. Such basic skills are expected and do change the scores when used improperly.

Know one form of point of view from another (i.e. omniscient, limited omniscient, unreliable first person, etc.).

AVOID USE OF...

Engfish (over-the-top language)

Nominalizations ("often larger words that have suffixes and prefixes tagged on to sound more academic (i.e. antidisestablishmentarianism")).

PURPLE PROSE (overly ornate or sentimental language).

When referring to the passage, use the word "excerpt" or, better, the word "passage".

Do not confuse "excerpt" with "expert" or "except" or any other word than "excerpt". Again, perhaps just use the word "passage" or, much better, ALWAYS quote and paraphrase from the passage.

Do not just ask the reader to remember or to refer to the passage. GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO WORK WITH.

Let the WORK SPEAK by USING THE WORK!

Advice on writing the defensible thesis?

Remember that a defensible thesis can be more than one sentence. But, it should a nuanced sentence or two that is impressive to the reader. It should not just parrot the prompt. It must show an ORIGINAL argument that sets up what the rest of essay.

You must make SURE that the thesis statement does not make an implied message. It is an interpretation of a message.
You must specifically and directly tell a statement of significance that answers the prompt.
The thesis is really about showing an INSIGHT into the theme or message of a literary text.

HINT: If the thesis is something that can be disputed or argued by someone else, you are doing it right!

This is the time to setup the future sparkles to your essay!

How do you use ARTISTIC UNITY and ORGANIC unity to defend your defensible thesis?

What is the difference between organic unity and artistic unity?

As we discuss in class, a writer of analysis wants to focus on at least two different aspects of UNITY to help you DEFEND your DEFENSIBLE thesis.

Consider the ORGANIC UNITY as you answer the prompt. What is the progression of the characters and the story? How do the characters EVOLVE? How does the story move from ONE point to another?

ARTISTIC UNITY (which is even MORE important): How do the elements of the story contribute to the message or meaning of the work? It is not that a story has irony or symbolism or characterization but HOW does the author use these elements?

The thesis is really about showing an INSIGHT into the theme or message of a literary text. Artistic unity and organic unity help us see the insights!

NOTE: Here is link to a great article on TONE that WILL prove useful to you. This is ONE of many files that I share during the year to HELP you HELP you do well on the examination: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IaC2JDWZ_tnbxg-e5ehOCUbpZgRbG1g0/view?usp=sharing

Is there a shortcut or checklist to follow when examining and analyzing a piece of literature?

In class, we discuss DIDLS, TELS, STAR, TP-CASTT, and other acronyms. These acronyms are to help you KNOW what to examine.

DIDLS for PROSE

TP-CASTT for POETRY

Every tried SOAPSTONE?

There are lots of great ways to analyze literature. Unfortunately, there are really no shortcuts, only DEEP THOUGHTS.

Click here for other MNEMONIC DEVICES to help you with literary analysis. https://1osjhr1kzber15t9781hbik1-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/MnemonicsLitAnalysisAccessibleApril2019.pdf

What does a high-scoring essay require?

HIGH-RANGE ESSAY

* Has a defensible thesis statement with a specific analysis or argument.

* Focuses on the text rather than expressing personal, unfounded judgements.

* Shows command over the evidence in their writing.

* ALL claims are supported by textual evidence.

* Imbeds, or blends, the evidence correctly.

* Uses specific textual evidence that clearly connects to each claim.

* Makes strong and clear allusions or connections to other texts.

* Addresses the complexity in the characters, themes, etc.

* Uses devices such as juxtaposition, contrast, diction, symbolism, repetition, etc. to analyze passages.

* Has clear control of the conventions of language (i.e. use of conjunctive adverbs, etc.).

* Avoids clichés, such as... right off the bat/ judge a book by its cover/ in the know /roll with the punches/ light at the end of the tunnel / fish out of water/ in a nutshell / cookie cutter, etc.

There are MANY great resources to help you write the BEST essays that you can. Here is a link to a great packet for writing literary analysis essays: https://www.bucks.edu/media/bcccmedialibrary/pdf/HOWTOWRITEALITERARYANALYSISESSAY_10.15.07_001.pdf

How Should you use inclusive language when discussing literature and literary characters?

This is a great question and one that has come up in my classes before. To be honest, this is a difficult question since any suggestions on the use of language can be powerful as well as, perhaps to a point, political; but, with respect, here are my thoughts.

Though I completely respect the use of inclusive language and gender neutral language, and try my best to keep this classroom a safe zone for inclusivity, I tend to THINK that you should respect the author's choices when referring to literature and to literary characters, too.

In other words, I would suggest that you use the language, pronouns, nouns, and names that the author uses when referring to literature or literary works.

Want to know an interesting fact on the use of gender-neutral pronouns? Click here.

According to Purdue University Online Writing Lab, the Oxford English Dictionary’s first citation for "a gender-neutral, indefinite they is from about 1375 from the romance of William of Palerne. The use of they as an indefinite pronoun which refers to people in general has been used even longer. They appears in 1382 in Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible." Purdue also noted that in Shakespeare' Much Ado about Nothing, there is a use of they in the line, “To strange sores, strangely they straine the cure”.

What forms of poetry should we know?

There are many forms of poetry that are examined within the exam: sonnets (Shakespearean/English and Petrarchan/Italian), odes, ballads, lyrics, villanelles, sestinas, epigrams, elegies, etc. Even the limerick (a clean one, of course) is fair game!

What should we know about literary movements?

Why should we know literary movements?

Knowing literary movements often will give you an immediate insight to the issues, themes, and favored tools of a literary period. For example, Metaphysical writers often used conceits and wits to explore the human condition.

Though the entire video is very informative, you may want to start watching around 5 minute 19 seconds.

Pay close attention to not only the lecture but also the MAIN FEATURES to look for as well as the NAMES of the WRITERS.

1945+/early 1970s to PRESENT: Contemporary

Reflects the rise of individualism and the voices of MANY individuals to express their own concerns, angst, ideas and issues as well as to connect to their past and to their futures.

AROUND WWII to 1960s VIETNAM ERA = POSTMODERNISM

Reflects the fracturing of the bonds between individuals.
Explores the rise of the countercultural movements of the BEAT GENERATION and the BEAT poets (i.e. Jack Kerouac, Allen GInsberg, Lucien Carr, Gary Snyder, etc.) and the view of disrupting the societal standards or views (i.e. Kurt Vonnegut, William S. Burroughs, Zadie Smith, etc.).
Explores the rise of the HIPPIES and the anti-war/peace and love movements and includes other movements such as the CONFESSIONAL poets who dared expose their inner turmoil (i.e. Adrienne Rich, Sylvia Plath, etc.)

EARLY 1900s to early 1940s = MODERNISM

Reflects the fracturing of societies and the view of organized religion as an illness;

Includes many movements within, including: the Harlem Renaissance (i.e. Langston Hughes, etc.), the Lost Generation (i.e. Ernest Hemingway, etc., the Vicious Circle/Algonquin group (Dorothy Parker, etc.), T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, etc.).

1865 to 1900 = REALISM/Victorian literature

Reflects an attempt to capture the texture of everyday life (i.e Henrik Ibsen, Mark Twain, Kate Chopin, etc.).

Movement becomes NATURALISM when the writers turn much darker (I.e. Jack London, Stephen Crane, Franz Kafka, Leo Tolstoy, etc.).

LATE 1700s, EARLY 1800s to CIVIL WAR = ROMANTICISM

Reflects an attempt to gain spiritual understanding through natural elements (i.e Walt Whitman, John Keats, Byron, Percy Shelley, William Blake, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, etc.).
Movement becomes GOTHIC ROMANTICISM when their views turned inward to the soul and, often, to the macabre (i.e. Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, etc.).

MID-17th century = Metaphysical, ENLIGHTENMENT

Reflects an attempt to understand the individual human being through religion, logic, spirituality, psychology, use of the conceit, irony, and wit, etc. (i.e John Donne, Andrew Marvell, etc.).

14th to early 17th century = Renaissance

Reflects an attempt to understand the archetypal human being through Humanism, etc. (i.e William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Niccolo Machiavelli, etc.).

Also, these are only general summaries from Mr. Ehrlich's head. Feel free to email me corrections or additions at richard.ehrlich@palmbeachschools.org

YOU should do a bit of your own research EACH of these movements and time periods. TIME TO LEARN.

What is meter?

Though we cover this in class, as well as how to determine one stanza from another by using rhyme scheme and meter, I found a great article that you might enjoy as well as an interesting and thorough TED talk: https://blog.prepscholar.com/iambic-pentameter-definition-examples

THIS VIDEO is one of the better videos that I have viewed on understanding meter.

NOTE: YouTube is FULL of great videos that may help you understand difficult concepts, like METER.

What is the difference between an enjambment and an end-stopped line? What about a caesura?

Like with most literary terms, the best way to learn is to STUDY and to PRACTICE.

Enjambments are poetic lines the move into other lines.

End-stopped lines are poetic lines that end the thought.

Check out the LESSONS (that are posted on our GOOGLE CLASSROOM) and review the resources (YouTube videos, websites, etc.).

Check out this website: https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/enjambment .

What do we need to know about metaphors? Metonymies? Synecdoche? Personifications? Dead metaphors? Controlling metaphors? Extended metaphors? Mixed metaphors?

Understanding metaphors is the lifeblood of literary analysis. Like with symbolism and irony and with so many literary elements, metaphor requires argument. It requires interpretation. It requires taking a stand.

Controlling metaphor vs. Extended Metaphor?

Of all the types of metaphor, controlling metaphors are the engine that drives them.

The controlling metaphor provides the CONCEPTION or CONCEPT that is brought to life to better understand the subject or precept. For example, the subject may be "death" but the metaphor may be the "long sleep" (a metonymy) . The metaphor provides an understanding or comparison that is often easier--or so we hope-- to understand.

You MUST be able to identify the metaphor of the work, especially in poetry, that is the MAIN metaphor (controlling metaphor) that is reinforced or elaborated upon using the other metaphors (extended metaphors).

For example, Langston Hughes (reminder: always mention writers by their FIRST AND LAST NAMES, never the first name alone) uses the line "Life for me ain't no crystal stair" as the controlling metaphor but the extended metaphors reinforce the idea through the tacks on the floor, no carpet, no light, etc.

In other words, life is not easy but we must overcome the obstacles and KEEP CLIMBING the stairs DESPITE the discomforts or problems.

Metonymy

Synecdoche

Types of Metaphors

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FAQ for 12th IV English Honors

Oscar Wilde: "Literature always anticipates life. It does not copy it but molds it to its purpose."