AP Exam Essay Practice #5

Both "When I Have Fears" by John Keats and "Mezzo Cammin" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow deal with the theme of life's potential.  At first glance, they are extremely similar.  Both seemingly mourn the loss of dreams.  However, careful inspection reveals that the poetic techniques used by both poets points to two distinct messages.  Broadly speaking, the core of these differences is in perspective.  Keats writes of the future, while Longfellow writes of the past.  This relatively small difference cascades into many more

AP Exam Practice Essay #4

Given that The Road by Cormac Mccarthy takes place in a barren wasteland, it is remarkable how richly developed the characters are.  However, this is at the heart of the novel's theme, as McCarthy explores what it takes to cling to humanity in an inhumane world.  With so few characters to work with, he needs to make them count.  He does this by making the two only main characters -- the nameless man and his son -- foils that play off each other and in the process enhance their development.

AP Exam Essay Practice #3

When describing what would initially appear to simply e a windy street, Ann Petry goes to great lengths to craft a vibrant setting in the opening of her novel, The Street.  Despite the introduction of Lutie Johnson taking place only after several paragraphs of exposition, this sequence is instrumental in establishing her relationship to the world around her.  This methodical set up is accomplished through masterful work of both vivid imagery and extended personification.

AP Exam Essay Practice #2

Here's my essay for today (meaning April 30, so yesterday?), in all its flawed glory.  I cleaned up little mistakes as I found them, but I likely created even more with typos.  Admittedly, I was really sleepy today so the essay is a lot less focused than I would have liked.  Regardless, I would appreciate feedback!

AP Exam Essay Practice #1

Part bildungsroman and part allegory, The Poisonwood Bible follows the radical changes a vicious environment inflicts upon young Leah Price.  While the characters are certainly strong and well-developed, the alien jungle the Prices find themselves in is ultimately what drives the plot and theme of disillusionment.  The influence of this powerful setting is seen best through Leah Price.  Her evolution is cleanly broken down into a phase of sheltered idealism and one of bitter cynicism.

Prose and Open Essays

Once again, I'll be imposing a loose time limit on myself, for the sake of both exam practice and my sanity.  I'm aiming for forty minutes, but I'll spend as long as I need to finish the essay.  Pre-writes are on a separate piece of paper.  I'll post them if anyone really wants to see them, but they're mostly incoherent scribbles.  The passage and prompts can be found on the main course blog.

At Least Two Essays

Since time restraints have typically been the most difficult part of AP essays for me, I'm limiting myself to forty minutes per essay.  Otherwise, I'm liable to keep writing for far longer than is possible on the actual exam.  Besides that, I'm honestly not too keen on spending my entire weekend practicing essays.

Pre-writes are included in the forty minutes, although I will be doing them on a separate piece of paper to facilitate my rather haphazard pre-writing method.