Essay Question #2 Study Guide

Keyanna Millinger, Marco Espejo

AP English

Essay Question 2 Outline

1. ANALYTICAL FOCUS

A. Diction

1.The exam makers are sure to pick out passages that involve using diction to

make educated inferences.

2. The exam makers pick difficult passages to read- lengthy, prose challenged

sentences to confuse the test takers of what the author is trying to say.

B. Tone

1. The narrators use of vocabulary; such as positive or negative word

towards a character or a specific event or experience in his or her life helps

reveal the authors tone.

2. When there is a general tone figured out- positive or negative, the reader should then find a more

specific word to describe the authors tone.

3. The authors choice of words also help to reveal this tone.

4. Always ask how the authors tone influences the purpose of the passage, and the theme he/she is

trying to convey.

C. Figurative Language

1. Similes, metaphors, hyperboles, symbolism, alliteration, and etc. are used to emphasize a

point. As well as interpreting the phase, remembering the purpose of it helps to understand

the passage as a whole.

2. Use the figurative language given to you. Put them in your essay to prove opinion.

II. THEMATIC FOCUS

-Read and understand the passage as a whole.

Knowing what the author is trying to say, will help you know what to write in your essay

Write what you think and what you know, don’t try to write something what you think someone else wants to see.

The best essays that get the full credit have the following:

• In depth analysis of the passage; understand what the author is trying to say using literary elements.

• Know what you’re talking about; if you bring up a point in your essay, continue on with it, stick to the subject, make specific hints back to the text.

• Correct grammar; don’t put an inappropriate comma or semi-colon somewhere that it doesn’t belong. The sentences should not be run-on, they have to end at some point or else you lose the interest of the reader.

• Structure of the essay; the essay should have an introduction, which clearly states the thesis. The paragraphs that make up the body should continue on with the thesis, and then the conclusion should wrap everything up. The conclusion should also reiterate the thesis and how it can be compared to the work as a whole.

Understand one thing as a writer, the readers of the essay only asks for one question, what is it this author has to say to us, the writer? Without this question being answered, the essay would have no point.

Don’t forget to mention how the literary elements establish the play as a whole.

Use of sophisticated words.

Demonstrate college level ideas and styles of writing.

Write as neat as possible, if the reader cannot read or struggles to read the essay, that reader would most likely give you a low score because he/she cannot read it.

Be sure to address all of the tasks the essay question requires.

Youre only given about 40 minutes per essay, don’t spend all your time working on one essay, and not writing the rest to your full ability.

Read the question completely, and understand just what its asking for.

While reading the passage, make notes on the side that help you answer the question.

Leave a little bit of time at the end of the essay to proofread everything over, and find any hidden errors, those errors can change the grade from a 2 to a 3.

Be original on your essay, the more interesting the essay is, the more interested the reader would be when he’s scoring the thousand essay’s he has to do on his “day off”.