AP Essay Examples

Practice Test 1

Question 1
Prewrite:
Explain what we learn about Bassanio and how he arrives at his choice.

• Bassanio sees past the "ornament" and sees the "grossness", "The world is still deceived with ornament." "Hiding the grossness with fair ornament" "Thus ornament is but the guiled shore..."
•  He is wise.
• Bassanio chooses the most simple and plane casket. "Thy paleness moves me more than eloquence; and here choose I; joy be the consequence!"

Intro:
      Bassanio is a wise man. In this passage from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, Bassanio is selecting one of three caskets, and through his thought process we learn much about Bassanio. He sees past the initial grandeur of ornament and eloquence that obscures the show of evil, while "The world is still deceived with ornament." Bassanio knows that just because something looks good doesn't mean that it is. "Ornament is but the guiled shore to a most dangerous sea."


Question 2
Prewrite:
Describe the narrator's attitude toward Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock and explain how he conveys his view of then through literary devices.

• the narrator ridicules and mocks Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock
• narrator uses sarcasm and humor when regarding the Dedlocks
• "His family is as old as the hills, and infinitely more respectable. He has a general opinion the the world might get on without, hills, but would be done up without Dedlocks." mocks Sir Leicester, calls him egotistical
• describes Sir Leicester as "He is an honourable, obstinate, truthful, high-spirited, intensely prejudiced, perfectly unreasonable man."

Intro:
      "Sir Leicester Dedlock is only a baronet, but there is no mightier baronet than he." This opening line form the passage of Charles Dicken's Bleak House sets the stage for ridicule and mockery the narrator feels Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock deserve. Throughout the text there are subtle remarks of distaste hidden away in the sea of sarcastic praise. "He is an honourable, obstinate, truthful, high-spirited, intensely prejudiced, perfectly unreasonable man." In regards to Sir Dedlock's ego, the narrator states "His family is as old as the hills, and infinitely more respectable. He has a general opinion the the world might get on without, hills, but would be done up without Dedlocks."

Question 3
Prewrite:
"What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers."- Logan Pearsall Smith
Explain how the writer has hinted at, not stated, the meaning of the work.

• Shakespeare's plays, Hamlet and Macbeth most definitely comes to mind.
• Hamlet isn't just man vs. corrupt ruler but man vs. inaction as well. Hamlet knows what he wants to do throughout the play but has trouble with carrying them out.
• Also in Hamlet with the scene regarding the actors, Shakespeare ridicules his society for making children act and work.
• Macbeth is almost all hinted at for Shakespeare just tells the events as they happen and gives us, the readers, no real look inside Macbeth's mind and thought process like he does with Hamlet and with some of his other characters.

Intro:
      Many authors write only one dimensional novels, however an author like William Shakespeare writes multiple layers of depths into their works. In the plays Hamlet and Macbeth, both written by Shakespeare, there are themes that are hidden behind the text. One example of this is in Hamlet. On the surface Hamlet seems like a revenge story where the protagonist, being Hamlet himself, must decide the best course of action to achieve his revenge, which the story is in fact a revenge story. However, what you might not have seen is that Hamlet has decided on his course of action long before we, as the readers, know the details. In the "To be or not to be..." soliloquy we find evidence of this. Hamlet is asking for forgiveness for what his is about to do, not asking for guidance on what he should do. The theme is not Hamlet trying to find the right path, but is instead, Hamlet acting upon that path. Also, in  Hamlet Shakespeare ridicules the exploitation of children as actors in plays. Similarly, Macbeth isn't a play about a man who is guided by fate, but a man who likes what he hears then acts upon it.


Practice Test 2
Question 1

Prewrite:
Explain how Henry's language reflects his intent.

• Henry speaks to the French governor as a veteran of many wars. "Whiles yet the cool and temperate wind of grace O'erblows the filthy and contagious clouds of deadly murder, spoil, and villainy."(30-32)
• Henry's tone is dark, grim, and violent."Your naked infants spitted upon pikes,"
• He speaks with confidence that if the French governor chooses to fight they will be destroyed, only surrender will save them. "What say you? Will you yield, and this avoid? Or, guilty in defence, be thus destroy'd?"

Intro:

      "Your naked infants spitted upon pikes," This is just one of many grim lines Henry delivers to the French governor. In Henry V, by William Shakespeare, King Henry of England goes to war with France. In an attempt to bypass a battle with the people of Harfleur, Henry offered the towns people and their governor a chance to surrender. Henry speaks as a veteran of many wars. His tone grim and dark. Perhaps to scare the people of Harfleur. Needless to say, Henry admits that in a time of war and bloodshed, soldiers become savages, and thus uncontrollable. Henry offers a way to avoid this, but if they do not accept, there is nothing he can do for them and their fates sealed.

Question 2
Prewrite:
Analyze how the author's stylistic devices contribute to our understanding of the passage.

• The theme of prejudice and hate is strong throughout the passage
• repetition, imagery, short but strong sentences

Intro:
      Prejudices and hatreds have been sown into people's minds over hundreds of years. Morrison, in Beloved, looks at this injustice and expresses her views. The jungle of hatred and prejudice that has been planted into the souls of the Africans by the whites. The same jungle that spread into neighbors and even the planters themselves. Morrison uses such language of  strong, firm sentences of vivid imagery, as well as repetition, to convey her own thoughts on the matter at hand.

Question 3
Prewrite:
Discuss how irony and other literary techniques are employed throughout the piece to develop the meaning of the work.

• Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo
• Jean Valjean's relationship with Inspector Javert has elements of irony
• Jean Valjean's life is ironic 

Intro:
      Throughout all literary works, irony and other techniques play a key part in developing the meaning of the pieces. In the novel Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, irony is behind the steering wheel. Jean Valjean's character is the epitome of irony. He is an escaped convict who becomes the mayor of a city. Valjean has become a merciful and kind man, however when everything seems to be going perfectly his old prison guard becomes his new chief of police. Javert notices Valjean for who he really is and begins an investigation in to the mayor's past, upsetting Valjean's life and causing the plot of the novel to develop into something greater than it was.


1994 AP Exam

Question 1

Prewrite:
Show how the author dramatizes the young heroine's adventure.

• A White Heron, Sarah Orne Jewett
• vivid imagery, descriptive diction
• "It was like the main-mast to the voyaging earth;"
• changing point of view from Sylvia to the tree (line 43) and back again (line 55)

Intro:
      Sylvia is a little girl with a big ambition. It may just be to climb a large tree, but author Sarah Jewett makes it seem like Sylvia is on an epic voyage to climb to the heavens and beyond. Jewett uses vivid imagery and decisive diction to capture your imagination and create the Sylvia's journey. With descriptions such as "the sharp dry twigs caught and held her and scratched her like angry talons, the pitch made her thin little fingers clumsy and stiff as she went round and round the tree's great stem..." that lend to the dramatization of Sylvia's glorious adventure.

Question 2
Prewrite:
Contrast the speakers' views of Helen.

•  speaker1(Poe)-admires Helen's beauty more than "The weary, way-worn wanderer bore to his own native shore.", he sees her as immortal and unchanging as a statue.He speaks for himself.
• speaker2(H.D.)-resents Helen for her facade of false smiles, however she cannot deny her beauty. She speaks for Greece as a whole.

Intro:
      Helen was said to the most beautiful woman in the whole world. A war was started over her, two kings fighting for her to be by his side. Her legend lives on today because of poets like H.D. and Edgar Allan Poe for writing their own interpretation of her beauty. Poe's poem, To Helen, describes Helen's beauty as immortal and unchanging. Meanwhile, H.D.'s poem, Helen, has a different taste to it. H.D.'s speaker is resentful saying all of Greece hates the still eyes in the white face,...remembering past enchantment and past ills." Poe revels in Helen's beauty, while H.D. is wary of it. Both, however, accept that she is beautiful beyond imagination.

Question 3
Prewrite:
Show how such a character, who appears briefly, functions in the work.

•  Hamlet, William Shakespeare
• Fortinbras, prince of Norway, constant pressure on Claudius since he is attack the kingdom
• Ghost of Hamlet's Father, causes Hamlet to want revenge and sets the stage for the plot of the play

Intro:
      There are many different types of characters in literary works. There is the protagonist and antagonist, there are comical relief  and side kicks. Those who are there to move the story along and develop themes, and those who are just there. However, there are some characters who only appear once or twice but have a large impact on the development of the piece. The ghost of Hamlet's father is one such character. He only shows up once at the beginning of the play and then three more time afterwards, but he incites Hamlet to want revenge and he triggers the plot of the play.