AP Literature Language Essay

1. AP Literature Language Essay

2. Focus is on the craft of writing • It begs the question, why did the author choose to write their piece that way and the effect it has on the reader.

3. Examine the following passage by Edgar Allen Poe. Then write an essay that defines and discusses the effect of the selection on the reader. Pay particular attention to how the writer uses syntax, diction, imagery, tone, and argument to produce that effect. • For the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Mad indeed would I be to expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their own evidence. Yet, mad am I not -- and very surely do I not dream. But to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburthen my soul. My immediate purpose is to place before the world, plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events. In their consequences, these events have terrified - have tortured - have destroyed me. Yet I will not attempt to expound them. To me, they have presented little but Horror - to many they will seem less terrible than barroques. Hereafter, perhaps, some intellect may be found which will reduce my phantasm to the common-place - some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable than my own, which will perceive, in the circumstances I detail with awe, nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects.

4. Syntax

5. Parallel Structure • Parallel structure means using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. • This can happen at the word, phrase, or clause level. The usual way to join parallel structures is with the use of coordinating conjunctions such as "and" or "or."

6. Example 1 • Not Parallel: • Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride a bicycle. • Parallel: • Mary likes hiking, swimming, and riding a bicycle. • Example 2 • Not Parallel: • The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and in a detailed manner. • Parallel: • The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and thoroughly.

7. Antithesis • Antithesis - contrary ideas expressed in a balanced sentence. It is the juxtaposition of two words, phrases, clauses, or sentences contrasted or opposed in meaning in such a way as to give emphasis to their contrasting ideas and give the effect of balance. • An example of antithesis is found in the following portion of Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address"; notice the opposition between the verbs "remember" and "forget" and the phrases "what we say" and "what they did": "The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

8. Conceit – A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. A conceit displays intellectual cleverness as a result of the unusual comparison being made.

9. Diction • 1. Monosyllabic or Polysyllabic- The higher the ratio of polysyllabic words the more difficult the content. • 2. Word type – Colloquial (slang), Informal (conversational) or old-fashioned • 3. Denotative (containing exact meaning) e.g. dress or Connotative (containing suggested meaning) e.g. gown. • 4. Concrete (specific) or Abstract (general) • 5. Euphonic (pleasant sounding) e.g. butterfly or Cacophonic (harsh sounding) e.g. pus.