1987 AP exam notes (AP English)

*Multiple Choice

-the first selection wasn't that difficult to understand if you read carefully. Like any other selection on other AP tests.

-Both poems were really hard for me to understand. I feel like if I knew the poetry terms better, I could've have gotten more questions right.

-Since the poems required me to REALLY understand the poem in order to answer the questions correctly, I had to re-read the poems again and that was time consuming. Since I was timing myself, I had to guess in the last few questions which I didn't really do well in.

*Essays

-even though I did not fully understand the first selection, I used Pathos and dialogue as the techniques Eliot used and since I am comfortable with these two, I was able to make a coherent essay in the 35 minutes the prompt said.  

-For the second essay, I choose The Grapes of Wrath. I read this book last year and the details weren't that clear to me. Even though I managed to write a 4 paragraph essay on this one, I feel like I could improve it.

-for both essays I have more than enough time to finish. That’s why I feel like I did a poor job on them. 

The essays I analyzed belong to Marisol Duarte.
1987 essay Evaluations
Essay 1:
-gives examples of devices used to convey the author's views
-quotes the text
-the analysis is superficial
-I would give this a 4-5 because it can be understood but it does not analyze the text deeply

Essay 2:
-does not specify what change is being promoted
-gives examples of changes, but they were not included in the introductory paragraph
-does not analyze the text deeply
-the essay does not show deep understanding of the message the book was portraying
-I would give this essay a 4.

MONTAIGNE/AUSTEN ESSAY (AP English)

 In his story, "Good Old Neon", David Foster Wallace says, “What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant.” Jane Austen, author of Pride and Prejudice supports this statement through her writing style while the Essays of Michel De Montaigne by Michel De Montaigne somewhat contradicts them.  Even though Pride and Prejudice and Essays of Michel De Montaigne both have some things in common, both of them do not support Wallace’s saying.

In his quote, Wallace is saying that the thoughts and opinions of someone are not represented in any of their works because their minds are too complex to be put down into writing. In Essays of Michel De Montaigne, the reader can read exactly what Montaigne thinks about a subject, like thumbs, liars, memorization, sorrow, fear, and cowardice because his writing is done through a first person point of view. Even though Montaigne’s thoughts are not organized in a way that is easily followed, the reader can pinpoint his ideas on a given subject. 

In Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, the reader can only speculate what Austen thinks about a subject. Even though her novel has an organized structure, her thoughts are implied through the third person narration of the novel. Since Pride and Prejudice is a work of fiction, Jane Austin has the ability to presents themes that the reader can have an opinion on without stating her views directly. By writing this way, Austen supports Wallace’s saying.

Even though both works do not support Wallace’s statement, Austen and Montaigne have some similarities. The biggest similarity between them is that they show similar messages. A message that both of them portray is that “the profit of one man is the damage of another.” (Montaigne Ch. XXI) In Pride and Prejudice this is shown when Mr. Collins entailment leaves the Bennet women financially unprotected once Mr. Bennet dies.  Another common massage is that “our mind hinders itself.” (Montaigne Ch. XIV) This is showed in Pride and Prejudice when Darcy’s “mind” (prejudice) prevents Elizabeth to accept his proposal.

In the story “Good Old Neon”, David Foster Wallace says that people cannot write down their thoughts and opinions because their minds are too complex. However, The Essays of Michel De Montaigne contradicts this because in his writing, Montaigne states his opinions on diverse topics such as cowardice, thumbs, liars, memorization, sorrow, and fear. On the other hand, Pride and Prejudice supports this because the author does not state her opinion directly through the novel.