Mid-Term Essay Review
The following are the subheadings from the handout, “What AP Readers Long to See…” Please, delve into your midterm essays and identify and explain at least three items from each subcategory that would be relevant toeither essay as a suggestion for improvement. I have done a sample for you for each category. Do not worry about the “black pen” comment, or the fact that you used line numbers in parentheses, or the fact that you wrote a title. You can write in black pen on the exam; there is nothing explicitly wrong with the line numbers- they don’t want you to just write line numbers as a substitute for analysis; and the title (not underlined or quoted) may not be necessary on timed writes, but it is not wrong.
Structure & Composition
Suggestion #1- Prose- I just wrote one page because I spent so much time on the open essay, so I could not explain that the characterization of Mrs. Wilkinsis satirical.
Style
Suggestion#11- Prose- I wrote “to show” four times in this essay, and I should have analyzed the techniques directly by writing something like, “Squire Allworthy’s genuine regard for the tiny interloper with his gentle but persuasive grip supersedes Mrs. Wilkins ‘eloquence’ on the difference between ‘them’ and ‘us.’ Mr. Allworthy gives the order and the obsequious Mrs. Wilkins, who has enjoyed an “excellent place” as his servant, makes the easy decision to put aside her ‘scruples’ for which only a moment ago she had so vehemently argued.”
Focus – aka THE PROMPT
Suggestion#13- Prose- I discussed the syntax of the Fielding passage, but I did not relate the structure to the fact that Fielding was satirizing the hypocrisy of Mrs. Wilkins’ piety- I just mentioned the fact that it was a monologue consisting of a first-person, compound-complex rant.
Vocabulary & Word Choice
Suggestion#6- Prose- I misspelledSquire Allworthy and Mrs. Wilkins name, and they were in the prompt.