AP Lit Blog

Reflection: In the Open Question Benchmark Essay, I wrote about my Greek tragedy from my summer reading, Oedipus Rex(Oedipus Tyrannus). We were asked to analyze the origins that shaped our character and their relationships, and how these origins contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole. If I were to score my own essay, I would score it a 7 , because I articulated the complexities of the piece when analyzing Oedipus’s behavior, and was able to develop an organized, well-written response with consistent control of language that followed through the shifts of Oedipus’s character. However, I think the strength and language used in the evidence could’ve have been more complex and defined. The analysis of the narrator’s attitude was insightful and showed understanding, however, so I was still pretty confident to give myself a 7. The grade received from Mrs. Wilson was an 8 . In her feedback, she noted that it was nicely written, and seemed to especially like the mentions of comp...

For the Star Wars Force Awakens Party, I elected not to dress in character and only bring in a dessert dish. I choose to make lightsabers out of pretzels, titled "May the Force Destroy You". To make this, I melted white chocolate and dyed it with colors to represent the different lightsaber colors that the Jedi's have used throughout the Star Wars series: blue, red, green, and yellow. I then dipped a pretzel rod into the chocolate and let it harden to create the lightsaber. Then, I mixed together some chocolate(dyed bright red) with black icing and milk to create a dark brown, liquidly drizzle, that I proceeded to splatter on the pretzels. The drizzle is the color of dried blood, and represents the violence and destruction that the lightsabers can bring; it highlights that they aren't just symbols of a Jedi's powers, but are also deadly weapons that they use to fight with. In the Star Wars realm, different color lightsabers were said to have diff...

Reflection: In the Prose Benchmark Essay, we were given a passage from an 1852 Nathaniel Hawthorne novel about Blithedale, a rural living community. We were asked to analyze the attitude of the narrator towards Zenobia as they part ways. If I were to score my own essay, I would score it a 5 , because although I offered a very reasonable analysis of the narrator’s attitude, I wasn’t able to fully develop the analysis into an organized, well-written response with consistent control of language. I felt that my response was too repetitive, and I would want to improve the strength and language used in the evidence. The analysis of the narrator’s attitude was insightful and showed understanding, however, I feel as though my essays wasn’t quite clear enough in its language and organization to be scored a 6. The grade received from Mrs. Wilson was a 7 . In her feedback, she agreed with my interpretation and liked many of my points throughout. As the writer scoring my own essay, I kn...

Original Song Lyrics: "Immortals" by Fall Out Boy They say we are what we are, But we don't have to be, I'm bad behavior but I do it in the best way, I'll be the watcher (watcher) of the eternal flame, I'll be the guard dog of all your favorite dreams, (Ooh) I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass (glass, glass) (Ooh) I try to picture me without you but I can't 'Cause we could be immortals, immortals Just not for long, for long, And live with me forever now, You pull the blackout curtains down, Just not for long, for long, We could be immor- immortals, Immor- immortals, Immor- immortals, Immor- immortals, Sometimes the only pay off for having any faith, Is when it's tested again and again everyday, I'm still comparing your past to my future, It might be your wound but they're my sutures, (Ooh) I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass (glass, glass) (Ooh) I try to ...

Reflection: In the first Benchmark Poetry Essay, we were analyzing the poem, "For That He Looked Not Upon Her" by George Gascoigne. If I were to grade my own essay, I would score myself a 3 , because I wasn't able to interpret the poem correctly, and that resulted in an incorrect analysis. The writing itself I felt was solid and well-organized, which is why I felt like my essay could be a 3 and not a 2, but because I significantly misread the prompt, I can't classify my analysis as adequate and can't give it a higher score. The grade I received from Mrs. Wilson was a 4 . The feedback received was that my essay contained a good academic tone and insightful understanding of the speaker's perspective. I think that I was able to provide a high level of analysis and deep thinking, but struggled to grasp the figurative meaning of the poem and made the mistake of latching too heavily on the literal meaning. I believe that had I interpreted the meaning correctl...