Don't Be Reductive

Today was another session with one of my current tutees. The primary reason students come to me is for help in learning how to write an essay for the AP English Literature exam.No one who isn't part of the planning process and being paid by the College Board knows what will be on the exam in the coming school year, but there are some basic writing and critical thinking skills that help regardless of what they are asked. The essays are expected to be formal, critical essays examining a writer's skill at using the elements of language. The prompt the student worked on today was directed to a specific short story but it was so basic it became a model for how to read the prompt, think about what was asked, respond fully and elegantly. All the question asked was, "How does the author use the elements of language to characterize the protagonist?" Characterization is a common topic for AP English Literature essays so understanding the uses and purposes of characterization is an important skill.

All these students who come to me want the highest score possible, that elusive "5". The students are bright but they specialize in math and science with little interest or exposure to literature and far too little exposure to critical thinking skills applied to language arts or other areas of the humanities. So when the question asked looks so simple, they think that answering in a reductive fashion will work. "Imagery brings pictures to the reader's mind." "Characterization makes the characters more real so readers understand them." Well that sort of answer just won't score well. Simply telling the readers that characterization amplifies meaning may answer the basic question but the higher scoring essays need more. So if imagery is an important literary element, how the reader reacts and responds to the images is a deeper answer than simply that pictures develop in the reader's mind.

So don't let your students be reductive in their responses to the prompts. Encourage them to talk about what they read for class. Do you like the characters? Why? Why does the writer want you to like this character? How does liking the character add to the message the writing implies? If you don't like the character why might the writer want that reaction? How does the imagery in the passage add to the tone of the passage? You get the idea. It isn't just about knowing the literary elements.