{"id":8185,"date":"2017-01-11t11:03:19","date_gmt":"2017-01-11t19:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/?p=8185"},"modified":"2017-01-04t22:04:21","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05t06:04:21","slug":"read-ap-literature-composition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/read-ap-literature-composition\/","title":{"rendered":"how to \u2018read\u2019 for ap english literature"},"content":{"rendered":"

story time, ap english literature magooshers. so i was sipping my coffee this morning, wondering what to write about next. a little googling later i came across an intriguing article:\u00a0news flash: ap english literature is killing your love of reading.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\"how
rip love of reading. we hardly knew ye.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

if you\u2019re taking ap english literature and composition<\/a> (as i did some years ago), i have no doubt that there are a few reading assignments that you consider blah at best. there are other assignments that you don’t get at all.\u00a0that being said, i hope you understand the difference between reading for class and reading for enjoyment\/personal fulfillment. no? mr. b to the rescue! over the next few paragraphs, i\u2019ll teach you how to \u2018read\u2019 for ap english literature. if your ap literature teacher has gone over some (or all) of this with you, consider this article good review.<\/p>\n

there are also some jokes about raw chicken, barbie’s boyfriend, and little boats.<\/p>\n

with all that said, let\u2019s get down to business.<\/p>\n

breaking down literature<\/h2>\n

to start us off, here\u2019s an analogy. you\u2019re flipping through the channels one day, and you find a cooking show where celebrity chef gordon ramsay is teaching some hapless chefs how to break down a raw chicken<\/a>. in less than a minute, gordon turns said chicken into two breasts, two legs and two thighs. every cut is precise, and no chicken bits are left over.<\/p>\n

the main skill when \u2018reading\u2019 in ap english literature is very similar to breaking down a chicken. but instead of fowl, we\u2019re talking about your reading assignments. here\u2019s what this all means: every new piece of literature is a mission to break it down into its characters, plot, historical context, literary devices, etc. maybe you\u2019re not a fast reader (that\u2019s okay), but to analyze literature, you need to know how to break it down.<\/p>\n

how do you learn how to break down literature? well, hopefully, you have a few skills from your last three years taking high school english. also, here\u2019s some oft said, but important advice: pay attention to what your teacher has to say. it\u2019s likely that in the early weeks of ap english literature, your teacher will be more hands on with his or her instruction. that means pointing out the different parts of the literature you read in class. if you pay attention, and ask questions when necessary, you should be able to fill up your ‘reading’ toolbox. with a little practice you\u2019ll soon be able to break down everything from things fall apart <\/em>to hamlet.<\/em><\/p>\n

now, the style of reading i\u2019ve talked about in this section is what the author of the linked article was railing against. i\u2019m not going to lie: it\u2019s tedious, and sometimes takes a lot of work. yet it\u2019s the kind of reading you need to know how to do if you want to succeed on the ap english literature exam<\/a>.<\/p>\n

it\u2019s also the kind of reading you need to know how to do if you ever want to become an author. just sayin\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\"how
if you learn nothing else from this article, remember that everything you read for ap english literature is raw chicken.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

so now that we have the nuts and bolts of \u2018reading\u2019 out of the way, i want to discuss some specifics that should help make ap english literature a much smoother experience.<\/p>\n

the story is only half of it<\/h2>\n

there are two stories to everything you read in ap english literature. for example, let\u2019s consider hemingway\u2019s novel the sun also rises<\/em>. yes, the story is about the lives of american ex-pats in paris during the 1920s. they drink a lot, go fishing, see some bullfights, and the narrator has an unfortunate resemblance to a ken doll.<\/p>\n

but the story is only half of it. to successfully answer questions on the ap exam (especially free response questions), you need to understand the historical context of the novel. in the case of the sun also rises,<\/em> the story and characters reflect hemingway\u2019s time living in paris with other members of the lost generation yada yada yada.<\/p>\n

as your class explores new eras of literature, make sure to pack away a few historical details along with the literature itself. they will come in handy on the ap exam. trust me.<\/p>\n

what does it all mean?<\/h2>\n

interpretation is tricky business. to show you what i mean, here\u2019s another example involving hemingway. (can you tell i like reading his stuff?) so when i took ap english literature, we read hemingway\u2019s short story, \u201chills like white elephants\u201d. the basic plot involves two lovers in spain waiting for a train that will take them to an abortion doctor. i remember the class having a looonnnggg argument about what the \u2018white elephants\u2019 really were. someone had the opinion that hemingway chose the phrase because the unborn child was the \u2018elephant in the room.\u2019<\/p>\n

a long time ago someone else had the same thought, and asked hemingway what the title really meant. hemingway\u2019s reply (my paraphrase): \u201chave you ever been to spain? that\u2019s what the hills look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

even though we know what hemingway meant, there is still the all-important concept of death of the author<\/a>. in short, we, as readers, have the authority to come to different conclusions about a piece of literature. your teacher (and the college board) knows this. that\u2019s why when you\u2019re completing class assignments, it\u2019s okay to form unique opinions just as long as you can back them up with textual evidence and sound reasoning. in fact, this skill will help you the most when it comes to section ii of the ap exam.<\/p>\n

besides \u201chills like white elephants,\u201d the only other \u2018for sure\u2019 interpretation of literature that i know of is that the stanzas in hardy\u2019s \u201cthe convergence of the twain\u201d<\/a> are supposed to look like little boats. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\n
\"how
lil’ tuggy is on the lookout for icebergs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

final thoughts<\/h2>\n

well, magooshers, i hope this article has armed you with a few valuable ‘reading’ skills. besides helping you in ap literature, they’ll come in handy if you ever take a literature class in college. besides that, try not to use them when you read andy weir’s next novel. (i can’t wait!)<\/p>\n

till next time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

reading and ‘reading for ap literature’ are two very different things. in this article, learn how to ‘read’ for ap literature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":154,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[24915],"class_list":["post-8185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ap"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nhow to \u2018read\u2019 for ap english literature - magoosh blog | high school<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"reading and 'reading for ap literature' are two very different things. in this article, learn how to 'read' for ap literature.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/read-ap-literature-composition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"how to \u2018read\u2019 for ap english literature\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"reading and 'reading for ap literature' are two very different things. in this article, learn how to 'read' for ap literature.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/read-ap-literature-composition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"magoosh blog | high school\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-11t19:03:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-05t06:04:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2016\/12\/135780-tombstone-for-rent.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"thomas broderick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"thomas broderick\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"article\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/read-ap-literature-composition\/#article\",\"ispartof\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/read-ap-literature-composition\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"thomas broderick\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/person\/0a42ebf95f4c3aaf08c7f83b3ca64abe\"},\"headline\":\"how to \u2018read\u2019 for ap english literature\",\"datepublished\":\"2017-01-11t19:03:19+00:00\",\"datemodified\":\"2017-01-05t06:04:21+00:00\",\"mainentityofpage\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/read-ap-literature-composition\/\"},\"wordcount\":1107,\"commentcount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#organization\"},\"articlesection\":[\"ap\"],\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"commentaction\",\"name\":\"comment\",\"target\":[\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/read-ap-literature-composition\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"webpage\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/read-ap-literature-composition\/\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/ap\/read-ap-literature-composition\/\",\"name\":\"how to \u2018read\u2019 for ap english literature - 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