Curated OER
Exploring Race Through Literature
Provide your class with an opportunity to examine race through a variety of literary works. They read and analyze a chosen poem, interview, speech, or story describing race in America. They then use key words from the original work to...
College Board
2010 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
Three free-response prompts provide scholars an opportunity to practice for the AP® English Literature Composition exam. Using released prompts from the 2010 free-response section, writers craft an essay about the experiences of a...
College Board
2009 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
Scholars select a novel or play and craft an essay to discuss what the symbol reveals about the characters or theme. Writers also analyze a passage and a poem to determine how the authors use literary elements to relay their messages.
Curated OER
"Shooting An Elephant": George Orwell's Essay on His Life in Burma
High school readers examine George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" for examples of symbolism, metaphor, connotation, and irony. They analyze how these literary tools convey the writer's main point and contribute to the persuasive...
EngageNY
Qualities of a Strong Literary Argument Essay
One activity, two essays, and one central theme: qualities of an argument essay. Here, scholars first describe the qualities of an argument essay regarding Bud's rules to live by from the novel Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis....
Curated OER
Analyzing Literature Through Book Projects
Here are ideas for book projects to help students analyze literature.
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 4: Proverbs
"Eneke the bird says since men have learnt to shoot without missing, he has learnt to fly without perching." As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members read Paul Hernadi and Francis Steen's essay, "The Tropical Landscapes...
Prestwick House
Analyzing Multiple Interpretations of Literature
There is a reason why an Oscar is given each year for the Best Adaptation Screenplay. Adaptations are the focus of an exercise that asks class members to compare a work of literature with a least one adaptation of the work into a...
College Board
2007 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
Scholars use the 2007 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions to write essays examining how a character's tie to the past affects the story. The resource also requires pupils to write essays comparing two related...
College Board
2009 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B
Do you have a political agenda? Some authors do. Scholars analyze a piece of work and determine how the author deals with a political or social issue. Responding to two other essay questions, writers create essays exploring how authors...
College Board
2002 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
Good or evil? Some characters never identify themselves as either. Scholars create essays in which they examine morally ambiguous characters. Writers also analyze and write essays about the use of poem titles and take a close look at the...
College Board
2002 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B
Is there a secret to keeping secrets? Scholars choose a character in a novel or play and analyze how the character keeps a secret. Writers also craft essays to reveal elements of poetry and the use of language in a passage. The...
College Board
2003 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
The released 2003 AP® exam asks scholars to read and respond to two poems about the love god Eros. They also analyze the characterization and narrative in The Other Paris. A final essay question requires pupils to choose a novel or play...
College Board
2017 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
Music brings back a memory. One prompt from the 2017 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions asks scholars to read a poem and write essays analyzing the relationship between music and the author's memories. Two...
Education Oasis
Creative Writing Unit: Analyzing, Interpreting, Discussing and Writing Various Genres of African-American Literature
A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...
Curated OER
Analyzing Literature via Literature Circles
Introduce literature circles with Roland Smith's novels. Your seventh graders will see the activity modeled as you read The Three Little Pigs together and apply the format to a Roland Smith novel of their choice. The lesson includes...
ReadWriteThink
Analyzing Famous Speeches as Arguments
A speaker, a message, an audience. After analyzing these elements in Queen Elizabeth's speech to the troops at Tilbury, groups analyze how other speakers use an awareness of events, and their audience to craft their arguments....
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 1: Unit Introduction
To launch a unit study of the concept of diversity in World Literature, class members compare Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" and Richard Rodriguez's essay, "The Chinese in All of...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Analyzing a New Narrative about a Natural Disaster, Part II
See it through my eyes. Scholars complete mid-unit assessment part II by writing an essay describing how the narrator's point of view influences how the story is told in the text In the Middle of the Storm. Pupils also complete a...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 8: Nonfiction Close Reading
As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a close reading of a section of Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Jigsaw groups then compare the voice in the essay...
College Board
2004 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
Have you ever felt left in the dark? Scholars write essays after analyzing two poems pertaining to night and darkness. Pupils also read a passage and write an essay discussing the author's depiction of characters. A third essay allows...
College Board
2016 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
Have you ever met a wolf in disguise? The last essay question in the 2016 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response exam asks writers to think of deceitful characters and create essays describing why they carried out...
College Board
2015 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
It is a cruel world. Scholars create essays about a piece of work that describes what cruelty reveals about a character. A prompt from the 2015 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions also contains two other essay...
College Board
2014 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
How much would you give up for others? The last prompt in 2014 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions asks scholars to write essays about a character in a piece of work that has sacrificed and what the...