Does more power make you more important? Test takers ponder the question as the 2005 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B asks scholars to take a close look at power by writing thoughtful essays. Writers...

Home is where the heart is. The 2010 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B require scholars to think about what home really is. They look at how a character leaves home, yet home remains within the...

How was Edgar Allan Poe able to create "intriguing, memorable, and lasting literature"? To answer this question, learners analyze the syntax, diction, and characterizations in Poe's poems and short stories and compare the impact of these...

Working in groups, young historians review a war poem written by Stephen Crane. After reviewing the poem, they present an oral interpretation of the poem and hold a panel discussion about their analysis. The panel is made up of five or...

Feeling the pressure to confirm is something any adolescent can relate to. Explore an essential theme with a response to literature assessment that prompts learners to identify main ideas with evidence and supporting details.

Dazai Osamu’s short story, “A Sound of Hammering” is the focus of a three-day investigation of modern Japanese literature and life in post-World War II Japan. The events in Osamu’s story mirror those in his own life, and give a...

Encourage kids to think deeply about what they are reading with five thought-provoking questions about one passage. After choosing a passage that is intriguing or confusing to them, learners write a summary, explain what they like or...

A good prompt is hard to find, especially ones that encourage application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of a text. Help is here in the form of a prompt list for George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four that offers essay topics that...

Though this book report form is labeled Siddhartha, the multiple-page format would work for any novel you are reading in class. Complete with a reading schedule, a summary page, a list of generic literature response questions, and a list...

Explore Inez Haynes Gillmore's The Native Son with this thorough and engaging book report form. A reading schedule provides the opportunity to assign outside reading, and the other reading comprehension lessons could be...

Complete with a reading schedule, literature question page, and supplementary list of literary activities, this book report form on Moby Dick would be an good resource for your junior high or high school class. The guide includes...

Offering several reading comprehension activities, such as a character map and a plot flow chart, this book report form will help your class through Mark Twain's Prince and the Pauper. The activities in the lesson lend well to...

Historical fiction can be a valuable asset when learning about the past. Integrate several novels written about the Civil War into your social studies unit, with groups of four working collaboratively to comprehend the novel from...

You could spend a full day discussing The Phantom of the Opera and not scratch the surface, but a set of lessons about the literary elements and themes of the musical production is a great start. Young thespians build upon the...

It is not about where you are going, but the journey to get there. Scholars choose a play or novel in which a character takes a journey. They then create essays describing what the journey meant to the overall piece of work. Learners...

Does a love for reading begin early in life? Scholars write essays using a passage from Seamus Deane in which he wrote about his childhood experiences with reading and books. They also create essays that focus on betrayal and elements in...

Ever wondered what your dog is thinking? Scholars take a close look at two poems written through the eyes of animals and then create essays analyzing each author's technique. Pupils also read a passage to write about the literary...

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...

It's all in the technique. Authors use many techniques to express themselves using writing. Two of the three essay questions require scholars to analyze the literary devices used by the authors and write essays about how these...

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...

Ever felt stuck in the middle? Some characters do. Scholars choose a novel or play and write essays describing how a character is stuck between cultures. Writers also analyze the techniques used in a passage from We Were the Mulvaneys...

Is there an art to dying? Scholars write essays describing how a death scene contributes to a novel or play. They also write essays analyzing poetic techniques an author uses and literary elements they see in a passage. Writers create...

If your language arts learners have a hard time determining the universal theme of a written work, use a straightforward worksheet to help them find it. After reviewing a list of common themes, kids note the title, character, plot, point...

One of the Common Core standards requires learners to make connections between literature or media of the past and the present. Provided here, are key elements found in medieval poetry and literature that are connected to several more...