BIG IDEAS AND ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS AP English Literature and Composition
BIG IDEAS AND ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS 1. CHARACTER Characters in literature allow readers to study and explore a range of values, beliefs, assumptions, biases, and cultural norms represented by those characters. 2. SETTING Setting and the details associated with it not only depict a time and place, but also convey values associated with that setting. 3. STRUCTURE The arrangement of the parts and sections of a text, the relationship of the parts to each other, and the sequence in which the text reveals information are all structural choices made by a writer that contribute to the reader’s interpretation of a text.
4. NARRATION A narrator’s or speaker’s perspective controls the details and emphases that affect how readers experience and interpret a text. 5. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE Comparisons, representations, and associations shift meaning from the literal to the figurative and invite readers to interpret a text. 6. LITERARY ARGUMENTATION Readers establish and communicate their interpretations of literature through arguments supported by textual evidence.
Big Idea: Character ENDURING UNDERSTANDING Characters in literature allow readers to study and explore a range of values, beliefs, assumptions, biases, and cultural norms represented by those characters. Skill Category 1: Explain the function of character.
1.A Identify and describe what specific textual details reveal about a character, that character’s perspective, and that character’s motives. 1.B Explain the function of a character changing or remaining unchanged. 1.C Explain the function of contrasting characters. 1.D Describe how textual details reveal nuances and complexities in characters’ relationships with one another. 1.E Explain how a character’s own choices, actions, and speech reveal complexities in that character, and explain the function of those complexities.
Sample Character Questions for Frankenstein Using chapter 24 of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, have students examine the speech Victor Frankenstein gives to the sailors when they tell Robert Walton they would like to turn the ship around if the ice breaks up. (This speech begins: “Oh! Be men, or be more than men . . .”) Have students engage in a free-writing exercise for five minutes, considering the degree to which Victor’s speech reveals a change in his character. After the exercise, students should identify specific aspects of Victor’s character that may have changed and offer textual evidence to support their reasoning.
Inside the Mind
Big Idea: Setting ENDURING UNDERSTANDING Setting and the details associated with it not only depict a time and place, but also convey values associated with that setting. Skill Category 2: Explain the function of setting.
2.A Identify and describe specific textual details that convey or reveal a setting. 2.B Explain the function of setting in a narrative. 2.C Describe the relationship between a character and a setting.
Sample Setting Question for Frankenstein Ask students to generate a list of the various settings found in Shelley’s Frankenstein and identify—via student votes—what they believe are the four most significant settings in the novel. Students should then develop questions about these settings and engage in a Socratic Seminar to discuss such ideas as the setting’s relationship with other literary elements, how the setting affects readers’ experiences with the text, and how the setting contributes to meaning.
Big Idea: Structure ENDURING UNDERSTANDING The arrangement of the parts and sections of a text, the relationship of the parts to each other, and the sequence in which the text reveals information are all structural choices made by a writer that contribute to the reader’s interpretation of a text. Skill Category 3: Explain the function of plot and structure.
3.A Identify and describe how plot orders events in a narrative. 3.B Explain the function of a particular sequence of events in a plot. 3.C Explain the function of structure in a text. 3.D Explain the function of contrasts within a text. 3.E Explain the function of a significant event or related set of significant events in a plot. 3.F Explain the function of conflict in a text.
Sample Structure Questions for Frankenstein Shelley’s Frankenstein is filled with meaningful contrasts, such as Professors Krempe and Waldman, the laboratory and nature, light and dark, Clerval and Victor, Geneva and Inglostadt, etc. As students read Frankenstein, ask them to note in a double-entry journal the contrasts they encounter, noting the contrasts on the left side, and on the right side of the journal, asking inferential questions about how those contrasts emphasize ideas, traits, or values and contribute to meaning. Using Frankenstein, ask students to analyze the most significant event of the novel. Divide students into four or five groups. In their small groups, have them brainstorm a list of events and choose one event they consider to be the most significant. Then ask students to use textual evidence from the novel to develop an argument that declares the event to be the most significant in the novel. Finally, in an informal debate, have students present their arguments for their most significant event, using textual evidence as support for their reasoning.
Big Idea: Narration ENDURING UNDERSTANDING A narrator’s or speaker’s perspective controls the details and emphases that affect how readers experience and interpret a text. Skill Category 4: Explain the function of the narrator or speaker.
4.A Identify and describe the narrator or speaker of a text. 4.B Identify and explain the function of point of view in a narrative. 4.C Identify and describe details, diction, or syntax in a text that reveal a narrator’s or speaker’s perspective. 4.D Explain how a narrator’s reliability affects a narrative.
Sample Narration Questions for Frankenstein After students read chapters 11–16 of Shelley’s Frankenstein, which detail the creature’s account of events, divide students into small groups and assign a chapter to analyze. Have each group develop a series of questions that focus on the details the creature offers in his account. Have each group use its questions to facilitate a large group discussion that ultimately focuses on how the novel’s shift in point of view affects the creature’s characterization. Using the jigsaw strategy, have students analyze how Frankenstein offers three narrators, all of whom offer a first-person account of events in the novel. The “expert” groups should analyze the separate narrative accounts, and the base groups should discuss the experts’ findings. Then have the base groups explore the complexity of Walton relaying the entire account and Victor presenting his and the creature’s accounts to Walton.
Big Idea: Figurative Language ENDURING UNDERSTANDING Comparisons, representations, and associations shift meaning from the literal to the figurative and invite readers to interpret a text. Skill Category 5: Explain the function of word choice, imagery, and symbols. Skill Category 6: Explain the function of comparison.
Figurative Language Tropes and schemes are collectively known as figures of speech. The following is a short list of some of the most common figures of speech. I have selected figures that politicians and pundits use often--especially schemes of repetition and word order, which convey authority. Trope: The use of a word, phrase, or image in a way not intended by its normal signification. Scheme: A change in standard word order or pattern.
5.A Distinguish between the literal and figurative meanings of words and phrases. 5.B Explain the function of specific words and phrases in a text. 5.C Identify and explain the function of a symbol. 5.D Identify and explain the function of an image or imagery. 6.A Identify and explain the function of a simile. 6.B Identify and explain the function of a metaphor. 6.C Identify and explain the function of personification. 6.D Identify and explain the function of an allusion.
Sample Figurative Language Questions for Frankenstein After they’ve read Frankenstein, divide students into small groups. Have each group brainstorm what the creature symbolizes, analyzing the images, figurative language, tones, and thematic ideas to inform and support their interpretations. After developing ideas, each group should then use large poster paper and markers to create a visual that captures the creature’s symbolic function in Frankenstein. Write on the board the following allusions in Shelley’s Frankenstein: Adam, Dante, fallen angel, and Prometheus. Then ask students to work in small groups to consult online reference websites to gather further background information for each word. After students discuss their findings, they should examine the significance of these allusions in Frankenstein.
Big Idea: Literary Argumentation ENDURING UNDERSTANDING Readers establish and communicate their interpretations of literature through arguments supported by textual evidence. Skill Category 7: Develop textually substantiated arguments about interpretations of part of all of a text.
7.A Develop a paragraph that includes 1) a claim that requires defense with evidence from the text and 2) the evidence itself. 7.B Develop a thesis statement that conveys a defensible claim about an interpretation of literature and that may establish a line of reasoning. 7.C Develop commentary that establishes and explains relationships among textual evidence, the line of reasoning, and the thesis. 7.D Select and use relevant and sufficient evidence to both develop and support a line of reasoning. 7.E Demonstrate control over the elements of composition to communicate clearly.
Sample Literary Argumentation Question for Frankenstein Using Frankenstein, have students create a claim that argues whether Victor or the creature is the villain of the novel. Then ask them to develop a thesis statement that includes their claim and a clause or phrase that argues for the meaning conveyed by their chosen character being the villain rather than the other character. Students should add to their thesis statements a clause or phrase that previews their reasoning—the “why” of their interpretation.