I just finished reading your first full-blown style analysis essay. I am tickled–really–with your progress thus far. I know you’re all feeling a bit anxious about writing a full analysis essay in forty minutes. Let’s try to alleviate some of your misgivings.

Flash back with me fifteen class days… back to the first day when I handed you that Gatsby style analysis essay prompt. I still remember it well: the shocked faces, the hesitant sighs, the bewildered looks, looks that betrayed your complete ignorance of what, even, the prompt was asking you to do.

Now, come back to class day #16–October 2. I hand you a new prompt. I still see shocked faces, I still hear hesitant sighs, I still behold bewildered looks. What’s the difference? You understand exactly what the prompt is asking you to do; before you didn’t have a clue what “rhetorical devices” are. You know exactly how to tackle the essay; before you didn’t know what elements encompass an author’s style. You may still struggle to grapple the full essence of the passage, to cultivate the pearls you can polish and hand to your reader. But hey–it’s AP; you’re supposed to have to dig long, hard, and deep. The plowing will become easier and the ground seem more fertile as you become more and more adept at reading with a critical eye—at seeing the layers.

Only sixteen classes into the course—you’re ALL doing great!

Be sure to check out Megan’s analysis of the Queen Elizabeth I speech.