Deconstructing the
AP Prompt
(AP stands for “Answer the
Prompt!”)

Prompts consist of three parts:
Background
Explicit directions
Implicit directions.
Background
I know it’s a
book.
Subject
Subject
Speaker
In the following passage from The Great Influenza,
an account of the 1918 flu epidemic, author John M.
Barry writes about scientists and their research.
Read the passage carefully. Then in a well-written
essay, analyze how Barry uses rhetorical strategies
to characterize scientific research.
Background:
If audience and occasion aren’t described in the
prompt at the top, they will be located in the footnote at
the bottom right of the essay.
In the following passage from The Great Influenza,
an account of the 1918 flu epidemic, author John M.
Barry writes about scientists and their research.
Gives
Read the passage carefully. Then in a well-written
Hints at the
reference to
essay,
analyze
how
Barry
uses
rhetorical
strategies
audience.
the time.
to characterize scientific research.
The American Scholar, Spring 1999
Explicit Instructions:
The word EXPLICIT means that you are told directly
what to do.
In the following passage from The Great Influenza,
an account of the 1918 flu epidemic, author John M.
Barry writes about scientists and their research.
Read the passage carefully. Then in a well-written
essay, analyze how Barry uses rhetorical strategies
to characterize scientific research.
Explicit Instructions:
Notice that the prompt asks you
The word EXPLICIT means
that you are told directly
HOW the piece is written, not
what to do.
WHAT the piece is saying. You
do not need to summarize the
essay.from
A summary
does notInfluenza,
passage
The Great
Answer the Prompt.
In the following
an account of the 1918 flu epidemic, author John M.
Barry writes about scientists and their research.
Read the passage carefully. Then in a well-written
essay, analyze HOW Barry uses rhetorical strategies
to characterize scientific research.
Implicit Instructions: Where the
fun starts.
IMPLICIT means that the directions are implied.
They are not directly stated, however you must still
address this unstated expectation.
In the following passage from The Great Influenza,
an account of the 1918 flu epidemic, author John
M. Barry writes about scientists and their
research. Read the passage carefully. Then in a
well-written essay, analyze how Barry uses
rhetorical strategies to characterize scientific
research.
Purpose revealed in Implicit
instructions:
At least a portion of Barry’s purpose is mentioned.
In the following passage from The Great Influenza,
an account of the 1918 flu epidemic, author John M.
Purpose
Barry writes about scientists and their research.
Read the passage carefully. Then in a well-written
essay, analyze how Barry uses rhetorical strategies
to characterize scientific research.
The prompt is IMPLYING that you will describe what
YOU have decided is Barry’s view of scientific
research, what is the author’s argument.
Most prompts IMPLY that you will state what YOU
believe is the author’s ARGUMENT. In this case you
must decide for yourself, based on the text, what
idea Barry has (and wants the reader to have) of
scientific research
Then write an essay in which you analyze how uses
rhetorical strategies to characterize scientific
research.
What should you do?




Read all prompts carefully.
Find the verbs in the prompt. They will tell
you what you must do (explicit directions).
Find the IMPLICIT directions. What must
you figure out and explain on your own?
Decide what you think the author’s
argument is and then chart a PREWRITE.
Spend time Planning

You should try to suggest your answer to both
the Implicit and Explicit parts of the prompt in
your thesis. Ie., go ahead and say what the
author’s argument is. Hint, normally the text
suggests a multi-layered argument, meaning
your thesis could have words like “but,” “and,”
“while,” “however,” etc.

The rest of your essay provides EVIDENCE
of how the explicit DEVELOPS the implicit.