INDEPENDENT READING
. Wednesday’s
log: What’s the title of your book? What is the significance of this title?
Example: The title The Goldfinch represents the name of a famous painting the main
character has stolen from an art museum when the museum is bombed during a
terrorist attack. It’s significant because Theo spends twenty years of his life feeling
guilty but not knowing how to return the painting without getting arrested. I think the
tiny yellow goldfinch, the subject of the painting, may also be symbolic, but I’m not sure
yet how.
You may add this week’s logs to the last 4 that you have not turned in yet:
 What’s an emerging symbol or motif in your book? Form a hypothesis about its significance.
 What’s something surprising your character has done? To what gain or loss?
•
When has your character done something for which he/she feels guilty? Describe the situation and explain how this
guilt affected them. If your character carries no guilt, think of another character in literature you can write about
today.
•
A foil character is one who opposes the main character and keeps him/her from achieving a goal. Make a t-chart and
on 1 side list dominant character traits of the main character and on the other side list traits of a foil character in your
novel
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Homecoming days next week
Monday: PJ Day
Tuesday: Zombie Day
Wednesday: Princess/superhero day
Thursday: Toga Day
Friday: Black out Day
Powder Puff game Friday, Oct. 16 3:30 $3
Halloween in the Halls: Monday, Oct. 26
WHAT THE LIT AND COMP
TEST LOOKS LIKE
3 hours long with two parts
•
55-60 multiple choice questions
45% of your grade
•
3 free response questions
55% of your grade
MULTIPLE CHOICE SECTION
• 1 hour long
• 4-5 passages from poetry, drama, fiction, and,
occasionally, nonfiction
• each piece followed by 12-15 questions
SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE
QUESTION
The tone in this poem is one of
a)condescension and contempt
b)respect and admiration
c)jealousy and envy
d)deference and humility
e)wistfulness and nostalgia
FREE RESPONSE SECTION
• 2 hours long
• 3 essays (40 minutes each)
 2 on a specific passage or poem that is provided
1 is open-ended and allows you to select the work of
literature and write to a designated prompt
SAMPLE FREE RESPONSE QUESTION
Where passage is provided:
This is a selection from the Preface of an early British
novel. Read the passage carefully. In a wellorganized essay discuss how the author’s calculating
style attempts to manipulate the reader’s curiosity in
order to lure him or her into reading the book itself.
Pay particular attention to such stylistic devices as
diction, imagery, and inference.
SAMPLE FREE RESPONSE QUESTION
Where passage is not provided
Often in literature, situations reach a “point of no return,” a point after which the
life of a character can never be the same. Choose a novel or play in which a
character reaches this point and write an essay explaining the situation and its
effect on the character, the other characters, and the theme. You may choose a
work from the list below or another novel or full-length play of literary merit.
As I Lay Dying
Othello
Catch-22
The Sound and the Fury
The Crucible
The Turn of the Screw
Hamlet
Gulliver’s Travels
1984
Jane Eyre
WHAT IT ALL COMES DOWN TO IS . . .
Learning to think like a
writer as you analyze
the author’s craft
(writing style).
PARTS OF A WHOLE
Analysis requires dividing the whole
into parts to better understand the
whole.
A mechanic has to understand how individual parts of a car work so he/she can
understand how they contribute to the overall performance of the car.
A writer has to understand how an author uses individual rhetorical devices so
he/she can understand how the author develops meaning.
THE KEY WORD IS PARTS
• This is a selection from the Preface of an early British
novel. Read the passage carefully. In a wellorganized essay discuss how the author’s calculating
style attempts to manipulate the reader’s curiosity in
order to lure him or her into reading the book itself.
Pay particular attention to such stylistic devices as
diction, imagery, and inference.
•Think small units in analysis
•With each small unit ask “What’s important about that unit?”
•At the end put it all back together for the meaning of the work
10 GO-TO RHETORICAL DEVICES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Tone
Diction (word choice)
Figurative language
Detail
Imagery
Point-of-view
Organization (of paragraphs,
sentences, stanzas, etc.)
8. Irony
9. Syntax (sentence structure)
10. Mood
1.
Create a mnemonic device
(memory tool)
2.
Write the sentence down
3 times
3.
Draw a picture that helps
you visualize your
sentence
4.
Recite your sentence to a
neighbor
Mnemonic Device
Too many fuzzy details don’t shape our instantly intelligent
plan.
DICTION
One of the most powerful elements of style
because it creates tone.
All words have denotations (dictionary
definitions)
Many words also have connotations (implied or
suggested meaning; the emotional tag that
accompanies a word)
DENOTATION VS CONNOTATION
PLUMP
OBESE
Denotation – overweight
Connotation –
plump – pleasantly fat, almost cutely overweight
Obese – often used by medical personnel, more technical or
scientific
ANALYZING DICTION
Copy the following sentence. Underline words that have strong connotative meaning.
The boy surveyed the class, congratulating himself for
snatching the highest grade on the test.
The boy surveyed the class, congratulating himself for
snatching the highest grade on the test.
ANALYZING DICTION
The boy surveyed the class, congratulating himself for snatching the
highest grade on the test.
Once you identify an author’s diction, you must analyze it. Your
analysis shows the reaction the reader has to the word choice
and the emotional response it brings out in the reader.
Example: The use of the word surveyed suggests the boy is looking
around as if he were a king looking down on lowly subjects or a
god on Mt. Olympus, sitting with other gods and looking down on
lesser mortals.
You try it!
Write a sentence of analysis for
the word snatching.
THE RATTLER
• Read “The Rattler” aloud.
• Circle, highlight, or underline any examples of diction or figurative
language that have a strong connotative effect on you.
• After reading, create a list of connotative words from the passage
and their suggested meanings.
ANALYZING DICTION
Word from “The
Rattler”
Savory
Copy this literary
term
Denotative Meaning
Pleasant
Connotative Meaning
Mouthwatering,
intense smell
Synesthesia – mixing of the senses; combination of
sensations
Examples: describing colors as “loud” or smells as “savory”
ANALYZING DICTION
•
Compare your connotative interpretations with other’s
interpretations.
•
Choose 1 of the words and write a sentence that embeds 1-2 pieces
of evidence from the test and one sentence of analysis about that
evidence. Speak about the word(s) in the context of what’s
happening in the text.
•
Example: The “savory odors” of the desert’s vegetation have helped establish a scene
of tranquility as the evening “light is thinning” and the air is cooling. The author’s use
of synesthesia to describe a smell that is so sweet it is mouthwatering, creates a sharp
contrast to the abrupt intrusion he/she is about to encounter.
Notice how the quote from the text is embedded or incorporated in your original
sentence. It doesn’t stand alone and it doesn’t include the phrase “the following
quote means . . . “
CREATING A “CHUNK”
OF EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS
Evidence: The “savory odors” of the desert’s vegetation have helped establish a
scene of tranquility as the evening “light is thinning” and the air is cooling.
Analysis: The author’s use of synesthesia to describe a smell that is so sweet it is
mouthwatering, creates a sharp contrast to the abrupt intrusion the narrator is
about to encounter.
Analysis: A second contrast can be found in the image of the thinning light, as the
dying day contrasts with the “blazing hours” of daylight in the desert.
Write a
2nd
sentence
of
analysis
about this
evidence
STRUCTURE FOR BODY PARAGRAPHS
IN A LITERARY ANALYSIS

Sentence 1: claim statement

Sentence 2: 1st piece of evidence – sentence that incorporates 2-3 words/ phrases from the
passage

Sentence 3: 1st piece of analysis for sentence 2

Sentence 4: 2nd piece of analysis for sentence 2

Sentence 5: 2nd piece of evidence – another sentence that incorporates 2-3 different
words/phrases from the passage

Sentence 6: 1st piece of analysis for sentence 5

Sentence 7: 2nd piece of analysis for sentence 5

Sentence 8: Concluding sentence
Claim statement
1st piece of
evidence that uses
2-3 words/phrases
from text
1st piece of
analysis
2nd piece of
evidence that uses
2-3 words/phrases
from text
1st piece of
analysis
2nd piece of
analysis
2nd piece of
analysis
Concluding
sentence
Structure for Body Paragraphs in a Literary Analysis
ANALYZING DICTION
 Write a 2nd sentence of evidence that incorporates 2-3
quotes from the passage “The Rattler.”
 Write 2 sentences of analysis that discuss the
reader’s response to this evidence.
This is your 2nd
evidence/analysis
“chunk”
TOPPING IT OFF AND WRAPPING IT UP
You now have 6 sentences of evidence and analysis
 Add a claim statement
 Add a concluding sentence
You will have an 8-sentence body
paragraph that analyzes diction!
SAMPLE STARTER AND CLOSER SENTENCES
Sample claim statement for a paragraph that analyzes diction:
The author’s diction heightens the power and force behind the snake as it
responds to the man and the man’s reluctance to take the life of the snake.
Sample concluding sentence for a paragraph that analyzes diction:
All involved recognize the strength of both the man and the almost-human snake,
but know that responsibility and duty to others make the killing necessary.