IB Language A1, Parts 1 & 4/ AP English Literature and CompositionSummer Assignment

Pensacola High School Ms. Powers

epowers619@gmail.com (best way to reach me over the summer)

Students wishing to be a part of IB Language A1, Parts 1 & 4/AP English Literature and Composition next year are required to read two texts this summer. This course, as well as all of your IB courses, requires considerable commitments of time and effort. If you are not willing to put in the time and effort during the summer, you will have a bad start in the program. The summer assignment is designed to prepare you for the required work throughout the year, as well as in your senior year in Language A1, Part2 and 3 (yes, this course is spread out over two years).

DO NOTE THROW AWAY THIS PACKET! YOU WILL NEED TO BRING THIS PACKET WITH YOU THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. IT IS FULL OF VALUABLE INFORMATION WHICH YOU WILL NEED TO REFERENCE ALL YEAR.

Be ready to test on How to Read Literature Like a Professor after we review it during the first two or three weeks of school. Additionally, you will have to read The Poisonwood Bible, our first unit of Part 4 for IB Language A1. You MUST annotate the novel! The annotated novel is due at the end of the first week of school! If it is not in your class period tray by the end of that Friday it is a ZERO! No late work will be accepted! Have your annotation rubric inside your book. Have your name on the rubric AND your novel! No name means no grade. “If did it, then you should have put your name on it,” as Beyoncé once said—or something along those lines.

Table of Contents

Assignment List and Grading Point System

Assignment Description

Annotation Guide

“How to Mark a Book” Article

Text Annotation Scoring Rubric

Sample Critical Literary Analysis Paper

Critical Literary Analysis Scoring Rubric (this is based off of the AP writing response rubric)

Assignment List and Grading Percentages

Read and study How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. You will need to purchase the text. Yes, this can be time consuming, but only if you make it so. Do not procrastinate. Get a planner and schedule your time. Once you’re done, you will be more than prepared to “attack” literature as well as the novel you select for summer reading—once you have studied Foster’s book. You can—and SHOULD—use what you learned in this novel throughout The Poisonwood Bible as well your next two years in this course (symbolism, Christ-figure, the quest, etc). Do not attempt to begin reading the novel until you have read How to Read Literature Like a Professor. If you only read the novel, you will struggle with your in-class writing response.

Text annotations for novel: Project grade—100 points

How to Read Literature Like a Professor Test: Test grade (points can range from 60 to 80 points. The points for this test are not finalized because edits are being made, but expect it to be within this range).

In-class writing response (use annotated novel to respond to a prompt based on Foster’s elements): Writing grade—100 points

Presentation (a creative analysis on the novel and it is based on the IB Individual Oral Presentation. This will be discussed further in detail in class. The rubric for this as well as an example video from IB can be found on our class page): Presentation grade (100 points).

Here is roughly how many points assignments are worth in my course:

Homework- 10-20 points Classwork/Participation- 20-40 points Quizzes- 40-60 points

Tests- 60-80 points Writing- 100 points Presentation- 100 points

Assignment Description ~ Text Annotations

Purchase your books and write directly in each one. Truly, this is the most successful and efficient way to study a text. That’s why college students purchase books (and even keep them!).

If you opt not to purchase your texts and use library editions or copies borrowed from a friend, you may use post-it notes. Leave all post-its in the texts. Do not remove them. It is your responsibility to renew library books should they be due while still in my possession. I will not accept post-it notes without a text. All annotations must remain in each book.

Remember to read the essay on the proper way to mark (or annotate) a book and review the scoring rubric to understand what “kinds” of annotations I’ll be looking for. This rubric is based off of an IB writing rubric.

The Poisonwood BibleAnnotation Guide

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is a bestselling novel, but it’s not popular just for the sake of being popular. Its content is rich with lyrical descriptions, foreshadowing, themes of arrogance and ignorance, the search for identity, guilt, allusions, and both cultural and historical context. This compelling novel can be a complex challenge, but only if you make it is. By annotating this work, you can dive into the many connected layers, and make this an enjoyable read. Note: As stated in your summer reading packet for this class, annotating doesn’t mean simply highlights, circling, and/or underlining. These show engagements with the text, but it doesn’t show your depth of independent thinking. Question why something is being used, then write down an explanation after you’ve discovered the answer!

Please note that everyone reads at different pace. I do recommend reading thirty minutes a day starting at the beginning of June to help you complete your reading. This makes it manageable and the less stress makes it more enjoyable. You may choose to read very quickly and finish your tasks early, or you may go at a slower pace because you’re so immersed in this beautifully crafted work, or because you are busy working or traveling. I highly recommend you begin this sooner rather than later. Procrastination is not a good habit to get into, especially in the IB program. You must be responsible and manage your time wisely.

Note: Annotations are due Friday, August 21nd! I do NOT accept late work. If you do not turn it in on that day, it is a zero.

Search for and note the following throughout the novel:

Elements from Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Look for: elements of a quest, communion, vampirism, fall from grace (aka loss of innocence), allusions, use of water (as snow, rain, rivers, etc.), violence, symbols, politics, Christ figure, flight, baptism, geography, seasons, markings for greatness, blindness (this doesn’t always mean being literally blind), heart, heart disease, illness, and ironies. Remember, don’t use highlight them; question them and explain them!

Unfamiliar words: Don’t recognize a word? Look it up and write the definition next to the word. This will help you the next time you read. Unfamiliar words aren’t just limited to what you may call vocabulary words; this applies to people, places, and things. Anything you’re unfamiliar with, look it up, and write it out! You can even draw a picture to help you visual things (such as a map of the village), or even print some pictures and put them in the book (such as an image of the Belgian Congo—well, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Analyze the title, the description on the back cover, the images of the cover—we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but it does happen!

Read and annotate the author’s note! See where you see notice Kingsolver’s notes cropping up in the work.

Be sure to check information in the back on the author and book.

Research the author. Get to know her and see if you notice Kingsolver’s life being reflected in the novel.

Historical context: many real life events are intertwined heavily with the factious characters in this novel. Look up at these people, places, and events that are mentioned. They will open your eyes to a whole new world.

Timeline: I recommend creating a timeline of the events that are mentioned throughout this novel. The country has many name changes as different hands take control. Take note of this.

Cultural context: research the cultures of the Belgian Congo. Look up videos so you can hear the Kikongo language. Look at different images of how they dress. Look up hot topic issues that are mentioned in the novel, such as blood diamonds, rubber plantations, Rwanda genocide, and more (such as when little Ruth May mentions “circus mission”) .

Allusions: biblical, mythological, references to literary works and writers, political figures and events, etc. Essentially, if the name of a person, place, or thing gets dropped—look it up!

Biblical allusions: these are most prevalent throughout the novel (the title and plot explains why). Each book in this novel (Kingsolver formats the work to have books, like the Bible) is a significant allusion and comes with a supporting verse. See what these books and verses could be foreshadowing, or how they connect to the main focus of that book in the novel.

Formatting: Kingsolver uses an interesting formatting, besides the one mentioned above. At the beginning of each novel, the mother, Orleanna, begins the book. She is followed by her daughters. Note their particular order. Before the first daughter speaks, Kingsolver has a title that follows after Orleanna speaks. Note the significance of these titles. They may be allusions (hint: the first one), foreshadowing future events, or supporting the focus of that book.

Voice: Each of our five narrators has a unique voice. These voices are created by their various styles of narrating. Pay attention to how their styles differ. Some may use figurative language more than others, some may use malapropisms, some use palindromes, some may use allusions, and so on. See how these various devices reflect the character.

Point of view: Pay attention to shift of point of view in the very beginning of the novel when Orleanna first speaks to use.

Tense: Pay attention to the speakers. Note who is speaking in the present (1989) and is looking back, and who is speaking from 1959 onwards. Why would Kingsolver do this?

Symbols: There are many symbols throughout this novel. Motif: A motif is a symbol or strand of imagery that is used so often that its repetition creates a

pattern. When you see something three times or more, it is more than likely a motif. You will notice an animal motif and a plant motif (especially the jungle). What is the significance of these motifs? How do they support a theme?

Themes: Search for analyze the various themes that addressed throughout this work. Here is a list to get you started, but the themes are not limited to just the following: guilt, Western arrogance, Western ignorance, identity, family, global justice, pantheism, the effects of colonialism, and more.

Note the genres this work falls into. This will help you better grasp the overall picture. Narrators: Do the following for all of the narrators. I will also provide some specific things you

need to look for when each character narrates. Look for: the perspectives they offer us (subjective, objective, what do they tend to focus on, what sort of insights do they provide), their

relationships with other characters, what they notice about the relationships between others, and what they symbolize.

Orleanna: The following notes on the characters will help you look for particular things. Note how Orleanna says she is our guide to this world. Continue to see how she reveals information when, especially foreshadowing.

Leah: Pay attention to her relationship with her father, the allusions she uses, her ideals. Ruth May: Look for Western arrogance and/or ignorance. Notice her malapropisms. Compare her

malapropisms to her older sister, Rachel. Note her innocence and what sort of lens we see through when she speaks.

Rachel: Look for Western arrogance and/or ignorance, as well as consumerism/materialism. Notice her expressions and how they enhance her character. Compare her malapropisms to her younger sister, Ruth May. Why would Kingsolver apply this to both characters? How do malapropisms support these characters?

Adah: Note what she suffers from and tie that to how she narrates. She uses palindromes and rhymes. She tells us that she reads and writes forwards and backwards. Notice the allusions to other literary works and authors she mentions.

Natahn: Note that this significant character never narrates. Why is this? What is the significance of his lack of voice? What does he symbolize? What theme(s) does he support?

Names: Look up the names of family members, including their last name. Always look up names and their meanings! Ms. Powers is big on this, as well as the symbolic meaning of colors, numbers, weather, seasons, and time.

“How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler, Ph.D.

You know you have to read "between the lines" to get the most out of anything. I want to persuade you to do something equally important in the course of your reading. I want to persuade you to write between the lines. Unless you do, you are not likely to do the most efficient kind of reading.

I contend, quite bluntly, that marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but of love. You shouldn't mark up a book which isn't yours.

Librarians (or your friends) who lend you books expect you to keep them clean, and you should. If you decide that I am right about the usefulness of marking books, you will have to buy them. Most of the world's great books are available today, in reprint editions.

There are two ways in which one can own a book. The first is the property right you establish by paying for it, just as you pay for clothes and furniture. But this act of purchase is only the prelude to possession. Full ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing in it. An illustration may make the point clear. You buy a beefsteak and transfer it from the butcher's icebox to your own. But you do not own

the beefsteak in the most important sense until you consume it and get it into your bloodstream. I am arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your blood stream to do you any good.

Confusion about what it means to "own" a book leads people to a false reverence for paper, binding, and type -- a respect for the physical thing -- the craft of the printer rather than the genius of the author. They forget that it is possible for a man to acquire the idea, to possess the beauty, which a great book contains, without staking his claim by pasting his bookplate inside the cover. Having a fine library doesn't prove that its owner has a mind enriched by books; it proves nothing more than that he, his father, or his wife, was rich enough to buy them.

There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best sellers -- unread, untouched. (This deluded individual owns woodpulp and ink, not books.) The second has a great many books -- a few of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. (This person would probably like to make books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance.) The third has a few books or many -- every one of them dog-eared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. (This man owns books.)

Is it false respect, you may ask, to preserve intact and unblemished a beautifully printed book, an elegantly bound edition? Of course not. I'd no more scribble all over a first edition of 'Paradise Lost' than I'd give my baby a set of crayons and an original Rembrandt. I wouldn't mark up a painting or a statue. Its soul, so to speak, is inseparable from its body. And the beauty of a rare edition or of a richly manufactured volume is like that of a painting or a statue.

But the soul of a book "can" be separate from its body. A book is more like the score of a piece of music than it is like a painting. No great musician confuses a symphony with the printed sheets of music. Arturo Toscanini reveres Brahms, but Toscanini's score of the G minor Symphony is so thoroughly marked up that no one but the maestro himself can read it. The reason why a great conductor makes notations on his musical scores -- marks them up again and again each time he returns to study them--is the reason why you should mark your books. If your respect for magnificent binding or typography gets in the way, buy yourself a cheap edition and pay your respects to the author.

Why is marking up a book indispensable to reading? First, it keeps you awake. (And I don't mean merely conscious; I mean awake.) In the second place; reading, if it is active, is thinking, and thinking tends to express itself in words, spoken or written. The marked book is usually the thought-through book. Finally, writing helps you remember the thoughts you had, or the thoughts the author expressed. Let me develop these three points.

If reading is to accomplish anything more than passing time, it must be active. You can't let your eyes glide across the lines of a book and come up with an understanding of what you have read. Now an ordinary piece of light fiction, like, say, "Gone With the Wind," doesn't require the most active kind of reading. The books you read for pleasure can be read in a state of relaxation, and nothing is lost. But a great book, rich in ideas and beauty, a book that raises and tries to answer great fundamental questions, demands the most active reading of which you are capable. You

don't absorb the ideas of John Dewey the way you absorb the crooning of Mr. Vallee. You have to reach for them. That you cannot do while you're asleep.

If, when you've finished reading a book, the pages are filled with your notes, you know that you read actively. The most famous "active" reader of great books I know is President Hutchins, of the University of Chicago. He also has the hardest schedule of business activities of any man I know. He invariably reads with a pencil, and sometimes, when he picks up a book and pencil in the evening, he finds himself, instead of making intelligent notes, drawing what he calls 'caviar factories' on the margins. When that happens, he puts the book down. He knows he's too tired to read, and he's just wasting time.

But, you may ask, why is writing necessary? Well, the physical act of writing, with your own hand, brings words and sentences more sharply before your mind and preserves them better in your memory. To set down your reaction to important words and sentences you have read, and the questions they have raised in your mind, is to preserve those reactions and sharpen those questions.

Even if you wrote on a scratch pad, and threw the paper away when you had finished writing, your grasp of the book would be surer. But you don't have to throw the paper away. The margins (top as bottom, and well as side), the end-papers, the very space between the lines, are all available. They aren't sacred. And, best of all, your marks and notes become an integral part of the book and stay there forever. You can pick up the book the following week or year, and there are all your points of agreement, disagreement, doubt, and inquiry. It's like resuming an interrupted conversation with the advantage of being able to pick up where you left off.

And that is exactly what reading a book should be: a conversation between you and the author. Presumably he knows more about the subject than you do; naturally, you'll have the proper humility as you approach him. But don't let anybody tell you that a reader is supposed to be solely on the receiving end. Understanding is a two-way operation; learning doesn't consist in being an empty receptacle. The learner has to question himself and question the teacher. He even has to argue with the teacher, once he understands what the teacher is saying. And marking a book is literally an expression of differences, or agreements of opinion, with the author.

There are all kinds of devices for marking a book intelligently and fruitfully. Here's the way I do it:

Underlining (or highlighting): of major points, of important or forceful statements. Vertical lines at the margin: to emphasize a statement already underlined. Star, asterisk, or other doo-dad at the margin: to be used sparingly, to emphasize the

ten or twenty most important statements in the book. (You may want to fold the bottom comer of each page on which you use such marks. It won't hurt the sturdy paper on which most modern books are printed, and you will be able take the book off the shelf at any time and, by opening it at the folded-corner page, refresh your recollection of the book.)

Numbers in the margin: to indicate the sequence of points the author makes in developing a single argument.

Numbers of other pages in the margin: to indicate where else in the book the author made points relevant to the point marked; to tie up the ideas in a book, which, though they may be separated by many pages, belong together.

Circling or highlighting of key words or phrases. Writing in the margin, or at the top or bottom of the page, for the sake of: recording

questions (and perhaps answers) which a passage raised in your mind; reducing a complicated discussion to a simple statement; recording the sequence of major points right through the books. I use the end-papers at the back of the book to make a personal index of the author's points in the order of their appearance.

The front end-papers are to me the most important. Some people reserve them for a fancy bookplate. I reserve them for fancy thinking. After I have finished reading the book and making my personal index on the back end-papers, I turn to the front and try to outline the book, not page by page or point by point (I've already done that at the back), but as an integrated structure, with a basic unity and an order of parts. This outline is, to me, the measure of my understanding of the work.

If you're a die-hard anti-book-marker, you may object that the margins, the space between the lines, and the end-papers don't give you room enough. All right. How about using a scratch pad slightly smaller than the page-size of the book -- so that the edges of the sheets won't protrude? Make your index, outlines and even your notes on the pad, and then insert these sheets permanently inside the front and back covers of the book.

Or, you may say that this business of marking books is going to slow up your reading. It probably will. That's one of the reasons for doing it. Most of us have been taken in by the notion that speed of reading is a measure of our intelligence. There is no such thing as the right speed for intelligent reading. Some things should be read quickly and effortlessly and some should be read slowly and even laboriously. The sign of intelligence in reading is the ability to read different things differently according to their worth. In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through you -- how many you can make your own. A few friends are better than a thousand acquaintances. If this be your aim, as it should be, you will not be impatient if it takes more time and effort to read a great book than it does a newspaper.

You may have one final objection to marking books. You can't lend them to your friends because nobody else can read them without being distracted by your notes. Furthermore, you won't want to lend them because a marked copy is kind of an intellectual diary, and lending it is almost like giving your mind away.

If your friend wishes to read your Plutarch's Lives, Shakespeare, or The Federalist Papers, tell him gently but firmly, to buy a copy. You will lend him your car or your coat -- but your books are as much a part of you as your head or your heart.

Text Annotation Scoring RubricHow to Annotate a BookBefore Reading:

Examine the front and back covers (books) Read the title and any subtitles Examine any illustrations Examine the print (bold, italics, etc.) Examine the way the text is set up (book,

short story, diary, dialogue, article, etc.)As you examine and read these, write questions and make predictions and/or connections near these parts of the text.

During Reading:Mark the text:

Characters Setting (when and where) Vocab Important ideas or information

Write in the Margins: Summarize Make predictions Formulate opinions Make connections Ask questions Analyze the author’s craft Write reflections/reactions/comments Look for patterns/repetition Cultural and historical context

After Reading: Reread annotations—draw conclusions Reread introduction and conclusion—try

to figure out something new Examine patterns/repetitions—determine

possible means (themes) Determine what the title might mean

Text Annotation Scoring RubricUse this rubric to help you read for important information in any of your classes. The following rubric will be used to score our summer annotations.Obviously, annotation is as personal as reading, and there are MANY ways to annotate a book. This system is just a suggestion. For example, some people prefer to use colors to differentiate elements, some prefer to use post-it notes, some use lines or circles. However, I do require that you write your comments. Simply highlighting will not show your thought process and development. It only shows your engagement. I need to see your depth of independent thinking!

What I will be looking for when I collect your books in August is the level of critical thinking that went into your reading. So, whatever system you use, make your thinking visible. I will look to see if you have recognized the elements at left (as well as in Adler’s article). Comments and questions in the margins and at the end of chapters also show me your thinking process.

The rubric is on the next page

Rubric for Tracking Thinking while Reading The Poisonwood Bible (have this in your book)

Name _________________ Class Period ___________

*Annotating does not mean simply highlight the text, nor does it mean circling and/or underlining. It can show engagement with the text, but it does not show your depth of independent thinking. This is best done by writing in the margins, or using sticky notes.

Criterion A: Knowledge and Understanding

Marks IB Descriptor Task Descriptor0 The work does not meet a standard described by the descriptors below.

1 Little knowledge is shown of the way context affects meaning.

Use of sticky notes reveals very little engagement with the text.

2 Knowledge of how context affects meaning is sometimes illustrated; understanding is superficial.

Use of sticky notes reveals some engagement with the text, but inconsistently. Note content shows little depth or independence of thought.

3 Knowledge of the way context affects meaning is adequately illustrated; understanding is satisfactory.

Use of sticky notes reveals sufficient engagement with the text. Note content shows satisfactory depth and/or independence of thought.

4 Knowledge of the way context affects meaning is pertinently illustrated; understanding is good.

Use of sticky notes reveals consistent engagement with the text. Note content shows good depth and independence of thought.

5 Knowledge of the way context affects meaning is thoroughly and persuasively illustrated; understanding is perceptive.

Use of sticky notes reveals an avid engagement with the text. Note content shows excellent depth and independence of thought.

Criterion B: Understanding of the Use and Effects of Stylistic Features

Marks IB Descriptor Task Descriptor0 The work does not meet a standard described by the descriptors below.

1 There is limited awareness or illustration of the use of stylistic features.

Content of sticky notes displays superficial and mostly vague thinking about stylistic features.

2 There is some awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with limited understanding of their effects.

Content of sticky notes displays adequate but somewhat vague thinking about stylistic features.

3 There is adequate awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with adequate understanding of their effects.

Content of sticky notes displays observant and somewhat explicit thinking about stylistic features.

4 There is good awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with good understanding of their effects.

Content of sticky notes displays mindful and explicit thinking about stylistic features.

5 There is excellent awareness and illustration of the use of stylistic features, with very good understanding of their effects.

Content of sticky notes displays insightful and articulate thinking about stylistic features.

10=100 9=95 8=90 7=85 6=805=75 4=70 3=65 2=60 1=55

Sample Critical Literary Analysis Paper—use to refresh your memory on the important standards of critical literary analysis BEFORE the written

assignment

WRITING A CRITICAL ANALYSISThe purpose of a critical analysis of literature is to clarify, explain, or defend an idea about a work. Interpretation of literature is important, and close analysis is one way of looking at learning about a literary work. A critical analysis should raise a meaningful issue and present an argument.

“People write about literature to clarify and account for their responses to works that interest or excite or frustrate them. In putting words on paper you will have to take a second and third look at what is in front of you and what is within you. And so writing is a way of learning. . . We learn, and then we hope to interest our reader because we are communicating to him our responses to something that for one reason or another is worth talking about . . . an essay on literature is an attempt to help someone see the work as you see it.” (1129) from An Introduction to Literature

SAMPLE ANALYSIS

Deep Desires that Transcend Timeby Alyssa Ensminger

Winning Essay for Literary Analysis,Beulah Davis Outstanding Freshman Writer Award

William Butler Yeats wrote two poems which are together known as the Byzantium

series. The first is "Sailing to Byzantium," and its sequel is simply named "Byzantium." The

former is considered the easier of the two to understand. It contains multiple meanings and

emotions, and the poet uses various literary devices to communicate them. Two of the most

dominant themes of this poem are the desire for escape from the hardships of this world and the

quest for immortality. These are circumstances of the poet's life that influenced the composition

of the poem. Those personal experiences and Yeats's skillful use of words come together to

emphasize the need, or at least desire, that many people have for escape and immortality.

The first stanza of "Sailing to Byzantium" describes a society of people who live for the

moment but ignore the wisdom and intellect that the poet finds important. In his frustration, the

poet says in lines 21-22 that his heart is "sick with desire / And fastened to a dying animal." He is

ready to leave this world of apathy and arrive in his holy land of Byzantium, which is a sort of

paradise in his mind (Kennedy and Gioia 866-67). This is evidence of his desire for escape. In

the second stanza, Yeats describes an aged man as "a paltry thing, / A tattered coat upon a stick"

(9-10). It is believed that the poet is describing his own condition in these lines. The physical

weariness he is experiencing causes him to want to be able to sing through poetry to keep his

spirit alive. He believes that his poetry can help him to transcend time and old age, and that it

will take him to his ideal city of Byzantium (Thorndike 1852). He prays that the sages of God

will "be the singing-masters of my soul" (20). In other words, he wants to be taught how to write

the poetry that will sustain his spirit. This is the poet's attempt at achieving immortality. As long

as his poetry still exists and is read, a part of his soul continues to live.

These two major themes in the poem are enhanced by the writer's use of symbolism.

Byzantium, as mentioned before, is a sort of ideal land, comparable to the scriptural heaven. This

is obviously one of the most predominant symbols in the poem. Another symbol that carries

throughout the work is that of a bird. There is a reference to a bird in each stanza, but perhaps the

best indicator of its meaning is found in stanza 4. Yeats uses the image of a bird "set upon a

golden bough to sing" (30) to refer to the timelessness and spirit he craves. The bird that is set in

gold is there forever, singing for all time, and the poet longs to be able to sing similarly through

his poetry and therefore achieve immortality. Finally, the metaphor of singing is present in each

stanza and reinforces the poet's desire to be able to create timeless music in poetry. He says that

reading poems is a kind of  "singing school" (13) where he can learn to step into that world of

immortality (Thorndike 1853).

Similar to the way Yeats uses symbols to enhance this poem, he uses personal experience

to inspire it. Twenty years prior to writing "Sailing to Byzantium," he was first exposed to

Byzantine art. He saw mosaics that are regarded as the basis for most of the imagery in stanza 3.

Also, when Yeats was nearly sixty years old, he suffered high blood pressure and had difficulty

breathing. His wife took him on a Mediterranean tour to help him relax, and on that tour he saw

mosaics that contrasted art with nature. This would explain his statement in the poem that "Once

out of nature I shall never take / My bodily form from any natural thing, / But such a form as

Grecian goldsmiths make" (25-27). In addition, Yeats did not regret leaving his home on this

excursion because he was depressed about his health and dissatisfied with the political situations

at home. Therefore, it is probably that the imaginative voyage the man takes in the poem from

one place to a more appealing one is directly influenced by the poet's feelings at that time (Allen

3728).

"Sailing to Byzantium" is a poem packed with emotion and meaning. It depicts a man

striving to reach a better place while leaving a piece of his soul behind for all time. It expresses

the weariness and frustration that everyone experiences at some point, but especially with the

aging process. It is a poem that encompasses human desires and emotions and presents them

almost as though they were in a dream. However, it is almost as though the imaginative wording

of the poem makes it easier to see the reality behind its message. The poem refreshes the craving

people have for a better world with no hardships, and the need they have to leave a part of

themselves here to sing eternally "Of what is past, or passing, or to come" (32).

Critical Literary Analysis Scoring Rubric—AP rubric used to score written assignment that focuses on How to Read Lit and The Poisonwood Bible

9-8(Top

scores)

These are well-written essays which respond fully to the prompt. The best papers are confident and persuasive, showing a thorough understanding of the issue (text) and supporting their points with well-selected quotations, details, and/or arguments. Writers of these essays demonstrate stylistic maturity by an effective command of sentence structure, diction, and organization. The writing need not be without flaws, but it should reveal the writer’s ability to choose from and control a wide range of elements of effective writing. These papers are frequently characterized as distinguished/substantial.

7-6(Upper scores)

These essays also respond appropriately to the prompt but less fully or effectively than the essays in the top range. Their discussion may be less thorough and less specific. These essays are generally well-written in an appropriate style but may reveal less maturity, less support, or less insight than the top papers. Nevertheless, they do make sure they do make use of suitable textual support and details to prove their points. Some lapses in diction or syntax appear, but the writing demonstrates sufficient control over the elements of composition to present in the writer’s ideas clearly. These papers are frequently characterized as excellent/solid.

5(Middle score)

These essays respond to the question, but the discussion may be simplistic or imprecise; they may be overly generalized, vague, or tend about the superficial. These essays are adequately written, but may demonstrate the inconsistent control over the elements of composition. Organization is attempted, but it may not be fully realized or particularly effective. The analysis or discussion may be formulaic. These papers are frequently characterized as minimally adequate.

4-3(Lower scores)

These essays attempt to deal with the questions, but do so inaccurately, partially, or without adequate supporting evidence. They may show some misunderstanding or omit pertinent analysis. The writing may convey the writer’s ideas, but it may reveal weak control over diction, syntax, or organization. These essays often contain spelling and grammatical errors. Statements generally lack the support of persuasive and well-chosen evidence. These papers are frequently characterized as deficient.

2-1(Lowest score)

These essays compound the problems of the 4-3 essays. They fail to respond adequately to the question. They may reveal misunderstanding or may distort the interpretation. Generally, these essays are unacceptably brief or poorly written on several counts. Although some attempt to answer the question may be indicated, the writer’s view has little clarity. When present, supporting detail and/or quotations are slight or poorly chosen, or quotations may be used to replace discussion .These papers are frequently characterized as severely deficient.

0 These essays respond with no more than a reference to the task, or contain completely off-topic responses. A zero will be recorded with no opportunity for a re-write.

-- These responses are left blank. A zero will be recorded with no opportunity for a re-write.AP Literary Analysis Scoring Rubric

9 95 or 100 (no errors whatsoever)8 907 856 805 754 653 602 551 50