AP English Literature Unit 6 Cheatsheet: Literary Techniques in Longer Works

What reveals character?

• Specific textual details (speech, action, thought)
• Private thoughts vs. public behavior—reveals tension between professed and actual values
• Competing or conflicting choices show internal complexity

Foil characters: Contrast illuminates traits, attributes, or values of another character. Use foils to explain what the primary character is not.

Perspective matters: Different narrators/speakers reveal different information and develop different attitudes toward the same events. This shapes reader interpretation.

In essays: Ground claims about complexity in specific textual evidence. Show how the detail reveals the complexity, not just that it exists.

Definition: A material object or character that represents an idea or concept.

Key distinctions:

• Universal symbols: Readers bring prior associations (e.g., light = hope, darkness = evil)
• Contextualized symbols: Meaning emerges only through use in a particular text
• Symbolic characters: Characters can represent ideas; some are archetypal (recurring character types found across many texts)

Reader-dependent: The same symbol can represent different things depending on reader experience and textual context.

In analysis: Identify what the symbol represents in this text, then explain its function in developing meaning or theme.