AP English Literature AMSCO Guided Notes
2.5: Writing About Literature II
AP English Literature Guided Notes
AMSCO 2.5 - Writing About Literature II
Essential Questions
- How can you communicate your interpretation of a poem in a paragraph that asserts a claim and supports it with evidence?
I. Enduring Understanding and Skill
1. What is the relationship between textual evidence and interpretation in literary analysis?
II. Key Terms and Strategies for Mining Literary Works
1. What are the key terms used in literary analysis and how do they relate to one another?
2. What strategies can help you isolate and evaluate details that support a literary claim?
III. TP-CASTT and TP-CAST PLUS
A. TP-CASTT Template for Literary Analysis
1. What does each component of TP-CASTT (Title, Paraphrase, Connotation, Attitude, Shifts, Title, Theme) help you identify in a poem?
2. How does completing a TP-CASTT chart prepare you to develop a thematic statement and initial claim?
B. TP-CAST PLUS Template for Literary Analysis
1. How does the TP-CAST PLUS template differ from TP-CASTT and what is the purpose of adding commentary?
2. How does connecting textual details to your working claim through commentary strengthen your literary argument?
IV. Complexities
A. Universal Ideas and Thematic Statements
1. What are universal ideas and how do tensions between contrasting universal ideas lead to complexity in literature?
2. Why should thematic statements reflect the richness and complexity of a poem rather than oversimplified generalizations?
V. Supporting a Claim with Details from the Text
A. What Makes a Strong Claim
1. What are the two defining requirements that make a claim arguable and defensible?
2. How should a claim about literature link universal ideas, a thematic statement, and specific textual references?
B. Supporting a Claim with Evidence
1. Why is evidence alone insufficient to prove a literary claim and what role does commentary play?
2. How should you explain the connection between textual evidence and your claim through commentary?
VI. Writing a Paragraph of Literary Argument About a Poem
A. Components of a Literary Argument Paragraph
1. What are the basic components that all literary arguments must include and how are they organized in a paragraph?
2. What assumptions do writers of literary arguments make about their readers and how does this affect what they include?
3. How do the topic sentence, supporting sentences, and concluding sentence work together to create a complete literary argument?
Key Terms
analyzing argument
claim
interpretation
evidence