1. Don't flatter, wax poetic, or languish praise upon the text you've read. When you say something about how "amazing" the poem was, an AP reader thinks you sound disingenuous and indicates that you lack precise words to analyze and discuss the poem.
2. Don't use a word unless you know how to use it and what it really means. So, don't say ironic when you mean sarcastic.
3. DO pre-write, outline, and generally sketch out your thoughts BEFORE you begin your essay. The more organized and clear you are about what you will say, the better your essay will flow and the more sense it will make.
4. Remember that paragraphs need topic sentences. Topic sentences should come from a clear thesis statement. Your essays should not feel like journals or thoughts on paper. They should sound formal and well thought out.
5. Don't preach. No one wants to read platitudes, aphorisms, or sermons. Instead we want to read how the author achieves something and what that something has to do with a universal question (perhaps the human dilemma).
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In the poem Affliction by Sir John Davies. The author uses personification to give life to the word affliction. Affliction means obsession, in this poem the author talks mainly of man and his affliction to be perfect. Also that a man mostly thinks of himself and the only way he stops thinking about himself is when man meets women.The stanza that supports me in this opinion of mine is satnza two. Which says " This mistress lately plucked me by the ear, and many a golden lesson hath me taught". The way this poem is written is the shakspearean way. Were each other line rymes. I had to fead this poem about five times to truely grasp the meaning of this authors idea. Even no I'm still a little confused but I feel I grasp the right theme of it.
The poem "The passionate shepherd to his love" by Christopher Marlowe is quite intriguing. The shepherd (Marlowe) uses delightful rhymes to express the passion in his heart towards a woman he desires to be with. The shepherd tries to enlighten her and convince her to be "his love" by telling her desirable stories of how great it would be for them to be together.
The poem begins by the shepherd asking the woman to be "his love". His tone is changed in the second stanza as he shifts his attention from the girl, to reveal to her his fantasies of being with her. The shepherd's great passion is shown as he tries, line by line, to convince her by making up great stories about how he could imagine them sitting "upon the rocks" and "seeing the shepherds feed their flocks". The authors passion for her is so strong that he tries to seduce or entice her with "beds of roses" and "fragrant posies". Every time he shows a great image he also throws in a rhyme, as if he were trying to make her smile.
I believe that the major theme in this poem is the passion that the shepherd had for the girl, which makes him be willing to give up everything for her.
Frank and Matthew should compare notes, they chose the same poem!
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