AP PAPER #2 As I Lay Dying

AP Paper #2 As I Lay Dying

Essential Question:   What is each character's role in the multiple perspective novel As I Lay Dying?
(Focus on your own character for purposes of the paper). 

TASK:

L1. After reading William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, write an essay that describes the “journey” your character takes from the beginning of the novel to the end (characterization) and addresses the essential question (each character’s role in a multiple perspective novel).   Support your discussion with evidence from the text (use important text-based quotes) and be sure to use MLA citation and style.

L2. Why did Faulkner tell the story of the Bundrens from multiple perspectives? What effect does it have on the reader?

Your essay should be 4-5 pages, 12 pt. font (Times New Roman preferable), double-spaced, 1 inch margins.

Use your notes and the guiding questions to develop your essay.  Be sure to edit and proofread.

DUE: Friday, Dec. 4

Synthesis Essay

	Writing the Synthesis Essay

The AP English Language Synthesis Essay

First and foremost: The synthesis question requires a PERSUASIVE ARGUMENT. You are presenting your opinion in response to a given question; however, unlike the free-response question, you must use the facts and ideas presented in the provided sources.

Use the sources to support or augment your OWN argument. Do not summarize the sources and allow those writers to speak for themselves—you are using what they say for your OWN purposes.

Basic Essay Structure

KEY: Argue your own idea, using your own reasons and reasoning—but you must use evidence from the provided sources.

Introduction:

1. Open with an engaging hook.
2.  Identify/clarify the issue at hand.
3. Present a clear, direct thesis statement.

Body Paragraphs:

1. Topic sentence: Give one reason in support of your thesis.
2. Explain as necessary.
3. Present specific supporting evidence (viz., quotes from the provided sources—but you may also bring in other evidence).
4. All sources are documented.
5. The writer explains the significance of the specific supporting evidence (e.g., what does the evidence show or suggest as true?)

Concluding Paragraph:

1. Draw further significance from the reasons and evidence presented.
2. Bring the paper to a thoughtful ending. (Be philosophical! Show your wisdom!)
   
   
   http://www.ehow.com/how_8462358_write-english-language-synthesis-paper.html

Themes in As I Lay Dying

AGENDA:

Continue discussion of themes in As I Lay Dying

As I Lay Dying

Critical commentary:

http://www.pen.org/nonfiction/william-faulkner%E2%80%99s-i-lay-dying

http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/532/creation-and-rebellion-in-william-faulkners-as-i-lay-dying

THEMES IN AS I LAY DYING

AGENDA:

EQ: What are some of the major themes in the novel?

HANDOUT: Shmoop Themes and Questions

ACTIVITY: Small group discussion and whole class share out of 3 of the themes (MORTALITY, FAMILY, SUFFERINGING)
Cite text evidence for claims!

Mortality

As I Lay Dying suggests that dying is a relief from the suffering of life. Religious characters in the novel believe that, because death is a reward, it provides the motivation to live one’s...

Family

Family is not a pleasant topic in As I Lay Dying. Poor or no communication creates intense barriers of misunderstanding and resentment between family members, but particularly siblings who are riva...

Suffering

Suffering is very much a part of every day life in As I Lay Dying. The novel tells the story of a poverty-stricken family traveling to bury their mother during the 1920s in Mississippi. Times are t...

Women and Femininity

Women have it rough in As I Lay Dying. Their basic role in life is to have babies, which makes it difficult to establish a personal and individual identity, at least for one woman in particular. Th...

Religion

Religion is in many ways mocked by As I Lay Dying. The story is an ironic twist of the classic quest – a journey without a purpose, confession without redemption. Divine justice is never just...

Duty

As I Lay Dying explores obligation to the family as well as to honor and principles. But the story’s principle plot line – a family’s lengthy journey to town from the country R...

Versions of Reality

As I Lay Dying is written in multiple first-person narratives. Every new section is a new version of reality, particularly noticeable when the narratives overlap and cover the same event two differ...

Poverty

As I Lay Dying tells the story of a poverty-stricken family experiencing disaster after disaster in Mississippi in the 1920s. Every incident is made worse by the fact that they have no money. Many...

HOMEWORK:  Read to pg. 140 and study vocabulary (see prevous post)

Vocabulary As I Lay Dying

hale

exhibiting or restored to vigorous good health



dissociated

having had a relation or connection broken



trifling

lacking in significance or worth



irrevocable

impossible to retract or revoke



censure

harsh criticism or disapproval



rapt

wholly absorbed as in thought, deeply moved



runnel

a small stream



perverse

marked by immorality, resistant to guidance or discipline



lowing

making the throat noise of a cow



flouted

treated with contemptuous disregard



bereavement

state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one



gaunt

very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold



abject

most unfortunate or miserable, showing humiliation, submissiveness, utter resignation or hopelessness



cessation

a stopping



approbation

official recognition or approval



timbre

the distinctive property of a complex sound



precursor

an indication of the approach of something or someone, a person who goes before or announces the coming of another



ubiquity

the state of being everywhere at once (or seeming to be everywhere at once)



maul

a heavy long-handled hammer used to drive stakes or wedges, injure badly by beating, split (wood) with a maul and wedges



portentous

puffed up with vanity, of momentous or ominous significance



nihilist

one who supports a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless



opaque

not clear, not clearly understood or expressed



irremediable

impossible to remedy or correct or redress



composite

consisting of separate interconnected parts



keen

having a sharp cutting edge or point, as physically painful as if caused by a sharp instrument



sibilance

a sound having, containing, or producing the sound of the s or the sh in sash



travail

hard work, to labor hard



fulcrum

the pivot about which a lever turns



crest

the top point of a mountain or hill



ethics

moral values and rules, ideas of right and wrong



implacable

impossible to appease



reproach

rebuke or criticism, disgrace or shame, express criticism towards