2017 AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION FREE …



2017 AP? ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONSENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITIONSECTION IITotal time-2 hoursQuestion 1(Suggested time-40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.)The following poem is by Rachel M. Harper. Read the poem carefully. Then, considering such elements as imagery, form, and tone, write a well-organized essay in which you analyze the relationship between music and the speaker’s complex memories of her family.The Myth of Musicfor my.fatherIf music can be passed on like brown eyes or a strongleft hook, this melodyLineis my inheritance, lineage traced5through a title track, displayed on an album cover that you pin to the wallas art, oral history taughton a record player, the lessons10sealed into the grooves like fact.This is the only myth I know.I sit on the hardwoodfloors of a damp November, my brother dealing cards15from an incomplete deck,and I don’t realize that this moment is the definitionof family, collective memory cut in rough-textured tones,20the voice of a horn so familiar I don’t know I’m listening, Don’t know I’m singing,a child’s improvisationof Giant Steps or Impressions:125songs without lyrics can still be sung.In six months, when my mother is 2,000 miles away, decidingif she wants to come home,30I will have forgottenthis moment, the securityof her footsteps, the warmthof a radiator on my back and you present in the sound of typing35your own accompaniment, multiphonics disguised as chords in a distant room, speakers seton high to fill the whole house with your spirit, your call40as a declaration of love.But the music will remain .The timeless notes of jazztoo personal to play out loud, stay locked in the rhythm45of my childhood, memories fading like the words of a lullaby,come to life in a saxophone’s blow.They lie when they saymusic is universal-this is my song,50the notes like fingerprints as delicate as breath.I will not share this air with anyonebut you.1 Giant Steps is a jazz album (1960) by John Coltrane. Impres sions (1963) is another album by ColtraneFrom ‘The Myth of Music” in Mending the World: Stori es of Family by Conremporary Black Writers by Rachel M. Harper, copyright ? I 999 . Reprinted by permission of Basic Civitas Books, a member of The Perseus Books Group.? 2017 The College Board.Visit the College Board on the Web: collegeboard .org.2017 AP English Literature Scoring GuideQuestion #1: Rachel M. Harper’s “The Myth of Music”General Directions: This scoring guide will be useful for most of the essays that you read, but in problematic cases, please consult your table leader. The score that you assign should reflect your judgment of the quality of the essay as a whole—its content, style, and mechanics. Reward the writers for what they do well. The score for an exceptionally well-written essay may be raised by one point above the otherwise appropriate score. In no case may a poorly written essay be scored higher that a three (3).9-8These essays offer a persuasive analysis of how the relationship between music and the speaker’s complex memories of her family is conveyed through elements such as imagery, form, and tone. The writers of these essays offer a range of interpretations; they provide convincing readings of the relationship between music and the speaker’s complex memories and Harper’s use of poetic elements such as imagery, form, and tone. They demonstrate consistent and effective control over the elements of composition in language appropriate to the analysis of poetry. Their textual references are apt and specific. Though they may not be error-free, these essays are perceptive in their analysis and demonstrate writing that is clear and sophisticated, and in the case of a nine (9) essay, especially persuasive.7-6These essays offer a reasonable analysis of how the relationship between music and the speaker’s complex memories of her family is conveyed through elements such as imagery, form, and tone. They are less thorough or less precise in their discussion of how the relationship between music and the speaker’s complex memories of her family is conveyed through elements such as imagery, form, and tone. Their analysis of the relationship and the use of elements is less thorough or convincing. These essays demonstrate the writer’s ability to express ideas clearly, making references to the text, although they do not exhibit the same level of effective writing as the 9-8 papers. Essays scored a seven (7) present better-developed analysis and more consistent command of the elements of effective composition than do essays scored a six (6).5The essays respond to the assigned task with a plausible analysis of how the relationship between music and the speaker’s complex memories of her family is conveyed through elements such as imagery, form, and tone, but tend to be superficial or pedestrian in their analysis of the relationship and the use of elements. They often rely on paraphrase, which may contain some analysis, implicit or explicit. Their analysis of the relationship between music and memory or of Harper’s use of elements such as imagery, form, and tone may be vague, formulaic, or minimally supported by references to the text. There may be minor misinterpretations of the poem. These writers demonstrate some control of language, but their essays may be marred by surface errors. These essays are not as well conceived, organized, or developed as 7-6 essays.4-3These lower-half essays fail to offer an adequate analysis of the poem. The analysis may be partial, unconvincing, or irrelevant, or may ignore the relationship between music and memory or Harper’s use of elements. Evidence from the poem may be slight or misconstrued, or the essays may rely on paraphrase only. The writing often demonstrates a lack of control over the conventions of composition: inadequate development of ideas, accumulation of errors, or a focus that is unclear, inconsistent, or repetitive. Essays scored a three (3) may contain significant misreading and/or demonstrate inept writing.2-1These essays compound the weaknesses of the papers in the 4-3 range. Although some attempt has been made to respond to the prompt, the writer’s assertions are presented with little clarity, organization, or support from the poem. These essays may contain serious errors in grammar and mechanics. They may offer a complete misreading or be unacceptably brief. Essays scored a one (1) contain little coherent discussion of the poem.0These essays give a response that is completely off topic or inadequate; there may be some mark or a drawing or a brief reference to the task.--These essays are entirely blank.2017 Poetry SamplesAssign each essay a score of 1-9. Then, jot down a few notes defending the score assigned to each essay to contribute to class discussion. MOur Score: AP Grader Score:Notes:“If music can be passed on like brown eyes or a strong left hook, this melody is my inheritance.” Throughout this poem Rachel M. Harper expresses her emotions and memories, connecting them with music. Focusing only on one person in particular she shows a distant remembrance of the memories linked with certain songs of jazz. Rachel M. Harper demonstrates imagery, and tone is basically all throughout the poem. The relationship between music and the speaker’s complex memories of her family is quite complicated to explain all together, the use of several comparisons, symbolism and imagery can better explain her relationship.Many individuals try to look for several things that would link them closer to their families or ancestors. As for Rachel, she found music to help her with her family memories. The human mind can better remember something when associated with music, and that is proven with several cases. Throughout the poem she links several memories with songs such as Giant Steps or Impressions. She gives exact detail of what she is doing, demonstrating imagery, “I sit on the hard wood floors of a damp November, my brother dealing cards from an incomplete deck, and I don’t realize that this moment is the definition of family…” Even without her noticing she remembers exact details with linking a memory with music.Later on, in the poem when Rachel is going through some trials in her family, she does not tell the reader exactly what is happening leaving them to infer on what is happening. Therefore, one can infer that she is going through a separation of her parents. In the text it states, “In six months…I will have forgotten this moment, the security of her footsteps, the warmth of the radiator on my back and you present in the sound of typing your own accompaniment...speakers on high to fill the whole house with your spirit...” Her dad was with her throughout this trial and both looked to fill the whole house with music. To fill up again that warmth that the mother took away.Nevertheless, she will still remember with music, the jazz will bring to life memories so long forgotten. Rachel expresses, “They lie when they say music is universal—this is my song, the notes like fingertips as delicate as breath. I will not share this air with anyone but you.” Meaning that she has gone through the same trials as her father and she relates those feelings with him. Everyone might hear the same song, but everyone has different memories associated with it. As for Rachel M. Harper, her songs of jazz will forever remind her of her complex family relations.JOur Score : AP Grader Score:Notes:Music has many forms of connection. It can connect emotionally, mentally or physical. Music can also be used to solve problems and relate to a person’s past. Music is like a person’s best friend.Rachel M. Harper uses music to explain her connection with family. Like a melody her lineage can be traced back to a single note. She uses similes metaphors and imagery to do such a task. Rachel family life will always remain. Like music her life has beats and rhythms that she can vibe to. For example, Rachel rembers her mothers wanting to come home; she feels the viberation or security of that lost love that was once there. However, she doesn’t rember any of it.Another example would be when she was with her brother. Like music she feels the connection but unlimately don’t understand why she is vibing with it. Ultimately, Rachel life is like the breath of lfie. For life is so special, that it can only be shared with those close to her.NOur Score: AP Grader Score:Notes:Without music, life would be bland. Without memories, humans would be nothing. In “The Myth of Music” by Rachel Harper, the narrator describes the relationship between music and memories through the use of metaphors and imagery in order to portray the unique rhythm or her own life. To the narrator, music is everywhere and in everything—even with the absence of instruments. Each scene is a track on an album, each person is an accompaniment, and each memory as timeless as a song. Harper begins her poem by telling the stories of her childhood. She describes sitting on the hard, ‘damp’ floors while her brother shuffles an ‘incomplete deck’ of cards. Through use of visual imagery, the narrator illustrates a scene that most closely resembles family. At the time, Harper says that the ‘horn’ was so ‘familiar’, the tune so commonplace, that she was unaware of listening. To her, the hardwood floors and playing cards with her brother was a familiar song—one she had heard many times before, but it was still unique to her. She says that ‘songs without lyrics’ can still be songs. Just because there is no singing does not mean that is is not music.In the next paragraph, Harper describes the people in her life as notes in her song. She describes the sound of her father ‘typing’ as ‘accompaniment’, ‘multiphonics’ as ‘chords’. These sounds that her father makes are notes in her own life album. The olfactory imagery of hearing a typewriter, or footsteps, or a voice supplies the reader with the rhythm of Harper’s music. The reader is able to hear the memories of the young girl. Harper says that her father’s voice, the sounds he made, was like a ‘declaration of love.’ Her father meant safety, and when she was with him, she knew that she was loved unconditionally. The part he played in her music impacted her memories. The last paragraph describes how timeless and unique Harper’s memories are. She says that jazz music is ‘too personal’ for everyone to hear. The author’s diction shows that she believes her memories are to be cherished. They are hers to keep and play on repeat when she needs to. However some memories fade, like a ‘lullaby.’ Harper employs a simile in order to show that some of her childhood memories have been forgotten, like the lyrics of a song that once meant contentment. Each person’s memories are unique, like ‘fingerprints’ and ‘delicate as breath,’ that fade with each sharing. It is simple to forget the lyrics to a song you haven’t heard for a while. The simile shows how fragile memories are, and how unique each memory is to a single person. Through the use of comparisons and imagery, Harper was able to show that memories are the music of our lives. Each is a new track for our album and each person is a different sound.KOur Score: AP Grader Score:Notes:“If music can be passed on….this melody is my inheritance.” This analogy indicates ow strongly the author feels for music. She’s comparing something so mundane to something so cherished. Music is beautiful, family is beautiful. However, the music she has always loved will never change, her family can, whether it’s through death or sickness or just a change in personality. When family has passed, her memories will remain, when certain genres of music aren’t in style anymore, the song itself still remains; the notes of a song are timeless.Some music, just as some memories, are too personal to play aloud. The memories stay locked in the rhythm of her childhood. The author uses whimsical images to paint a child like image in the reader’s mind. Her tone is delicate, yet effective. To her, music is not universal, some music is only for certain people, she will not share her memories with anyone but her father.QOur Score: AP Grader Score:Notes:No one knows any group of people more intimately or for a longer period of time than their family. Good things, bad things, strange things; all is shared between family members. As a result, many have conflicting memories and emotions towards their family. In her poem “The Myth of Music”, Rachel M. Harper utilizes conflicting imagery, jazz-like form and nostalgic tone to detail how music reflects her conflicting memories of family. The author uses a variety of images to describe the music that accompanies various childhood memories. Good times are remembered through ‘multiphonic’, ‘chords’ and music which “fills the whole house.” When her mother is present, Harper remembers the security and comfort she felt by associating it with pleasing sounds and musical ideas. Her life is in harmony at these times, so the music associated with them is also harmonious. However, she also sees family as ‘collective memory, cut in rough textured tones’, a more discordant association. Harper also recognizes the hard times and clashing that families go through, and as her family has apparently experienced their fair share of discordance, her overall memory of family is rough, and uneven. Using music as an image of the past does not create a symphony for the author. Rather, it is a cacophony, with good times and music tempered by the bad, just as her meaningful family memories have been tempered by the loss of her mother.The poem’s form follows the author’s memories of jazz music and takes on its inconsistency and unpredictability. Each stanza is of different length, each line has a different, apparently random number of words and syllables, and there is no rhyme scheme, save for a few accidental slant rhymes. In other words, the form of the poem is free and interpretive, just like jazz. There are times where words almost seem to rhyme, such as with ‘on’ and ‘strong’ and with ‘listening’ and ‘singing’ and there are times in which there is no rhyme whatsoever. This agrees with the author’s conflicted memories of her family. At times in her childhood, the stars aligned and a sort of harmony was achieved, but at other times there was no harmony to be found at all. In concordance with the ephemeral harmonies of her childhood, the author adopts a nostalgic tone in her work. She fondly recalls listening to John Coltrane and the presence of her mother to complete their family, yet at the same time sadly remembers her mother’s absence, and the damp and cold times playing cards with her brother on the floor. The complex nature of nostalgia: a longing for the past, as well as a willingness to forget bad times mirrors the authors memories of her family. She longs for the jazz of her father, yet does not miss the other discordant notes of her past. By visualizing music in a variety of conflicting ways, adopting an interpretive jazz-like form, and by taking on a sadly nostalgic tone, Harper is able to demonstrate how memories of music are linked with memories of family. Music can’t always sound nice and families will not always get along, but Harper can lay out her life in a complex orchestra of memories.LOur Score: AP Grader Score:Notes:The narrator likens music to memories and an inherited history while citing specific, detailed accounts of her childhood to convey the significance of her father’s jazz records on how she remembers family life at a young age. Throughout the poem, Harper uses metaphors which associate vinyl records to a family history passed down to her. Immediately, she conveys the importance of the music she heard as a child, which served as her inheritance—an ‘oral history taught on a record player.’ When the narrator begins to recall a moment from her childhood, her description is vivid enough to fully picture the scene, from the damp wooden floors to the deck of cards, which is missing some. She compares the random snippets of her childhood that make up her memory of the time as a whole to ‘rough textured tones’ and the familiar sound of a horn on her father’s jazz records.The speaker claims that, while the vivid moment she referred to has faded, and she has forgotten the feeling of protection brought by her mother, ‘the music will remain.’ Just as the jazz served as a history passed down to her, it acts as her recollection of the time she spent at home with her family after her family fails her. She references the sound of the record player—the ‘speakers on high to fill the whole house with (her father’s) spirit’ as he typed. His records would serve as an intimate, personal connection to the narrator’s childhood. The music is hers, and would not be shared with anyone but her father, the source of the jazz that ‘stayed locked in the rhythm of her childhood.’OOur Score: AP Grader Score:Notes:In the poem, “The Myth of Music” by Rachel M. Harper, the author uses several elements and techniques to convey the relationship between music and the speaker’s memories of her family. Through elements such as imagery, tone, and form, the speaker makes it evident that music and her memories have a very deep and complex connection. Imagery is very crucial throughout the entirety of the poem. This key element emphasizes how the speaker’s sensory experiences are etched in her mind as memories, and how listening to music brings those memories to the forefront of her consciousness. The speaker says, ‘If music can be passed on like brown eyes or a strong left hook, this melody is my inheritance, lineage traced through a title track, displayed on an album cover that you pin to the wall as art, oral history taught on a record player, the lessons sealed into the grooves like fact.’ This first phrase, filled with visual and auditory imagery serves to convey, right away, how important music to the speaker and how pervasive it is in her life. The imagery of music being an inherited trait further connects the speaker to her family, suggesting how deeply ingrained the music is within her, and how it intertwines into her very self; how it’s part of her and her father. This imagery evokes a very strong connection between the speaker and her father, as well as her memories of him. The speaker also describes ‘her song’ as ‘having notes like fingerprints as delicate as breath.’ The imagery of comparing the notes to finger prints further emphasizes how deeply personal this song is to the speaker. It is such a treasured memory that is evoked by this song, and the memories the speaker has of her family and her own unique upbringing are spurred on by this song. Comparing the notes to breath plays on the foggy nature of the memory, mentioned by the speaker in lines 45-46. The memory is fading for the speaker, but music brings it back. By saying the notes are ‘delicate as breath’ the speaker emphasizes how fragile and fading this memory of her family is, even though it is very precious to her. Tone is also important in conveying the relationship between music and the speaker’s memories of her family. Throughout the poem, the tone can be described as wistful and pensive. The speaker recalls both joyful times and times of hardship, such as when her mother left the family. The speaker muses over the relationship between music and memories, and how the music she shared with her father has led to a complex recollection of past times. The tone is conveyed through phrases such as ‘memories fading like the words of a lullaby,’ ‘speakers set on high to fill the whole house with your spirit, your call as a declaration of love’ and ‘notes like fingerprints as delicate as breath.’Another key element that the writer employs is form. This poem has no specific form or rhyme scheme. It is written in blank verse and has a flowing and freeform nature to it, much like the jazz that prompts the speaker to recall memories of family. Many of the sentences and phrases of the poem are long and extended, for example, lines 1-10 are a single sentence. However, the short sentence at the end, with line breaks serves to emphasize the gravity of what the speaker is saying. ‘I will not share this air/with anyone/but you.’ This summarizes complex and personal connection that the speaker has with these musical memories of her father. The sudden change in form highlights this statement and draws the reader’s attention to it.Rachel Harper’s poem, ‘The Myth of Music’ employs many techniques to convey the deep relationship the speaker has with music and the memories of her family. Elements such as imagery, tone and form elaborate on this connection for readers. ROur Score: AP Grader Score:Notes:There is a certain, undeniable power present in music. For those who play it—and even those who do not—a single bar can whisk one away to a time burned in memory. Rachel M. Harper explores this idea as she reflects on the role music has had in her life. In Harper’s poem “The Myth of Music,” she illuminates the crucial and unifying role music has had in anchoring her identity to her family and its past. Harper’s poem begins by launching straight into free verse, a deliberately free form method of recounting her story. In lines marked with enjambment, the poet likens music to her family’s past as a sort of mythos, noting that ‘this melody is my inheritance, lineage traced through a title track.’ The first stanza, in this way is an immersive experience—the reader truly feels as though they are audience to an ‘oral history taught on a record player’ as Harper leads them through lucid descriptions of her brother playing cards and emotive music playing in the background. Towards the end of the stanza, the poet confesses that she doesn’t know if or what she is listening to/singing, creating a feeling of blurred memory made opaque by time. Indeed, it is abundantly clear to the poet that there is little distinction between her concept of familial memory and the music which peppers her thoughts of the past. As a whole, the stanza serves to draw a clear parallel between music and filial history, and in the same way that ‘songs without lyrics can still be sung,’ this free-verse dominated passage without clear structure can still automatically convey her thoughts. The poet then shifts to a more conflict-filled section. The second stanza opens tumultuously, with the threat of a future without her mother nearby looming over her. However, despite this conflict, Harper maintains a warm mood in the stanza. The negativity of the circumstances are juxtaposed against comfortable, familiar descriptions with her father’s music—‘the sound of typing your own accompaniment,’ ‘multiphonics disguised as chords,’ to name a few. It is evident that, despite the loneliness of the mother’s absence on the family, Harper’s father is still able to retain a sense of normalcy within the family by turning to what is most recognizable to all of them: music. The inclusion of this anecdotal account seeks to reinforce that, although Harper has experienced troubles within her family, music stands as a unifying force, the bedrock upon which her filial identity is built and weathers the storm. The final stanza takes a turn away from the poet’s family to an introspective view of herself. Phrases such as ‘too personal’ and a refutation of the universality of music in favor of the argument that is ‘this is my song’ colors this third section with a possessive tone. It is in this stanza that Harper brings together her ideas of past and present and unifies them. Her defensive diction underscores the importance of the memories in her life—the ‘rhythm of my childhood’ which acts as a cornerstone of her sense of self. It is particularly fitting, therefore, that this filial section eventually takes a turn from first to second person, as she addresses her father who is mentioned in the dedication of the poem. This final stanza is a culmination of exactly what music means to the poet: a link to her past and a thread holding her family together, even when it is unraveling at the edges.Music is a deeply intimate experience, and Harper’s poem highlights just how significantly music can be associated to parts of one’s life. Her poem is a reflection of her past and her future, an ode to her identity. Music, in her eyes, is the vehicle to bridge these two worlds and offer her comfort through familiarity.POur Score: AP Grader Score:Notes:In Rachel M. Harper’s poem “The Myth of Music” the speaker describes the importance of music that has saturated her life. By contrasting the timeless, personal nature of music with the fading impermanence of mere memories, the speaker conveys the ability of music to connect her to her father.The speaker begins with an analogy to establish the significance of music to her memories of her father. By claiming that ‘this melody is my inheritance’ the speaker argues that her connection with music is a quality that connects both her and her father, much like how ‘brown eyes or a strong left hook’ connects parents and their children. The speaker’s description of lessons from her father ‘sealed into the grooves (of a record player) like fact’ reinforces the idea that music serves as a way to connect her to memories of her father. This connection is permanent, ‘sealed…like fact,’ and does not dissipate like the faulty memories of human nature.After this initial portrayal of music to her life, the speaker then describes the ubiquity of music in her life. The imagery of her playing cards with her brother while having music in the background suggests that music is vital to her recollection of past memories with her family. The paradox of hearing ‘the voice of a horn so familiar/I don’t know I’m listening’ evokes the degree to which music saturated her life. It was so common, so ‘familiar’, that it is regarded as background sounds to memories.The speaker’s memories with her family, though, is not permanent. She states that ‘in six months…I will have forgotten this moment.’ She will have forgotten ‘the security of her (mother’s) footsteps’ and even her presence with her father busy writing and playing music. The vividness of the imagery of her father with music and her claim that she will forget it all suggests some sort of distant and estranged relationship between the speaker and her family. However, she contrasts music with her memories in the last verse, asserting that ‘the music will remain.’ Her claim that ‘memories fading…come to life in a saxophone’s blow’ encapsulates her view of music as a timeless connection to her father. Moreover, the speaker develops another idea in the last verse, stating that music is in fact ‘personal’ and not ‘universal.’ Her claim that ‘this is my song, the notes like fingerprints as delicate as breath’ add another dimension to the uniqueness of music to hers and herself alone, just as fingerprints are unique to all. The concluding sentence and the last line of simply ‘but you’ alone reinforce the idea of music being personal to her. The fact that the speaker only addresses her father in the last verse further reinforces the idea that music is the foundation for her memories, and that without it, her memories of other family members will be forgotten.While music is important as a way to keep her memories, the speaker also develops the idea that it is personal and unique to each person. It is not a universal way for all to connect with each other, but rather a gem hidden within fading memories, serving as a reminder to the speaker as to who was truly important and dear to her. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download