Scholars select a novel or play and then craft an essay that describes the setting's role in the story. Pupils also create essays that analyze a poet's use of language and the values of characters in a novel excerpt.

Scholars use the 2007 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions to write essays examining how a character's tie to the past affects the story. The resource also requires pupils to write essays comparing two related...

Scholars are challenged to create essays comparing two poems in which the authors discuss fears and concerns about dying and life passing by too quickly. Two other essay questions ask writers to analyze literary elements and characters...

It is not what you say but how you say it. Scholars use an essay prompt from the 2002 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions to analyze how an author uses language to describe her past. They also support or argue a...

You took the words right out of my mouth! One question in 2003 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B allows scholars to develop opinions on pupils receiving zeros for plagiarism. Other essays analyze ideas...

"Don't go forth today." Why would Caesar's wife not persuade him to stay home? Scholars read an excerpt from the play Julius Caesar and write essays on why Caesar listened to Decius rather than his wife. Pupils then write two more essays...

Music brings back a memory. One prompt from the 2017 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions asks scholars to read a poem and write essays analyzing the relationship between music and the author's memories. Two...

Have you ever met a wolf in disguise? The last essay question in the 2016 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response exam asks writers to think of deceitful characters and create essays describing why they carried out...

It is a cruel world. Scholars create essays about a piece of work that describes what cruelty reveals about a character. A prompt from the 2015 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions also contains two other essay...

How much would you give up for others? The last prompt in 2014 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions asks scholars to write essays about a character in a piece of work that has sacrificed and what the...

Should people only have what they need? Questions from the 2005 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response section asks scholars to write essays evaluating the argument that those who are more fortunate should give all excess...

Shall we agree to disagree? Scholars have the opportunity to choose a topic they feel is controversial in the world and express ideas about it. They complete essays that address the opposite views. In two other essays, they analyze a...

Scholars read Kafka's The Metamorphosis and research for essays and articles on existentialism. After gaining information and evidence from their research, pupils write essays defining existentialism and its relationship on the work...

Move beyond the five-paragraph essay with a lesson introducing young writers to various forms of expository writing. Class members examine description, cause and effect, problem solution, sequence, and comparison forms. They create an...

Scholars read two texts about Miné Okubo’s life. In Riverside’s Miné Okubo and Miné Okubo, readers gather information to write narrative essays describing how Okubo became visible again. The essay serves as part of a performance task.

Writers continue looking at the rubric for their A Long Walk to Water essays. This time, they analyze the demands for the introduction and conclusion paragraphs. Pupils compare the rubric to the opening and closing of the model...

Writers align their position papers with the last two rows in the rubric. After looking at the rubric rows for vocabulary and conventions along with feedback on their papers, class members revise their essays. They then look at the...

Think about it. Writers think about their end of unit essays through reflection. They use the End of Unit 3 Assessment, Part 2: Reflection on the Writing Process handout to analyze the writing process they used to create their...

Is there a connection? Scholars work to write a summary and theme to connect The Lightning Thief and myth of Cronus. They begin by looking at a model essay and then work on their own drafts. 

Assess your new learners' writing abilities and knowledge of literary terms with these diagnostic activities. Part of a back-to-school unit, this is meant to provide the teacher with information about the ability levels of their class....

Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...

A great look at topic sentences is presented here. First, the function of a topic sentence is explained and common errors are listed. Then, you will walk your class through the five example topic sentences to discuss their quality. 

Why did Chinua Achebe write "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" in response to Conrad's novel? As part of a study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a socratic seminar focused on Achebe's purpose and...

With the help of a prewriting activity, scholars reserach a topic and compose an expository essay to show what they know about a topic of their choice.