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200 Unit 2 ■ Analyzing Comparisons and Representations Preparing for the AP Exam ■ Free-Response Question: Poetry Analysis 201 UNIT 2
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➔ Step Four: Develop Your Commentary Perhaps The World Ends Here
Even after you have included evidence to support your thesis, your analysis will PREPARING FOR THE AP ® EXAM
be incomplete until you explain how all of the evidence connects to the idea and The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to
insight stated in your thesis. You can begin by including a sentence following your live.
evidence to explain how the evidence functions. Review these basic sentence stems: The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has
• By using these examples, the author reveals . . . been since creation, and it will go on.
• The author includes the metaphor to illustrate . . . 5 We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe at the corners.
• This specific word choice suggests . . . They scrape their knees under it.
• The simile explores the connection between . . . It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be
• The repetition of emphasizes . . . human. We make men at it, we make women.
In Unit 3, you will begin to write these explanations, also known as commentary, At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.
that not only identify the link between your evidence and make your reasons clear but 10 Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our
also make the connection to the unifying idea clear to your reader. Your goal is to offer children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we
insight into your interpretation of the passage and explain your line of reasoning. put ourselves back together once again at the table.
This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.
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AP EXAM PRACTICE Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the
15 shadow of terror. A place to celebrate the terrible victory.
The following is an example of a poetry analysis free-response question. Practice
the skills you learned in this workshop to write a thesis statement and a paragraph We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for
that includes evidence in response to the prompt. burial here.
Remember to follow the four steps: At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and
• Step One: Annotate the passage based on a unifying idea remorse. We give thanks.
• Step Two: Write a defensible thesis statement 20 Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing
• Step Three: Choose relevant evidence and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.
• Step Four: Develop insightful commentary

Prompt:
In the following poem “Perhaps the World Ends Here” by Joy Harjo (published in 1994), the
speaker describes a variety of human events that take place around the kitchen table. Read the Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs were used with this sample chapter.
poem carefully.
Write a paragraph in which you make a defensible claim regarding how Harjo uses the
kitchen table as a metaphor to convey a complex understanding of the human experience. In your Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
paragraph, you should incorporate evidence from the text to support your claim.
In your response you should do the following:
• Respond to the prompt with a claim that presents a defensible interpretation
• Select and use evidence to support your line of reasoning
• Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument

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Preparing for the AP Exam Free-Response Question: Poetry Analysis 201

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