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Composition Workshops — Developing Literary
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Argumentation Skills
Each unit includes a process writing workshop focused on building composition
skills and analyzing a specific literary element. Writing assignments are designed
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to develop critical analysis skills from the unit workshops. As the reading skills
build, and students gain practice with writing, they are able to write increasingly
sophisticated analyses.

Unit Writing Workshop Writing Workshop Skill Focus
1 Writing about Theme Establishing a Unifying Idea through a Defensible
Thesis Statement
2 Writing about Tone Justifying a Thesis through a Line of Reasoning
3 Writing about Character Explaining an Interpretation through Commentary
4 Writing about Point of View Creating Unity through Commentary
5 Writing about Motif and Extended Metaphor Creating Coherence through Transitional Elements
Composition Workshop Writing about Tone 185
6 Writing about Symbols Writing Commentary with Purposeful Syntax
• The structure of the text

Writing Introductions
7 Writing about Setting • Shifts in tone COMPOSITION WORKSHOP

• Complexity of tone, perspectives, or ideas
Writing Conclusions
8 Writing about Structure and Irony • Literary techniques
You must have a line of reasoning for your literary argument; however, you
9 Writing a Source-Based Literary Argument Using and Citing Secondary Sources
may choose whether to preview this line of reasoning within your thesis statement.
Review the following templates that may help you write your thesis statement.
Structured Graphic Organizers WRITING A THESIS FOR ANALYSIS OF TONE
Each Composition Workshop includes a Template 1: In [title of work], the author conveys a [adjective]
tone using [literary technique] and [literary
Thesis connects tone to the idea and previews
graphic organizer to guide students as the line of reasoning. technique], in order to reveal that [unifying idea
+ insight] .
they develop their literary arguments Template 2: In [title of work], the author/speaker/narrator
conveys a [adjective] tone to reveal that [unifying
Thesis connects tone to the idea and insight.
focused on the specific literary element. Template 3: idea + insight] .
In [title of work], the author/speaker/narrator shifts
Thesis reveals complexity in tone and connects from a [adjective] to a [adjective] tone to illustrate
to the idea. that [unifying idea + insight] .
Composition Workshop ■ Writing about Tone 193
Student Model: Writing about Tone
Review the following student model to observe how the thesis statement, line of LITERARY ARGUMENTATION COMPOSITION WORKSHOP

® SKILLS
AP
reasoning, and evidence work together to convey an interpretation of the literary Developing a Thesis Statement for Tone
PRACTICE
Analysis
argument.
Record the unifying idea and insight of the text you are analyzing in the following
graphic organizer. Next, using the thesis templates as a guide, write a defensible
Escaping Expectations thesis statement. You may choose whether or not to preview your line of
Annotated
reasoning.
Sophia Amstalden
Student Models
Developing a Defensible Thesis Statement for Literary Argument
Topic
May Swenson recognizes how societal pressures burden her into hiding Claim
Insight
Title, Author, and Focus Unifying Idea +
her true playful, childish nature as a young girl as she looks at a memory To give a clear example of
(author choices)
of her playing outside and embodying the freedom of a horse. In “The thesis statement with
Centaur,” through a shift in tone from carefree to judgmental developed by interpretation the skill in practice, each
poetic devices, May Swenson depicts the freedom her younger self felt idea: freedom Composition Workshop
playing as a horse in a tone that shifts and becomes more reserved under insight: humans includes an annotated student
the judging eyes of her mother, who represents the societal norms placed desire freedom
on girls from a young age to be good-mannered and composed. tone: shifts from model demonstrating the
carefree to reserved
Through metaphors and similes in the first several stanzas of the skills for writing about that
poem, the girl explores her freedom when she is alone in the yard, claim: societal
depicting the persona of the adventurous and playful nature of youth. expectations for girls particular literary element.
impede their freedom
May Swenson’s younger self becomes the perspective of the audience topic sentence:
through her poem. By following her as she uses her “brother’s jack knife” freedom associated xv
to “cut [herself] a long limber horse,” the audience understands her with the playfulness
playful nature. She cuts herself a horse which symbolizes her freedom of youth
and carefree nature as she plays outside, but her attention to detail as
she makes her toy shows how these moments of freedom have great
importance to her. The detail of her brother’s knife depicts how she has
to use a boy’s object to create this free world she can play in, as this evidence: figurative
playful and rambunctious nature is more closely associated with little
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boys. She embodies the freedom the horse represents as her head the joy from freedom
becomes “shaped like a horse” and her hair is “like a mane of a horse in found outside the
the wind.” These similes show her transformation into a creature that is home
wild and free, roaming where she wants and playing however she sees fit.
She is not confined by any societal ideas of how she should play with tea
sets or dollhouses, she is free of all judgment to explore her youth and
childhood. The wind is also representative of freedom as it twists and
moves anyway and anywhere it wants. It is again referenced as “the wind
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twanged in [her] mane.” The sense of freedom that the wind represents
calls her and she allows herself to roam free for a short while until she has
to return home. The tone of carefree youth is exemplified through the
poetic devices used to depict this young girl’s adventures playing horse.
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