AP English Literature & Composition Poetry Passages

Poetry Passages

• Poetry Sources
• Poets you’ve read in class, but works you haven’tread.
• Pre-twentieth century
• Twentieth century and later
• A variety of poetic forms
• Rhyming and non-rhyming
• Poetry and Prose Questions
• More questions about literary terminology and poetic devices
• You might see a question about rhyme scheme or structure, but probably not.
• More grammar questions (because poetic syntax is harder)
• How to Read Poetry
• Read poems like they’re prose. They use the same words; it’s just that those words are arranged strangely and sometimes rhyme.
• Focus on the main idea of the poem. (Repetition is helpful there.)
• Watch for what the poet didn’t have to include. (No, “all this poetry stuff” does not count.)
• EXCEPT/NOT/LEAST Questions
• EXCEPT/NOT/LEAST questions can be some of the trickier ones on the exam.
• Example: All of the following aspects of the windhover are emphasized in the poem EXCEPT …
• To answer these questions, cross out the negative word and eliminate any answers that work for the remaining question.
• Whatever’s left is your answer.
• Watch Out for Grammar
• Poetry questions are more likely to involve grammar simply because poets use much stranger syntax than prose authors do.
• However, the grammar in these questions is usually still pretty simple—they are disguised comprehension questions.
• If you understood the sentence, answer based on that understanding. Don’t sweat the grammar.
• Example:
  “I took my Power in my Hand
  And went against the World
  ‘Twas not so much as David—had—
  But I—was twice as bold—”
• In this poem, the “it” in “’Twas” refers to … (Power)
• One Group of Poets to Read
• The Metaphysicals
• Archaic language
• Extended metaphors
• Prolific
• Well-suited to standardized testing
• John Donne, Andre Marvell, George Herbert, etc.