AP Lit Multiple Choice: "One Art" AP Lit

AP Lit Multiple Choice: "One Art" and "Girl"

Focus Standards: Speaker, Detail, Juxtaposition, and Imagery

"One Art" Structure (Vilanelle)

• 19 lines total

• 5 tercets (3 line stanzas)

• 1 quatrain (4 line stanza) at the end

• the first and third line are repeated: 1st line at the end of 2nd stanza, 3rd line at the end of the 3rd stanza, and they become a rhyming couplet at the end of the poem (Bishop repeats them in other places too)

Open Ended

What is the effect of the repetition in "One Art" and how does the structure create sound? Jot down your thoughts on the structural analysis we just reviewed and how it impacts the speaker and message of the poem. (Time - 4 minutes)

Tips & Tricks for Multiple Choice

1. There are often answers that seem partially correct, but read carefully to see if any part seems "off".

2. Sometimes multiple questions are centered on similar lines or parts of the text and may be related.

3. You may need more context than on the SAT. If it says lines 3-5, you probably need lines 2 and 6 as well and sometimes will need even beyond that, especially with poetry.

4. Notice what's unusual in poems and prose. If something stands out AND is asked about, there's probably something special about it.

Multiple Choice

The poem as a whole is best described as

• a litany of losses that become increasingly consequential and reveal a schism between the speaker and her implied audience

• small, segmented stanzas that detail the speaker's losses to illustrate the speaker's self-pitying nature

• a repeated list of the speaker's losses, which are noted as inconsiderable and detailed for comedic purposes

• an invocation paralleling art and disaster to show that loss and heartache can lead to personal growth

• an ABA rhyme scheme linking the concepts of "disaster" and "loss"

Multiple Choice

There is light caesura at the end of most of the poem's lines (a caesura is a pause that is not a full end-stop, often created by commas, colons, dashes, etc).

Which of the following best describes the effect of the poem's pattern of caesura followed by end-stop?

• It gives a feeling of loss, then new discovery.

• It gives a feeling of steady reflection and honest understanding that is sustained, rather than changing.

• It gives a feeling of casual loss, then deep grief.

• It gives a feeling of the speaker's hesitation before admitting the depth of the loss.

• It gives a feeling of halted confusion, then disagreement.

Multiple Choice

The purpose of the speaker's parenthetical exclamation in line 19 "(Write it!)" is to

• indicate that the speaker will follow this poem up with another poem about her lover's joking voice and endearing gestures.

• to evoke the catharsis between the speaker and her lover.

• to force herself to admit the calamitous impact of the great loss she's about to reveal.

• to emphasize the most important item in her enumerated list.

• to outline the speaker's avenue to emotional recovery.

Multiple Choice

The tone of "One Art" is best described as:

• playful denial

• didactic instruction

• fervent pleading

• eulogistic praise

• flippant reply

Multiple Choice

Lines 10-11 ("I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or next-to-last, of three loved houses went.") serve to

• provide abstract examples of the speaker's loss

• maintain the poem's rhythm after a structural shift

• hint at even greater losses to come

• link the speaker's loss to her tangible advice

• illustrate the futility of worrying about loss

Multiple Choice

What potential theme is best illustrated by the speaker's complex view of loss?

• All loss is fated.

• The human struggle against committing careless choices is difficult to endure.

• People often search for humor to relieve the pain of a great loss.

• Denying the pain of loss is a vain effort, but one that many people perpetuate.

• Even the greatest loss can be overcome.

Multiple Choice

The first shift between stanzas 3 and 4 serves to:

• add dramatic irony by illustrating the speaker is unaware of the depth of her losses, even though the audience ("you") obviously understands.

• demonstrate that the speaker's losses are continuing as she delienates them, rather than concrete examples from the past.

• bring illustration to the speaker's earlier advice and pivot towards her experiences.

• reveal the speaker's emotional vulnerability and suggest she has understood the depth of her losses all along, underneath her denial.

• connect the loss of the speaker's mother to the loss of her lover later on.

Open Ended

Reflection: Considering your performance and the activity, share your current thinking on the multiple choice.

Consider:

1. How comfortable you feel with this compared to the essays?

2. What are the greatest challenges / barriers to success?

3. What strategies you are considering so far?