IAR Prep: Literary Analysis Practice

What is the best way to gather information about your topic?

• Think really hard about information you might know about the topic and ONLY use that

• Read and analyze the passages provided to you and use information directly from there

• Make up information that sounds good

What is the purpose of an introductory paragraph?

• It entertains the reader

• It confuses the reader

• It develops the main idea of the response

• It gives all of the facts and information found within the passages

What are some ways that you can make an introductory paragraph interesting for the reader?

• State an interesting fact

• Ask a question

• Make up a story

• Provide background information

When including evidence in your paragraphs, what is the correct way to insert it? Read carefully!!

• "Visibility was almost zero"

• "Visibility was almost zero."

• According to passage 1 "Visibility was almost zero"

• According to passage 1, "Visibility was almost zero."

How should your conclusion be constructed?

• Add new information and say "Today, I told you about"

• Summarize main points from the response and restate the thesis using different words

• Give your opinion about the prompt and say thank you for reading

Review this prompt for a literary analysis task on the IAR:

"In the passages from Confetti Girl and Tortilla Sun, the narrators have points of view different from those of their parents. Write an essay analyzing how these differences in points of view create tension in both stories. Remember to use details from both texts to support your ideas."

What literary device will you need to analyze according to the prompt?

• point of view

• theme

• characterization

• resolution

Review this prompt from a literary analysis task on the IAR:

"You have read two texts about people who make pottery. Think about how the narrator in the passage from A Single Shard and the speaker in “Turn, Turn, My Wheel” respond to the potters in each text. Write an essay that compares and contrasts how the narrator and the speaker view the potters in the passage and in the poem.

Be sure to cite specific details and examples from both texts to support your essay."

Identify what you will need to do to correctly respond to this prompt. Select ALL that apply.

• compare AND contrast the views of the narrator and the speaker

• use the passage AND the poem

• use specific details from both texts

• use sentences like, “In both the poem and the story, the potters are alike because…” AND “In the poem, the potter does _________ but in the story the potter does _________.”

Read this literary analysis task from the IAR:

"The Georges and the Jewels and Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse are both about horses. Write an essay comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the point of view chosen for each story. Be sure to cite specific examples from both passages."

The prompt asks you to "cite specific examples." Which of the following sentences would show this?

• I had of course been used to a halter and a headstall, and to be led about in the fields and lanes quietly."

• There are advantages and disadvantages of the point of view of each story.

• In "Georges and the Jewels," the passage states "She watched the horses, their manes and tails flying as they thundered around the track, and a strange feeling, a mixture of excitement and sadness, filled her."

• A disadvantage would be that it can limit the reader's understanding of the story.

What grade are you in?

• 6th Grade

• 7th Grade

• 8th Grade