Lesson Overview 

I prided myself, that one year that I taught AP Literature, on being able to come up with Essay Prompts that very much resembled what the students would face when they took their AP Literature Test.  In fact, one of my prompts - on Thomas Hardy's "The Mayor of Casterbridge" ending up foreshadowing nearly the exact same prompt on the exam.  This piece of prose - the description of the man that Tim kills - is rife with the kinds of writing - that is asked about on the AP Exam.  Here is my prompt:
The following passage comes directly from Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried.  In this scene, the main character, a soldier,  has just shot and killed a man that was walking down the trail.  Read the excerpt carefully.  Then write an essay in which you analyze the author’s depiction of this harrowing moment in time, and how the author conveys that horror and impact to the reader.  Pay special attention to imagery, diction, syntax, and the use of dialogue.

Thoughts on the Lesson 

Sometimes I see these handouts that I came up with for my AP Class - and I'm a bit in shock.  Did I create all of this just for 22 students - and because of what happened to how AP Teaching Assignments were given out - I would never teach again.