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AP English Language and Composition 6.1 Passage Drill. The phrase "Mass it" in line 2 refers to what?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the private sphere,

00:07

basically the area you shouldn't invade unless

00:09

you know a person pretty darn well.

00:11

My precious.

00:12

Okay, so we've just finished reading a bunch of ginormous passages

00:16

from eight different sources and, boy, are our eyes tired. [ groan ]

00:20

This free response question wants us to use at least

00:23

three of the eight sources in our essay answer

00:25

and it also wants that essay to be coherent and, well,

00:29

well-written. Jeez, so demanding.

00:31

All right, so we're given this prompt.

00:33

Read the following sources (including the introduction) carefully. Duh.

00:37

Then write an essay in which you analyze how women were represented in both

00:41

the public sphere and private sphere.

00:44

So we need to read through the sources and use the content to develop

00:47

our position on how women are represented in, hmm, a couple of sphere thingies.

00:53

Sphere things. Yeah, these.

00:55

Well, really, we can just ignore the "sphere" part.

00:58

It wants us to analyze women's roles in the home as well as

01:00

the working world. Now, how do we attack this thing?

01:03

Well, slow and stealthy from the left flank, right?

01:06

First of all, we need to recognize that our prompt is telling us to

01:09

analyze, not argue. Big diff.

01:12

So no getting defensive and throwing a hissy fit.

01:15

This is all about exploring and evaluating the eight different

01:19

approaches to a single subject, not about trying to convince our reader of something.

01:23

Got that? We need to stay professional and unbiased,

01:26

like a television reporter who will lose his job if he's

01:29

caught editorializing.

01:30

Can't hurt to make sure our hair looks nice, either.

01:34

We also know that we need to discuss both women in the

01:37

public sphere, the labor force,

01:40

and in the private sphere, like Home on the Range.

01:44

Some of the sources refer to one or the other,

01:46

so we know we'll have to pull from a couple of each to cover our bases.

01:50

Sources A, F, and H are all pro-public.

01:54

B, C, and D think that women should be home in the kitchen making babies.

01:58

E and G deal with women appearing in public, even if they aren't

02:02

strictly about them joining the workforce.

02:04

So, which to choose? So many options.

02:07

It's like trying to pick out a pair of pumps when DSW is having a sale.

02:10

Tough.

02:11

If you read the passages carefully,

02:13

you should notice that some of them naturally work together.

02:16

A and C, for example, even though they demonstrate stances on each side of the issue,

02:21

are both from the New Jersey Constitution,

02:24

so they're clearly linked.

02:26

Less obvious,

02:27

sources F and H are both about women speaking and defending their rights.

02:32

E and G are both about how men view women appearing in public.

02:36

And B and D would probably be appalled that today's women no longer wear hoop skirts and corsets.

02:41

In other words, they have some pretty old-fashioned ideas about a woman's role in society.

02:45

The tones and perspective may differ from one another,

02:48

but, as long as we can draw comparisons and make connections,

02:51

we can compose an essay that is thoughtful,

02:53

well-researched, and compelling.

02:55

Don't forget to start with a thesis.

02:58

We can't know where we're going if we haven't first determined where we're starting from.

03:02

Remember not to insert your own opinion.

03:05

It might be difficult in cases such as these where there are so many

03:08

boneheaded, antiquated ideas being bandied about,

03:10

but, hey, it was a different time.

03:12

And, besides, it's our job to analyze the arguments of others,

03:15

what they did make a good case for,

03:17

how they structured their arguments, et cetera.

03:20

Include at least one pro-public and one pro-private.

03:24

And get at the heart of what these writers believed

03:26

and why they might have believed those things at that time.

03:29

Before you start a-writin', or maybe after you're done,

03:32

check out this sample essay to get an idea of

03:34

what those AP gurus are all looking for.

03:37

Yeah, this one.

03:39

My precious.

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