Q3 (LITERARY ARGUMENT) BASICS
Key feature: Q1 and Q2 present the text for students (a poem or prose excerpt). Q3 is different because there is no reading passage.
- Instead, students are presented with a topic or idea that they must apply to a work of fiction.
- There is a sample list of approximately 40 literary works for inspiration, but students many choose any work of fiction they desire. .
- Their task is to analyze how the topic or idea contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole.
- The recommended time to complete this essay is 40 minutes.
Q3 CHALLENGES
Q3 is the AP Lit. prompt that students can walk into the exam with the greatest confidence. That’s because it is the one question that draws upon specific knowledge from the novels and plays read in the past year (or years). Therefore, students can study and review those texts in the days leading up to the exam and be prepared for any topic or idea presented in the prompt.
There are four main challenges in answering Q3:
- Stay on task. Prompts typically focus on a character, a house, a symbol. There is a singular focus. Sometimes students mistakenly believe that if they write about two houses, symbols, or characters, they will earn extra points. Instead, this hinders their score. Students only have 40 minutes. Stay on task. Write about the topic or idea, and do it well.
- Q1 and Q2 have the text on the exam. Unlike those two questions, students are not expected to quote from the text for Q3. But they still need to provide specific evidence (character names, details, events, etc.). The challenge is to know a few works (3-5) really well.
- Students often try to prove how much they know about a work of fiction by recounting all the events, which turns the essay into plot summary. This is especially true when students choose works like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or The Hunger Games. They want to prove their fandom to these works by telling you anything and everything. In doing so, they never answer the specifics of the prompt.
- A key phrase in the Q3 prompt is “meaning of the work as a whole” or “interpretation of the work as a whole.” Students sometimes fail to show how the topic or idea connects to the broader implications of the work. They only answer half the prompt. THey never make the strong THEMATIC statements that are necessary in this essay. Q3 is a relationship prompt. Students have to show how a small thing (the topic or idea) influences big things ( themes and meaning).
A FOUR DAY PLAN TO PREPARE FOR Q3
DAY ONE
Students have to know a few works well. My Six Scenes to Themes is a great way to help students understand relationships. As a class, we vote on the six most important moments (scenes) in a work of fiction. Typically we start with a list of 10-11 and have to narrow it down through discussion and voting. This step is an important part of the process because students have to evaluate significance. For each of the six scenes, students have to explain in detail what happens in that moment (evidence), then connect that moment to the broader themes of the work of fiction.
Here is a sample of one of six scenes from my 5th period class:
Do this in groups or individually for every major work that you read. These pages become the best study guide for Q3 that I have ever seen.
DAY TWO
A fun way to get students to write a lot of thesis statements in a short time frame is to play thesis statement musical chairs. It is just like the Shakespearean Musical Chairs lesson, but instead of quotes from a play, students have prior Q3 prompts on the desk. The idea is simple and easy to execute:
- Arrange the desks in a circle and place a Q3 prompt on each desk.
- Play music for 10-15 seconds. Students have to walk around the desks until the music stops. When it does, students sit at the nearest desk and have four minutes to read the prompt and write a thesis statement on the graphic organizer.
- repeat this process every four minutes for the duration of the period.
Through this activity, students often realize the versatility of one work of fiction. They use that one work 80-90% of prompts. This lesson accomplishes a few things:
- it exposes students to a lot of Q3 prompts in a short amount of time.
- the four minutes forces them to think quickly and not overthink their choice of text.
- It reinforces the thesis template through repetition.
DAY THREE
Students need to understand the difference between weak and strong commentary in body paragraphs. I use this slide as a model for effective evidence and commentary. It comes from the 2021 exam in which students had to analyze the symbolic significance of a house. The student chose Hillary Jordan’s Mudbound as his work of fiction.
What this paragraph does well:
- it hits the golden ratio of 30% evidence and 70% commentary
- It provides specific evidence — character names, location, descriptions of a house
- while it does mention a second house (the Jackson), it is sole purpose in this essay is its juxtaposition to the McAllen home, which enables the write to address themes.
- It does not summarize the plot.
- It IDENTIFIES, CONNECTS, and EXPLORES major themes in the novel.
After viewing the sample slide, which stays on the board, students have to go back to their thesis statements from the day before and write a body paragraph for one of their thesis statements, using the 50 COMMON SUBJECTS IN LITERATURE as an organizing principle for it. This method forces them to address BIG ideas in the work of fiction.
DAY FOUR
On the final day of review, the class begins with two samples paragraphs from the day before. One that shows weak and one that shows strong evidence and commentary. This is done to reinforce the key teaching points of the day before. Then, students write a Q3 on a prompt that they have not seen before. I allow them to use their SIX SCENES TO THEMES. It is practice, after all :).
You can get all the materials and slides I mentioned in this post here.
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