Over the course of the year, AP Literature students read a number of plays and novels to help prepare them for the AP test in May. After reading Macbeth by William Shakespeare, students were given a blank piece of paper to demonstrate their understanding in a more creative way.

“On the AP exams students have to choose a novel to write over based on an open ended prompt,” AP Literature teacher Beth Evans said. “Our goal is to expose them to as much literature as we can so that when they get to the AP exam, depending on the prompts, they have lots of pieces to choose from so they can pick the one they’ll be the best.” 

Students are given free rein on what they include on their piece of paper.

“The one pager is basically the crash course of an entire novel or play on a paper,” senior Anushka Sinha said. “It’s full of helpful information such as a plot diagram, character descriptions, quotes, and important symbols. It’s used for us to remember the most important details of the story before our AP test in case we can use those details in our essays.”

The structure of the assignment is created so students can use it as a study aide to prepare for the AP exam. 

“They also, of course, don’t have access to that material on the exam so we want them to remember these five literary elements really well,” Evans said. “We know that with the one pager you have the combination of the creative visual and then also analytical and writing that will help to solidify those ideas. So when they come to the exam they’re able to have a rich memory of all the books that they have read.”

Senior Tristian Maravilla believes the assignment helps break down the text.

“The one pager helps students analyze literary elements and their purpose,” Maravilla said. “When I was confused about a part of the story, the one pager helped me analyze the play.”

Sinha thinks the one pager will help her remember the important details for her writing.

“In our AP test, one of the essays makes us write about a novel we have read in consideration of the prompt they give us,” Sinha said. “I think it will give us a great way to study and remember the most important information from the novel so we can accurately write about it.”