A New Way of "Doing School"

A New Way of “Doing School”

As an incoming high school senior you think you know what to expect. You’ve already done this three times so you’re practically a professional. Show up to class, do your homework, regurgitate facts for the test, and get the A; that is how you do school. However, this was called into question our senior year. Were we actually learning? Were we engaged? No, not really. Open source learning brought about a different way of “doing school”. Us students guided the way towards what we wanted to learn and how we wanted to learn. We were entrusted with our own learning. This trust was earned through years of proving we wanted to learn more and achieve more. As AP students we are the ones pursuing a more challenging, but also more rewarding route. Thus we are deserving of finally taking control of our own education. 

What are you passionate about? Most of us were taken aback when this question was posted on the board as we walked into class a few months ago. How did our passions have anything to do with english class? After weeks of thinking over this question, I decided my passion was adventure and the pursuit of happiness. Deep down I had always known this, but after years of schooling I hadn’t found that this passion could be related to my education. I was wrong. Through following my passion in my masterpiece project I learned more than I did in many classes throughout the years. I learned how to step out of my comfort zone, how to collaborate, and how to build stronger relationships with others. I’m positive that these lessons are more important than knowing Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. With these lessons under my belt I feel more prepared to take on the challenges that college will throw at me. 

Along with finding our passions, a key part of this class was finding connections between our passions and literature. Throughout my journey though English, Literature, and Composition I related to Leah from “The Poisonwood Bible”. She was one of the most dynamic characters I’ve ever read about, she transformed from a God-fearing preacher’s daughter to an political activist traveling throughout Africa. Although I cannot relate with her specific situations, I can relate to her transformation. She began as a young girl following the system and ended as a free individual following what she believed in. I can also relate to Bernard, from “Brave New World”, for similar reasons. Bernard felt like he was different, because he saw the flaws in the system he was a part of. I think many open source learning students, can relate to this trait of Bernard, because our eyes have been opened up to the possibility of school without strict boundaries so we hope for something more. 

It was interesting to see that through Masterpiece Academy many students had similar passions, they were the sides of their personalities that many of their classmates hadn’t seen before. I was happy to witness an ongoing theme of positivity and happiness throughout many presentations. My own masterpiece was a living scrapbook of the adventures my friends and I had gone on in the last few months of our senior year. We called it “The Adventures of Us”. The Adventures of Us wasn’t just about our lives, but also about inspiring others to go out and do the things they’ve always wanted to do and build positive relationships with those around them. This theme was present in Breanna, Whitney, and Eli’s “Seize the Day” Presentation, where they focused on living each day like it is your last. Their inspirational video showed their adventures and Breanna’s face while skydiving caused the entire class to laugh like hyenas. Hayley’s “The Perfect High School” was had a similar theme in creating a positive experience out of high school and cherishing memories and relationships. Two more inspirational video presentations that solidified the theme of positivity and happiness were Miranda’s and Danny’s. It was interesting to see that when given the freedom to choose whatever we’d like to pursue, that many of us have similar aspirations; we all just want to make the world a better place.

Yes, I have been on quite the journey in this course, from Day 1 when I had no idea how to react to all this freedom to the last few days being able to sit back and soak in the aurora of passion as people presented their masterpieces. However, I don’t think I am the hero of this story.  We are all the heroes, we all responded to the call to adventure, and we all pursued our passions. 

The Adventures of Us Project

Follow us at theadventuresofusproject.tumblr.com

Macbeth Reading Notes

Look at my Brain

The Adventures of Us Project started with the simple idea of living life to the fullest with the people we love. An idea that a lot of people share and want to act on so we decided to. We are a group of four girls challenging ourselves to do as many exciting, adventurous, and memorable things before we graduate high school. To track our progress we collaborate on a tumblr blog, or as we like to call it our "living scrapbook". Here we post pictures, quotes, videos, songs, and anything else we find inspiring, as well as documented moments of our own personal adventures. This project reflects our ability to put action behind our thoughts, not only did we create an idea but we created an online place where people can tangibly see what we are doing.

Love is Blind

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth don't have much interaction in ACT I, only a letter and a short conversation. However, in this little time the audience can see that Macbeth perceives Lady Macbeth different than the audience does. To the audience she goes off on long soliloquies, pronouncing her evil plans and vicious motives. Macbeth does not hear these, he instead is greeted by his wife who speaks more calmly about the murder. So still evil, but more toned down than in her soliloquies. The audience perceives Lady Macbeth as evil, while Macbeth shows nervousness and doubt, she does not.

What about my Masterpiece?

The Adventures of Us : Hannah, Meghan, Kylie, Taylor

Our tumblr blog is up and running! Follow us at theadventuresofusproject.tumblr.com. We have an array of pictures posted from our past and current adventures, including hikes, dinner nights, beach days, and college visits. There are only two months left of school and our calendars are packed with plans to cram as much happiness and excitement in as we can! The helping element of our project will be implemented soon as well, we plan on doing a beach clean up and making sack lunches for the local homeless people. So please follow us, there is much more to come!

Meet Macbeth

Some of the play's first lines are Sergeant describing Macbeth's bloody ways of warfare. The lines "Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps, And fix'd his head upon our battlements." involve grotesque imagery, implying Macbeth's bravery and brutality in battle. Through this conversation, Macbeth is indirectly characterized as a valiant, bloody soldier. While Sergeant gives insight to Macbeth, the three witches give insight to the theme and future events in the play. The first lines of the play are said by the witches and end with the catchy phrase, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair". This use of chiasmus is also an introduction to the theme of the play, meaning that there is a twisted standard of morality in the characters and what is known to be right may not always be right. I think this will be an underlying theme throughout the play. The witches also foreshadow to the wicked characteristics of Lady Macbeth.
Shakespeare's characterization of Macbeth is somewhat contradicting. The first information the audience finds out about Macbeth is that he is capable of vicious murder, however through the author's tone, it is implied that Macbeth isn't a bad guy, just an obedient soldier. 

Literature Analysis #3

The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan

1. The Joy Luck Club is written by Amy Tan, an American-Chinese woman. Tan’s personal journey is The Joy Luck Club premise. It contains sixteen interwoven stories of mothers and daughters that went through the same obstacles that Tan had endured: the conflict between American-raised daughters and their Chinese immigrant mothers. The story revolves around many relationships, but the focus is Jing-mei and her mother, Suyuan. Suyuan recently passed away, and Jing-mei has taken her mother’s place playing mahjong in a weekly gathering her mother had organized in China and brought with her to San Francisco, called the Joy Luck Club. Jing-mei is also wants to reunite with her long lost half-sisters who are back in China. Suyuan was forced to abandon the twins when fleeing from the invading Japanese during WWII. The first four sections of the books are told through the mothers’ point of view. They recall their own relationship with their mothers with perfect recollection and reveal that they are afraid that their own daughters do not have the same intense relationship that they had with their mothers. The next four sections are from the daughters’ point of view. They also recall upon their childhood memories with their mothers, putting to rest their mothers’ fear that they won’t treasure the mother-daughter bond. The Joy Luck Club represents the difficulties of the struggle to maintain the mother-daughter bond across cultural and generational gaps.

2. There were multiple themes within The Joy Luck Club, but the most significant one to me was cultural transition and ethnic identity. I am also from Chinese descent, which is part of the reason this book appealed to me so much. I too also feel a gap between my heritage; I may be American, but I am also Chinese. But then again, I’m neither, because to Americans I’m not “truly American”, but to the Chinese, I’m not “truly Chinese”. So what am I? This is exactly what the daughters are feeling in the book, they don’t feel truly anything. This is why the Joy Luck Club is such a safe-haven to them. They are all considered an outsider to the rest of the world, but in the club, they are connected to one another through their differences. The daughters are genetically Chinese, but aren’t true Chinese. Their mothers are “true Chinese” and so the gap between the two can put a strain on the relationship.

3. Tan’s tone throughout the book is evocative, memory-filled with happy thoughts and sometimes remorseful ones. Tan’s words are filled with emotions.

“My breath came out like angry smoke. It was cold…The alley was quiet and I could see the yellow lights shining from our flat like two tiger’s eyes in the night.”

4. 

• Tone: Her tone moved you; I couldn’t not help but feel what the character I was reading about was feeling.
•  Diction: She used bold, emotion-charged words that would help convey the character’s feelings.
•  Syntax: Seeing the story from both the mothers’ and daughters’ view explained many of the missing links between the two. While you understood their problems and what they could do to change it, the characters struggled/thrived on.
• Symbols: Tan used symbols such as the coy fish in the pond that the mother loved and the goldfish in the bowl that the daughter loved. It represented the gap that the two had and the cultural difference they had even though they were mother and daughter.
•  Imagery, specifically metaphors and similes: Like Tan’s tone, her imagery painted in vivid detail the sorrow, happiness or whatever emotion she was trying to portray.

“A mother is best. A mother knows what is inside you,” she said. . . . “A psyche-atricks will only make you hulihudu, make you see heimongmong.” Back home, I thought about what she said. . . . These were words I had never thought about in English terms. I suppose the closest in meaning would be “confused” and “dark fog.”But really, the words mean much more than that. Maybe they can’t be easily translated because they refer to a sensation that only Chinese people have. . . .”

“I . . . looked in the mirror. . . . I was strong. I was pure. I had genuine thoughts inside that no one could see, that no one could ever take away from me. I was like the wind. . . . And then I draped the large embroidered red scarf over my face and covered these thoughts up. But underneath the scarf I still knew who I was. I made a promise to myself: I would always remember my parents’ wishes, but I would never forget myself."

My Macbeth Resources

1. Macbeth Study Guide
2. Timeline of Macbeth
3. Historical Context of Macbeth
4. Reading Shakespeare's Language
5. Introduction to Characters in Macbeth

Is there an expert in the house?

"The Adventures of Us" is our first draft name of the our Masterpiece project. A project documenting a group of seniors living adventurously, stepping out of their comfort zones, and helping and inspiring others. Groups before have done what we are trying to do. The Buried Life, a television show from MTV a few years ago, was what inspired us to focus our passion on this project. So the experts we are calling out to to help us validate our Masterpiece are anyone who went into making The Buried Life, The Human Experience, Happy, I Am, and any other inspiring documentation of people's lives.

This is only a Test

Our Masterpiece is broad and vague. It has no quantitative goal at the end. Our goal is to be inspiring, not only to ourselves but to others. We want to spread a sense of adventure and emphasize the need to live life fuller and bolder. So I think to prove we have been successful by June we need to be able to answer yes to ALL of the following questions...

• Do we have a following?
• Have we helped others?
• Are we happier?
• Are others happier?
• Was the last few months of your senior year amazing?

10 Questions

The 10 questions I would ask my expert are...

1. What is your favorite adventure you have ever gone on?
2. What do you think the most important thing to focus on is as a senior in high school?
3. What is one thing you have to experience in college?
4. What is your favorite memory? Why?
5. What are simple ways to make a big difference?
6. How do you motivate others to jump on board and make a difference?
7. How do you keep yourself motivated in times of doubt?
8. How do you become a credible source of inspiration/action?
9. What do you hope to accomplish with your life?
10. What is the meaning of life?

Super 5

For my group's masterpiece our major role models come from some of our favorite documentaries. They each have gone out of their comfort zones to experience more, understand more, and help more.

1. Tom Shadyac (I Am)
2. Ben Nemtin, Dave Lingwood, Duncan Penn, Jonnie Penn (The Buried Life)
3. Jeffery Azize (The Human Experience)
4. Roko Belic (Happy)

LAUNCH

• I am passionate about life, love, and happiness. Cliche as that might seem, it is the only honest answer. That was an easy answer. The difficult part was finding where to go with this passion. Through discussing this with my peers I found that many had a similar passion to mine, so we teamed up and created some direction. We are going to go on adventures, have new experiences, and document the last three months of our high school experience in a living scrapbook online. Surfing, hikes, "geocatching", frisbee golf, road trips, are just a few of the things we have on the agenda. This represents our passion for life. These adventures will be done and shared with our friends, the relationships we have built in our short four years here that will last a lifetime. Because our time all living together is shrinking everyday we want to make each day count. We want to create memories. This represents our passion for love. And lastly, while adventuring throughout the Central Coast we hope to shed a positive influence on the communities we visit. For example, picking up trash as we walk along the beach or giving out lunches to the homeless in downtown SLO. These are just little easy gestures that we can do that will improve the community. This all put together represents happiness, happiness because we have lived these last months to the fullest.
• The tools we will mainly count on are collaboration and use of technology. We will need to collaborate in planning these adventures around group members' busy schedules. Also, use of technology will be needed to establish our living scrapbook. Our site of choice will be tumblr, so we can contact other classmates who have used this site to better understand its features.
• To "feel the awesomeness with no regrets"by June, I will have to create these amazing memories I mentioned earlier. If I can look around me on Graduation day, at all my great friends, and have an endless bank of happy memories with them, I will be content.
• My group's documentation of our adventures will be what stands out to others. Since it is only a few of us actually going through these experiences, we want to record them through video, pictures, or relevant quotes and songs, so others will have an idea of what we have done. Through our striving to live life to its fullest, we hope others will be inspired and do the same. We will inspire others to go out and do what they have never done and experience what they never have.
• I will move beyond "What if's" by actually putting dates and times on these adventures, because it is easy to say I want to do this and that, but it is sometimes hard to fit this and that into your schedule.
• The central group for this project is myself, Kylie Sagisi, Hannah Savaso, Meghan Martella, and Ian Steller. As for experts, we are thinking about trying to contact some of our inspirations from our favorites documentaries, like "The Buried Life", "The Human Experience", and "I Am".

I am Here

This first grading period has gone by quick, but it has been a productive six weeks. My group and I now have a basis for an idea to start our Masterpiece. It is going to be a crazy mixture of adventures, fun, and helping others. It was inspired by the uniquely senior feeling of the shrinking time we have here in our home town as college approaches faster and faster. It was difficult to come up with this idea, although it is basic, because there is so much left we want to do here before we leave and now that our life as we know it has an expiration date the stress to do these things is heavy. So our project has to do with completely this "bucket list". As for the other traditional part of AP Eng Lit Comp, I am up to date on Literary Terms and am fluent with most of them. First Literature Analysis is done, and number two is in process. Overall, this first grading period has been successful and a good way to set the stage for my last three months of high school.

Literary Terms 6

Simile: a figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison. 

Soliloquy: an extended speech, usually in a drama, delivered by a character alone on stage. 

Spiritual: a folk song, usually on a religious theme.

Speaker: a narrator, the one speaking.

Stereotype: cliché; a simplified, standardized conception with a special meaning and appeal for members of a group; a formula story. 

Stream of Consciousness: the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character’s
thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images, as the character experiences them.

Structure: the planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization.

Style:  the manner of putting thoughts into words; a characteristic way of writing or speaking. 

Subordination: the couching of less important ideas in less important  structures of language. 

Surrealism: a style in literature and painting that stresses the subconscious or the nonrational aspects of man’s existence characterized by the juxtaposition of the bizarre and the banal. 

Suspension of Disbelief: suspend not believing in order to enjoy it. 

Symbol: something which stands for something else, yet has a meaning of its own. 

Synesthesia: the use of one sense to convey the experience of another sense. 

Synecdoche: another form of name changing, in which a part stands for the whole. 

Syntax: the arrangement and grammatical relations of words in a sentence.

Theme:  main idea of the story; its message(s). 

Thesis: a proposition for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved or disproved; the main idea. 

Tone: the devices used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literary work; the author’s perceived point of view.

Tongue in Cheek: a type of humor in which the speaker feigns seriousness; a.k.a. “dry” or “dead pan”

Tragedy: in literature: any composition with a somber theme carried to a disastrous conclusion; a fatal event; protagonist usually is heroic but tragically (fatally) flawed 

Understatement: opposite of hyperbole; saying less than you mean for emphasis 

Vernacular: everyday speech 

Voice:  The textual features, such as diction and sentence structures, that convey a writer’s or speaker’s pesona.

Zeitgeist: the feeling of a particular era in history

Literature Analysis #1

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey

1. The story is told in first person, by a man called Chief. He is a patient in a mental hospital and a wallflower to the mundane happenings there, because he acts deaf and mute. Nurse Ratched is the ward's head nurse, and the main reason for the ward's cold, uncomfortable atmosphere. All of this changes when a new patient, loud, crazy McMurphy is admitted to the ward. The patients immediately notice something different about him. He is lively and friendly, and most of all challenges the nurse's authority, to her disapproval. The longer McMurphy is there, the more he rallies patients together to stand up against Nurse Ratched and fight for their rights. With a new energy in the ward, patients begin to voice complaints and not bend at the nurse's will. The climax of the story is when McMurphy sneaks a prostitute into the ward for Billy. In the chaotic situation Billy goes crazy and kills himself, while McMurphy attacks Nurse Ratched. In response to the attack, she sends McMurphy to get the surgery room, where he gets parts of his brain removed. McMurphy returns to the ward, but is no longer his old self, he is dull and mindless.  Chief knows McMurphy wouldn't have wanted to live on this way so he suffocates him. Although Nurse Ratched beat McMurphy, the energy he left behind was still strong and since she had ended him in such a horrid way, the patients were even more inclined to fight. Most of the patients got the nerve to check out of the ward or be transferred.
2. The theme of this novel is to not conform to society's will. Just because things have been one way for a long time does not mean that is the right way. McMurphy proves that there is another way to live, a better way, that patients should fight for.
3. The tone of this story is serious and critical, because Chief is the narrator the audience can hear his opinions of the hospital staff and patients. He is usually a bystander in many parts of the story, so he is more a storyteller, than actor. 
4. Ten Literary Techniques:

• Irony: It is ironic that many of the Nurse’s helpers look down and make fun of the patients at the ward because they are also under the Nurses’s complete control. They are just as afraid and frightened of Nurse Ratched. 
• Metaphor: McMurphy used a variety of metaphors in his often bombastic language and in perhaps the most memorable example he compares the patients of the ward to chickens at a pecking party. "Bunch of chickens at a peckin' party." 
• Symbolism: Symbolism is strewn throughout the novel through things even as common as laughter. Chief recognizes that nobody in the ward laughs the way McMurphy does and accredits it too his determination to be unbreakable. Laughter symbolized strength.
• Foreshadow: The multiple encounters with McMurphy and the Nurse caused the tension between them to rise and rise. The reader could see that this battle would not be finished until something drastic eventually happened which it did during the eventful climax of the story.
• Flashback: Many times throughout the novel, Chief flashes back to memories of his life before the hospital. He remembers when he used to live on the Indian reservation with his father as a child.
• Descriptive Language: Descriptive language is used often in the novel especially during Cheifs hallicinations. The vivid descriptions help the reader feel like they can actually see what is going on.
• Juxtaposition: The author juxtaposes McMurphy’s personality and Nurse Ratched’s personalities so they are so directly opposite of each other that it creates a plot within itself. He makes the characters so extreme in opposite directions that they play off each other perfectly.

Literary Terms #4

interior monologue: a passage of writing presenting a character’s inner thoughts and emotions in a direct, sometimes 

fragmented manner

inversion: switching the usual order of words or clauses

juxtaposition: the placement of two things close together for contrasting effect

lyric: expressing the writer’s emotions, usually brief and in stanzas

magic(al) realism: a genre where magic parts are a natural part of an otherwise realistic environment

metaphor: a figure of speech 

metonymy: the substitution of the name of an attribute for that of the thing meant

modernism: literature movement influenced by industrialization and westernization 

monologue: a long speech by one character

mood: inducing or suggestive of a particular feeling or state of mind

motif: any reoccurring element in a story that has symbolic significance or the reason behind actions

myth: a traditional story, esp. one concerning early history of people, natural phenomenons, or supernatural beings

narrative: a story

narrator: a character who recounts the events of a novel

naturalism: a style and theory of representation based on the accurate depiction of detail

novelette/novella: a short novel or long short story

omniscient pov: a character or third person who is all knowing

onomatopoeia: the formation of a word from a sound

oxymoron: a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction 

pacing: the movement of a literary piece from one point to another

parable: a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson

paradox: a statement that leads to a conclusion that seems self contradictory 

Literary Terms #3

exposition: the beginning of a narrative

expressionism: a style in which the author seeks to express emotional experience

fable: a short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral

fallacy: a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument

falling action: part of a story after climax, action starts to slow down

farce: a comic dramatic work typically including crude characterization and improbable situations

figurative language: words, or group of words, that exaggerate or alter the usual meanings of component words

flashback: an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point

foil: a subsidiary character that emphasizes the traits of the main character

folk tale: a story originating in popular culture

foreshadowing: literary device where the authors hints at what may come later in the story

free verse: poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter

genre: a category of literature characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject manner

gothic tale: ?

hyperbole: exaggerated statements

imagery: visually descriptive language

implication: the conclusion that can be drawn from something, although it is not explicitly stated

incongruity: the state of being out of place

inference: a conclusion reach on the basis of reasoning and evidence

irony: expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite

Literary Terms #2

circumlocution: the use of many words where fewer words would do

classicism: the Greek/Roman style generally associated with harmony, restraint, and adherence to recognized standards of form and craftsmanship

cliche: a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought

climax: the most intense, exciting, or important point of something

colloquialism: a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation

comedy: style of entertainment intended to make an audience laugh

conflict: a serious disagreement or argument

connotation: an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning

contrast: the state of being strikingly different from something else

denotation: the literal or primary meaning of a word

denouement: the final part of a story in which matters are explained or resolved

dialect: a particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group

dialectics: the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions

dichotomy: a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or different

diction: the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing

didactic: intended to teach

dogmatic: inclined to lay down principles as indisputably true, opinionated

elegy: a poem or serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead

epic: a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition

epigram: a concise saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way

epitaph: a phrase or statement written in memory of a person who has died

epithet: an adjective expressing a quality characteristic of a person or thing mentioned

euphemism: a mild or indirect word substituted for one too harsh when referring to something embarrassing

evocative: bringing strong images, memories, or feeling to mind

Literary Terms #1

allegory: a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral one

alliteration: the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of close words

allusion: an indirect reference

ambiguity: uncertainty of meaning in language

anachronism: a thing belonging to or appropriate to a period other than in which it exists

analogy: a comparison between two things

analysis: detailed examination of the elements or structure of something

anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a successive clause

anecdote: a short and amusing story about a real incident or person

antagonist: a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something

antithesis: a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else

aphorism: a concise observation that contains a general truth

apologia: a formal written defense of one’s opinions or conduct

apostrophe: an exclamatory passage in a speech or poem addressed to a person or thing that is absent

argument: a reason or set of reason given with the aim of persuading others that an idea is wrong or right

assumption: a thing that is accepted as true or certain

audience: the people who are reading, watching, and/or listening

characterization: description of the distinctive nature or features of a character

chiasmus: a figure where words or concepts are repeated in reverse order

Hacking My Education

I want to know what it takes to succeed in college. I want to know what to expect and how to handle it. Right now I feel very unprepared for taking on the world and dealing with all of the independence and responsibility that I am going to get soon.
I want my blog to become more of a site for me to get feedback and communicate with others, rather than me just post my things and merely get credit for doing it. I want it to be similar to interaction on social media sites, so when people see it will be proof that teens can use the internet in intelligent ways.
I feel like I have so much left to experience before I graduate and leave for college. Most are nonacademic, like go on more hikes, explore more, take more road trips, be more adventurous and enjoy my youth. However, I still would like more academic experiences as well. I want to pass my AP tests for this year. I also want to become more well-read.

AP PREP POST 1: Siddhartha

1. 
2. In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, is a significant presence. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and write an essay in which you show how such a character functions in the work. You may wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the development of other characters. Avoid plot summary. (Essay prompt from 1994 AP Exam) 
3. How does enlightenment relate to or have to do with knowledge?
4. Herman Hesse’s novels before Siddhartha focused on alienated young men who rejected the cultures of their upbringings. However, these other novels did not feature the spiritual elements of Siddhartha. How do the spiritual elements of Siddhartha make it different from any other story of an alienated youth?
5.  Consider Siddhartha’s relationship with Govinda. How are they similar, and how are they different? What are the narrative functions of Govinda’s reappearance throughout the novel? How does their relationship impact the novel’s ending?
   These questions tell me that the test is in depth and covers a wide range of topics and concepts.

I had a difficult time finding questions on Siddhartha that were official AP questions. But a few of these I think are worth looking at. I can only answer some of these questions vaguely, because I have not recently read the novel.

1. In this passage, Siddhartha describes what it feels like to be in that pivotal moment from ignorance to enlightenment. This is a key point in the novel because of its Buddhist theme and he reaches the goal that all of the followers of the Buddha spend their life trying to obtain.
2. "The Illustrious One" is what Siddhartha calls the Buddha. This wise man is only encountered for a short period through the book, however has the most profound effect on Siddhartha's life. Through him Siddhartha reaches enlightenment. 

 3, 4, 5. I do not remember enough of the book to answer these questions. You would need to know           the major themes of the story and have examples to properly answer these.

These questions reveal that you need to know specific examples and characters from the test to properly answer the question. The tone and major themes of a story are easy to remember and those are good for composing a thesis. However, to support that thesis you need specifics.