AP Worthy?
Hello for the last time! Welcome to my final blog post, where I will investigate whether or not this book should be studied in AP Literature classes.
My initial reaction was that it's not really a worthwhile read for an AP Lit class for a couple of reasons. After some digging, I have decided that I agree with my original thought.
The Red Tent is a very enjoyable book. While that is definitely not a bad thing, part of that enjoyment comes from it being a mostly plot-driven novel. With a plot-driven book, there isn't always a lot to analyze. While I was writing my other blog posts, I found that I sometimes had a hard time finding good quotes to use for analysis in my posts. Often I had good quotes to use, but I felt like the meaning of them was obvious and I didn't really need to explain it to you, my readers, because I know that you're all very smart people and can pull meaning from quotes pretty easily. That gave me some problems because I wanted to have good analysis in my posts, but that was sometimes difficult to do. For that reason, I would not recommend The Red Tent as a book to study in an AP Literature class. Although I pretty much knew that I wouldn't recommend it, I thought that I'd make sure I wasn't missing anything.
In addition to that problem, there is the issue of the meaning of the work as a whole, which I discussed in my last blog post. The meaning that I decided to talk about was the power of women that really resonated throughout the whole book. Although this is a really important meaning, it comes to the surface much too easily. Because the novel is meant to give the women of the Bible a voice, it is pretty obvious that it is going to make the main female characters strong and resilient. I don't feel as though you have to do much more than summarize plot to make the meaning clear. For example, when Dinah stands up to her father and says, "'Jacob knows my words are true. Look at me, for I wear the blood of the righteous men of Shechem. Their blood stains your hands and hour head, and you will never be clean again'" (Diamant 206), I think it's pretty clear that she's a strong woman who can stand up for herself. Most of the instances that add to the meaning of the book that I discussed in my last post are pretty obvious; I don't feel like I had to do too much analysis to understand the novel.
I thought I'd keep it short and sweet for my last post because I know I've made you read a lot over my last few posts. I also thought that this post didn't need a lot of explanation because in my view it is pretty clear that it isn't the best AP book. I think that you could stretch it to try to fit, but it would be difficult. That being said, I really enjoyed reading The Red Tent and going on this blogging adventure with you. So, thank you so much for following my blog, I really appreciate it! And as this is my last post, I'll say goodbye for good because I'm not quite sure when the next time I blog will be (maybe never, although I'd like to start a food blog someday, so stay tuned). Thank you all again, and goodbye.
My initial reaction was that it's not really a worthwhile read for an AP Lit class for a couple of reasons. After some digging, I have decided that I agree with my original thought.
The Red Tent is a very enjoyable book. While that is definitely not a bad thing, part of that enjoyment comes from it being a mostly plot-driven novel. With a plot-driven book, there isn't always a lot to analyze. While I was writing my other blog posts, I found that I sometimes had a hard time finding good quotes to use for analysis in my posts. Often I had good quotes to use, but I felt like the meaning of them was obvious and I didn't really need to explain it to you, my readers, because I know that you're all very smart people and can pull meaning from quotes pretty easily. That gave me some problems because I wanted to have good analysis in my posts, but that was sometimes difficult to do. For that reason, I would not recommend The Red Tent as a book to study in an AP Literature class. Although I pretty much knew that I wouldn't recommend it, I thought that I'd make sure I wasn't missing anything.
(From Amazon, just in case you need a little help with the exam)
Just in case I was missing something about the book that they actually look for on the AP exam, I perused the Question 3 free response questions. For example, the 2015 Question 3 question is about cruelty and "how cruelty functions in the work as a whole and what the cruelty reveals about the perpetrator and/or victim" (AP Central). I definitely see cruelty throughout The Red Tent: "'You have lied and connived, and your sons have murdered righteous men, striking them down in weakness of your own invention" (Diamant 206), but it doesn't really fit the bill of this AP question. There isn't a lot to analyze about the cruelty of her brothers - their motives are pretty clear and it doesn't add too much to the deeper meaning of the book. Obviously, all the AP questions are looking for some deeper understanding of the novel you choose for the prompt, and The Red Tent doesn't have a lot to analyze.
In addition to that problem, there is the issue of the meaning of the work as a whole, which I discussed in my last blog post. The meaning that I decided to talk about was the power of women that really resonated throughout the whole book. Although this is a really important meaning, it comes to the surface much too easily. Because the novel is meant to give the women of the Bible a voice, it is pretty obvious that it is going to make the main female characters strong and resilient. I don't feel as though you have to do much more than summarize plot to make the meaning clear. For example, when Dinah stands up to her father and says, "'Jacob knows my words are true. Look at me, for I wear the blood of the righteous men of Shechem. Their blood stains your hands and hour head, and you will never be clean again'" (Diamant 206), I think it's pretty clear that she's a strong woman who can stand up for herself. Most of the instances that add to the meaning of the book that I discussed in my last post are pretty obvious; I don't feel like I had to do too much analysis to understand the novel.
I thought I'd keep it short and sweet for my last post because I know I've made you read a lot over my last few posts. I also thought that this post didn't need a lot of explanation because in my view it is pretty clear that it isn't the best AP book. I think that you could stretch it to try to fit, but it would be difficult. That being said, I really enjoyed reading The Red Tent and going on this blogging adventure with you. So, thank you so much for following my blog, I really appreciate it! And as this is my last post, I'll say goodbye for good because I'm not quite sure when the next time I blog will be (maybe never, although I'd like to start a food blog someday, so stay tuned). Thank you all again, and goodbye.
Lily, though the points might be kind of straight-forward, I think you could write a successful essay on this novel. For me, I am trying to choose more complex texts so that you are prepared for complex texts in the prose multiple choice questions and essay.
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