Read and mark your the material. When you have decided on your essay topic, go back over the story to seek out the relevant material. If you are focusing on a major theme in the story like love or war, highlight or use sticky notes to mark key passages and specific quotes you will build on in your paper. This will help you develop a direction for your essay and ultimately a thesis statement.
Compose your thesis statement. In AP writing, a thesis statement is the anchor of your paper and should be a strong and supported response to the essay prompt. Your entire analysis will hinge on supporting your thesis statement, which is traditionally the last sentence of the essay introductory paragraph. For example, if the essay question is, "How is Scarlett O'Hara an anti-hero?" your thesis statement should clearly state the main reasons how the story develops her character. An example would be, "Scarlett O'Hara represents an anti-hero because her hardships and emotional development do not overshadow her selfish predisposition."
Outline the paper from introduction to conclusion. The introduction and conclusion paragraphs should be very similar in composition, with the conclusion expanding on what you've stated in the introduction and stating how you've proved it to be true. Declare your position in the beginning and then repeat it at the end. The body of the essay is where you turn your notes into strong examples to build on your thesis. Your thesis statement is the main idea of the paper, and you must derive supporting statements from the material you've collected to prove your thesis. Extract the strongest evidence of your thesis statement from your reading notes to structure the body.
Chunk your body paragraphs. Chunking is a methodology that involves organizing your paper. Start with a topic sentence that introduces the main idea. An example would be, "Scarlet O'Hara is first introduced in the story as a spoiled southern bell." Follow this sentence with a concrete detail. Concrete details are quotes or a paraphrase from the material that illustrates what you mentioned in your topic sentence. Support the concrete detail with three sentences of commentary that reflect your ideas on the topic, supporting your thesis. Repeat this formula for all of the paragraphs in that section, ending with a closing sentence.
Read your essay out loud. Hearing how the finished draft sounds out loud will highlight flaws in analysis and flow. Pay close attention to whether you chose strong examples from the reading material and that your commentary explains your examples.