AP English Literature and Composition 2018 FRQ 1 Sample Student Responses

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

Sample J

[1] The natural surroundings of human beings have often been the subject of

introspection on how they relate to human society. However, while many idolize nature for its

beauty, others see negative patterns that echo human behavior in the natural world. One such

poet is Olive Senior, who exposes his view of plant life as toxic in his poem “Plants.” Senior

assumes the role of an enlightened intellectual who warns his audience, general mankind, of

the insidious behaviors of plants – their widespread and ever-spending nature, in both political

(military) and sexual comparisons to human society. Though his comparisons to easily

accessible imaging, Senior’s claim becomes more effective to the general audience he seeks.

[2] Throughout the poem, Senior has comparisons of plant life to military terms and

strategies, suggesting their reproduction is like an invasion that should be repulsed. Martial

metaphors abound in the poem, all of which Senior points out using his superior, inside

knowledge as insidious, heightening the audience’s fear of being conquered. “Perhaps you’ve

regarded, / as beneath your notice, armies of mangrove / on the march” (9-11), Senior notes,

commencing his invading army imagery. He elaborates further in the following stanzas with

word such as “conquest,” “invasive,” “explosive,” “capsules,” “colonizing” and “parochuting”

(13-20). The close juxtaposition of those words with benignant connotations aid the mood of

the audience as a people about to be overwhelmed. This is a clear use of pathos, instilling

emotions in an audience, to hold their control and persuade them, establishing Senior still with

the narrative power and persuasive hold over the audience he is attempting enlighten.

Deepening the audience’s fear of the plant life, Senior includes references to espionage,

opening the poem with “Plants are deceptive” (1) and elaborating with a metaphorical

comparison of flowers to special agents. As flowers are something often enjoyed, this apparent

deception makes the audience more paranoid that these sinister, “imperialistic” (9) ambitions

of plants are present where humans previously found enjoyment. This distrust established

between humans and their surroundings, Senior has prepared his audience for his ultimate

goal, to make them contemplate what such imperialistic designs could be hiding in human

society.

[3] Another weapon in Senior’s arsenal is his general structure and syntax throughout

the poem. Increasingly, Senior turns to enjambments, sometimes even overflowing stanzas,

such as in “imperialistic/ grand design” (8-9). This flow mimics the imagery of overflowing

conquest and invading armies to overwhelm the reader, alas supporting the pathos of fear.

These enjambments, however, are still confined within a 4-line stanza structure that remains

[ILLEGIBLE]-able throughout the poem. This structure represents the normal, day-to-day

structure of society beneath which the demons of conquest hide; thus, Senior extends the

impact of his paranoia. Also, common in Senior’s sentence structure are informal addresses

and questions as are especially evident when Senior calls the reader out for trusting flowers – “-

don’t deny it, my dear, I’ve seen you / sniff and exclaim” (25-26). Here, Senior refers to his

reader in a condescending and informal way, almost like a parent speaking to a child (“my

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

dear”). This established position of power in a benevolent-seeming way. Also to hold his

general audience’s attention, Senior’s colloquial language and direct addresses help broaden

his appeal and the accessibility as a speaker. Therefore, his audience is more likely to hear his

pleas.

[4] Finally, Senior evoques a final emotion – that of shame – to persuade his audience by

using language with sexual connotations. “Yet from the way they breed (excuse me!) / and

twine” (5-6) suggests that flowers and plants, in their conquest, are also animalistic in their

rapid reproduction in a shameful manner. Indeed, Senior adds (excuse me!) to heighten the

shame of referring to sex and reproduction, making his audience even less inclined to behave

themselves in the manner of the plants.

[5] Finally having established himself as a credible, benevolent speaker showing his

unenlightened audience the dangers of plants, Senior concluded by stating the plants will

“always outlast us, they were always there” (33), implying the moral deficiencies of imperialistic

reproduction of the plants, and by extension, society, are minute traits that till always be there.

Therefore, as Senior’s fear – inducing phrases such as “one step ahead of us” simply, humans

must always be on alert.

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

Sample I

[1] Nature has been & will continue to be in existence for millions of years; it is one of

the few constants in the history of our Earth. In his 2005 poem “Plants,” poet Olive Senior

attempts to create a discussion regarding the perpetuity of plant life & the relationship it shares

with those around it. Senior establishes said relationship with poetic devices such as syntax,

diction, figurative language, & more.

[2] Senior initiates the conversation with an analysis of the true nature of Flora. Senior

claims that himself as well as the audience, the human race, must make the inference that a

plant’s “grand design” is one that is “sinister & imperialistic” based on the manner in which

they breed & spread. The use of the words with inherently negative connotations in discussing

the goals of plants allows the audience to infer only negative intention on the part of the plant.

From lines 13-16, Senior creates a comparison of the plants to invaders & conquistadors

through the personification of the shoots as being “bent on conquest” & the seedlings as

“invasive.” The author also compels his audience to only examine the nature surrounding them

by inquiring as to whether they’ve regarded the mechanisms of the plant life owned them

through the uses of a rhetorical question. By soliciting an answer from his audience, Senior

implores them to truly take the malevolent nature of nature into consideration.

[3] Starting in Line 17, Senior concedes that his audience may have not payed much

regarding to what may seem to be the minute of mechanisms through which plants enact their

“colonizing ambitions.” Following said concession, Senior creates a list of aforementioned

mechanisms in order to finally have attention drown to them. Senior then shifts to a discussion

regarding “those special agents called flowers” (line 22) in which he delves into the flower’s

tricks for seducing. Senior remarks that flowers are specifically made for romancing creatures,

& includes “even you” to signify to the audience that they are not an exception when it comes

to falling for the flower’s tricks. The author states that he has witnessed people fall prey to the

enticing elements of the flower & seeks to remind he who he refers to as “Innocent” through

apostrophe that those elements of a flower to which he is attracted are solely created in the

pursuance of the seduction of more innocents into spreading their progeny. Plants have

induced the development of a “cosmic program” that enables them to perpetuate themselves

as generation of humans die & become “plant food,” signifying superiority of flora in relation to

humans & our lack of ability to break the cycle in which we are trapped.

[4] Lines 1-4 & 33-36 serve as an initiation & a conclusion to the piece. The poem begins

with a broad statement referring to plants a being deceptive & as knowing their places &

concludes with an analysis of the plants inevitable infiniteness due to their being “always there

one step ahead of us.” Senior seeks to establish the power held over us by plant life & their

nature as stagnant & constant in the lives of those around them & in the history of the Earth.

Senior concludes the poem by simply referring to plants as “weed,” finalizing the negative

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

relationship that had previously been established between plants and humans through the use

of a word with a strongly negative connotation.

[5] Nature has proved to us time & time again that it will always be there as we pass

from generation to generation. Olive Senior provides his audience with a thorough analysis of

this stagnancy through his poems his apt selection of literary devices. Plants are simply

(masters of the) devices of seduction & invasion & colonization which go unnoticed by humans,

which is why they have managed to outlast us & been witness to our faults over the centuries.

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

Sample H

[1] Olive Senior’s poem “Plants” describes the organisms that are all around us as

sentient beings with nefarious motivations. While seemingly a humorous piece, the poem

contributes to a larger cautionary tale of social upheaval. Through his use of a sinister tone to

convey the gravity of the situation and figurative language likening plants to humans, Senior

warns the reader to be wary of those that seem harmless.

[2] Senior’s use of a sinister tone throughout the piece, even when describing plants,

emphasizes the didactic nature of his words. By portraying plants as scary, the author is able to

open the mind of the reader to a new perspective in which the seemingly-harmless are actually

dangerous. The very first sentence of the poem begins with deception, establishing a direct

statement about the nature and attitude towards plants from the start. By beginning his poem

on a sinister; yet somewhat ridiculous note, Senior sets up the rest of his poem to comment on

what plants represent, portrayed in a negative light. He is enabled to use plants and their

“deceptive” nature as a metaphor for humans. The dark tone continues even in the most

innocent of plant functions, breeding, as the author states, “we must infer a sinister not to say

imperialistic grand design.” The ridiculously-serious tone when describing what the reader

perceives as harmless serve to make the reader aware of a greater message, and to not take

the poem literally in its commentary on plants, but rather to search for a greater meaning.

Indeed, the speaker directly addresses the reader, saying “maybe you haven’t quite taken in the

colonizing ambitions” of plants and “don’t deny it, my dear, I’ve seen you” smell flowers. This

direct comment to the reader calls the reader to notice his or her own lack of suspicion towards

plants. The speaker even calls the reader “Innocent” for not suspecting those who appear

“beneath your notice.” By implementing a sinister tone and addressing the audience directly,

Senior alerts the reader to a greater critique on the lack of social awareness prevalent in

society.

[3] Senior also utilizes figurative language to describe plants as having nefarious

purposes in order to characterize them as an unnoticed threat. Senior personifies the plants as

having “colonizing ambitions” and as being that are “bent on conquest.” This personification

causes the reader to understand that the speaker is truly speaking about people, and is simply

using plant life as a metaphor. He uses metaphors of weaponry, of “explosive dispersal in

capsules and seed cases” and “armies of mangrove” to represent guns and warfare that is the

intrinsic nature of plants. He likens flowers to an “instrument to seduce you into scattering

plant progeny” and “special agents.” This comparison warns the reader that even the most

innocent-looking being, a flower, plots to overthrow people until “we become plant food.” The

transformation of plants into sentient, violently-motivated beings draws parallels to repressed,

ignored groups of humans. Through his use of figurative language, Senior cautions the reader

to be wary of the inconspicuous.

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

[4] Plants, everywhere, overlooked, are likened to humans in Senior’s poem. He

cautions the reader to stay vigilant, because it is their motivation to overthrow humans.

Senior’s message applies to society as a while concerning public policy. In order to retain

peace, we must recognize the desires of those we deem beneath our notice, lest they

overthrow us.

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

Sample G

[1] In Olive Senior’s “Plants,” plant life is characterized as a deceptive, single minded,

and ambitious. “Plants” features descriptions of plants that make them seem like they have

their own goals and are a force to be reckoned with against humans. The speaker utilizes direct

characterization and descriptive imegery if the plant life to warn his or her loved on not to

succumb to the deceiving powers of plants, illustrating the man versus place life struggle

encapsulated in “Plants.”

[2] The speaker’s inclusion of personification of the behavior plants beyond their normal

abilities and roles shows that the speaker is wary of plant life and distrusts their existence. The

way that the speakers perceives plants, as “armies of mangrove on the march” and “shoots on

bent on a conquest” illuminates the fact that the speaker sees plants as more than just

harmless flora: The speaker rather feels threatened that the “armies of mangrove” might take

over the human world. The indirect characterization of plants as “invasive seedlings seeking

wide open spaces” also implies that plants want to establish themselves on Earth and not be

confined to one area or region, as humans maybe want them to be. The personification of

plants as armies and invaders also suggest that the speaker is trying to warn his audience that

plants are evil. Their audience may be unaware of the supposed militaristic qualities of plants,

otherwise the speaker may not feel the need to divulge in them. Inclusion of warlike words –

“colonizing”, “explosive”, “armies”, and “conquest” – further establish the speaker’s distrust of

plant life.

[3] In addition to the speaker’s personification of plants as warlike beings, the speaker

utilizes descriptive imagery to warn their audience, supposedly a loved one, of the deceptive

nature of plants. The speaker quickly establishes to “[his] dear” that the inconspicuously

dressed, perfumed” plants are using their sweet appearances to “seduce [people]” into

dispersing their seeds and multiplying their population. Inclusion of the description of seeds as

“sweet fruit” … “made up for romancing” suggests that the speaker has a very distrustful view

of the façade plants put up. The speaker tells his “innocent” audience of the real agenda of

plants presumably because he is trying to prevent his audience from becoming victims to the

“vast cosmic program” plants have underway.

[4] The speaker in Olive Senior’s “Plants” makes it clear from the very first line that he

believes “plants are deceptive.” A general distrust of the appearance of plants culminates into

the speaker boldy asserting to his audience that plants will “outlast us” and will ultimately be

victors over humans. “Plants” explores the man versus flora relationship that the speaker

seems to have with plants through the speakers hyperbolic personifications of plants and

beautiful descriptions of their deceiving looks. The speaker’s ultimate goal appears to be

furrowing a protective wedge of knowledge of plants’ deceptive nature between his audience

and plants, revealing that man and nature may have irrepressible, mutual distrustful,

antagonistic feelings against one another.

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

Sample F

[1] In Olive Senior’s 2005 poem “Plants,” Senior effectively portrays a unique

relationship between humans and plants in which plants have formed a hierarchy over

humankind. Senior effectively portrays his ideas through a combined use of imagery and

metaphor.

[2] To begin, Senior introduces that plants as a “deceptive” group. Senior capitalizes on

the idea that a plant may seem rooted and as if it may never have the desire to spread or

“breed” like a human. However, in order to introduce the exponentialy-growing plant

kingdom’s nature, Senior uses a series of words that convey a deeper meaning Senior says,

“armies of Mangrove on the march, roots in the air, clinging tendrils anchoring themselves

everywhere” are all appearing before our very eyes and we do not even notice them. Through

this effective use of imagery, Senior is able to introduce the idea that plants are forming, or

have had, a superior status to humans. Senior is conveying the message that plants will

continue to grow and humans can do nothing about it. Plants are conveyed as having a

superior “mindset” than humans and are also portrayed as doing more than humans are aware

of.

[3] Senior adds to the idea that plants are superior to humankind by giving examples of

how plants are slowly but surely being incorporated into our lives more and more. Senior uses

the metaphor of flowers being mere “special agents” used for romancing “insects, bats, birds,

bees, and even you.” Senior compares flower to special agents in order to convey the message

that they are capable of changing your mood and are used to make one feel romance. Senior

adds to the extended metaphor by alluding to the idea the “berry” is nothing but “an ovary”

used to seduce humans. Senior’s metaphors provide as examples that support his overall idea

that plants are superior and have formed a hierarchy over humans.

[4] Senior’s portrayal of the relationship between plants and humans is unique and very

specific. However, through his strategic use of imagery and metaphor, Senior is able to

effectively portray his idea that plants have has, do have, and will continue to have a hierarchy

formed over humankind.

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

Sample E

[1] In the poem, Olive Senior personifies plants to portray the complex relationships

among the speaker, the implied audience, and the plant life. The speaker of the poem is Senior,

while the intended audience is the reader. By demonstrating many similarities between plants

and humans, the speaker demonstrated the deception that is present in everyday life. By using

the literary techniques of syntax, diction, and figurative language, the poet intends to connect

humans with nature.

[2] The use of syntax is significant because it provides a connection between plant life

and human life. The poem contains nine stanzas that each have 4 lines. The separation of the

stanzas is symbolic of the different stages of life. Just like life, the content of the next stanza is

differing from the previous one. As the poem progresses, the poet models a relationship

between the implied audience and plants by discussing mature content. In the beginning, the

poet uses short, simple sentences to highlight the simplicity of life at birth. As the poem

progresses, the poet models a relationship between the implied audience and plants by

discussing mature content. in the beginning, the poet uses short, simple sentences to highlight

the simplicity of life at birth. As the poem is read, the sentences become more and more

complex and elongated to portray the difficulties and trials of life.

[3] By using a sophisticated diction, the poet demonstrates the serious connections that

can be made between plants and humans. Bu using words like “profligate, extravagant,

reckless,” and “improvident” the poet simplifies the complex relationship humans have with

plants by relating a similarity of characteristics. The diction of the poem portrays and relates a

sense of respect for the existence of plants. Just like the speaker, and audience, plants also

fulfill a purpose on earth. In similarity to humans, plants were specifically and uniquely created

to have a specific function.

[4] Lastly, the poet uses figurative language to connect plant life to human experience

and emotion. Throughout the course of the poem, Senior uses personification to give plants

human-like qualities. In the first stanza, plants are personified as having the human ability to

run. The poet is trying to demonstrate that humans are never satisfied. The poet compared

flowers to being an instrument of seductive power. Often times, humans associate sexual

desires with plants. Flowers present beauty and are often used to express emotion.

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

Sample D

[1] Oliver Senior’s poem, Plants, discusses the importance that plants play in the lives of

animals. In his work, Senior is addressing plants towards humans and their behavior through

the narrator.

[2] The speaker who is undoubtedly a human, seems as though he is a plant. His speech

addresses humans as unaware of plants capabilities. The speaker indirectly states that plants

are for more intelligent and superior to humans as “they’ll outlast us, they were always there

one step ahead of us” (Senior 33) The speakers diction allows humans to see what plants are

capable of doing. The author gives these plants traits to make them appear aware of what

humans do to them. “Plants are deceptive…And what about those special agents called

flowers” (Senior 1, 21) As though they work for a government agency like the CIA, plants are

intelligent and act as a high figure that is lacked in respect. “The world is free of shoots bent on

conquest invasive seedlings seeking wide open spaces” (Senior 14) The comparison between

plants and humans is unbalanced, where the humans dominate at the top of the food chain.

The speaker believes that the current complex relationship between humans and plants should

be changed to prevent plant life from dominating humans.

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

Sample C

[1] In Olive Senior’s poem “Plants,” he compares plants to many life situations among

telling the story about what plants do. He goes through each stanza giving a comparison to

everyday life and what humans actually see.

[2] Through the first Stanza (lines 1-4) “Plants… traces,” he is comparing plants to

humans. Discussing how they can trick you and they may root in one place however like

humans that is subject to change.

[3] Continuing through the poem the author begins to give real life characteristics to the

plant. He conveys this message through words such as “mangrove on the march” in (line 10-

11), and “hitchhiking burrs on your sweater” in (line 18-19). Senior is using personification in

this specific scenario.

[4] Rhyminig is another literary element in this passage. In lines 14 and 16, also in lines

34 and 36. Senior uses a rhyme scheme in the these two positions of the poem. Senior uses a

selective word choice throughout the whole poem. Describing and analyzing scenarios to help

the reader visualize his text. Using these action words draw the reader in and help them

comprehend was message he is conveying.

[5] Olive Senior conveyed this first message with a very informative text also. He

expressed that plants have many similar qualities comparing towards humans and life.

AP English Literature and Composition

Question 1: Poetry Analysis (2018)

Sample Student Responses

Sample B

[1] Olive Senior has a distinct way of writing poems. Seniors structure of his poems are

not commonly seen in the poetry world and his diction is straight forward.

[2] The poem “plants” has stanzas where each one picks up from the previous one. the

beginning of each stanza finishes the previous of the last ones. The authors technique of

setting his poem like this makes it more powerful for the diction. Senior talks to the readers

directly by saying …you.”