SYLVIE SAN JUAN: Hi, welcome to AP practice sessions.
My name is Sylvie San Juan.
And I'm a teacher at Belen Jesuit Preparatory
School in Miami, Florida.
If you want to work through today's question with me,
please click on the link visible now.
And you can download a PDF.
And we can work through the question together.
OK, today, we're going to be discussing
question two, the long essay.
And this is a visual and contextual analysis essay.
This one is worth six task points.
And the suggested time for FRQ1 and 2
is about 60 minutes for those first couple of essays.
And it's recommended because this one has six task points.
Maybe spend a little longer on FRQ1
and then about 25 minutes for FRQ 2.
For FRQ 2, an image will not be provided.
So all the information that you have about the work
will come from your mental database
that you will open up and visualize that work, OK.
Let's take a look at this prompt.
And let's break this down because it looks
like a huge prompt, all right.
It looks like a lot is going on here.
And remember that you will not have an image provided.
But that's OK, you can do this.
So the first thing you want to do
is to select and completely identify
one work from the list below or any other relevant example
of a work of art.
And here's the catch.
You have to make sure that you read carefully
to see what content area or unit you must pull that work from.
In this case, you're being asked to select a work from Western
and Central Asia.
Now, some works will be listed for you, either two or three
choices.
Those choices will always be excellent choices.
So I always plead with my students
to choose from that list, unless they're
100% sure that their other choice works.
Why?
Because if you choose a work that's not appropriate,
you could end up losing all the points
or not having the opportunity to earn points.
So always make that really good choice.
Here, we're given the choice of Dome of the Rock or the Kaaba,
both excellent.
I think, go with the one that you know the best
and that you can write the most about.
And all these bullet points that we have here,
these are where we're going to be able to pull our task
points, OK.
And here are our options.
Remember, for today's video, we're
going to be looking at visuals.
But again, when you write that essay,
you won't have the visual in front of you.
So we have the option of Dome of the Rock and the Kaaba.
OK, so let's focus in on these bullet points for a second.
Now, this is where we can find our task points.
The main prompt is this one was found right
above the bullet points.
Explain how the work you have selected
was designed to serve in the veneration of the holy site
it was created to mark.
Now, first of all, task one.
You want to provide two accurate identifiers for the work of art
you have selected.
This is two identifiers beyond the title
because the title is already given to us.
So that one doesn't count.
Now, for task two, respond to the prompt with an art
historically defensible claim or thesis.
This is basically your thesis statement.
You've probably been writing thesis statements
for a really long time.
This is your chance to write one in art history.
And this, you would include the best places
to include it in the introduction,
towards the end of your introductory paragraph.
Now, for tasks three and four, you're
going to support that claim.
Always keep your claim in mind that you've
written with two examples of visual and/or contextual
evidence.
Always read the prompt to see what you need.
But typically, FRQ 2 allows you to choose
either visual or contextual evidence.
Finally, you want to make sure for the last two,
for task five, you want to make sure you're not just
plopping contextual evidence or visual evidence in your essay.
No, you need to make sure to also connect it
back to your claim, OK.
Be really clear about that.
And we'll look at an example.
Then finally, and this, most students
often find this one to be one of the most challenging task
points to earn, but you can do it for sure.
Corroborate or qualify your claim
by explaining relevant connections.
And this is a really good way to do it.
To make a connection between the work you're discussing
and another artwork from the image set.
Providing nuance or considering diverse points of view
about what you're writing about.
And again, choose that work with which you're most familiar.
All right, so the Dome of the Rock or the Kaaba here.
These are the choices that we were given.
First of all, let's take a look at task one and task two
here in our sample paragraph.
A tip or a suggestion would be to include tasks one and two
in your introductory paragraph.
So let's take a look here for task one
is there highlighted in yellow.
Dome of the Rock is located in Jerusalem, Israel
and was constructed between 691 to 692 CE
by the Umayyad Dynasty.
Check, check, check.
Here, we have three identifiers.
I say, if you can and you have a third one,
stick a third one in there as insurance to really
make sure you earn this point.
But just the two are required.
Then for the claim, through its architectural features, which
encourage circumambulation, Dome of the Rock accommodates
pilgrims visiting a sacred site that has associations
with the prophet Muhammad.
So there we have two.
Now, let's go to tasks three and four.
So support your claim with at least two examples
of relevant visual and/or contextual evidence.
And here's our example.
So I suggest you include three and four in body paragraphs.
You can include them in one body paragraph or two body
paragraphs.
But definitely in a separate paragraph
than your identifiers in your thesis,
OK, to have that format of an essay.
So for task three, we could say, the main visible structure,
the dome sitting on top of the octagonal structure
was originally made of gold.
The current version is constructed out
of aluminum covered with gold leaf.
The interior contains a double ambulatory or walkway
surrounding the rock.
All right, but that's not enough.
We need another piece of evidence.
So the Dome of the Rock is located
near to a similarly designed central plant building,
the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,
an important Christian building.
Church of the Holy Sepulcher and Dome of the Rock
are very important buildings to the respective religions.
OK, so now, we provided evidence.
It's relevant to our claim, all right.
Oh here, I wanted to provide to you a little bit more
of a visual of that double ambulatory
or the double walkway that we can see here
surrounding that rock.
Because ambulatory is an important vocabulary term
that can apply here at Dome of the Rock.
Also, for example, in Romanesque churches like Saint Bois.
So it's an important vocab word to keep in mind.
All right, in this case, the ambulatory
surrounds the rock, OK.
Now task five, this is where we bring it home.
We connect that evidence back to our prompt.
And again include this in one of the body paragraphs.
Here is an example.
So pilgrims flock to see the Rock
because it is believed to be the site of the night journey
when the prophet Muhammad met Abraham, Moses,
Jesus, and other prophets.
During the journey, the prophets prayed together.
The gold dome allow the structure
to be seen from all over Jerusalem.
New visitors to the city, regardless of religion,
would have seen the structure as a tribute to the Islamic faith.
And task five can be on its own paragraph
or you can include it in a paragraph
with task three or task four.
But just again, you want to structure this like an essay
with body paragraphs.
OK, there's our task five.
OK, finally task six, so how could we earn this?
Connection, providing nuance, or diverse views
would earn this point.
Again, a suggestion would be you could try and put
this in your conclusion.
One sentence is insufficient to earn this complexity point.
So you want to make sure to expand
on the manner in which you're hoping to earn this point.
Here's an example.
So the caliph Abdul Al-malik who had the Dome of the Rock
constructed may have wished to create a monument that
would rival the holy sites of Arabia, which
were generally inaccessible to his people because
of civil war.
So this shows us another viewpoint
about why this structure was built in addition to providing
a way to view the rock.
It's additional motivation.
It's another interpretation of this building, OK.
And here, you can see another example.
So we just want to make sure that our information is
specific.
We haven't used it before in the essay.
And it does show complexity, all right.
And a little tip.
Also at the end of the essay, you
might wish to restate your thesis.
Sometimes, that second time when you write your thesis statement
is better than the first.
And it might be the one that clinches you
that thesis task point.
Now, let's take a look at another example.
And that is the kaaba.
The Kaaba was our other choice.
So what could we say about that in terms of identifiers?
We could say the Kaaba is located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
It was a pre-islamic monument rededicated by Muhammad
in 631 to 632.
It's made of granite.
And it's covered by a silk cloth called the kiswah.
Again, there we have more than two identifiers just as
some extra security or insurance.
But the two are required.
Now, a thesis statement that we could make.
The Kaaba is a destination site for Muslim pilgrims seeking
to fulfill the religious obligation during the Hajj.
Again, try to include these in an introductory paragraph
to start off your essay.
So tasks three and four can be visual or contextual
according to our prompt.
So some visual examples include, the Kaaba
is draped each year in a new black cloth called
a kiswah, embroidered with a band of sacred verses and gold
and silver thread.
So that's one option of a piece of visual evidence
that we could provide.
Here's a contextual example.
Muslims must enter the sacred area around Mecca
in a state of ihram or purity.
For men, this includes wearing a special dress
of two seamless white sheets, OK.
Now, for task five, we have to connect that evidence
back to our thesis point that we wrote a couple of slides ago.
So the Kaaba serves as a kind of memorial
to Muhammad's conquest of the city of Mecca,
commemorating the time when the prophet cleansed
the Kaaba of its idols and established
for all Muslims, a sacred site intended
for the pure worship of Allah.
So we have really proven what is most significant
about this site and how it serves in the veneration
of the holy site, all right.
And finally, task six, make sure you write more
than a single sentence or a reference.
Practice doing this one here on your own
because I want you to be able to earn this task
point on your exam, all right.
So make sure it's more than a single reference or a sentence.
You need to really expand here.
Task six really wants you to go deep
into this additional evidence or insightful
connection to another artwork.
Here's an example that we could say.
Hopefully, you had a chance to practice there.
Muhammad's purging of idols within the Kaaba
during its rededication led to a general ban placed
on figurative imagery within Islam.
The banned remains to this day.
And only an iconic imagery is permitted as part
of the design of mosques.
So you see here, we have made another connection as
to why the Kaaba is important, not just to the Hajj, which
it's supremely important because of its significance
in the Hajj.
But also because it set this precedent,
Muhammad's rededication of an iconic imagery inside mosques.
All right, so really important example there, OK.
Now, some reminders for FRQ 2.
Make sure you select the appropriate work
that you know best.
Write your essay using paragraphs.
Make sure you put the ID and thesis
statement in the introduction.
That's a tip that I have.
So you make sure you write that introductory paragraph.
And then you move on to body paragraphs
to really frame this like an essay.
Make sure your evidence supports your claim.
And for task six, make sure to include more than a
passing phrase.
Really elaborate to earn that last task point.
All right, you got this.
Thank you so much for watching.
And good luck on your exam.