fasting feasting ap lit sample essays

AP English Literature and Composition Exam Questions

Free-response questions and scoring information.

Download free-response questions from this year's exam and past exams along with scoring guidelines, sample responses from exam takers, and scoring distributions.

If you are using assistive technology and need help accessing these PDFs in another format, contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 212-713-8333 or by email at [email protected] .

2024: Free-Response Questions

2023: Free-Response Questions

2022: Free-Response Questions

2021 Free-Response Questions

2020 Free-Response Questions

Note:  The table below features a selection of free-response questions and related scoring information from the 2020 exam. You can find all of the 2020 FRQs and corresponding scoring information in  AP Classroom question bank .

2019 Free-Response Questions

2018 Free-Response Questions

2017 Free-Response Questions

2016 Free-Response Questions

2015 Free-Response Questions

2014 Free-Response Questions

2013 Free-Response Questions

2012 Free-Response Questions

2011 Free-Response Questions

2011 Form B

2010: Free-Response Questions

2010: Form B

2009: Free-Response Questions

2009: Form B

2008 Free-Response Questions

2008: Form B

2007: Free-Response Questions

2007: Form B

2006: Free-Response Questions

2006: Form B

2005: Free-Response Questions

2005: Form B

2004: Free-Response Questions

2004: Form B

2003: Free-Response Questions

2003: Form B

2002: Free-Response Questions

2002: Form B

2001: Free-Response Questions

2000: Free-Response Questions

1999: Free-Response Questions

AP English Literature 2012

Please respond to the following prompts in collaboration with your fellow classmates. I'm looking for you to discuss the readings by referring to previous posts rather than just listing your interpretations. Also make sure to identify who you are and your class period. I need this so that I can give you credit for your posting. Thanks. Mr. Domingo

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Passage from fasting, feasting, 15 comments:.

In the passage "Fasting, Feasting," i feel that Desai's use of point of view, diction and syntax helped emphasize Arun's awkward and unpleasant experience. In the beginning when Desai is explaining Arun and Melanie's encounter, she uses words like 'despondent' and 'challengingly' which create an uncomfortable tone and makes the two's relationship seem almost competitive. Throughout the passage, the point of view being used seems to focus on Arun, rather than Melanie or Mrs. Patton. In the beginning of the passage, Desai uses informal, short sentences and sentence fragments, but as the passage continues, it changes to formal, long, and more complex sentences, what is that showing about Arun's experience? -Taylor Shaffer Period 3

Sally Kang Period 3 I think that the informal and short sentences in the beginning of the passage was used to make the passage sound awkward like the awkwardness between Araun and Melanie. And after they reach the forest, the sentences changed into formal and long sentences because these long sentences will let the readers understand what Arun is experiencing then short sentences that doesn't have any detail. And I agree with Taylor that Desai used diction to show Arun's experience. Desai also uses the words, "scuffed", "shrill", and "shriek" to tell the readers that Arun is not enjoying his time while he is going to the beach.

Jessica Martinez Period 3 In the passage from "Fasting,Feasting," by Anita Desai, she describes how an exchange student from India feels out of place, and uncomfortable to be in a new place he has never been to, as well as being with a family he barely met by the use of an omniscient point of view of Arun focusing on his true feelings, the use of different sentence structure, and comparisons to nature. @ Taylor Shaffer, At the beginning, I think the author writes it in short sentences to show how he feels detached, and his uncomfortableness. As the story progresses she uses longer sentences, for example at the second half of the story Arun is describing the scenery and how everything to him seems frightening. He begins to pay close attention to his surroundings while on his way to the beach, it shows he is frightened and is more cautions. I noticed that at line 35-37, he describes hearing animal noises that sound terrifying and it seems as if the trees were making the noises, to me that seems that the animals are hiding in the same way he is trying to hide. All this open space to him is extremely uncomfortable due to the fact that he is from India and he is used to being around large crowds, as well as this being his first encounter with nature. I would also like to point out something the came to my attention; in lines 23-26 it talks about Arun helping Mrs. Patton with the basket. I think that the basket might represents his effort to try to connect with Mrs. Patton and trying to make the situation less awkward. What do you guys think the basket might represent?

Alexis Donaldson Per 3 I agree with Sally. I also thought that the the authors use of the short sentences were strangely put together and that it was to emphasize that Arun's feeling out of place and unwelcome and that his life could have been put together better like the first few sentences were. I also thought that the words plead and despondent really shows that he doesn't want to be in the situation he's in. Another thing I would like to add is that I thought the fact that the author is using a 3rd person subjective narrator was strange. We know everything thats going on in the setting and story so maybe the author really wanted readers to see the relation ship between Arun and the things around him because the author also goes into more detail than before and longer sentences later on into the passage. It's like the author is telling us to pay more attention to the end. I also thought that perhaps the point of view was to emphasize his distance from what he's experiencing because we know his feelings. It feels like the last two lines "he stumbles and has to steady himself so as not to spill the contents of the basket" Maybe that was a metaphor for Arun and his life, the contents being who he is. He feels that his new surroundings will do him harm.

Kassandra Delgadillo Period 5 I agree with Jessica's thoughts on what the basket on line 55 represnts. Perhaps, the basket represents that he is trying to make things less awkward with Mrs. Patton as she mentions, and he tries make to a good impression among these new people. The passage is analyzed through the third person limited point of view. Which helps us see through Arun's eyes, and gives us an insight to what his thoughts might be. However, in addition to him feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation, he probably also feels the pressure to fit in. Being new impacts him in the way that he does not exactly know what to expect. He is used to working a lot, and is not entirely accustomed to the idea of taking the day off to go to the beach. He tries find reasons why not to go with them, as eveidenced by the quote "he starts wildly to find excuses" (line 5). I also agree with what Taylor was saying about Arun's expirience with Melanie being uncomfortable. That might also add to why he does not want to go in the first place. All these reasons probably make Arun feel even more aprehensive about going. As I was reading through the passage I got confused with the senteces in lines 35-37 "A bird shrieks hoarsely, flies on, shrieks elsewhere, further off- that ugly jarring note that does not vary." Does anyone know what that means, or if it represents something, and what kinds of connotations this brings?

This comment has been removed by the author.

Courtney Wersal Period 5 I agree with Alexis in terms of the last 2 lines. I felt that Arun was depending on the basket, which was full of all his customs, traditions and memories (basically everything he had that connected with his Indian culture)to get him through his American experience. I thought that the woods/wilderness stood for America, which he felt was out to get him. So when he says he "nearly trips upon a root" (Desai 53/54)it seems as if something or someone in America is trying to take away his customs and traditions. By spilling the basket, he would be loosing who he really is. Kassandra, I think that lines 35-37 primarily are there to show how Arun interprets his surroundings. The words "shrieks" and "ugly jarring" suggest that he finds the noises frightening, and that he reacts to them in a negative way. He exaggerates on birds flying around, and makes them appear to be in a more significant then they truly are. My question however, lays at the beginning when Arun does not wish to go to the beach. Is this due to the fact that he was just afraid and hesitant of going out and experiencing America, and felt that he should be doing something productive such as work instead? Or is it more of due to the fact that he was in a culture shock?

Jessica Martinez Period 3 @Kassandra Delgadillo, I think that in lines 35-37 the author is trying to show that Arun feels frighten by nature, and it is all strange to him because he has never been in the woods. This is supported by line43-46 "Arun finds the hair om the back of his neck begin to prickle, as if in warning. He is sweating, and the palms of his hands are becoming puffy and damp". Here Arun feels extremely uncomfortable. As you read further on, he asks a rhetorical question, "Why must people live in vicinity of such benighted wildreness and become part of it?". He does not comprehend why people would even like to live in a place where there is a blend of urban life and nature. As you read further on he argues that he rather be living in a small town rather than where there is wilderness. This can connect to the fact that a town would have more people around, which signifies that he is uncomfortable having so much space all to himself. I would say that the theme of this story would be that when you are presented to a new change it can be hard to adapt or adjust, but letting go of what you are most comfortable or used to will let you perceive it in a whole new different way.

Jessica Martinez Period 3 @Courtney Wersal, I think that Arun was just in a culture schock, because he is not used to these things he is seeing and hearing. It all seems strange and frightening. As well as having too much space, and finding it uncomfortable to be there as evidenced by lines 19-21, where the author says that he finds it hard to be walking in the wilderness, and wants to be close to Melanie due to the fact that he is uncomfortable with so much space.

Jessica Martinez Period 3 I also wonder what lines 23-25 means; saying that "she can lag even better"? What do you guys think that this means? Is it some sort of competition thing, where she thinks that anything he can do, she can do better?

Courtney Wersal Period 5 Jessica, so I'm confused by what you said. If he is uncomfortable being around Melanie because of his culture shock because her attire makes him feel uncomfortable, then why does he want to be closer to her in the wilderness? Is it because he is more fearful of the wilderness then the girl? Does the unknown that the wilderness have override his lack of comfort by being around Melanie?

Rachel Sese Period 5 To answer Jessica's question about line 23-25, when Arun says "she can lag even better", I believe it was said in a sarcastic tone implying that Melanie is just making the whole situation even more awkward. As the story progresses we see Arun decides to follow Mrs. Patton instead to escape the awkwardness and slight annoyance(judging by his slightly sarcastic tone) by Melanie. I believe there is slight contrast between the comfort levels between Arun and Melanie, and Arun and Mrs. Patton. In my opinion the contrast shows the awkwardness that Arun feels and the desire to escape the awkwardness. My puzzlement coincides with Courtney's question about why Arun wants to be closer to Melanie in the wilderness.

in my opinion courtney i think Arun is just unsure and shy, impressed the way he met Melanie "dressed in her bathing suit" but when it came to be either with her or apart/alone in a 'horrifying' place as the woods i would probably also choose the girl. When he described Melanie's smile as a "radiant lip-stick smile" shows that he felt way more comfortable being with her, evethough it was new to him, than being sorrunded by somethin frightening-new. To add somethingi think the rethorical questions are also used to point out Arun's mood shift from uncomfortable to more paranoid.With the first question it is shown that Arun does not know how to fit in in the situation. Now with the second question Arun is not trying to fit in anymore, now he is questioning why he must be there in the first place. did you guys find any similie/mataphor that might be insignificant for the excerpt? also, do you have any other suggetions for waht the theme might be?

Jason Galang Period 5 Regarding how Melanie was "dressed in her bathing suit,"(3) his background comes into play. Remember, Arun is from India and when we think about that region of the world, we have the tendency to think of a patriarchal society where women are required to have their entire bodies covered. None of us are absolutely sure on whether or not Arun was Muslim, but still, the fact that he saw Melanie as revealing too much added to his discomfort. Does anyone have anything to add considering the possible character foils in the story?

@Mr. Galang ^Arun's name indicates that he is Hindu (extra info: Arun is a Hindi word that means sun) :)

• Ask LitCharts AI
• Discussion Question Generator
• Essay Prompt Generator
• Quiz Question Generator

• Literature Guides
• Poetry Guides
• Shakespeare Translations
• Literary Terms

Fasting, Feasting

Anita desai.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Anita Desai's Fasting, Feasting . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Fasting, Feasting: Introduction

Fasting, feasting: plot summary, fasting, feasting: detailed summary & analysis, fasting, feasting: themes, fasting, feasting: quotes, fasting, feasting: characters, fasting, feasting: symbols, fasting, feasting: theme wheel, brief biography of anita desai.

Other Books Related to Fasting, Feasting

• Full Title: Fasting, Feasting.
• When Written: 1999
• Where Written: Great Britain
• When Published: 1999
• Literary Period: Contemporary
• Genre: Novel
• Setting: First section: A small town in India; Second section: Western Massachusetts (1970’s-1999)
• Climax: The death of Anamika
• Antagonist: Uma, Arun
• Point of View: Close third person. Uma (first section), Arun (second section)

Extra Credit for Fasting, Feasting

Awards : Anita Desai was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fasting, Feasting.

• Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

Lit & More

December 4, 2022 ·

Rehashing: How to Use it in the AP Lit Classroom

Writing Resources

When I was a new AP Lit teacher I attended a one-day AP training, as many teachers do. During one of my trainings a brilliant veteran AP teacher was going over a writing skill, then mentioned offhand that she had recently spent a whole writing rehash working on that skill.

After seeing our puzzled faces, she explained. A rehash was a name she gave for the instructional period after an on-demand writing activity, wherein the instructor and the students went over what worked, what didn’t, and what they could do to improve. She showed our class an example, and we were hooked.

Almost a decade later, I’m still rehashing after each timed writing. I wish I could remember my instructor’s name so I could thank her (and credit her!) for this valuable instructional method. But since she was kind enough to teach it to all of us, I thought I’d pay it forward and share the idea with you.

In short, a rehash is a focused writer’s workshop.

The way you format and prepare a rehash varies as much as your teaching methods. I sometimes do them on the fly, and sometimes I spend up to an hour preparing my materials. It all depends on what I need to say and how time I want to devote to it. Here are a few tips to help you implement writing rehashes in your own AP class.

Focus on no more than 3 skills to teach

Picking just a few gives you time to go in depth and makes the lessons more memorable. I’ve given rehashes on the following skills:

• Avoiding plot summary
• The difference between a line of reasoning and a claim
• Using precise diction/avoiding dead or meaningless words
• Making bold claims
• Textual support versus commentary
• Using literary terms
• Writing voice & sophistication
• Concise wording
• Organizing the essay
• Form – when to analyze it and when to ignore it
• Complexity (small detail question vs. big picture question)

Sometimes I have to rehash the same skill more than once in a year, but often it is reflecting a different question type or building onto an established skill that still needs work. I save these mini lessons and tweak them for future use.

Try to make it hands-on

For a long time, I gave rehashes quickly through PowerPoints. I learned quickly, however, that these lessons were easily forgotten, and students were making the same mistakes over and over again. Once I gave them highlighters or got them moving around, the lessons began to sink in more.

Here are some of the activities I’ve done during rehashing:

• Highlight – In one recent rehash, I asked students to highlight all portions of textual support, which included any mentions of character names, places, actions, summary, quotes, or references. After that, students used a different color to highlight any time they analyzed the text, meaning they explained how or why something mattered. Most students realized that their textual support resembled summary and that it far outweighed their analysis. This visual example helped them see how much they were summarizing for a Q3 essay, more than any of my spoken advice had until that point.
• List – In another writing rehash, we looked at an extensive list of literary terms. I asked them to write down any literary term that could vaguely relate to their most recent timed essay. Most ended up with a list of 10-15 words. After that, I asked them to pick 1-3 that they could legitimately use in their essay. After this activity, one student said, “I spent an entire paragraph talking about foreshadowing, but I just never called it that!” We used this activity to emphasize how using just a few specific literary terms help build sophistication and accuracy.
• Group work / Jigsaw – After one of our independent reading timed essays, where students responded to a choice between several different prompts, I organized students into groups. The first round of grouping was based on score . For example, all those who earned a low level score (1-2 on the new rubric, 1-3 on the old) sat together, then midlevel (New: 3-4/Old: 4-6), then high (New: 5-6/Old: 7-9). They read each other’s’ essays and compared how a similar score looked different for each prompt and novel. They also discussed common mistakes they made, as well as the different skills they demonstrated. After this grouping, I placed them in new groups, these ones based on the prompt they were given. Once again, they read each other’s’ essays and compared how the strengths and weaknesses of each. I worried that this activity would lead to competition, but it actually helped students form relationships with each other. Some of these groupings even continued throughout the year and turned into writing partnerships.
• Gallery Walk – One of my new favorite activities is a gallery walk. I recently incorporated one in a rehash by focusing on thesis statements. I selected several introduction paragraphs from a recent timed writing, as well as several scored essays from the online database (on College Board). Students circulated the room reading the introductions and scoring them with their rubrics. They even commented on what each did well and where they could improve. When we finished, we discussed the scores that each sample introduction went on to earn. This activity helped reinforce the importance of a strong claim and introduction paragraph, plus it got them up and moving around.

Not every rehash needs to be interactive or full or prep, but these are some suggestions to add movement, interaction, and variety to what could turn into a routine activity.

Make it a safe space

Before we begin our first writing rehash, I explain the purpose of the activity. Not only are they designed to improve their writing, but they establish a culture of a writer’s workshop. In a writer’s workshop, we work together to improve our writing by sharing, comparing, and criticizing. One requirement for a successful writer’s workshop is for students to be comfortable with sharing their work.

I pick examples for our lessons from their actual essays, both strong and weak. Whenever I use a student’s own writing as an example, I refrain from using their name or identifying them in the lesson. I also make sure to pick strong examples from mid-level and low-level writers, not just the strongest students. It’s a wonderful experience to see a kid light up when they see their sentence used as a strong example and everyone should get to experience that. Likewise, we all need improvement, so I make sure to use examples for improvement from all levels of students too.

Use rehashes in other classes too!

In recent years, I’ve moved rehashes beyond my AP courses into other classes as well. I use them with my sophomores when we’re mastering APE paragraphs (assert, prove, explain). I use them in my Journalism class with writing leads and articles. My co-worker has also used them in creative writing with poetry and vignettes.

If you find yourself teaching and re-teaching the same writing skills to your AP students, writer’s workshop-based rehashes can increase students’ engagement and effectively improve their writing. I’ve included one of my rehashes as an example, as well as some pictures of my students during a writing rehash.

The files below are some examples of rehashes I’ve used in my classes. The first one, one Anita Desai’s “Fasting, Feasting” prompt, is my most recent rehash. My AP Lit student wrote their first full length prose essay and we used the rehash to thoroughly discuss the difference between a claim and a line of reasoning.

I used the second file in my Journalism class after we wrote our second or third article. You can see how I always include things they do well (and list it FIRST), followed by things that need improvement.

The third file is from AP Lit as well, responding to a prompt from AP Classroom.

Reader Interactions

December 4, 2022 at 9:05 pm

Thank you for sharing this Rehash idea. I will use it immediately. Do you have any activities for the difference between claims and line of reasoning?

December 4, 2022 at 9:21 pm

I had another good video on this on AP Lit Help that was taken down. One of the sample rehashes in this blog post shows how I break it down (basically the L of R answers “why does it matter?” throughout the whole essay). Otherwise I have a resource on the essays and rubrics which deal with L of R for sale in my test prep resource. It’s linked in this blog post. The Garden of English has some helpful videos breaking it down as well.

[…] learn how to use a rehash to build a writing workshop community, check out this blog post with sample rehashes from my own […]

Latest on Instagram

Fasting, Feasting

By anita desai, fasting, feasting study guide.

Published in 1999 in Great Britain by Indian author Anita Desai , the novel is set in two countries, India and the United States, and tells the story of a sister, Uma , and her brother, Arun . Uma, an unmarried woman, endeavors to eke out a life for herself amid a family and society that denigrates her for not fulfilling her prescribed roles, while Arun, studying in Massachusetts, tries to navigate the mores of suburban American life while trying to figure out his own identity.

Fasting, Feasting received warm critical praise. The New York Times reviewer stated, “What distinguishes Desai's novel from countless other depictions of airless and repressive households is the subtle and original way in which she makes us understand how much of our lives is encoded in and determined by tiny, repetitive, deceptively trivial decisions about what we will and won't eat... As in her previous novels, Desai employs a rich and subtle palette to convey her crisp, unsentimental view of character and behavior.” Publishers Weekly said, “Although Desai takes a risk in shifting from the endearing Uma to Arun, she has much to say in this graceful, supple novel about the inability of the families in either culture to nurture their children.”

The novel was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1999. After the winner, J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace, was announced, one of the judges, John Sutherland, intimated that there was a gender divide amongst the judges, prompting the two female Prize judges, Natasha Walter and Shena Mackay, to condemn his “gossipy” falsehoods. More statements revealed that Fasting, Feasting was the runner-up, an important distinction since the runners-up are rarely publicly identified.

Fasting, Feasting Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Fasting, Feasting is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Study Guide for Fasting, Feasting

Fasting, Feasting study guide contains a biography of Anita Desai, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Fasting, Feasting
• Fasting, Feasting Summary
• Character List

Wikipedia Entries for Fasting, Feasting

• Introduction