Today we addressed how to compose a claim or topic sentence for the open ended essay question on the AP exam which always requires the student to focus on how certain techniques contribute to the overall meaning of the novel. We reviewed Joshua's essay on Huck Finn, MacBeth, and Brighten Beach Memoirs and then explored how to form a claim based on an interpretation of the work. We spent most of the session generating a claim/ interpretation about Huck Finn that addressed how the resolution of Huck's inner and outer conflicts contributes to the novel's overall meaning. With assistance, Joshua was able to revise his claim to convert it to an interpretation tied to conflict resolution. He did very well in noting the critical role of plot sequencing in MacBeth .