AP® Reader Reflection: Kite Analysis

What does a broken muffler, a kite, & a capricious falcon have in common? According to the 2026 AP Language & Composition cohort, they are all metaphors for writing.

Laura Amy Schlitz’s acceptance speech for the Newbery Medal was accessible & ensured all students were on an equal playing field while analyzing. Rarely do we see an author explicitly reveal what the metaphor represents, but by no means was this an “easy” prompt. Many students fell into the trap of summarizing the anecdote without pushing past the kite-as-metaphor. Langers were quick to exclaim, “The kite is a metaphor for the writing process!” Yes, she does say that—good job. But can you tell me why she chooses to write it in this way? The answer to this question differentiated student scores.

Identifying the Purpose & Message

Thanks to the accessibility of this year’s FRQ2 prompt, students did well in identifying Schlitz’s overall purpose.

However, essays that earned a 2 or 3 on Row B stopped short & only claimed the purpose of the speech was to explain how difficult the writing process is—maybe a few essays also argued for the unpredictable nature of writing (as supported by Schlitz’s turbulent relationship with kite flying). Ultimately, lower-to-mid-scoring essays ended the analysis here, stopping themselves from answering why a kite anecdote is the best choice to illustrate this message.

Stronger essays noted Schlitz’s purpose was to go beyond the ebbs & flows of the writing process; specifically, these students understood this includes a magical element & demands perseverance and faith to succeed. In addition, strong essays focused on the target audience of this speech: fellow librarians and aspiring writers. Students noted Schlitz is a professional storyteller. She literally works in a library and reads stories to kids. It only makes sense that Schlitz uses the same whimsical & illustrative medium for her acceptance speech.

The Extended Metaphor

Schlitz gave the students a heads up that there was a metaphor, and they ran far with this clue:

Kite is writing. Wind is inspiration. No wind is writer's block. String is the pen. String is control. Flying is success. Flying is a Newbery Medal. Broken muffler is failure. Broken muffler is rejection from publication houses. Broken muffler is aging. Kite is a falcon. Falcon is a tiger. Kite is freedom. Kite is writing. Kite is HER. 

It was fun reading the hundreds of metaphorical interpretations of what this kite truly is, and guess what? Every student was correct. It only mattered how well the student explained their choices. The commentary following the metaphorical identification determined what students earned on Row B.

Organized by Devices

Most essays were organized by devices (example: one paragraph examined “metaphors” while the other found examples of “personification”). This structure is not inherently wrong; however, it does tend to box students into listing devices without analyzing their interactions. AP Readers’ advice? Switch out Greek vocabulary for “rhetorically active verbs.” This helps students gather ideas about what the author is doing rather than skim the text for figurative language.

Limited commentary was often paired with device listing. Although not a guarantee, here were some 1-2-0 markers:

• “to engage/hook the audience” or to “draw them in”
• “to convey her message/ purpose”
• “makes/ helps the reader understand”
• “keeps the reader on the edge of their seat”
• “puts the audience in the author’s shoes”
• “to let the message hit home”
• Beginning of speech: failure→ Middle: discovery→End: reflection
• Body Paragraph 1: “Writers need humility”
• Body Paragraph 2: “Writers depend on inspiration”
• Body Paragraph 3: “Writers matter!”

The issue with these commentary starters goes beyond the triteness; they simply don’t mean anything. No rhetor’s purpose is to simply “captivate” the audience—the rhetor wants the audience to do something. Stronger essays unpacked this notion, reflecting on how Schlitz wants her audience to realize writing goes beyond talent and requires relentless persistence paired with unplanned inspiration. Keep writing! Schlitz says. Success is coming! 

The Chronological Approach

Richer essays organized the essay chronologically. The best way for students to achieve this Line of Reasoning is to chunk the text into thirds & then use each chunk as a body paragraph in their own analysis. The benefit of analyzing the speech’s natural progression ensures the student analyzes the entire text rather than scavenging for similes and personification & then tossing the rest of the speech away.

Students can achieve this structure by starting claims with something as simple as “she begins,” “she continues,” and “she ends.” Within Schlitz’s speech in particular, students marked shifts such as these:

This progression literally models the writing process itself. The shifts allow the audience to learn the lesson organically. There is a reason Schlitz organizes her anecdote to mirror her own experience with writing, and the students who commented on this scored high.

Our Strongest Essays

Many 1-3-1+ essays were organized by devices and order of text, but the most memorable pieces were organized thematically—structured not by what the author used but by what she did and why. These students abandoned concrete ideas about “pathos” and “imagery” and focused on the abstract. Here’s an example of how a student’s LOR could analyze Schlitz’s speech thematically—each claim tailored as advice to the writers in the audience:

This structure is similar to the chronological in the way the student chunks the text and analyzes the piece as a whole; however, these students discarded the naming of devices altogether, which left room to consider Schlitz as a rhetor with a very specific purpose. What’s the broader context?

Sophistication: Rare & Wonderful

Students who earned the golden sophistication point often focused on the speech’s tensions & paradoxes, which went beyond identifying rhetorical choices to explain the complex worldview they represent. Unlike most texts, this speech literally mentions “tension” with the kite’s string—a wonderful clue for students to zoom in on. When Schlitz details the day she was finally successful in flying, she notes the kite needed Schlitz to hold the string taut. Students observed that the string both restricted and enabled the kite. Symbolically, writing requires both freedom and discipline. This attention to paradoxes is what AP Readers live for.

Final Takeaways

In a course full of political speeches and philosophical Op-Eds, it was a pleasant surprise to see a children’s book author take center stage for this year’s FRQ2. Laura Amy Schlitz gives us a clear narrative to follow & a central image of a flying kite. Yet, beneath this simplicity is a sophisticated meditation on creativity and the value of artistic craft. If the 2026 cohort can learn anything from this Newbery Medal speech, I hope it’s that the most profound rhetoric lies within tangible, everyday examples. Did you know flying a kite is similar to writing a story? How wonderfully accessible. How surprisingly complex.