Working on the College Essay AP Literature Working on the College Essay

Day one Agenda Do Now: Review the sample essay you read last week. Then Fill out the handout Be ready to share out Use personal events related to a theme- overcoming an obstacle Try to inspire Use a structure that unites the ideas- motif Use a clever title (a surprising/twist?) Conclusion- looking forward Humor/family- values that he experienced Turning negative into a positive Detailed and descriptive Revealed thoughts and feelings In narrative, begin at the end, and show how you got there Reveal cultural background Focus Lesson: Power Point on brainstorming the college essay Work Period: brainstorm… Homework: come in Monday with a draft and complete your literary device template

If you haven’t started yet, try this… The Inventory Compile a list of your activities or accomplishments Stream of Consciousness 20 minutes- write without stopping- What are you? What do you want? Morning Pages As soon as you wake up, write about whatever comes to mind- do this everyday for a week- write until you fill out 2 pages

Or this… Journal Writing Top ten favorites Free-Flow Writing Don’t write what you DO, write your responses to what happened and your thoughts about it Top ten favorites Movies, books, songs, musicians, sports, paintings, historical eras, famous people What do these lists say about you? Free-Flow Writing Choose a word from your essay questions, like “influence” and brainstorm just around that word- 10 minutes without stopping

Common Application Essay Questions Write each question below at the top of a fresh piece of paper… (or use the questions you need to answer) Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence. A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.

Other brainstorming… The Chronological Method Start from childhood and record any and all special and pivotal experiences that you remember- grade to grade, job to job… Significant lessons Achievements Painful moments Obstacles

More strategies… Assess your Accomplishments List your skills Write down anything you are proud of doing, no matter how small it might seem List your skills Look at the accomplishments and list the skills that you needed to do them Then brainstorm the specific scenarios that demonstrate the skills- pretend you are defending that you have the skill to a judge

Day Two Agenda Do Now: Take out the handout on opening sentences. Read through them. Take one and rewrite it using your own topic, your own life. You can keep the same format and style… Focus Lesson: Continue PowerPoint on Drafting Objective: create narrative essays Work Period: Drafting and individual conferences Homework: WRITE, WRITE, WRITE- essays due Friday!

Should I write an outline? Yes, write an outline… Intro should hook reader and give a summary of your main points Each paragraph should provide a transition, give a supporting point to your main idea, and provide evidence Your conclusion should end with an insightful image or thought

Structure Chronological Description Compare and Contrast Cause and Effect Narrative

Transitions Bridges between ideas Make sure the first sentence of every paragraph makes a bridge from the previous…

Word Choice: put your thesaurus away No Thesaurus- don’t use a word you don’t already use/know well Focus on verbs- just because you use lots of adjectives and adverbs doesn’t mean you are adding detail- action is better than description

Look… focus on verbs Essay A Essay B Said Contorted Complain Learned Spreading Sprang Strained Gripped Had been living Had attended Has met Can say Know Are usually May have heard Are Is Strive May not be involved Try to perform First ten verbs of two different essays. Which essay was the highest ranked? Lowest? Which essay would you rather read?

Sentence Length Use variety Mark make a list of the types of sentences L for long M for Medium S for short Then tally them up- SLMMLS is more interesting than MMMSLMLMS

Leading men and ladies Standard lead: answers who, what, when, where, why and how Creative lead: funny or obtuse, makes the reader wonder what the essay is about Action lead: in medias res Personal lead: reveals something about the writer Quotation lead: choose an unusual, funny or obscure quote, not too long- it has to have meaning to what the rest is about- don’t try to sound smart! Dialogue lead: take the reader right into a conversation

Exit… stage left Finish your thought Can conclude with ambiguity, with insight Can tie back to narrative or creative lead Can get a laugh Can present a strong impression, description