AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION REVIEW

TEST INFORMATION 3 hours 15 minutes total 1. MC section I hour 2. Essay (2 hours 15 minutes) Synthesis Rhetorical analysis Argumentative

IN AN IDEAL WORLD…. Tonight: go home and take a final practice test (Remember it is for extra credit!) Go through the multiple choice answers and explanations. Make sure that you understand each part before moving on to the next one. Study your 100 vocabulary words! Review all rhetorical devices, practice creating examples! Tomorrow: Review this PPT! Study your vocabulary Get to bed early. Give yourself the 8 hours you always deprive yourselves. Get to school early on Friday and come and enjoy a good breakfast!

MULTIPLE GUESS? If you dont know the answer but can eliminate one or more answers, guess. If you are left with no timeguess with reckless abandon. Dont leave any questions blank. Be careful not to miss questions on your answer sheet. Double check that you are bubbling the correct number! Before reading the passage read the questions only, not the answer choices, and avoid reading questions that tell you to refer to the passage.

MULTIPLE CHOICE (1 HOUR)

MULTIPLE CHOICE…. First reading of passage: read it quickly in order to grasp the main idea, but not so thoroughly that you take more than 5 minutes. When a question tells you to go back to the passage, do it! Read the sentence before and a few after, the answer is usually hidden before or after the line number the question refers you to. Make educated guesses, eliminate answer choices when you can. In questions where you are stuck with vocabulary, remember root words, prefixes and suffixes.

ESSAYS (2 HOURS, 15 MINUTES)

SYNTHESIS ESSAY Remember you must use at least 3 of the sources in this essay! Read each source carefully but as quickly as possible. ANNOTATE as you read, underline and determine which stance each source is taking! This will help you to quickly select the sources you will use in your essay and enable you to combine sources well. DO NOT start your paragraphs with a summary of a source! Remember this is an argumentative essay- you are required to make your own argument first, then back up your argument with the provided sources!

SYNTHESIS ESSAY.. Try and use more than one source per paragraph, this will make you think critically, and write longer more convincing paragraphs. CITE YOUR SOURCES! Either by saying (Source A) or by acknowledging the author of the source. Double check that your thesis is STRONG, CONCISE, and most importantly ANSWERS THE PROMPT! Dont omit a conclusion even if you are running short on time, at least include a one sentence conclusion, that restates your central argument.

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS Remember you must discuss at least 3 devices, but you should try and include more than 3. Just like the synthesis essay, you must have a central argument. You need to argue that the author uses the devices to accomplish something, not just point out that he/she used devices! Double check that your thesis is STRONG, CONCISE, and most importantly ANSWERS THE PROMPT! Dont omit a conclusion even if you are running short on time, at least include a one sentence conclusion, that restates your central argument.

ANALYSIS CONTINUED.. Show respect for the authors. Dont say theyre stupid or dont know what theyre talking about. Chances are its not Virginia Woolf who doesnt know what shes talking about. Dont refer to the authors by their first names. Inthe intro, refer to the author by both names, then henceforth use the last name. Spell out words like and, with, and because (not &,w/, and b/c). This is an important international exam, not a note to a pal. You wouldnt wear jeans to the prom. Avoid clichés - You cant judge a book by its cover, A pictures worth a thousand words, etc. Too many students use them, and they set the readers teeth on edge.

ANALYSIS CONTINUED.. Stick to an analysis of the essay. Dont wander off into your personal experiences. Annotate and write a brief outline before you begin writing. Dont define terms. The readers are experienced AP teachers and English professors. They dont need to be told a simile is a comparison using like or as. Dont waste time on a long or fancy intro. Throw away the bread and get to the meat. Referring to line numbers is a waste of time. They dont look at them.. Its okay to use an ellipsis in a quote as long as the quote still makes sense. If you write, Allusions to Sophocles...to a more general argument (line 12) means you want the reader to go look it up. Theyve got a thousand essays to grade and you want them to look it up??!

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY! It doesnt matter if you defend, challenge, or qualify as long as you do it well. Plan a brief outline Think of the prompt as a springboard for creating your own argument. Dont try to analyze their argument. Your purpose here is to persuade the reader that your argument is sound and reasonable. The reader wants specific evidence - two important words, often overlooked. The courtroom does not want the hypothetical or the theoretical. Use your own experience, incidents you know about, or what you have read about If you give the reader 3 examples of specific evidence, make sure they illustrate 3 different points, not 3 examples to illustrate the same point.

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY When thinking of specific evidence, if its the first thing that pops to mind, chances are its the first thing that comes to everyone elses mind. Go with your second or third idea. Double check that your thesis is STRONG, CONCISE, and most importantly ANSWERS THE PROMPT! Dont omit a conclusion even if you are running short on time, at least include a one sentence conclusion, that restates your central argument.

GOOD LUCK!!