AP Language Free Response Tips for Success

Make it easy for your reader… Write neatly – Think before you write! – Don’t use cursive unless you regularly do. – Don’t scratch out too much. – Avoid contractions and shorthand. Indent your paragraphs – Clarity – Balance Put care into your opening – Give the reader a good first impression

…to give you a high score! Take risks – Don’t be boring – Vary your diction and sentence structure Answer the question – Know what the question is asking Especially the synthesis prompt! Budget your time – Aim for about 40 minutes per essay – Don’t waste time with a formal outline If possible, work in order – OR try your most challenging one FIRST

Rhetorical Analysis Everyone’s favorite essay! (Mrs. Bannecker is using verbal irony here to convey the message that this is likely everyone’s LEAST favorite essay.)

Barry’s The Great Influenza The first paragraph includes which of the following? I.Anaphora II.Antithesis III.Allegory A.I only B.II only C.III only D.I and II only E.I, II, and II

Barry’s The Great Influenza Paragraph I suggests that “Uncertainty” creates in a person all of the following EXCEPT A.Feebleness B.Hesitancy C.Loss of will D.Reliance on others E.Trepidation In the context of lines 3-4, “tentative” most nearly means A.Afraid B.Hesitant C.Immobile D.Temporary E.weak

Barry’s The Great Influenza Barry suggests that a scientist must “embrace— uncertainty” (line 10) while at the same time striving for truth. Herein, he employs which literary device? A.Antithesis B.Oxymoron C.Paradox D.Personification E.Pun The passage as a whole suggests that a scientist must be all of the following EXCEPT A.Daring B.Independent C.Inquisitive D.Stubborn E.Intrepid

Barry’s The Great Influenza In paragraph 2 the repetition of “courage” (lines 8-9) serves to A.Clarify a concept B.Continue a process C.Digress to a related issue D.Introduce a new topic E.Provide an analogy The literary device in lines (“break apart…laboratory finding”) is A.Antithesis B.Apostrophe C.Metaphor D.Personification E.Symbol

Barry’s The Great Influenza Lines (“There…different”) contain which literary device? A.Allusion B.Hyperbole C.Litotes D.Metonymy E.synecdoche In the expression “[i]t is grunt work” (line 37), Barry suggests that scientific inquiry is often A.Boring B.Dangerous C.Dirty D.Laborious E.Repetitive

Barry’s The Great Influenza Since the controlling metaphor of Barry’s passage compares the scientist to the frontiersman, the overall tone of this passage is best described as A.Elegiac B.Indifferent C.Sentimental D.Nostalgic E.Optimistic The intended audience for this essay is most probably A.College science students B.General readers C.Professional historians D.Research scientists E.Science teachers

Start strong Remember your complete intro – Engaging hook – Introduce topic and work Thesis – Needs to include BOTH purpose and rhetorical strategies – Narrow your focus! You don’t need to discuss ALL of the rhetorical strategies

Development Strategies – How do the strategies that the author uses work together? Ex: If there are two rhetorical strategies that complement each other, such as the use of both hyperbole and grand metaphors to emphasize the importance of an experience, then you can bring them together with a generalizing label such as "language of emphasis" and then write a body paragraph or two about each. – Which strategies seem to work independently? – Choose at least two strategies, but try not to do more than four

Diction DON’T – Just identify “diction” as a rhetorical technique See your help sheet! Diction – Look for specific words or short phrases that seem powerful – Look for patterns Do all words create a similar feeling?

Syntax DON’T – Say the author uses syntax Consider – Sentence Length Short Long – Sentence Type Simple, Compound, Complex, Compound-Complex Declarative, Exclamatory, Interrogative, Imperative – Punctuation Remember when we talked about the stylistic uses of punctuation? This could help here! Don’t forget your schemes or syntactical patterns to add specificity!

Tone Created by use of ALL OTHER RHETORICAL STRATEGIES – Diction and Tropes – Syntax and Schemes – Details and Lack of Details – Patterns of Development and Arrangement of Ideas If you use TONE in your thesis, we expect you to unpack the techniques that CREATE the tone