Advanced Placement Module 1 Overview of Exam & Question 3 English Literature & Composition Wednesday, May 6 th, 2015

The Format of the Test 60 Minutes – multiple choice questions ( 45% of the exam) –There are no penalty deductions for incorrect responses –Guess aggressively! –If you can correctly answer 50% of these questions correctly, you are on your way to receiving college credit for this course Approximately 15 minute break 120 Minutes – Three essay responses ( 55% of the exam) –Respond to a prose passage –Respond to one or two poems –The open-ended question –If you can score three 6 essays, you are on your way to receiving college credit for this course

AP Literature & Composition The Essays Nuts & Bolts Lesson

FEAR FACTOR AP essays are written under intense time- pressure, without a lesson: “Here’s a passage – read it- write about it – go!” This goes against all that you have been taught about good writing: drafting, revising, revising again. “Ready, set, write” is difficult for all of us, but understand that every student is working under the same conditions.

SCORING AP essays are graded on a 1-9 scale. A 5 is the most common score. The problem with 5 essays is their superficiality. The graders can tell that you understand the content and literary technique of the given passage, but they also see that you have missed the complexity of the piece. 5 responses are typically commonplace, poorly conceived, poorly organized, or simplistic. The good news – You can write a 5 in your sleep, but scoring a 6, 7, 8, or 9 is your conscious goal.

NEATNESS COUNTS Unless Ms. Smileyapples told you in 5 th grade that you have beautiful handwriting, print! Write dark, write large, write legibly! Think about this. First impressions are hugely important in writing. Superficial as it may seem, your book WILL be judged by its cover.

INDENT First impressions! Your essay should look neat, organized, and clear. Make your paragraphs obvious. Indent twice as far as you normally would. ALL AP Literature & Composition prompts ask you to write a “well-organized essay.” Therefore, paragraphs are a MUST.

THE FIRST TWO SENTENCES Again, first impressions! Make sure the grader recognizes your skills as a writer by starting off well. The glow of the first sentences can carry you through the rest of the essay. The grader has looked at your writing, is immediately attracted to it, and wants to give it a good grade. He or she will tend to be more lenient towards your errors if you have made that initial good impression.

VOCABULARY There is a reason we have been forcing you to learn the words in those vocabulary books you were assigned. Now is the time to use the particular adjectives, verbs, and nouns you wrote on those flash cards. This does not mean that you are given license to participate in an exercise in verbal gymnastics. What the grader wants is that which is less than generic. A dash of glitter is better than none at all. Just don’t go fully disco on them. NOTE: mixing metaphors and attempting humor can work against you

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LENGTH Statistics prove that students who write 450 words or more score higher than those who write less. Try to write for more than two pages. If your handwriting is big, obviously write more. Important! Do not skip lines when you write your essays. This will fool you into thinking you have written enough.

YOU CAN DO THIS DON’T BE SCARED -