<p>My teacher absolutely stinks. Everyone last year got a 3 or below on the test.</p>
<p>What is the best way to study this??? ---I really want a 5. </p>
<p>Also, are there any other good study books other than Cliffs AP Eng Comp&Lang?</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone!</p>
<p>Learn to analyze passages.
Learn the three types of essays, you will have to write them on the AP test.</p>
<p>Do practice AP essays, those will help a lot on the real test. Only do Cliffs for the MCs.</p>
<p>The thing I found out last year is that either you have to do really well in the MC section and moderate (6's) on the essays or you have to do really well in the essays (8-9's) and okay on the MC (>70%) to get a 5.</p>
<p>Really, I don't know what I did. A lot of people I thought would get 5's got 3's or 4's. MC seems a lot like luck sometimes to me. I got Practice Test scores from 50% right to 95%, across the spectrum.</p>
<p>So, I would recommend ramping up essays so you are at least at the 7-level, which is attainable in a year. If you think your teacher grades poorly, get someone else (like a CCer) to grade your essays. Then, just take multiple choice tests over and over again until you understand the question formats, the vocabulary, and basic strategies (which are up to you to decide what works best).</p>
<p>I wouldn't blame the teacher =/
The passing rate in general for AP English comp. (nationwide) SUCKS.
Along with APUSH it might be one of the hardest AP exams out there...</p>
<p>I'm taking it this year. We're using a book called "The Language of Composition" which so far, seems like a pretty good book. It's a small text book so I doubt it costs very much and the analytic stategies are explained in a simple, easy to read way. Plus there are tons of example passages that they pick apart at the end of each chapter.</p>
<p>Since I haven't taken the exam I couldn't really tell you how good the book is, but it seems worth looking into.</p>
<p><em>Practice makes nearly Perfect!</em></p>
<p>"Learn to analyze passages.
Learn the three types of essays, you will have to write them on the AP test."
^^^^ditto</p>
<p>@xRoqqstarrx:</p>
<p>Is it over 1000 pages? The book I found on Amazon with that title does not seem like a "small" text book. Maybe there are others with the same title? Can you give the ISBN?</p>
<p>that test is really easy, i got a 4, and we didnt do anything in that class. i think its hard to teach english language....thats why u think teachers suck, but they really dont.</p>
<p>and im non-native LOL</p>
<p>Well, my school uses: the NORTON READER "An anthology of Nonfiction" and some fiction books (GATSBY,etc.) to teach the course.</p>
<p>What other textbooks did/do you use in your AP English Comp class?</p>
<p>What are the THREE types of essays?</p>
<p>BUMP! Bump.</p>
<p>Well, the first is what my teacher called the "deconstruction essay." Basically you analyze passages for rhetorical strategies and such, then tie that to the author's purpose. Another essay is the argumentative essay where you are given some short passage or statement that you build an opinion on and support. The third essay is the synthesis essay, in which you formulate an opinion using at least 3 out of 6 documents (which are given to you) to support you argument. Overall, I think that if you practice multiple AP prompts you will be adequately prepared. The essays are 55% of your score, so you probably want to focus more on the essays, and practice the multiple choice too. I have a block schedule so my AP English class was only four months long. Therefore, we had to get through all of the fundamental parts of the AP test rapidly, but I think if you have confidence a 5 is definitely attainable. Best of luck!</p>