AP English Language & Composition Questions Thread

<p>I was expecting to analyze rhetorical strategies, but that exam somewhat limited me from doing so. The onion passage was the only one that I enjoyed.</p>

<p>is it just me or am i the only one who feels stupid? i mean i do great on essays in class, but my practice mc's have been steadily dropping from 70% in sept to 30% before the ap test. i know i did decent/not good today on mc (maybe around 20-30 wrong?) and average on 1st and great on the last two (soo easy!) everyone waround me was screaming "i got a 5!!!" nd im there just praying for a 3/4 (an act of god if it was a 5)</p>

<p>Keep in mind that the CC posters who agonize over this stuff tend to be the cream of the cream of the cream of the test-taking crop.</p>

<p>I sincerely hope that you get the result you'd be happy with (and more.)</p>

<p>My multiple choice score will be lower than I was making on the practice tests because I didn't pace myself right (spent wayyy too much time on the first passage) and ran out of time with a four questions left on the last passage. Probably between 40 and 45 points on the MC.</p>

<p>The essays were okay, but I felt a little weak on the second one. </p>

<p>All in all, probably a high four. I might get a 5, but it's doubtful.</p>

<p>I had similar pacing issues on the Stat free response last year... I spent all my time on the three hardest questions (without even looking at the others, which I later learned were a snap) and came out feeling like I'd blown it because I left just under half the free response section totally blank. I made a 5.</p>

<p>i KNOW some of you freaks are goin ovre the mc answers on the d/l...let me in! waiting til july is a real bich</p>

<p>That was a crazy easy test.</p>

<p>when can we start talking about the questions?</p>

<p>Never for the multiple choice and 2 days after the exam for FR.</p>

<p>so we can talk about the essays now right?</p>

<p>Yes. Anyone else think the essay were really easy? Especially the last one?</p>

<p>I liked the last one. I'm not sure how I did though. I hated the onion one. I'm just not used to writing essays about things like that. I enjoyed reading it though :) The MC's were better than what I was expecting.</p>

<p>Yes. I was able to connect the donation aspect to Their Eyes Were Watching God. for the 1st essay, which was about kenan and his most compelling observation, i didn't talk about communism (is that bad?)....i agreed with kenan about how power exists in an individual judicially, socially (referring to The Scarlet Letter), and economically (referring to the Great Gatsby). I thought the onion essay was funny; my rhetorical devices for that were: hyperbolic language, metonomy, and understatements.</p>

<p>Compared to what we do in class, this test seemed really easy. I'm still awful at writing essays, though, but hopefully the mc will pull me through.</p>

<p>"i didn't talk about communism (is that bad?)"</p>

<p>No, this wasn't a history test, so people weren't necessarily expected to know the significance of George F. Kennan.</p>

<p>Anyway, I actually enjoyed -- to the greatest extent possible, at least -- that AP test. For the first essay I chose Kennan's observation that "we Americans place upon ourselves quite extraordinary obligations of conformity to the group in utterance and behavior," arguing that it resulted from "the respect we have for the good opinion of our neighbors." I used Huck Finn and The Crucible to back it up, which I thought worked out well.</p>

<p>The Onion mock press release was interesting. It probably took me the longest of the three essays to get started on; I never thought I'd be analyzing something from The Onion. But it was funny and definitely better than getting an article that was difficult to understand.</p>

<p>And the third essay I didn't think was too bad, although I'm not sure if I used enough "evidence." Then again, it only said "appropriate evidence." I mentioned Communism (Soviet Union, PROC) along with my Cons paragraph and then Capitalism (U.S.) with my Pros paragraph, and I felt like I made a pretty good case for why, in my opinion, it wouldn't work.</p>

<p>So, we'll see in July. I definitely don't feel bad about the test, though, and I'm glad I got it out of the way first.</p>

<p>how did you all convey kennan's most powerful argument? I, stupidly, ran through the question too fast and kind of glided over that part. In my essay I talked about his "obligation of conformity" that results from power in social and community life...were we supposed to write a quotation at the top of our essays or say, "His most compelling argument is..."</p>

<p>i also did the conformity thing for the most compelling argument. i talked about how containment is a type of conformity within itself...and also a laissez faire stradegy. does that make sense to yall? it did when i was writing it. god, i think i might have messed that essay up. </p>

<p>the multiple choice was better than i expected. the onion essay was great, and for the last essay i used their eyes were watching god because when janie married for money she was unhappy and when she married someone with no money thats when she was happy, thus concluding that money was not the key to happiness. this would support the guy's argument to give extra money away. and then i used the great gatsby to back up the pros because money in gasty money just led to shallowness and corruption which would support that guy's argument that extra money should be given away, and then for the cons i talked about adam smith's trickle down economics, where its best when there are divisions in money because the wealthy's money trickles down to benefit everyone, and i used 1984 to show how when everythings equal it doesnt work.</p>

<p>I thought the multiple choice section sucked, but that's just my opinion. Essays were pretty darn easy. :)</p>

<p>i thought the essays were a pain becuase they werent the typical "how does the author use stylistic/rhetorical devices to achieve a purpose". the first and last essays were totally personal and persuasive essays and i defintley wasnt expecting that. </p>

<p>for the first essay - i misread the question slightly because i thought it was show the extent to which Kennan's argument holds true TODAY, so i used current event examples instead of literary examples. hmmm - i hope i pulled it off ok.</p>

<p>This test seems SO MUCH easier than the one I took last year! (I got a 3) I mean, a passage from the Onion, how awesome is that...</p>

<p>for the first essay i chose to write about growing conformity in the united states... i agreed and for back up ... i used these points...
1) companies not very innovative copy the best sellers
2) K-6 education system... ie grouping smart/dumb kids in same class
3) consumer culture
4) gay rights / the way politicians act..
i'm not sure if any of those are really strong arguments but i made sure to explain and back them up with relevant facts</p>