<p>There must be other AP English Lit & Comp classes that write in-class essays. Mine have been consistently bad (5 out of 9 rubric), and it sucks because I was convinced that I had done better on my last one. Just wondering if anyone writes them, how they approach them and what they score.</p>
<p>Also, I have an in-class essay on Monday for Jane Eyre -- any insights to share about the book? :)</p>
<p>What you could do is go to one of those test prep books and find out how the teacher scores the essays...it could help. Or you could just ask him, but that might provoke a bad response if he's a certain type of teacher.
Our class never does essays/tests, we just have a journal-type project for each book we do.</p>
<p>I'd say practice writing an essay...or an essay outline about a possible essay topic. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE (and have someone grade it with a rubric, perhaps your or another english teacher) = writing will get better </p>
<p>Also, if a teacher gives you the exact topic of an essay (ie, Pick a character from Jane Eyre and explain their character development), do not try to memorize your whole essay-just the main ideas.</p>
<p>We have in-class essays all the time, where we are given a prompt when the bell rings at the beginning of class and we turn it in when the bell rings again. Ours are also graded on 9 points - I usually get a 6 or 7.</p>
<p>My best advice:
1. It sounds stupid, but it does help me to underline or mark up the prompt in some way. It is easier to acknowledge every part of the prompt when I do this.<br>
2. I don't know how common these terms are, but my school teaches us to do essays including concrete details, which are quotes or paraphrases of something directly from the novel, and commentary, which comes from your brain. It's important to use both in your essay, but it's usually more difficult to use commentary. Analyze, don't summarize. The facts from the book don't speak for themselves, you need to explain things.
3. If you're going to use direct quotes, then it tends to work better to blend them in with your own writing. For example, "When Bobby stole Susie's pencil, she called him a 'disgusting pig' and threatened to 'turn him into pasta.'"
4. Don't waste time erasing or completely scribbling out a bad sentence, just draw a line through it. It looks cleaner and you won't get distracted and frustrated when you realize your eraser sucks or you put a hole in your paper with your pen.
5. Stay calm and focused (duh. I just wanted an even five).</p>
<p>I hope that helps a little.</p>
<p>We do them. I'm new to AP this year. My first 3 essays...I scored a 3 out of 9. The last ones I hit a 4/4+...</p>
<p>Writing is my weak point. I don't understand what we're trying to accomplish in our essays. I kind of hate it. Oh well.</p>
<p>We've actually only had a couple of AP-style in-class essays in our class, but the number one piece of advice my English teacher gives us is to always make sure you're answering the question. There are often multiple parts of the question. For example: identify a character, analyze character development, and then discuss how that character development contributes to the overall meaning of the work. </p>
<p>At the end of your essay, it's also a good idea to go back to your thesis and see if your essay actually follows the thesis. I know that when I write in-class essays, what I end up talking about differs from what my thesis says I'm talking about, so make sure that your whole essay actually supports your thesis is important.</p>
<p>Even when you don't know what the prompt is, think about the major themes of the book you're writing on. That should at least help you prepare for what the prompt might be.</p>
<p>I don't really know how my in-class essay grades reflect an AP score, since my teacher tells us that he won't be giving us AP scores until later in the year, when we actually know what we're doing. (:</p>