<p>The AP Language teacher's class that I have been assigned to sucks, his passing rate is NIL. I might as well take the class and get the grade and study outside. I heard nothing goes on in his class and no one passes. </p>
<p>Can ANYONE please tell me what I need to learn in order to get a 5 on the AP English Language? </p>
<p>I have know that I have to read novels such as Great Expectations, Great Gatsby, Walden, Scarlett Letter, Native Son, Ideas have consequences, and Huckleberry Finn. I also know that I should read on the lives on Mohandas Gandhi, Fredrick Douglass, and Martin Luther King, Jr.</p>
<p>I also ordered Barrons: AP Language and Composition. </p>
<p>I already posses 5 steps to a 5: Writing the English Essay.
Cliffnotes: AP Language and Composition.
Barrons: AP English (90s edition)</p>
<p>PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me what else I need to do to secure a 5 on this examination.</p>
<p>My English skill sucks! English is my second language.</p>
<p>Well I borrowed my friend’s AP English prep book and read through it but it didn’t help much. It gave prompts and such but I was too lazy to actually write an essay cause I didn’t think it was going to be effective for me. What I did was memorizing most of the rhetorical devices because I heard there was a lot of content addressing it. I didn’t study much though and got a 4. I apologize since the advice comes from a person who got a 4, which kinda sorta falls short of your expectations for a 5. I think most of the time it comes with natural ability in writing and how well you try to read into the text and to understand the purpose of it and etc.</p>
<p>You should look through past exams and notice what the content of the FR/MC portions ask for. For example, the free response have three types of essay prompts - synthetic (where they ask you to compose an essay about the issue addressed in the prompt using examples/sources provided), rhetorical devices (identifying the rhetorical strategy the passage uses to convey a message, it’s basically analyzing their speech/writing), and I think the last one is basically an opinion piece… I’m not sure how to explain the last one. I think it’s mostly on how well you think the person’s assertion is true. I’m sorry, this was a couple months ago and I have a bad memory…and I didn’t really pay attention much to what my teacher said. haha! </p>
<p>And I didn’t read those books nor did I look up those people. I don’t know why that’s useful in the AP Lit exam… I think it might be useful in providing examples in an SAT prompt and such though. (x What you should do is see what the exam is like, just so you know what to expect. My teacher gave each student the previous exam and had us go through it at our own pace.</p>
<p>Sorry if it’s wordy, but I hope this helps!</p>
<p>You will have 4 review books for an exam that really doesn’t require you to memorize facts? Waste of money.</p>
<p>Best thing to prep is to go on to AP Central and do as many old ap essays as you can. Show them to your teacher and ask him./her to grade them for you (0-9 scale) and give you tips on improving. </p>
<p>My situation was the same. My teacher was a wonderful person but a sub par teacher. She barely prepared us at all. I also only had a semester of the class because I moved, but I still managed to get a 5. There were only two people who got 5’s out of like 100+ students who took the exam and we both had the same teacher, so really it comes down to your natural talents and your ability to self-study. (be prepared, my reply is going to be lengthy because I’m bored! )
Honestly, the part about reading the books should not be first priority. By all means, if you are starting now definitely try to incorporate classics such as The Scarlet Letter and Great Expectations into your writing. I read each of those books (not while in the AP Language class) and it may have helped me develop my vocabulary but I don’t think it necessarily helped me get a 5 over a 4, for example. So read those books! But if you only have like a month until the test just study.
I used a different book than the 4 you have: Princeton Review 2010. To tell you the truth, I didn’t study very much length wise. I waited until 2 days before the test and read through the whole PR book. That was the key though. When I study, I study. I made notecards for every vocab and literary terms word, and got them down. The vocab words…I don’t really know how effective that was because when you’re writing on limited time it’s hard to produce big vocab words if you aren’t naturally using them, but the literary terms was necessary on the literary essay.
To prepare for the test…I would do as many multiple choice practice as you can. I found it easy even though I didn’t study very much, I finished about 15 minutes early and had time to check and I always write up until the last minute. But if you can do it with confidence in practice it’ll be easier on the actual test.
Also, be familiar with the essays. There will be a synthesis essay, much like the document based questions on AP euro and us tests if that helps, where they ask a question and then give you a certain number of documents that either support or challenge the topic. Ours was about locavores, and there were topics supporting their way of life and some against it. In my essay, I basically analyzed all the data–I took a stand, but almost all of the documents even those that went against my thesis. I think that it gave my essay substance when most people’s essays probably chose a stand and didn’t do any antithesis to it.
Then, there’s a literary essay where they provide you with a section from a work of literature dated anywhere from recent times to ancient. You have to analyze the whole work and usually talk about how the person used certain literary devices to get across their point. So, just go through it and identify everything, and then talk about how that helped the person convey their stance. Be sure to do the latter part, and not just analyze the literature. This is also a good place to throw in things from books you’ve read, but only if it flows. Don’t just quote bomb the Awakening to make you look smarter.
Finally, the last essay is almost a debate essay: they give you a prompt, and you must either defend, challenge, or qualify the statement. Ours was a quote from Thomas Paine and talked about the state of America. I challenged it, and was able to include lots of information from history to back it up. I would not advise you to qualify it; even if your stance is strange, it’s better to go all out and argue than to make compromises.</p>
<p>So yeah. That’s how I got a 5, and I hope this helps you! Don’t stress too much, I really didn’t prepare in advance at all so I’m sure if you’re worrying about it this early you’ll get a 5 with no sweat :).</p>
<p>deartaylor! I read it, twice. Just to put it into my memory! I am gonna print this just in case I need to refer back! I appreciate you helping so much!</p>
<p>thatoneman : I am a current AP Lang student as a junior, but for my first two essays, I have written an 8 and a 9 ( rhet=#1, argument=#2)
The argument essay: Almost always, you should qualify the argument. That is, dont support it completely, point out some counterarguments, counter them or support them
Use thine own personal experiences lol. I’m an Indian immigrant who lived in China and the US, so the “thoreau” FRQ wasnt too hard for me. + exactly the same thing deartaylor said. </p>
<p>Some advice: read lots of complex literature. Be able to use examples from all eras: basically, be a walking history/politics/econ text when you sit down so you can address any topic (from biofuels to moral wrongs)</p>
My teacher was a wonderful person but a sub par teacher. She barely prepared us at all. I also only had a semester of the class because I moved, but I still managed to get a 5. There were only two people who got 5’s out of like 100+ students who took the exam and we both had the same teacher, so really it comes down to your natural talents and your ability to self-study. (be prepared, my reply is going to be lengthy because I’m bored! 
Just to put it into my memory!