***Official AP English Language and Composition Thread 2014-2015***

You should be reading plenty of literature in order to prepare a literary example for the argument essay.

My teacher has said that the rhetorical analysis essay tends to be the most difficult, so I guess that’s a good topic to work on.

We do lots of rhetorical analysis in our class. That’s pretty much all we’ve done, except for a synthesis essay we did.

My class if pretty easy honestly, although it seems I’m one of those “natural writers” that teachers always rave about (although I don’t believe that there is any like that and that writing is developed as critical thinking ability develops). For the rhetorical analysis, I’ve found my best scores have come when I open with a somewhat broad thesis and I analysis each paragraph seperately and provide details from each one. It’s far easier to go in depth and it allows alittle wiggle room. My class is yet to do a synthesis so I can’t yield any advice for you. The argumentative essay is my favorite. I find that watching things like the Colbert report helps out a lot here. It stimulates that part of the mind that looks at things differently. Quick tip quicki: you can make up a “study” or two to help add ethical appeal to your claims of need, ain’t nobody got time to check it out". Remember to talk with action verbs and nouns and avoid all the rest when possible. Use powerful vocabulary.

Good luck to all.

I’m taking this class, along with AP Psych and APUSH. We haven’t really even talked about the exam or essays in my class so I’m nervous. We’ve only read like 2 books this year. We’ve read a lot of short stories. I’m nervous and want to do good on the AP exam! What’s the best prep book? I feel so unprepared for the exam!

Lots of timed rhetorical analysis writes in my class. I’m getting good grades on the writes, but there is one problem… i’m not really sure what i’m doing right… I have Cliffs right now for a prep book. Is that all I need?

@BarryYung42: I have both Cliffs and Kaplan. Regardless, if you practice and know your rhetorical terms, you will be all set. Remember, to be successful on the exam, you must do work outside of class.

Does anyone have suggestions for the best cram review book for AP English Lang. test

I have Barron’s but I don’t know if it’ll be any good or not.

What really is there to study?

The Cliffs one seems pretty good.

@ErenYeager There’s not much to actually study but the review books also have strategies in them that really help.

There really isn’t anything to study except practice on the mc. I’m sure everyone has had enough practice on each essay type.

This is going to sound very stupid, but exactly how does one analyze the syntax in the rhetoric essay? Are you supposed to say, “This is constructed through the use of compound-complex sentences in order to appeal to a higher spectrum of intellectual readers,” or does analyzing the rhetorical devices fall under the category of syntax? Same question with diction. I set up my introductions using SOAPStone, but am still confused as to how to actually analyze the syntax. This is my teacher’s first year teaching the course, so even she does not know. I heard analyzing syntax can be something you outline in the introduction paragraph, but, aforementioned, I simply do not know.

@pathospablo Analyzing syntax can be kind of confusing. Only analyze it if it’s significant to the essay- you should be able to identify how it is with a very descriptive adjective. For example, I read an Op-Ed article about Obama the other day and it had biting syntax. The author was explaining some of Obama’s politics using long, complex sentences. Then, he used short choppy sentences when he described his opinion on them (long sentences… Obama was wrong. He made a terrible decision.) So basically it was his shift in sentence structure that made his syntax significant to the piece because the short, bold statements catch your attention and emphasize the author’s main point.
I hope I explained this well. It can be kind of confusing, but only mention syntax if it’s really significant.
As far as diction, look for a common theme of the words I guess. If the authors using a lot of negative words, mention that. Positive words, mention that and you kind of tie it in with pathos depending on the words’ connotations

@TotallyTrudy Thank you!! I looked up some examples and it does depend on what the passage is about. One student analyzed syntax and the rhetorical devices that fell under that section, and did the same for diction. They got an 8, but it was the highest example score. I’ll definitely use diction if there are a lot of connotative words or if a double entendre is used.

Anyone got links to resources? A list of hot words for the MC, cram packets, need to know rhetorical devices, essay help…

I desperately need help on rhetorical analysis essays. My score on the practice was just (:expressionless:

I absolutely hate the rhetorical analysis essays since I’m extremely biased and apparently, according to my Comp teacher, stray completely off topic and towards my own opinion xD
Does anyone have any links to practice MC and/or FRQs? There isn’t really much to study for this test other than practice tests, so I would like to brush up on those before going into that test hoping that the prompts aren’t crappy

Completely BSing this exam. Should be cake after that chem AP…

I’m doing pretty good with rhetorical practice essays, and syntax/multiple choice is usually the easiest for me, but I got a 5 on my last argument practice essay. Yikes! I just need to work on using specific examples and organizing my paragraphs more effectively. Keep in mind that only 10% got 5’s last year, which was just as bad as Chem @glasshours!