The AP English Language & Composition Study Thread

<p>Ya...how do you do well in the MC...</p>

<p>i think i have a probelm understadnign the prompts and the passages they give for the essays, like i think it says something but when i read samples, thye say author's purpose was something different, does anyone have advice for how to directly discern what is the author's main point and purpose?</p>

<p>My recommendation for multiple choice is to go slowly and carefully. It's better to answer 45 and get them all right then to rush and answer 54 and get ten wrong or worse.</p>

<p>Anyone have advice about the essays? I'm worried because on the practice exams my teacher has been scoring me out of the reach of a 9 for sure. My highest has been a 7, and she said it was close to an 8. Do you guys think that maybe teachers grade the essays a little harder than they actually will be graded? I thought I was a good writer in general.</p>

<p>@ Godfather.</p>

<p>My teacher grades the essays, she says that they usually never see 9's. Maybe once a day or so. A 9 is a perfect essay, hands down. It is really the same exact thing as an 8, but without all the small errors that may be in the 8 essay.</p>

<p>A 6 and 7 are really the same also, again, the 7 is just slightly better than the 6, which may have more small errors or is over all a slightly less polished essay.</p>

<p>If you are getting 7's, you are set. All you have to do is answer a few MC correct and you past.</p>

<p>stylistic prompts involving looking at language the author uses and the examination of their purpose.
rhetoric is looking at language (but there are several different aspects) and demonstrating how the writer effectively presents his argument (sometimes you have evaluate the argument).</p>

<p>Things to analyze for stylistic: diction, tone, point of view, syntax (parallelism), oxymoron, paradox, verbal irony, euphemism, imagery, symbol,satire, repition and a few others.
Things to analyze for rhetoric: diciton, tone, syntax, oxymoron, paradox, irony, euphemism, understatment, hyperbole, rhetorical questions, pathos, ethos, logos, concrete detail, symbol, satire, repitition, and some others. </p>

<p>For rhetoric you demonstrate the authors argument and their effectiveness.
Stylistic involves evaulating their use of language and their point of view/attitude.</p>

<p>They are similar in some aspects, but can be considered different in approach.</p>

<p>I think both stylistic and rhetoric involves analyzing and extensively referring to the passages, with stylistic focused more on the attitude (as delirious_tree said) and rhetoric more focused on author purpose (and the passages are more argumentative/persuasive in nature)</p>

<p>i was wondering if they have breaks in between the MC and the essay? or do we have to pace ourselves and manage our time between the MC and essay? asking cuz i always spend too much time on MC</p>

<p>after the mc is over, there's a break where the proctor collects all the tests and gets ready to hand out the essays</p>

<p>so we get 60 minutes for like 55 Q's and then we get a break and after, its FRQ right? do you guys suggest reading the passage thoroughly or just skim it and read questions and look for it in the passage? the passages for me tend to be confusing unless i read it carefully and slowfully, so what is a good strat for MC?</p>

<p>My strategy:</p>

<p>Read each passage for no more than 3 minutes
Answer each question in less than 45 seconds each.</p>

<p>
[quote]
My strategy:</p>

<p>Read each passage for no more than 3 minutes
Answer each question in less than 45 seconds each.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>^ That is pretty solid.
If you start running out of time, remember that the questions that give you the lines, (lines 40 -43) are less time consuming than the ones that ask about the whole passage (which usually are the beggining or ending three questions or so.)</p>

<p>Anyone have any past MC portions? <a href="mailto:libri-crucis@satx.rr.com">libri-crucis@satx.rr.com</a></p>

<p>Is it me, or is barrons way harder than the actual exam?</p>

<p>do u guys generally check your answers or is there no time for that?</p>

<p>i think ill have more trouble on the MC part so what does it take to get a 3? 4? 5?</p>

<p>do we have to know grammar for this test.. sorry if this is a dumb question.. we've never taken a practice test or written a single ap prompt.. blah IB english.. but anywayz.. grammar? If so.. wut can i study in the oh so a little more than 12 hours.. lol</p>

<p>"i think ill have more trouble on the MC part what does it take to get a 3? 4? 5?"</p>

<p>the stats are posted on the first page, in realation to essay and mc</p>

<p>Just know the basics of grammar.</p>

<p>Focus more on how grammar and grammatical structure relates to syntax, and the effect on the reader or authors argument. Does the grammatical structure reflect events in the passage? That type of stuff.</p>

<p>There is no grammar portion on the test</p>

<p>But it is still very wise to understand grammar. Honestly though, if you have a decent grasp of the english language, you should be fine so long as you know the other stuff.</p>

<p>You should already know stuff like what a(n) adjective, adverb, noun, preposition. pronoun, conjunctions, etc.</p>

<p>Here is a study page you can use if you feel you need it:
<a href="http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Can someone provide some kind of comparison of Barron's, Cliffs, Sparknotes, and their respective MC difficulties to that of the actual test?</p>