THE TEST!

AP 11: Language and Composition

Overview

3 hours and 15 minutes

2 sections Section 1: 45 – 60 multiple choice questions (60

minutes); 15 minute reading period Section 2: 3 free-response (essay) questions (120

minutes)

Multiple Choice questions test how well students are able to analyze the rhetoric of prose passages

Free response questions ask students to demonstrate their composition skills by writing 3 types of essays Rhetorical analysis essay DRQ (argument) essay Synthesis essay

Multiple Choice

Related to 4 – 5 prose passagesPassages will be:

Fiction and/or non-fiction (emphasis on non-fiction) From different time periods (at least one pre-20th century) Of different styles Of different purposes

Students will be expected to Follow sophisticated syntax and be comfortable with upper-

level vocabulary Respond to diction, make inferences, and be familiar with

modes of discourse and rhetorical strategies Be familiar with rhetorical terminology, be sensitive to irony

and tone, and recognize components of organization and styleDo NOT skip questions! Wrong answers are not

counted against your score!

Multiple Choice Question Types

Questions about rhetoric (diction, syntax, figurative language, point-of-view, etc.) comprise the majority of questions

Questions about author’s meaning and purpose and questions about main idea appear frequently

Questions about organization and structure and rhetorical mode appear less frequently but still are important

There are also OTHER TYPES but these categories cover most questions

Essays

Essays are scored from a 1 (bad) to a 9 (freakishly brilliant)

A score range of 5 to 7 is good though higher is better!

Presentation developed by Catherine HartGreen Hope High School, Raleigh, NC

Essay 1: Rhetorical Analysis

Involves the analysis of elements of STYLEThis essay is NOT asking you what something

meansThis essay is NOT asking you to summarize

This essay IS asking you WHY the author uses various elements of style

This essay IS asking you HOW an author makes literary CHOICES for a PURPOSE

Essay 2: DRQ (argumentative)

The prompt for this essay will provide you some kind of assertion (this assertion may take many forms)

Your task is to defend (agree), refute (disagree), or qualify (agree or disagree with reservations) this assertion

You MUST include sophisticated evidence to support your response – SHOW THAT YOU ARE WELL-ROUNDED! References to literature References to current events References to history

NOTE: Defend and refute are the easiest and clearest argumentative essays to write; we do NOT recommend that you attempt to qualify any assertion!

TIP: Spend time this year watching the news and keeping up with current events!

Essay 3: Synthesis

The prompt will provide you with 5 or more resources (including non-verbal texts like photographs, advertisements, etc.)

You will be required not only to evaluate these resources but also to synthesize the information presented in the resources to create an argumentative essay