AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION

REVIEW

TEST INFORMATION

3 hours 15 minutes total

1. MC section I hour

2. Essay (2 hours 15 minutes)• Synthesis • Rhetorical analysis• Argumentative

IN AN IDEAL WORLD….

Tonight: go home and take a final practice test (Remember it is for extra credit!)

• Go through the multiple choice answers and explanations. Make sure that you understand each part before moving on to the next one.

• Study your 100 vocabulary words!• Review all rhetorical devices, practice creating examples!

Tomorrow: Review this PPT! • Study your vocabulary• Get to bed early. Give yourself the 8 hours you always deprive

yourselves.• Get to school early on Friday and come and enjoy a good breakfast!

MULTIPLE GUESS?If you don’t know the answer but can eliminate one or more

answers, guess. If you are left with no time—guess with

reckless abandon. Don’t leave any questions blank.

Be careful not to miss questions on your answer sheet.

Double check that you are bubbling the correct number!

Before reading the passage read the questions only, not the

answer choices, and avoid reading questions that tell you to

refer to the passage.

MULTIPLE CHOICE(1 HOUR)

MULTIPLE CHOICE….

First reading of passage: read it quickly in order to grasp the

main idea, but not so thoroughly that you take more than 5

minutes.

When a question tells you to go back to the passage, do it!

Read the sentence before and a few after, the answer is usually

hidden before or after the line number the question refers you to.

Make educated guesses, eliminate answer choices when you can.

In questions where you are stuck with vocabulary, remember

root words, prefixes and suffixes.

ESSAYS (2 HOURS, 15 MINUTES)

SYNTHESIS ESSAYRemember you must use at least 3 of the sources in this essay!

Read each source carefully but as quickly as possible.

ANNOTATE as you read, underline and determine which stance

each source is taking! This will help you to quickly select the

sources you will use in your essay and enable you to combine

sources well.

DO NOT start your paragraphs with a summary of a source!

Remember this is an argumentative essay- you are required to

make your own argument first, then back up your argument with

the provided sources!

SYNTHESIS ESSAY..

Try and use more than one source per paragraph, this will make

you think critically, and write longer more convincing paragraphs.

CITE YOUR SOURCES! Either by saying (Source A) or by

acknowledging the author of the source.

Double check that your thesis is STRONG, CONCISE, and most

importantly ANSWERS THE PROMPT!

Don’t omit a conclusion even if you are running short on time, at

least include a one sentence conclusion, that restates your central

argument.

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

Remember you must discuss at least 3 devices, but you should try

and include more than 3.

Just like the synthesis essay, you must have a central argument. You

need to argue that the author uses the devices to accomplish

something, not just point out that he/she used devices!

Double check that your thesis is STRONG, CONCISE, and most

importantly ANSWERS THE PROMPT!

Don’t omit a conclusion even if you are running short on time, at

least include a one sentence conclusion, that restates your central

argument.

ANALYSIS CONTINUED..

Show respect for the authors. Don’t say they’re stupid or don’t know

what they’re talking about. Chances are it’s not Virginia Woolf who

doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

Don’t refer to the authors by their first names. Inthe intro, refer to

the author by both names, then henceforth use the last name.

Spell out words like and, with, and because (not &,w/, and b/c). This

is an important

international exam, not a note to a pal. You wouldn’t wear jeans to

the prom.

Avoid clichés - “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” “A picture’s

worth a thousand words,” etc. Too many students use them, and they

set the reader’s teeth on edge.

ANALYSIS CONTINUED..

Stick to an analysis of the essay. Don’t wander off into your personal experiences.

Annotate and write a brief outline before you begin writing.

Don’t define terms. The readers are experienced AP teachers and English professors.

They don’t need to be told a simile is a comparison using like or as.

Don’t waste time on a long or fancy intro. Throw away the bread and get to the meat.

Referring to line numbers is a waste of time. They don’t look at them..

It’s okay to use an ellipsis in a quote as long as the quote still makes sense. If you

write, “Allusions to Sophocles...to a more general argument” (line 12) means you

want the reader to go look it up. They’ve got a thousand essays to grade and you

want them to look it up??!

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY!

It doesn’t matter if you defend, challenge, or qualify as long as you do it well.

Plan a brief outline

Think of the prompt as a springboard for creating your own argument. Don’t

try to analyze their argument. Your purpose here is to persuade the reader that

your argument is sound and reasonable.

The reader wants “specific evidence” - two important words, often overlooked.

The courtroom does not want the hypothetical or the theoretical. Use your own

experience, incidents you know about, or what you have read about

If you give the reader 3 examples of specific evidence, make sure they

illustrate 3 different points, not 3 examples to illustrate the same point.

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

•When thinking of specific evidence, if it’s the first thing

that pops to mind, chances are it’s the first thing that comes

to everyone else’s mind. Go with your second or third idea.

Double check that your thesis is STRONG, CONCISE, and

most importantly ANSWERS THE PROMPT!

Don’t omit a conclusion even if you are running short on

time, at least include a one sentence conclusion, that

restates your central argument.

GOOD LUCK!!