Get Ready

Get ready for AP Lang, if you choose to take it. Get ready for a difficult class that will keep you on your toes the whole year. Get ready for essays, and get ready for more essays. Get ready for the knowledge to argue your way through almost anything and the power to write an amazing piece of work for your SAT and other needs. But right now, get ready to read these important tips on how to succeed in this course (if you choose to succeed). These five tips are my keys to success in AP Lang, and I highly suggest anyone taking the class read them before you start the class, when you run into some of the problems associated with these tips, and pretty much every night before you go to bed. Just kidding, but seriously, these are important. You're welcome.

Second Quarter Reflection

          For my first quarter reflection I said that the American Experience at the beginning of our country was "one of constant difficulties which often were voiced and had action taken to resolve them." However, during first quarter I believed that the current American Experience was one of great opportunity in almost all aspects, and I still stand by this belief.
          Unlike some powerful governments like those in China and North Korea, the American government is very nonrestrictive- American citizens enjoy many rights citizens in other countries don't, such as freedom of speech. And unlike other countries like India, America has great opportunities for social mobility unhindered by rigid social structures. While America is certainly not the only country with this sort of freedom, for hundreds of years it has certainly been viewed as such: our country has frequently experienced great immigration rates during mass exoduses abroad such as during the Great Irish Potato Famine and World War II. Why else would they choose America but for the chance for a better life. This has been the perceived view of people from other countries, that America is a land of opportunity.
          This view in turns helps our country to sustain it; we offer jobs and education to immigrants that help them to choose whatever life they desire, and this labor supports our economy, which offers an incentive again to offer opportunities to members of the lower classes, immigrants being a member of that class. In a failing world economy in which new jobs have often been said to be the answer, America is the land of opportunity that can offer the social mobility that suppressed and economically depressed members of the global society desire. This is my stance on the great American Experience, as it has always been, mostly because both sides of my family's immigration to America can be traced back to leaving their lives in suppressed countries (Germany and Mexico) for better opportunities in America.
         

Tip #5

How to Handle the Pressure

          I can almost guarantee you this will be one of the hardest classes you ever take: it's an AP class. And with all the other classes you will be taking, most likely other advanced classes, you will be under a lot of pressure in AP Lang to keep up your grade. However, in a class based so much on writing, including a lot of on the spot writing, it is important to be well in your head so that you can think and write clearly.
          I'm not going to tell you that you'll be able to keep the same grade you usually get in your classes; for me I've accepted that I may not. It is important to stay motivated, but you may have to change your goals. I personally lowered my expectations a letter grade so that they are more achievable. Many people have probably told you that a key to success in life is setting achievable goals; it's true, especially for AP Lang. If you set your goals to high you may crash and burn and get a lower grade than you would have with lower but more achievable goals. That's what happened to me first quarter, and after that I decided to lower my expectations and relieve myself of some of the pressure I was feeling.
          This in turn helped my grade to increase. Now, at the end of second quarter, I'm looking at a higher grade than I had last quarter because by taking some heavy pressure of my shoulders I was able to get more sleep and enjoy the class a little more. This all helped me write better in my essays and more clearly comprehend quiz questions, and it also helped me do when when we began to do seminars.

All the tips I have offered here are critical, but in order to succeed in AP Lang one must have a clear mind free of unnecessary pressure so that they can provide their best possible work.

          

Tip #4

How to Take an AP Multiple Choice Quiz

          At the end of the year, every kid who takes AP Lang will most likely take the AP Lang Exam to test the knowledge they gained. However, throughout the year these students will take small portions of past Exams as periodic evaluations of the student's progress. These "AP multiple choice quizzes" are timed, fairly difficult, and hard to study for. Yet not only can they often have a great impact on your quarter grade, they can also prepare you for the AP Exam at the end of the year, which by passing can earn you college credit for taking the course in high school. Learning how to do well on these quizzes is critical to both your learning and your grade, so here's some tips.

          At the end of one semester of AP Lang I have taken many multiple choice quizzes, both at home and in class. As the year has progressed I have varied in my quiz scores, but overall they have improved, as has my comfortably with taking them. The first thing to remember is that these quizzes are timed, and even if you are at home you should probably time yourself to get an accurate judgement of well you are doing. On average each question on the quiz adds a minute and six seconds- a ten question quiz would take eleven minutes- according to Mrs. Blankenship. This time includes the time you must take to read the passage that goes with each quiz, which can eat up a considerable amount of time. Here is an example of a passage by Ralph Waldo Emerson my class had to take a quiz to for homework. See how long it takes you to read it:

          Promptly read, this passage may take you two and a half minutes to read; that leaves you with eight and a half minutes to answer ten questions. But how much of the passage did you really absorb? Many of the questions will require you to go back and read the text over again, killing even more time. This is the common problem AP Lang students who want a good grade face.

          In order to fix this, I usually skip passages of this size entirely and read the first question right as the quiz begins. If this question asks for an overall tone, argument, or something that would require a full reading of the passage, I move on to the next question. I keep moving on until I reach the first question on a specific few sentences or part of a paragraph- something that won't take me long to read. The questions are usually ordered chronologically, so this means that the first specific question should be from the beginning of the passage, and the last specific question will be from the end. By the time I finish all the specific questions, I've ended up reading a good portion of the passage.
          Nice. NOW I can go back and answer the overall questions. If it asks something about overall tone, I'll know about that because I just spent the last six or so minutes partially reading the passage; I could even keep these more general questions in the back of my head while I'm reading the passage to answer the more specific ones. This way I save time that might otherwise be wasted reading and rereading passages word for word.
          But before I even walk into the quiz, I can also do a bit of studying. I can review my vocab terms so that I know what the questions are referring to. But the most important thing I can do is look over past practice multiple choice quizzes.
          Have you ever thought, wow, the only reason I got that wrong was because I just don't think in those terms, while the test-writers do. Well that's a nice little thing to make yourself feel better, but it's not going to help you get a better score. By going over questions you got wrong on past quizzes, however, you can better understand how the test-writers think- for example, AP Lang test-writers are very specific and do everything for a purpose, so if most of an answer looks right except for one part, don't think they were just being ambivalent. They probably did that purposefully to trick you. These little thought processes will help you better get into the mind of an AP Lang Exam writer, and help you do better on the multiple choice quizzes.

Tip #3

How to Participate in a Seminar

  
          Since middle school, maybe even elementary school, I have periodically participated in what I knew as "Socratic Seminars". However, as I entered into the realm of AP classes, I noticed that they had become more frequent, and thus more essential to my grade. My participation in these seminars, especially in AP Lang, became critical, for not only did they have a decent impact on my quarter grade, they were also a way to convey knowledge to my teacher that I might struggle to express in my writing; they were a way to prove myself.
          Early in my AP Lang year, we read a book called Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and had two ensuing seminars. Prior to these seminars we were told to read different portions of the book, and while some of the questions presented during the seminar were on storyline and content, requiring a sufficient understanding of the plot (see "How to Read Efficiently"), many of the questions were analytical and required second-level thinking.
          For me these seminars were always exciting as I usually felt confident that I was going to perform well. I believe this was my first key to a successful seminar: Confidence. Begin the seminar feeling comfortable that you had important things to say.
          And to help your confidence, make sure you are well-prepared before the seminar. I flipped through Frederick Douglass prior to the seminars and copied down some brief summary notes of the book, dog-earing sections I felt could have many uses for answering different questions. I also made sure I understood what Douglass' main overall argument was, so that if I began to speak and drew a blank, or couldn't think of anything in the first place, I could at least tie whatever the topic of the question was back to the overall argument.
          Also, speaking towards the beginning of a discussion on a question is very important; this helps you to offer original points that may have been taken later if you had chosen to wait. Flipping frantically through your book will most likely not help you, as the point could be taken during the time you were searching, or worse yet you might not here the point be taken and you could speak up only to restate almost exactly what someone had said before.
          However, if you truly can't think of something right away, and you feel you aren't fresh on the topic being discussed, you can still earn points by thinking on your feet. If you don't remember how a section of the book being discussed went down, and you don't have any notes on the topic, put both your notes and book to the side- they can't help you now. Pay attention closely to what the other people in the classroom are saying. Try to absorb the content of the situation as well as the overall context. As there are always different sides and opinions to everything, you may find yourself considering something different than what seems to be the mostly reiterated view of the discussion. Even if you don't fully agree with it, propose the idea to the class- just make sure you back it up with some evidence you heard someone else use or you finally remembered. A point is a point, and it tends to be an interesting one if it challenges the view of many people.
          In short, seminars in AP Lang are very important not just because they can help your grade but because they can relay knowledge to your teacher than you may have trouble expressing through other mediums. Confidence and preparation are key, but if you cant think of anything right away, try being the "devil's advocate" and challenge opinions that are being reiterated by members of the discussion. My teacher Mrs. Blankenship will periodically intervene in our seminars using the same technique, and she's the teacher so....

Tip #2

How to Recognize Rhetorical Strategies

 
          AP Lang is as much a class about rhetoric, about making and understanding arguments, as any math class is about math, as any history class is about history. AP Lang. Is. Rhetoric. Understanding the rhetoric you read throughout the course, by different authors, is important for when you take the multiple choice portion of the exam at the end of the year, and being able to make your own rhetoric is important for when you write your essays as part of that exam. And an essential part of rhetoric is rhetorical strategies, so an essential part for understanding rhetoric is being able to recognize rhetorical strategies.
          If you can recognize the way that an author conveys his argument, you can often figure out what the author is arguing and why it is effective. Being able to recognize an author's rhetorical strategy can also help you answer many multiple choice questions that straight up ask you to identify how an author makes his argument. There are many reasons why having this skill is important for this course, but overall the skill simply helps you develop your own use of strategies, your own form of writing, and your own method of persuasion.
          And quite frankly, this knowledge is a tool that's easy to achieve. As you start out reading different documents, refer to your notes and handouts on the definitions of different rhetorical strategies; here is an extensive list of strategies and devices that you may use during your time in AP Lang. However, as your progress throughout the year, try to memorize as many terms as you can by studying the vocab; this will help you to easier sort through your "mental list" of different devices. By easily memorizing these terms before I read The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne I was able to much better understand Hawthorne's argument and purpose. This knowledge also helped me perform better on later assessments on the book.
          If you want to succeed in AP Lang, you must be able to recognize the rhetorical strategies of other authors. If you want to be able to recognize rhetorical strategies, you should make sure to memorize your terms and definitions. It really is simple, but you need to do it to succeed.

Tip #1

How to Read Efficiently

          If you plan on taking AP Language and Composition in the near future, you are most-likely a high-level student. Congratulations on having the self-worth to think you are ready for this class. But if you are a high-level student, you are most likely taking other advanced, maybe even AP, classes. This means you will not have a lot of time on your hands to waste.
          Unlike other English classes, AP Lang does not assign a lot of book reading; however, there are many documents that you must read throughout the year. Reading these documents, along with the occasional book, and answering any following questions are critical to helping you understand the course curriculum, as they not only exemplify how some of the greatest writers in history, such as Ralph Emerson and Thomas Paine, wrote, they also help you to understand and develop your own form of writing. These readings, when read well enough, can help you to see how different rhetorical strategies are efficiently used to convey an argument.
          But who has time to read every word of every book and document that is handed out? Certainly not a student who is taking other challenging courses besides AP Lang. That is why I quickly learned that being able to read efficiently was going to be critical to keep my grade up.
          Early in the year my AP Lang class had to read the book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Douglass. While the book was short, I was currently in the middle of many other assignments from my other classes, and some from AP Lang as well. Therefore I resigned to shorten the time I spent reading this book, while still absorbing as much as I could.
          Now, each student will have a different way of reading efficiently; it is important to develop it on your own, because your confidence in your style will help to keep you attentive and effective as you read the book. Personally, I read the first one or two sentences of each paragraph, then moved on to the next. I looked out for speaking lines and action descriptions, but for the most part I decided that the meat of each paragraph happened at the beginning. Of course, there were paragraphs I came across that I had to finish because they were simply vital to the writer's argument. However, using my own method of reading efficiently, I found I finished the book with a fairly thorough understanding of both the content and the meaning.
          Again, this information was vital for my grade. Throughout the reading of the book I was able to glean both how the author was able to convey his argument and how to incorporate bits of his writing style into my own writing. And all the while I was able to maintain my workload both for AP Lang and all of my classes combined.