Common Areas of Concern With the AP In Class Summer Essays

1. Common Areas of Concern With the AP In Class Summer Essays

3. Use third person.

5. Use the historical present tense. In general, use the active voice: Orwell suggests, not it is suggested that…

7. Avoid cliché expressions such as “throughout history/literature…,” “going against the grain.”

9. Avoid vague pronouns (This shows that). If not certain, you cannot go wrong with nouns.

11. In the introduction, for a timed essay or short take home essay, do not use much space on a hook or waxing philosophical about history, life, and literature in general, but do provide a brief hook.

12. Focus on the question(s) asked. Get right to the specific literary analysis. If the question has multiple parts, address them all. The introduction is the foundation of your essay; it establishes your purpose and your credibility. Avoid being vague. Do not write that Orwell uses symbols to portray Winston’s quest. What specific symbols does Orwell use? What is Winston’s specific quest? Even including basic adjectives in this situation is informative.

13. Assume your audience is intelligent but needs some basic background information about the works (title, author, genre, setting, very basic plot or character identification in relation to basic plot) and the specific examples from the works you will be using to prove your thesis. It’s important to know that Edna Pontellier lived in the late 1800’s in a Creole society.

14. Remember construct #1, the appositive, and construct #6, the adjective clause, are beneficial for introducing necessary information. Note when you write, for instance, “In George Orwell’s novel 1984, that there is no comma after the word novel. Use a semicolon to separate complex items in a series, such as a series of appositives for introducing several different characters.

15. After you have introduced the basic elements in your introduction, you do not need to repeat that information in the body paragraphs.

16. Use meaningful transitions to connect your body paragraphs to each other and your thesis.

17. Provide accurate information.

18. Pay attention to the rubric!

19. Common Areas of Concern With the Take Home Op/Ed Analyses

21. Make good use of teacher directed and peer editing time.

24. Use proper MLA format. NO EXCUSES!

26. PROOFREAD! NO EXCUSES! Still confused about some basics, fragments, runons,

27. apostrophe usage… get online, review… (Check out Purdue University’s writing lab.)

30. Follow directions. Understand the expectations. What is the difference between an opinion piece and an editorial?

32. Provide a hook.

35. Create a thesis.

37. Do not include bare quotes. Who wrote the words? What is the purpose of the quote?

40. Be concise. Rather than “she goes on to describe that,” write, “she describes/she elaborates…)

43. Use authors’ names and the active voice. Don’t write, “It shows that…” (Frank Rich suggests that…)

46. The Boston Globe and The New York Times were popular sources; note that the article “the” is part of each title.