AP Language and Composition

AP Language and Composition Daily Writing Prompts

Aug. 23, 2016 Tell me about some of your favorite and least favorite books. Why have you enjoyed or hated these books? How have they contributed to your life in school and out of school? How have they helped determine your thoughts on reading in general?

Sept. 2, 2016 What efforts have you personally made to be involved in your community? Do you believe your community has shortcomings that need to be improved upon? How do you think a single person can make a difference in his/her community?

Sept. 7, 2016 Frederick Douglass said in a speech in 1886: “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” In your own words, what does this mean? Think of examples (real or hypothetical) that proves or disproves his argument.

Sept. 9, 2016 After learning about and reading “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro,” what can you tell me about Frederick Douglass? Which parts of the essay give you hints about what kind of a person Douglass is, what his attitude is towards his subject, and his relationship to his audience?

Sept. 13, 2016 What do we already know about Frederick Douglass’s audience for his speech “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”? What do you know about the occasion? Use information we’ve learned in class to answer, but also consider what you know about the historical context and how that helps you make inferences about the audience at the time.

Sept. 15, 2016 • Considering the portions of “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” we have read, write what you believe Frederick Douglass’s thesis is in your own words • On line 20, Douglass writes: “Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! Whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them.” Explain how these sentences help support the thesis statement. Pay attention to now only what he says, but also how he says it.

Sept. 19, 2016 Now that you have started working on the rhetorical analysis essay, what are some questions you have about writing a rhetorical analysis? What do you believe you struggle with when it comes to analyzing or writing? In what ways do you excel? Write three specific goals related to writing a rhetorical analysis that you want to achieve.

Sept. 21, 2016 What was the hardest part of writing this essay? What was the easiest part? Which writing skills do you believe you still need to work on, and how do you plan to improve in the future?

Sept. 23, 2016 Based on what we learned in Freedom Riders and what you have already learned in other classes, what do you already know about the Civil Rights movement and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? In what classes/contexts have you learned about these things? How has he been presented to you in the past?

Sept. 30, 2016 • In what way do you feel the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” feels dated? Are there moments in the essay that you feel no longer apply to our current society? What parts of the letter feel especially relevant to today?

Oct. 4, 2016 • Describe the style and tone in this cartoon. What is the argument the cartoon is trying to convey, what is the effect of the argument, and how does the cartoonist produce this effect (says/does/how)? Do you agree with the cartoon’s argument?

Oct. 6, 2016 • What is Ta-Nehisi Coates’ main argument in the excerpt you read? Who is his audience? To what occasion is he responding? And do you think his arguments are effective (why or why not)?

Oct. 12, 2016 • Practice eliminating idioms from your writing!!: • Tell me about yesterday. What did you do? What did you see? With whom did you talk? What were you feeling?

Read Banneker’s last paragraph (a single sentence) and write the following paragraph: • Topic Sentence: What main strategy does Banneker use in this last paragraph? (Avoid the words: “logos,”“ethos,”“pathos”) • Concrete Detail: 1 SENTENCE – what does Banneker SAY (in your own words)? What is his argument? (Avoid the words: “against slavery”) • Commentary: 1 SENTENCE – In what way DOES this sentence affect the audience (Jefferson)? (Avoid the words: “connect,”“relate,”“emotion/al,”“remember”) • Commentary: 3-4 SENTENCES – HOW does this sentence achieve that effect with THIS audience (word choice – connotation, denotation, imagery, references, comparisons, repetition, etc.)? (Avoid the words: “logos,”“ethos,”“pathos,”“strong diction,”“powerful diction.”)

Oct. 24, 2016 • In an interview with NBC, Mike Pence claimed that Trump’s comment about Hillary being in jail was being taken “out of context”: “Trump made a swipe….it was obviously just a back and forth…quip during the course of that debate. But the issue of a special prosecutor is a serious one and I fully support it.” • Do you think that Trump was making a joke? How do you know? (Explain your reasoning using details from his debate performance).

Explain the joke. What is the tone? What is the political position? What critical problem does the satirist want to draw out attention towards? Is this an effective approach for this argument?

Oct. 31, 2016 • What is Swift’s overall purpose in “A Modest Proposal”? Why do you think he chose such a provocative approach? • Would a modern audience be more or less offended by Swift’s proposal? Explain your reasoning.

Nov. 2, 2016 • Write a response to Swift in the voice of an economist who takes Swift’s proposal seriously and is sympathetic to the narrator’s views but challenges the narrator’s argument.

Nov. 4, 2016 • What is something about Herriman High that really bugs you? Imagine that you are a writer for the school paper and write your own – brief – “modest proposal” that provides a satirical solution to this problem.

Nov. 8, 2016 • What is the primary purpose of the President of the United States? Which candidate do you believe will serve that purpose best? Why?

Nov. 11, 2016 • Spend 3 minutes (time yourself) writing about each letter in SOAPSTONES in regards to the song “Born in the U.S.A.” • Use the thesis statements from your Springsteen worksheets to craft a rudimentary outline for a potential paper that answers the question: Do you believe that Ronald Reagan misinterpreted or misused Bruce Springsteen’s image and song in his campaign speech? • Choose one paragraph from the body of this essay to write. Do your best to follow all the guidelines for writing a good paragraph that we have discussed (we will discuss further today).

Nov. 15, 2016 • Choose a paragraph in your “A Modest Proposal” essays that could be improved (not the intro or conclusion). • Rework the paragraph according to the qualities of a good paragraph that we discussed last class. • (You only have 10 minutes. Work fast!)

Nov. 17, 2016 • Write short (2-3 sentence) summaries of each scene in Taming of the Shrew that you have read so far: • Induction I-II, Act 1: Scenes i-ii • Write a short (2-3 sentence) summary of Virginia Woolf’s argument in “In Search of a Room of One’s Own.”

Nov. 21, 2016 • Read the allusion in Act 1: Scene i: Line 84: Lucentio: “Hark, Tranio! Thou mayest hear Minerva speak.” • Using Hamilton’s notes on Minerva/Athena, explain how the comparison to Minerva illustrates/highlights some of Bianca’s characteristics.

Nov. 28, 2016 • Summarize Petruchio’s strategies for wooing/taming Kate. Do you think that he actually loves Kate? Why or why not? Use evidence from the play to support your answer. • Do you know of instances (fictional or real) when strategies like Petruchio’s have worked or failed? Explain.

How is language important in this play? • Do you think this play adheres to the cliché: “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me”? • Or, does language have real power in a society?

How many different disguises are in this novel? • What is the value of a disguise? • What does the existence of disguises tell you about the romance in the novel? What is most important in a (romantic) pairing?

Nov. 30, 2016 • Read Kate’s monologue again. • Circle the words you believe should be emphasized the strongest when performed. • Based on the words you circled, what do you believe the tone of this monologue is? (Remember: tone is the speaker’s attitude towards his/her subject) • Explain your answer (using only this monologue for supporting evidence.)

Do you believe that Kate has a crisis in this play? • When do you think this crisis occurs? • Find the moment in the text and complete a says/does/how chart for that moment: • What is Kate’s argument in this moment of crisis? • How is this moment of crisis supposed to make the audience feel? • What language does Shakespeare use to spark this response in the audience?

Each member of your group performs the monologue, stressing the words that they have said need to be stressed. • Perform to the best of your abilities! • As a group, decide which performance best conveys Shakespeare’s intentions in this monologue. • I will (randomly) choose two groups to present their monologue to the class, so be prepare!

Dec. 2, 2016 • Remember our three focus questions for Taming: • What is the purpose of the play-within-a-play structure? • Are we meant to approve of Petruchio’s methods? • Who tames who? • In pairs, take turns answering the questions. • One minute per partner, per question.

Add phrases to the questions in order to think of them as rhetoric: 1. “What argument does Shakespeare make when he uses the play-within-a-play structure?” 2. “What argument does Shakespeare make by characterizing Petruchio as a hero or villain?” 3. “What argument does Shakespeare make about gender when he characterizes one of the characters as tamed?” • Write a thesis statement for each of these three questions.

Dec. 6, 2016 • Do you believe that Herriman High School would benefit from a required school uniform? Why or why not? • Use evidence from your own experiences, observations, and reading to support your answer.

Dec. 8, 2016 • Comedian Trevor Noah (host of The Daily Show – a liberal comedy news program) recently argued about the current political climate: “Let’s not be divided. Divided people are easier to rule.” • Do you agree with this statement? Use examples from your experience, observations, and reading to support your opinion.

AP Language and Composition