So Your ap test is tomorrow…

1. So Your ap test is tomorrow… My brilliant last-minute advice

2. What to do tonight • Set out everything you need for tomorrow (black/blue pen, pencil, snack bag) • Relax • Maybe review this power point (which is on the blog under “notes”) • Un-plug from your technological devices • Go to bed early

3. What to do tomorrow morning • Set more than one alarm. Have someone physically be your just-in-case-wake-up-call. This is in addition to your multiple alarms. • Take a shower. It will wake you up. • Eat breakfast. Something with protein so that your stomach isn’t grumbling midway through the test. • Get here at 7:30. Just to be safe. (if you are late, know that I will kill you)

4. Multiple choice • Take a few minutes to do some math so you know how long you have on each passage: 3 passages = 20 mins per passage 4 passages = 15 mins per passage 5 passages = 12 mins per passage • Do some more math to figure out what time you need to stop after each passage. Write this time at the bottom of each passage.

5. Multiple choice: if the text is pre-20th century • If the text is pre-20th century, remember that ; function the same as . • Read paragraph by paragraph; do not read the text all the way through once. Once you finish each paragraph, re-read that paragraph. • “want” means “lack of”

6. Before the essays • Plan how long each essay should take (they may or may not announce when you should move on. In previous years they’ve said nothing). • Synthesis = 55 minutes • Rhetorical Analysis = 40 minutes • Argument = 40 minutes • Take some time to do some math. Write down what time you need to finish each essay. • OUTLINE BEFORE YOU WRITE. Reading and outlining should take 15 mins for synthesis and 5 mins for argument.

7. Before you write • Analyze the prompt!!! What exactly is being asked? Are there multiple parts to the prompt question? • Is there an “and” in the prompt? An “or”? Synthesis: Is it factor-based or thesis-driven? Rhetorical Analysis: Does it ask for both purpose and effect or just one? Argument: Is this a defend/challenge/qualify question or do I have to build an original thesis?

8. Synthesis • Don’t start a paragraph with a source quote. Start with your argument or the factor to be considered. • Make sure your thesis answers the prompt question clearly. • Make sure you use 3 sources! These should not all be in the same paragraph. • Basic outline of a synthesis paragraph: I. Topic Sentence II. Source quote III. How the source quote proves the topic sentence IV. How the source quote proves your thesis

9. Rhetorical analysis: as you read • When reading the prompt question, look for the author’s exigence: why did he write this now? Notice dates. • When reading the text, divide into natural breaks that show a shift in subject, tone, or persuasive method. This will guide the organization of your essay. • Determine the author’s purpose, tone, thesis, exigence, and the intended audience. These will go in your intro (précis).

10. Rhetorical analysis: essay • DO NOT summarize the text or start arguing the author’s point. It’s always “the author does this” or “the author conveys,” etc. • Basic outline of a rhetorical analysis paragraph: I. Rhetorical strategy II. Quote(s) that show the strategy in use III. Explanation of strategy’s purpose in this quote (how it relates to the author’s thesis or how it characterizes his subject) IV. Explanation of strategy’s effecton audience (logos, ethos, pathos) • If all else fails, and you freak out, do a diction analysis! (abstract/concrete, informal/formal/neutral, connotation, euphonic/cacophonic). You still need to talk about purpose and effect.

11. Rhetorical analysis basics: Step 1: When reading the prompt question - look at dates - determine who the audience is and what is at the forefront of their minds at the time - determine the speaker’s potential obstacles and what he’ll need to do to overcome them Step 2: When reading the text - make the natural breaks - find evidence of tone, rhetorical strategies, purpose, appeal— these are the quotes that will lead your essay Step 3: What to write in the paragraphs - rhetorical strategy (or quote or description) - quotes - purpose -effect

12. Argument • Be sure your thesis clearly answers the prompt question. • Don’t forget that you need CONCRETE examples to prove your reasoning! They can be internal (your personal experience) or external (observations, history, current events, books, religious texts, pop culture, science). • If you qualify, go with a Rogerian argument: I. Intro + thesis II. Disagree: what your opponent would think/why, why you disagree III. Agree: which part you agree with and why • If you defend or challenge, you need a counter-argument I. Intro + thesis II. Why you defend or challenge III. Counter-argument

13. Some things we’ve read (in case they would happen to make good examples on the argument) Novels: Truman Capote, In Cold Blood (Perry, Dick, the Clutters) George Orwell, 1984 (Winston, Julia, O’Brien) Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (John the savage, Bernard, Lenina) Other Orwell Works: “Shooting an Elephant” “Politics and the English Language” “A Hanging” Speeches Queen Elizabeth, “Speech to the Troops” Shakespeare’s Henry V, “St. Crispian Day Speech” George Bush, “Speech on Afghanistan”

14. Some things we’ve read (in case they would happen to make good examples on the argument) Essays on Oppression: Niccolo Machiavelli, “The Morals of a Prince” Gloria Anzaldua, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” William Lutz, “Life Under the Chief Doublespeak Officer” William Hazlitt, “On Corporate Bodies” Films: Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief Other Major Essays: Plato, “The Allegory of the Cave”

15. If you’re freaking out • Take deep breaths. Count them. Breathe in through your nose for 3 counts. Then breathe out through your nose for 3 counts. It will slow your heart rate. • Find the EASIEST and perhaps most OBVIOUS thing to write about. Find one thing you UNDERSTAND. It’s ok if it’s not groundbreaking and creative. • Go back to the prompt question. Everything revolves around the prompt question. Look for the clues they provide in the prompt related to what you have to do and how you need to organize. • Look at your pencil. I believe in you. You all CAN do this. Have confidence in your natural skill.

16. If you have extra time • Go back through each essay one by one and ask yourself: • Have I answered all parts of the prompt question? • Have I connected the end of each paragraph back to my topic sentence AND to my thesis? • Have I revealed that I understand the complexities of the issue on which I’m writing? • Is my spelling and grammar accurate? • Have I gone “in-depth” enough in each paragraph? • Have I revealed an understanding of exigence, audience, and occasion? • Do I have a conclusion? (only add this if you have extra extra time) • If you haven’t, then go back in and add arrows, etc. The AP readers have to read everything you write.

17. And finally, remember • This test is NOT a reflection of the person and writer you are. This test is merely a game, and you need to think of yourself as a player of that game. • AP stands for one thing: ANSWERthe PROMPT. Just answer the prompt. Just do it. Answer the prompt. • Know that no matter what your score is, I’m incredibly proud of you. You’re not the same writers you were when you walked through that door in September. You’ve grown and you’ve improved. All of you, without exception, is a better writer today than you were at the start of the year. You CAN do this. So do it.