Countdown to AP Test


Awesome Quizlets for YOU:

 

 

Here is a nice PDF of tone and attitude words categorized into five segments

The PDF is from Edmonds Sch. Dist., and can be found by searching the following:

tone attitude words categorized filetype:pdf

 

AP Language & Composition – “The Final Countdown”

 

Daily activities for April 23 through May 4 will include the following:

  1. Top News – A quick review of one or two news stories from the past year, this ten-minute daily segment will provide you with a greater array of conventional wisdom from which to draw when you face the argument and synthesis questions.
  2. Test Tip – A single useful piece of wisdom to apply on test day.
  3. Vocab Focus – Ten to twenty vocabulary terms relevant to the exam. Vocab the week of Apr 23-27 will focus on tone words. Vocab the week of April 30 to May 4 will focus on rhetorical terms.
  4. Composition – A succinct mini-lesson that illustrates how to take an author’s words and use them to soar with your own ideas.
  5. May Madness – Ten minutes of Socratic Seminar concludes each day in which we have two pair of our readings face off. The review will remind students of key rhetorical strategies, authors, themes, and content.

May 7 through 11 daily activities involve exam prompts and m/c extracts for practice.

 

Wed, May 2

 

Top News

Test Tip: You can write the essays in any order you like. Suggestion: answer them in order. Why? What happens when you save the most difficult or least preferable essay for last, and you're left with only 25 minutes? Uh oh. Sure, you can write the "easiest" first, but just know that it can be a slog that last 30 minutes.

Vocab: Toulmin model (see Quizlet above)

Composition: An old argument prompt and two responses to consider

 

Tue, May 1

 

Top News

Test Tip: Use of examples

Vocab: Logical Fallacies - some follow:

Composition: A look at the first couple pages of a student's synthesis response. Of particular note is that while the student might not be the best writer, her voice, tone, and use of personal experience are particularly powerful in helping her make her point. They do not distract from her point at all - they enhance it. Lesson? Do not be afraid to BE YOURSELF. 

 

 

Mon, Apr 30

 

Top News

Test Tip: Know the basic rhetorical modes (see Quizlet above)

Vocab: rhetorical modes

Composition: Comparison of a 9 vs 6 in response to an argument prompt

 

What to take away: Your use of example can take many forms; what is key is that any example selected must fit your argument like a square peg in a square hole. You do not get more points for more examples, but you do get recognition for apt examples used wisely.

 

Fri, Apr 27

 

Top News:

 

Test Tip: Write deliberately, write with purpose. Be neat. Use paragraphs. Make a first main paragraph that demonstrates personality, insight, and skill. DO NOT write a dry, typical intro paragraph that does nothing to show off your ability as a reader and writer. ADDRESS THE PROMPT, THE WHOLE PROMPT, and NOTHING BUT THE PROMPT.

 

Vocab: Tone quiz

 

Composition: Malcolm X's narrative, allusion, and ethos

 

May Madness: Socratic Seminar 3

 

 

Thu, Apr 26

 

Top News:

 

Test Tip: Some prompts refer to specific words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs in the extract. When you go back to investigate these, read them in context. For example: If the prompt refers to a words, examine the sentence in which the word appears. Read the sentence before, the sentence after. When the prompt refers to a phrase or sentence, do the same thing: read before and after. You may, as we have seen in class, need to backtrack quite far to find antecedents and the start of sentences.

 

Vocab: Sorrow/fear/worry words

 

Composition: Winthrop's City on a Hill - figurative language

 

May Madness: Socratic Seminar 2

 

Wed, Apr 25

 

Top News:

 

Test Tip: Pace yourself. In the M/C segment, you have about one minute to answer each prompt (as there are about 55 questions). Answer all easy questions first, and circle the difficult prompts. ALL QUESTIONS COUNT EQUALLY, so there is no reason to sweat it out over one prompt - just MOVE ON. Give yourself between 8 and 12 minutes per extract - no more. When you've completed the easy prompts for one extract, check your watch. If you have time, go back to the circled items for the extract. If you've exhausted your time on this extract, ditch it and move on to the next extract (and look for more easy questions). With two or three minutes left in the M/C segment, you should go back and make a quick guess for each prompt still blank.

 

Vocab: Humor/irony/sarcasm tone/attitude words

 

Composition: Cleese's irony

 

May Madness: Socratic Seminar 1

 

Tue, Apr 24

 

Top News:

 

Test Tip: Read extracts BEFORE reading the prompts, otherwise you miss the big picture

 

Vocab: Negative tone/attitude words

 

Composition: Bush's post 9/11 speech and connotation

 

May Madness: Narrowing "the best of the best of the best" to 16

 

Mon, Apr 23

 

Top News:

 

Test Tip: Exam Format

3 hrs 15 mins

Section 1 Multiple Choice 60 minutes of about 55 prompts = 45% of grade

Section 2 Free Response 120 minutes of three prompts = 55% of grade

 

Vocab: Positive tone/attitude words

 

Composition: JFK's antithesis

 

May Madness: Narrowing "the best of the best of the best" to 32