Wiley AP* English Language & Composition

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2012952212

ISBN 978-1-118-49017-4 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-49003-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-49018-1 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-49020-4 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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Publisher’s Acknowledgments

Project Editor: Tracy L. Barr

Executive Editor: Lindsay Sandman Lefevere

Technical Reviewer: Elizabeth Brown

Sr. Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees

Cover Photo: © aleksandar velasevic / iStockphoto.com

About the Author

Geraldine Woods has taught and tutored every level of English from 5th grade through AP for the past three decades. She’s the author of more than 50 books, many published by Wiley: English Grammar For Dummies, English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, Research Papers For Dummies, College Admissions Essays For Dummies, SAT For Dummies, and Punctuation: Simplified and Applied.

Author’s Acknowledgements

Many talented people helped me with this book: Robin Aufses, Ben Casnocha, Sam Goodman, Karen Ellen Johnson, Tom Katzenbach, Christopher Witcombe, and Don Yates. I owe a debt of gratitude to them all. I’d also like to thank Tracy Barr and Lindsay Lefevere of Wiley, as well as my technical reviewer, Elizabeth Brown of William Henry Harrison High School in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Wiley AP English Language & Composition

Table of Contents

I: Introduction to the AP Exam and the AP Course

1: An Overview of the Exam

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION EXAM

EXAM QUESTIONS, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Preview of AP passages

The multiple-choice section

AP essays

THE SCORE: GRADES AND REPORTS

Multiple-choice scoring

Essay scoring

Score reports

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Pre-exam chores

Arriving at the exam

Special needs

TEST DAY COUNTDOWN

Exam minus one year

September before the exam

January before the exam

March before the exam

Two weeks before the exam

The night before the exam

EXAM DAY SURVIVAL

The morning of the exam

As the exam begins

Break time

If disaster strikes

AFTER THE EXAM

2: Tips for Success in AP English Class

ANNOTATION AND NOTE-TAKING

Annotation

Note-taking

CLOSE READING

The content

Writing style

PUMP UP YOUR VOCABULARY

WRITING: PROCESS MAKES PERFECT

Gather and group ideas

Organize the information

Draft and revise

ENGLISH CLASS RESEARCH

Where to look

Specific search terms

Source information

VISUAL SOURCES

II: The Writer’s Toolkit

3: Writing’s Building Blocks: Words

BEYOND THE DICTIONARY: CONNOTATION

ANALYSIS OF DICTION, TONE, AND ATTITUDE

Diction

Tone

Attitude

A FOCUS ON FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

SENSORY APPEAL: IMAGERY

4: Sentences and Paragraphs

THE SECRET OF SYNTAX

Sentence patterns and variations

Periodic and loose sentences

Parallelism

PARAGRAPH CONSTRUCTION

Topic sentence first

Topic sentence in the middle

Topic sentence at the end

Transitions

THE AUTHOR’S POINT OF VIEW

Writing style

Ideas and opinions

5: Rhetorical Strategies

CAUSE AND EFFECT

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

ANECDOTE AND EXAMPLE

CLASSIFICATION AND DEFINITION

PROCESS AND CHRONOLOGY

6: Essential Grammar Skills

ELEMENTS OF A SENTENCE

VERB USAGE

Tense

Mood

PRONOUNS

Antecedents

Ambiguity

PARALLEL SENTENCES

MODIFIERS

PUNCTUATION

Commas

Semicolons

7: Visual Literacy

STEP-BY-STEP INTERPRETATION

CARTOON ANALYSIS

WHAT PHOTOGRAPHS REVEAL

POWERFUL ADVERTISEMENTS

HOW TO READ CHARTS, TABLES, AND GRAPHS

Charts and tables

Graphs

III: Types of Writing Found on the Exam

8: Four Modes of Discourse

NARRATIVE (STORY) PASSAGES

DESCRIPTIVE PASSAGES

ARGUMENT PASSAGES

EXPOSITORY PASSAGES

9: Essay Analysis

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ESSAY

ESSAY STRUCTURE

Anecdote and interpretation

Observation leading to conclusion

Compare and contrast

Big ideas

Thesis and proof

Mosaic

SAMPLE ESSAYS

“Civil Disobedience”

“On Envy”

“Chimney Pot Papers”

10: How to Pick Apart Memoirs and Biographies

RHETORICAL DEVICES IN BIOGRAPHIES AND AUTOBIOGRAPHIES

A FOCUS ON AUTOBIOGRAPHY

A New Yorker’s story

An emigrant’s story

OTHERS’ LIVES PRESENTED AS LITERATURE: BIOGRAPHY

A Puritan father

A Boston businessman

11: Tips for Reading Letters and Speeches

THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF LETTERS AND SPEECHES

The identity of the author

Tone and voice

The audience

Assumptions the writer has made

Content and style

PRACTICE WITH LETTERS

Jane Austen: from Isabella Thorpe

Washington Irving to his publisher

PRACTICE WITH SPEECHES

Lyndon Johnson: State of the Union Address

Abraham Lincoln: The Gettysburg Address

12: Citation Essentials

TYPES OF CITATION QUESTIONS ON THE EXAM

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF ALL CITATIONS

PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS

FOOTNOTES AND ENDNOTES

SOME UNUSUAL CITATION CASES

Multiple authors

Translators, editors, and editions

References to other citations

IV: Exam Strategy and Practice Questions

13: Strategies for Multiple-Choice Questions

MULTIPLE-CHOICE SECTION TIMING

Planning your overall strategy

A strategy for question-sets

HOW TO MAKE A GUESS

TYPES OF MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

Vocabulary

Reading comprehension

Theme, attitude, and purpose

Style questions

14: Practice Multiple-Choice Questions

PRACTICE PASSAGE 1: FRANCIS BACON

PRACTICE PASSAGE 2: A LETTER TO PUNCH

PRACTICE PASSAGE 3: RICHARD HENRY DANA

PRACTICE PASSAGE 4: COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION

PRACTICE PASSAGE 5: JAPAN IN 1800

15: Strategies for the Essay Section

THE LOGISTICS OF THE ESSAY SECTION

TIME MANAGEMENT

YOUR WRITING PROCESS ON THE AP EXAM

Decode the prompt

Annotate the text

Write a thesis and supporting points

HOW TO HANDLE EVIDENCE

When to quote

How much to quote

Inserting quotations into the text

Citations

ESSAY STRUCTURES

Deductive

Inductive

Compare-contrast

Passage order

TYPES OF ESSAYS

Synthesis

Analysis

Argument

16: Practice Essays

PRACTICE ESSAY GENERAL GUIDELINES

ANALYSIS OF A SINGLE PASSAGE

Prompt 1 for an analysis essay

Answer guide for the first analysis essay

Prompt 2 for an analysis essay

Answer guide for the second analysis essay

PAIRED PASSAGES

Prompt

Answer guide for the paired-passage essay

ESSAY BASED ON A QUOTATION

Prompt

Answer guide for a quotation-based essay

AN OPINION PIECE

Prompt

Answer guide for an opinion piece

THE SYNTHESIS ESSAY

Prompt for synthesis essay 1: National service

Answer guide for synthesis essay 1: National service

Prompt for synthesis essay 2: Art

Answer guide for synthesis essay 2: Art

V: Practice Exams and Answer Sheets

17: Practice Exam 1

BEFORE YOU TAKE THE PRACTICE EXAM

THE AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION TEST

SECTION ONE: MULTIPLE CHOICE

SECTION TWO: ESSAY QUESTIONS

Essay question 1: Synthesis

Essay question 2: Paul Robeson

Essay question 3: Leadership

18: Answers and Explanations for Practice Exam 1

GUIDELINES FOR SCORING AND REVIEWING YOUR PRACTICE EXAM

THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE SECTION

HOW TO GRADE YOUR ESSAY RESPONSES

AP standards

Your final essay score

SCORING ESSAY 1: SYNTHESIS ESSAY ON THE INTERNET AND SOCIETY

Scoring grid for the synthesis essay

Sample answer A

Analysis of sample answer A

Sample answer B

Analysis of sample answer B

SCORING ESSAY 2: ANALYTICAL ESSAY ON PAUL ROBESON

Scoring grid for the Robeson essay

Sample answer A

Analysis of sample answer A

Sample answer B

Analysis of sample answer B

SCORING ESSAY 3: LEADERSHIP

Scoring grid for the leadership essay

Sample answer A

Analysis of sample answer A

Sample answer B

Analysis of sample answer B

EXAM CONVERSION CHART

19: Practice Exam 2

THE AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION TEST

SECTION ONE: MULTIPLE CHOICE

SECTION TWO: ESSAY QUESTIONS

Essay question 1: Synthesis

Essay question 2: Paired passages

Essay question 3: Friendship

20: Answers and Explanations for Practice Exam 2

THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE SECTION

HOW TO GRADE YOUR ESSAY RESPONSES

SCORING ESSAY 1: SYNTHESIS ESSAY ON REGULATING THE MEDIA

Scoring grid for the synthesis essay

Sample answer A

Analysis of sample answer A

Sample answer B

Analysis of sample answer B

SCORING ESSAY 2: PAIRED PASSAGES

Scoring grid for the paired-passage essay

Sample answer A

Analysis of sample answer A

Sample answer B

Analysis of sample answer B

SCORING ESSAY 3: FRIENDSHIP

Scoring grid for the friendship essay

Sample answer A

Analysis of sample answer A

Sample answer B

Analysis of sample answer B

EXAM CONVERSION CHART

I

Introduction to the AP Exam and the AP Course

1

An Overview of the Exam

• Exam format and content

• Test scores and score reports

• Ways to prepare before the exam date

• Things to do before, during, and after the exam

People who favor traditional education usually want schools to focus on “the three Rs” — reading, ’riting, and ’rithmetic. Traditionalists, therefore, love the AP English Language and Composition exam because it covers two-thirds of these basic areas: reading and writing. This exam, as well as the course that may be attached to it, concentrates on your skills as a writer and as a reader of other people’s writing.

In this chapter, I show you typical AP English Language and Composition questions and tell you what you need to know about scoring, timing, and guessing. I also cover how to find out when and where the test is held, what it costs, how scores are reported, and other practical information.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION EXAM

The AP English Language and Composition exam is probably easier than many of the tests you’ve already taken, although it looks a bit intimidating. (It comes in a plastic, shrink-wrapped package with multicolored booklets and instructions.) The test boils down to two parts:

• Multiple Choice: You have one hour to answer approximately 55 questions (the number varies a bit from year to year) based on five or six reading passages. Each question is followed by five possible answers lettered A–E. You bubble your answers with a number two pencil onto an answer sheet.

• Free Response: This section throws three writing assignments at you, all essays, tucked into a little green booklet. You get a 15-minute reading period during which you can check out all the questions, read the passages supplied, and take notes in the question booklet. Then the test proctor lets you open the pink answer booklet and write for two hours — approximately 40 minutes per essay.

The test itself takes 3 hours and 15 minutes. As you plan for test day, add a 10-minute break between the multiple-choice and free-response sections and about 45 minutes for getting settled and bubbling registration information on the answer sheet — a little less if your school holds preregistration sessions. (More about registration and the logistics of test day appears in “Practical Considerations” later in this chapter.)

A moving target

Many high school English teachers see the AP English Language and Composition exam as a moving target. The test has changed several times in the last few years, and it may change again in the future. Why hop around so much? The AP test writers are likely responding to what today’s college teachers want to see in a well-prepared student writer. The AP English Language and Composition course is roughly the equivalent of “Freshman Comp” or “Composition 101,” and the exam is designed to show whether you’ve learned enough to get credit in that college class. More than in the past, such courses now stress the use of sources and argument. So it’s not surprising that in 2007 the College Board added a synthesis essay to determine whether students can handle research material.

Other changes in the test are detectable only if you read a few decades’ worth of AP questions. An extended survey reveals, for example, that paired-passage essays haven’t shown up for a while. They may be gone for good, or, as some AP teachers believe, they’re due for a comeback. Passages drawn from the web are on the upswing, and specialized vocabulary to describe writing style seems to be increasingly important. Not to worry: This book covers all the bases, so you’ll be ready no matter what shows up on test day.

EXAM QUESTIONS, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

On the AP English Language and Composition exam, you encounter questions about what a writing passage says and how the passage says it. You also get a chance to argue, analyze, and synthesize. This section takes a closer look. First up is content — what sort of reading passages you’ll meet. Next is format — the types of multiple-choice and essay questions facing you.

Preview of AP passages

The AP test makers aim to include a good selection of quality literature in every test — the sort of reading assigned in college courses. The vast majority of passages are nonfiction selections from essays, speeches, letters, biographies or memoirs, and (explanation) or description from a variety of sources. Though the AP English Language and Composition test is officially the province of the English Department, subjects range from history to arts to politics to science to just about anything you can imagine. The test makers occasionally dip into fiction — usually with a descriptive or a narrative passage. Once in a great while a speech from a play appears. The AP doesn’t have a required reading list, so you won’t see any questions that assume you’ve read a particular book. In fact, everything you need — except good writing and reading skills — is given to you by the test makers. Poetry never shows up on the exam, unless it’s a quotation from a Shakespearean character.

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!