"From sea to
shining sea", America has always been a refugee to those hoping to start
over and to those deserving a chance to make something of their lives. America
fosters growth and helps many become successful. Therefore the American
experience is one of opportunity.
In first quarter I believed the
American experience was one of self-realization and establishment. Until I got
thinking and asked myself what led to this self-realization and allowed for
such establishment? The answer is quite simple actually, it was opportunity.
The opportunity to practice religion freely, as seen by the pilgrims who came
over on the mayflower and William Penn in his founding of Pennsylvania. The opportunity
to vote for one’s government officials and the opportunity to practice freedom
of speech, press, assembly, and the other rights guaranteed to us by the
establishment of our Constitution. The opportunity for all people to receive an
education and attain a job. The opportunity to express ourselves freely and go
after what we believe in.
It is true that the first settlers
experienced self-realization and establishment in their declaration of
independence and fight for individuality. They realized they could support
themselves without Great Britain and established the country that has grown
into the vast United States. However, without the opportunity presented to
these settlers, such as moving to a "New World" and supporting
themselves economically through trade of tobacco, cotton, and other
goods, they would not have been able to establish such a
country where others can experience the opportunity they fought for.
The idea of taking
AP Language and Composition can be scary and intimidating as this is a college
course solely centered on one's ability to write. Last year, when choosing my
classes for junior year, I was stressed out just thinking about taking such a
class, as I had no confidence in my writing ability. However, my 10th grade
English teacher told me that the skills one learns in AP Lang is beneficial
throughout one’s life, whether it be in college or in the workplace, as knowing
how to write well is always a vital skill. I did not really believe her, but I
hesitantly enrolled in the course anyway, and I must admit she was right. In
less than two quarters my writing ability has improved drastically and I have
actually been able to maintain reasonable grades in the class. Looking back now
though, I know I would have felt more at ease if someone had told me what to
expect and had given me pointers on how to do well. So here they are. The top 5
things I believe an AP Lang student should know. I hope this convinces you AP
Lang is not as terrible as it sounds and better yet, provides you with advice that
actually benefits you next year. Remember "Write it your own way." Argue your point stay, true to your convictions, and the rest will follow.
On
the surface this video appears to be a cool commercial, with a catchy song,
that is using a couple of popular musicians to try and get you to buy Pepsi.
Although that is one hundred percent true, the commercial is also chock full of
rhetorical modes, strategies, and support types and evidence, all of which are
taught to you in the form of vocab. As an AP Lang student you should eventually be able to
watch that video and see that Pepsi uses an Appeal to Tradition to endorse its
product by displaying how little has changed in its visual comparison between
the past and the present insinuating that Pepsi has and always will be the
drink of the ages. You should be able to identify the phrase "Every
generation refreshes the world" as a slogan, and label the use of those
popular musicians as an Appeal to Authority. Finally, as an AP Lang Student you
should be able to identify the peace signs as symbols used to convey Pepsi as a
peaceful drink, and the American flag/ military return as an attempt at pathos
and an appeal to values. Now don't panic, you have time to learn what all those
words mean, however if you do not memorize your vocab, know the definitions by
heart, and understand them enough to apply them to simple YouTube videos,
analyzing and annotating writing is not going to be even remotely
possible.
We
use vocab in everything we do, whether it be when we annotate excerpts for
timed writings, or simply analyze an editorial given to us for homework.
Knowing the definition's for the vocab words is especially important for the AP
multiple choice quizzes and tests given throughout the quarter and for the test
on the AP exam. A majority of the questions on these tests include statements
that ask, "In paragraph one what is the main rhetorical mode used?"
or "How is chiasmus used to support the purpose of paragraph three?” For
the first example question I just asked, your choices will be vocab words that
you should have seen before and you will be trying to determine which device was
most prominently used in that entire paragraph. If you do not know what each
word means and understand how they are generally used in writing, you have no
basis to answer the question. By simply learning the vocab you have a much
improved chance of being able to identify the mode used and pick the correct
answer. For the second example question I presented to you, knowing that
chiasmus is a structural reversal of two parallel sentence parts, gives you a
better understanding of why chiasmus was picked to portray the purpose of a
specific paragraph as it most likely has to do with the reversal of ideas. This
ability to use a words definition to identify its purpose in a piece of writing
is also necessary to analyze excerpts for rhetorical analysis essays. During in
class timed writings it is necessary to have the ability to annotate for
devices and then analyze their purpose in proving your thesis in about 40
minutes. Although that may sound complicated, all of this comes down to one
thing- whether or not you know your vocab.
The
above video was a rhetoric alert I showed my class. It's a simple enough
assignment in which students are required to find any sort of writing,
commercial, advertisement, slogan, or any other object that displays some sort
of language using the devices in our vocab, and then present it to the class.
The purpose of rhetoric alerts are to convey to students that the vocab we
learn is in everything and everywhere. The understanding of said vocabulary's
definition is vital in surviving AP Lang. So to do well I encourage you to eat,
sleep, breath vocab.
The
idea "the longer the better" no longer applies to writing once enrolled in AP
Lang. The old five paragraph essay structure no longer applies in AP Lang. What
does apply is effectively proving your thesis using reliable and convincing
evidence. If you can convey your point with two supporting paragraphs, more
power to you. Yes, you still have an introductory paragraph and at least a
concluding sentence, but the focus is less on specific format with a set number
of paragraphs and more on one’s ability to convince readers of their
argument.
Some pointers in doing this include,
number one creating a specific, provable thesis. Focus your paper from the
beginning on one claim that you are trying to prove. Number two, only provide
one piece of evidence in each supporting paragraph. Whether it be a personal
experience, current event, or some other reference to an authority or statistic
or fact, only use that individual piece of evidence. The less you are trying to
prove in each paragraph the more focused your essay will be, and the easier it
is to follow you thought process making your essay clear. Make sure evidence is
actually evidence though and not a hypothetical story. Hypothetical scenarios
are not as effective in proving ones point as they are not verifiable but instead a made up scenario. Number three, follow each piece of
evidence with your own commentary. This adds voice to your essay and allows for
a chance to explain how that piece of evidence proves your argument. Number
four, relate every paragraph back to your thesis. You do this in your
commentary when explaining how your evidence proves your overall point. Not
only does relating evidence back to your thesis keep your essay focused, it
allows the reader to see how the whole essay ties together. Finally, number
five, explain why what your proving is important in the conclusion. Tell the
reader why you decided to write about this subject at this time or how this
topic could affect them. Explain your arguments significance.
The first timed writing my class ever
wrote in AP Lang was a few weeks into the first quarter. I was scared to death
as I was never able to write a clear and concise essay out of class before,
nonetheless in 40 minutes. I always considered English my worst subject, and
the day of the timed writing I was hoping for a 75% at best. However, once we
got the prompt everything became clear. All I had to do was come up with a
thesis and prove that using two pieces of effective evidence. The prompt asked
us to develop a position on, the author of Salt, Mark Kurlansky's claim "In
every age, people are certain that only the things they have deemed valuable
have true value." My thesis was, "Kurlansky's claim is valid because
any objects value can only be as great as the emphasis placed upon it by
society." I used one example from the book Salt itself saying that over
time the price and necessity of salt decreased as more modern technology was
developed proving that the "true value" of salt came from human need
for it rather than salt's actual importance. My commentary related back to
my thesis showing how the value of salt was affected by human need, or the
emphasis placed on it by society, making that a convincing, focused, and clear
paragraph. My second piece of evidence centered around money and I said that
the difference between a $5 bill and a $1bill is the mere fact that society has
deemed the $5 bill to be more valuable and worth more money. Once again my
evidence is focused, I prove one thing, and my commentary relates it back to
the thesis. Finally, I concluded by saying that people needed to place value
upon objects so as to have something to work for. That answered the question so
what? and wrapped up my essay nicely. All in all I received a 94% on that
paper. In that moment I realized writing an essay was not as complicated as I
previously thought. It is simply a process, where you prove your one point with
individual pieces of evidence. I did not write some 3 page essay with 50
different examples to prove my thesis. Instead the key was creating a focused,
clear and concise essay.
As
seen above by the rubric, 9-8 papers can contain mistakes, they can contain
flaws, they are not expected to be perfect. What the rubric does emphasize
though is that 9-8 papers remain "focused on the prompt" at all
times and "provide specific support... and connect scholarly commentary to
the overall meaning." In summary 9-8 papers must have a concise thesis,
with specific examples, and commentary that relates to that thesis. Keep it clear, keep it concise, keep it focused.
