Important terms to know!

AP Lang practice exams

Practice Tests

Multiple Choice 45%

-2 sets of questions assessing reading skills (23-25 total)

-3 sets of questions assessing writing skills (20-22 total)

• 4 main skills: rhetorical situation, claims and evidence, reasoning and organization, style

Strategies:

• read and mark the passage actively

• work to develop an understanding of its content and style

• anticipate spots that might be the focus of future questions

• do the easiest questions first, skip hard ones and come back, read questions carefully for what it’s really asking, test answers in context, find disqualifying words, and aim for clarity and conciseness

60% (27/45) can get you a 3, 65%+ (30/45) can get you a 4-5

Essays 55%

-scoring: thesis, evidence and commentary, sophistication; line of reasoning, multiple supporting claims, explains, rhetorical situation, consistently, vivid and persuasive

• thesis- responds to the prompt with a defensible thesis that analyzes the writer's rhetorical choices.

• evidence & commentary- provide specific evidence to support our claims, consistently explain how the evidence supports a line of reasoning and explains how multiple rhetorical choices in the passage contribute to the writer’s purpose

• sophistication- sophistication in thought or a complex understanding of the rhetorical situation

Synthesis Question 1

-how to write a synthesis essay

Rhetorical Analysis Question 2

• Items to include: thesis, evidence, explanation, understanding of the rhetorical situation, appropriate grammar and punctuation

• main components of the rhetorical situation:

  • exigence- the part that inspires, stimulates, provokes, or prompts writers to create a text

  • purpose, audience, writer, context, message

• while reading pay attention to the writer's choices: rhetorical triangle & appeals, imagery & strong diction, fig lang, rhetorical devices, structural elements

Precis: Author, Thesis, Devices, Appeals - ethos, logos, pathos, Purpose, Tone - use descriptive words, Audience

Argumentative Question 3

-how to write an argumentative essay

• define terms in the introductory paragraph

• create a position

• use evidence from multiple different ideas: personal experiences, history, current affairs, pop culture, etc

  • use capital letters; things like specific events, people, books, etc

• refutations and concessions for opposing arguments

• conclude with a call to action

Characteristics of Effective Essays:

1. Clearly and directly respond to the prompt

2. Classical moves- organization

3. Syllogistic thinking (logos); not just persuasion

4. Clear and stable definitions

5. Specific evidence (capitol powers)

6. Coherent

7. Explanatory power- the ability of an argument to make new evidence that would otherwise be unexplainable, a matter of course

-always consider what EVERYTHING has to do with the rhetorical situation

Tips

Tips on getting a 5 in AP Lang

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