2. On the exam…  You will have 135 minutes to write 3 essays  15 minutes for reading the synthesis prompt  40 synthesis  40 rhetorical analysis  40 argument …wear a watch!

3. The Break Down  Spend the first 10 minutes attacking the prompt (prewriting)  Next 20-25 minutes composing the essay (composition)  5-10 minutes revising and editing (revision)  Do not sacrifice time on one step for extra time in another!!!!

4. Attacking the Essay

5. Step One: Analyzing the Prompt  What is the prompt asking me to do?  (no narrative)  Identify purpose  Rhetorical analysis: read a passage and respond by analyzing the effect of writer’s rhetorical devices such as: figures of speech, diction, syntax, tone, and mood.

6. Step One (Cont.)  Persuasive/Argument: Defend, qualify, or refute a given position or opinion and try to sway audience to either agree, change minds, or stir to action. (only one source)

7. Step One (cont.)  Synthesis Free Response: defend, qualify, or refute a given opinion and build an argument to defend. Very similar to research paper/DBQ—you are to analyze found research (approx. 6-7 sources) including political cartoons, chart/graph, image, or advertisement.

8. Identify Audience: …or to whom am I writing? Sometimes the prompt will tell you who your audience is (ie. School board or local government) If not, write formally to a group of unknown adults

9. Identify Topic …or what am I going to write about? Once you understand prompt & to whom you are writing, develop your own topic and make sure everything you write stays w/in your chosen topic. THESIS must be strong, clear, and concise.

10. Identify Task …or How am I expected to answer? * Once you’ve identified purpose, audience, and topic, look at the VERBS that will tell you HOW you will write your response * Circle, underline, or rewrite the verbs on your planning page.

11. Verbs you might see on free response section:  Explain  Describe  Analyze  Compare and contrast  Interpret  Persuade  Convince  Discuss  Define  Identify  Give examples  Provide details  Support  Cite information

12. On planning page…  You should also indicate key words such as: point of view, tone, mood, characters, and figurative language

13. Step Two: Planning  You HAVE to do it!  You may outline, web, freewrite, concept map, bullet point, ect.  You MUST do some type of prewriting!!!!!!!  (I don’t care what Zinsser would say about all those exclamation points; I mean them!

14. Writing the Essay

15. Sound Structure  Everything you write must be unified  Clearly state central idea (thesis) in 1 st paragraph  Every subsequent paragraph must relate to central idea (thesis)

16. Make Style Work For You  Readers will be reading thousands of essays all on the same prompt  Make your essay stand out  Engage readers with sophisticated and unique style  Vary sentence structure and word choice (wc), use precise, not vague language, and never repeat yourself.  WARNING: do not force creativity!!!

17. Make Organization Work For You  No more 3x5s!  3x5s will only earn you a 5 or 6 (out of 9)  Meaningful organization of ideas, details, and proof is very important  Organize ideas and details logically Increasing importance/interest Decreasing importance/interest Chronological Or what fits your response and skills  Avoid tacky, 8 th grade transitions like: first, second, third, finally, in conclusion

18. Revising/Editing the Essay

19. Revising a Draft  When revising, don’t worry about grammar…yet… Have I fully and specifically answered the prompt? Have I developed my ideas with enough supporting details and examples? Have I presented my ideas clearly? Have I organized my essay in a logical way? Do my ideas flow smoothly within paragraphs and from one paragraph to the next? Is my essay clearly focused throughout? Have I shown variety in sentence structure and word choice? Are there any places where I can improve my writing style or use of language?

20. Another approach:  Look at your language: Revise for style by varying sentence structure by mixing simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex structures. Revise for clarity by making sure all modifiers are concise. Revise for interest by changing all being verbs to strong, decisive action verbs. Don’t start sentences with “It/he/she is”, “There is/was”, and remember that all literature is discussed in the present tense—“Sedaris writes” not “Sedaris wrote”.

21. Editing Essays  Once you are satisfied with your revisions, you can finally proofread your essay with one last read-through. Look for proper: Punctuation and capitalization ○ Commas, apostrophes, quotation marks, semicolons, periods ○ Capitalization—1 st word of sentence, proper nouns, not unnecessarily capitalized

22. Editing…  Grammar Complete sentences Run-ons Subject/verb agreement Pronoun cases (remember the pronoun “everyone” is singular) Pronoun/antecedent agreement  Spelling Common mistakes ○ Its/it’s ○ Your/you’re ○ There/there/they’re ○ Too/to ○ Affect/effect

23. Editing…  AP Readers understand that you are composing a first draft.  They do not expect perfection of language, but sophistication in the development of ideas.  Do not worry so much about what your essay looks like.  You are welcome and encouraged to insert ^s to build upon ideas, draw arrows to show reorganization of paragraphs, and *s to insert lengthier passages.  You may also cross out words, phrases, and sentences with a single line through your writing. You essay may look sloppy as long as it is legible.