1. Working on the College Essay
AP Literature
Working on the College Essay

2. Day one Agenda
Do Now: Review the sample essay you read last week. Then Fill out the handout
Be ready to share out
Use personal events related to a theme- overcoming an obstacle
Try to inspire
Use a structure that unites the ideas- motif
Use a clever title (a surprising/twist?)
Conclusion- looking forward
Humor/family- values that he experienced
Turning negative into a positive
Detailed and descriptive
Revealed thoughts and feelings
In narrative, begin at the end, and show how you got there
Reveal cultural background
Focus Lesson: Power Point on brainstorming the college essay
Work Period: brainstorm…
Homework: come in Monday with a draft and complete your literary device template

3. If you haven’t started yet, try this…
The Inventory
Compile a list of your activities or accomplishments
Stream of Consciousness
20 minutes- write without stopping- What are you? What do you want?
Morning Pages
As soon as you wake up, write about whatever comes to mind- do this everyday for a week- write until you fill out 2 pages

4. Or this… Journal Writing Top ten favorites Free-Flow Writing
Don’t write what you DO, write your responses to what happened and your thoughts about it
Top ten favorites
Movies, books, songs, musicians, sports, paintings, historical eras, famous people
What do these lists say about you?
Free-Flow Writing
Choose a word from your essay questions, like “influence” and brainstorm just around that word- 10 minutes without stopping

5. Common Application Essay Questions
Write each question below at the top of a fresh piece of paper… (or use the questions you need to answer)
Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have
Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you
Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence
Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.

6. Other brainstorming… The Chronological Method
Start from childhood and record any and all special and pivotal experiences that you remember- grade to grade, job to job…
Significant lessons
Achievements
Painful moments
Obstacles

7. More strategies… Assess your Accomplishments List your skills
Write down anything you are proud of doing, no matter how small it might seem
List your skills
Look at the accomplishments and list the skills that you needed to do them
Then brainstorm the specific scenarios that demonstrate the skills- pretend you are defending that you have the skill to a judge

8. Day Two Agenda
Do Now: Take out the handout on opening sentences. Read through them. Take one and rewrite it using your own topic, your own life. You can keep the same format and style…
Focus Lesson: Continue PowerPoint on Drafting
Objective: create narrative essays
Work Period: Drafting and individual conferences
Homework: WRITE, WRITE, WRITE- essays due Friday!

9. Should I write an outline?
Yes, write an outline…
Intro should hook reader and give a summary of your main points
Each paragraph should provide a transition, give a supporting point to your main idea, and provide evidence
Your conclusion should end with an insightful image or thought

10. Structure Chronological Description Compare and Contrast
Cause and Effect
Narrative

11. Transitions Bridges between ideas
Make sure the first sentence of every paragraph makes a bridge from the previous…

12. Word Choice: put your thesaurus away
No Thesaurus- don’t use a word you don’t already use/know well
Focus on verbs- just because you use lots of adjectives and adverbs doesn’t mean you are adding detail- action is better than description

13. Look… focus on verbs Essay A Essay B Said Contorted Complain Learned
Spreading
Sprang
Strained
Gripped
Had been living
Had attended
Has met
Can say
Know
Are usually
May have heard
Are Is
Strive
May not be involved
Try to perform
First ten verbs of two different essays. Which essay was the highest ranked? Lowest? Which essay would you rather read?

14. Sentence Length Use variety Mark make a list of the types of sentences
L for long
M for Medium
S for short
Then tally them up-
SLMMLS is more interesting than MMMSLMLMS

15. Leading men and ladies
Standard lead: answers who, what, when, where, why and how
Creative lead: funny or obtuse, makes the reader wonder what the essay is about
Action lead: in medias res
Personal lead: reveals something about the writer
Quotation lead: choose an unusual, funny or obscure quote, not too long- it has to have meaning to what the rest is about- don’t try to sound smart!
Dialogue lead: take the reader right into a conversation

16. Exit… stage left Finish your thought
Can conclude with ambiguity, with insight
Can tie back to narrative or creative lead
Can get a laugh
Can present a strong impression, description