1. Welcome to AP English Literature
Mrs. Ortman

2. Agenda/Questions What is the AP exam like?
What are the parts of an AP English Lit prompt?
Always and never lists.
What do AP readers want to see on a good AP paper?

3. The AP English Exam The exam is 3 hours long.
The exam is scored from 1-5. A 3 is a passing score and one that colleges will accept for credit.
The first hour is made up of about 50 multiple choice questions. Generally, this portion contains 2 prose selections and 2 poetry selections.
This makes up 45% of the final score.
Generally, you need about 32 questions correct.

4. The AP English Exam
The next 2 hours are for the essay portion and this makes up 55% of your total score.
You will answer 3 essay questions in the 2 hour time period. You will not be reminded of the time and have the 2 hours to work on all 3 essays.
There are 2 analysis questions- 1 about prose and 1 about poetry.
There is one open question about a novel and/or play of your choice.
You are graded on what you have done well by both college and high school English teachers from across the country.
The essays are individually graded with a score of 1-9.

5. The AP English Exam
In order to do well on the open question, it is a good idea to know a few novels very well so you can make specific references to the text and mention the names of characters, events, etc.
Choosing the right book is VERY IMPORTANT! You must choose a book that is considered one of literary merit.
The most important thing to know about the essays is that you must answer ALL parts of the prompt.
We will practice plenty of prompts and you will write an essay every 2 weeks or so.

6. The Prompt Two of the essays ask you to analyze a text.
Analysis is the process of taking something large and complex and breaking it down into its component parts so we can understand the larger entity better.
The analysis questions will ALWAYS have 2 tasks: What did the author do? How did the author do it?

7. The Prompt Sample prompt: What is this prompt asking you to do?
Read the following poem carefully. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze how the author uses the varied imagery of the poem to reveal his attitude toward the nature of love.
What is this prompt asking you to do?
What is the speaker’s attitude (tone) and how does he use imagery to reveal it?

8. The Prompt
Write a well-organized essay in which you contrast the attitude of the clocks with that of the lover. Through careful analysis of the language and imagery, show how this contrast is important to the meaning of the poem.
Explain how the contrast of the clocks and the lover is important to the meaning of the poem using language and imagery.

9. The Prompt Sample prompt:
Read carefully he following passage from George Eliot’s novel Middlemarch (1871). Then write an essay in which you characterize the narrator’s attitude toward Dorothea Brooke and analyze the literary techniques used to convey the attitude. Support your analysis with specific references to the passage.
What is this prompt asking you to do? (the what and the how)

10. We must have something to say!!
As writers, we need to have something to say. If it is not important, then it is generally not worth saying.
All passages used on the AP exam have something important to reveal to readers and before we write anything we need to figure out what this something is.
SO WHAT????
What does the author have to say about being human, about our shared experiences, about our fears, sorrows, victories, etc?
Once you figure this out, you can write.

11. AP ALWAYS LIST Understand the prompt
Assume the reader has read the text and has a full understanding of literary elements and conventions.
Focus on the text – NOT on a personal feeling or a reaction to it. (personal insight is important and shows understanding, but don’t ignore the text in favor of a personal response)
***Use active – not passive voice ***
Ask yourself: Am I writing what I mean? Does this make sense? Are my ideas logical?
Think of the so what of the piece of literature.

12. AP NEVER LIST Never begin a sentence or a paragraph with a pronoun.
Never use a word that you do not know the meaning of. Ex: if you do not remember what syntax means, then do not use it in your essay.
Never Never Never use the word YOU like you are addressing the reader.
Do not use words like very or whole.
Never use past tense. Use an active voice. In literature, the character is alive and living in the present. I will explain the one exception.

13. Overwhelming????
This is a college level course to the work will be rigorous, but you can do it.
I have confidence that you will do really well and will be successful 
Just read the required reading, come to class prepared and have confidence in yourself.

14. What AP readers want to see
Jigsaw and report out on chart paper.
We will keep this posted for the whole year as a reminder.