Pre-AP High School
Rice APSI
July 11-14, 2011
Ann Jackson
Contents
An Overview of AP…………………………………3-25
Pre-AP Classroom and Vertical Teams……………..26-41
Questioning Strategies…………………………...... 42-46
Notebooks/Journals………………………..……...... 47-59
SOAPS-T-Tone/OPTIC………………….………….60-68
Discussion Techniques.…………………….………..69-81
Poetry………….…….……………………….……...82-93
Syntax/Grammar…………….……………………….94-113
Writing/Argument..………….………………………115-161
Synthesis Practice……………………………………162-173
Columnist Project…………….……………………...174-188
Novel Unit: The Glass Castle……………………….189-208
Other Readings and Resources……………………....209-244
Overview of AP Language and AP Literature
Language & Comp Literature & Comp
Nonfiction Fiction
Argumentation Poetry
Drama
Tone/Purpose Tone/Theme
The Tests:
Multiple Choice: (60 minutes)
Both tests: 50-55 multiple choice items over 4-5 passages
Lang—prose passages; Lit—poetry and prose
Free Response:
Lang: (15 minutes to read Lit: (120 minutes to read
prompts, then 120 minutes prompts and write essays)
to write essays)
1 Synthesis 1 Prose Analysis
1+ Argument 1 Poetry Analysis
1+ Prose Analysis (18th/19th century) 1 Open-Ended Question
Both Lang. and Lit. analysis essays require students to analyze WHAT the writer did and HOW he did it to achieve purpose/theme.
The Lang. synthesis question requires the student to create her own argument (possibly an analysis), citing at least 3 of the given documents as support. If there is another argument, the student will use her own observations, reading, and/or experience as support.
The Lit. open-ended question focuses on HOW a literary element (setting, characterization, point of view, conflict) develops the theme of a novel or play.
English Language and Composition Curricular Requirements
· The teacher has read the most recent AP English Course Description, available as a free download on the AP English Language and Composition Course Home Page.
· The course teaches and requires students to write in several forms (e.g., narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative essays) about a variety of subjects (e.g., public policies, popular culture, personal experiences).
· The course requires students to write essays that proceed through several stages or drafts, with revision aided by teacher and peers.
· The course requires students to write in informal contexts (e.g., imitation exercises, journal keeping, collaborative writing, and in-class responses) designed to help them become increasingly aware of themselves as writers and of the techniques employed by the writers they read.
· The course requires expository, analytical, and argumentative writing assignments that are based on readings representing a wide variety of prose styles and genres.
· The course requires nonfiction readings (e.g., essays, journalism, political writing, science writing, nature writing, autobiographies/biographies, diaries, history, criticism) that are selected to give students opportunities to identify and explain an author's use of rhetorical strategies and techniques. If fiction and poetry are also assigned, their main purpose should be to help students understand how various effects are achieved by writers' linguistic and rhetorical choices. (Note: The College Board does not mandate any particular authors or reading list, but representative authors are cited in the AP English Course Description.)
· The course teaches students to analyze how graphics and visual images both relate to written texts and serve as alternative forms of text themselves.
· The course teaches research skills, and in particular, the ability to evaluate, use, and cite primary and secondary sources. The course assigns projects such as the researched argument paper, which goes beyond the parameters of a traditional research paper by asking students to present an argument of their own that includes the analysis and synthesis of ideas from an array of sources.
· The course teaches students how to cite sources using a recognized editorial style (e.g., Modern Language Association, The Chicago Manual of Style, etc.).
· The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students' writing assignments, both before and after the students revise their work, that help the students develop these skills:
-A wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively
-A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of
subordination and coordination
-Logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase
coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis
-A balance of generalization and specific, illustrative detail
-An effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and
maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction
and sentence structure
English Literature and Composition Curricular Requirements
· The teacher has read the most recent AP English Course Description, available as a free download on the AP English Literature and Composition Course Home Page.
· The course includes an intensive study of representative works such as those by authors cited in the AP English Course Description. (Note: The College Board does not mandate any particular authors or reading list.) The choice of works for the AP course is made by the school in relation to the school's overall English curriculum sequence, so that by the time the student completes AP English Literature and Composition she or he will have studied during high school literature from both British and American writers, as well as works written in several genres from the sixteenth century to contemporary times.
· The works selected for the course should require careful, deliberative reading that yields multiple meanings.
· The course teaches students to write an interpretation of a piece of literature that is based on a careful observation of textual details, considering the work's:
-Structure, style, and themes
-The social and historical values it reflects and embodies
-Such elements as the use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and
tone
· The course includes frequent opportunities for students to write and rewrite formal, extended analyses and timed, in-class responses. The course requires:
-Writing to understand: Informal, exploratory writing activities that enable
students to discover what they think in the process of writing about their
reading (such assignments could include annotation, freewriting, keeping
a reading journal, and response/reaction papers)
-Writing to explain: Expository, analytical essays in which students draw
upon textual details to develop an extended explanation/interpretation of
the meanings of a literary text
-Writing to evaluate: Analytical, argumentative essays in which students
draw upon textual details to make and explain judgments about a work's
artistry and quality, and its social and cultural values
AP Question Stems
From the AP literature exam:
1. What is the author's attitude toward the subject of the essay?
2. What is this passage about?
3. What does the phrase, ______, mean?
4. How would you characterize the style of the passage?
5. Which of the following best summarizes the main point in lines _____?
6. What is the main point in _____? (the passage, the 2nd paragraph, etc.)
7. How would you restate the meaning of _____?
8. How would you define the phrase _____?
9. What is the speaker's purpose in _____?
10. What thought is reflected in the allusion _____?
11. What is the tone of the passage?
12. How would you define the word ____?
13. How would you describe the diction and style of the passage?
14. In lines _____, what is the speaker asserting?
15. Why is ______described as ______?
16. What is significant about the structure of sentence #____ in lines ____?
17. In sentences _____, what contrasts are developed or implied?
18. In lines ______, why does the author pair quotations?
19. In lines ______, what is the effect of pairing quotations?
20. What is the dominant technique used in lines ______?
21. In lines ______, what is the effect of using a metaphor?
22. In lines _____, Juxtaposing _____ and _____ serves the purpose of______.
23. What does the speaker accomplish in using _____?
24. By using the words ______, the speaker shows the belief that _____.
25. In lines _____, how is the speaker portrayed?
26. The shift in point of view from...has the effect of...
27. What is the theme of the ____ (e.g., second paragraph, whole piece)?
28. In lines ____, the passage shifts from ____ to _____.
29. Why does the author represent _____ as _____ in lines ____?
30. What is the purpose of the syntax in sentence _____?
31. What does ______symbolize in lines ____?
32. The speaker's attitude toward_____is best described as one of ______.
33. In _____, the author is asserting that _____.
34. The term _____ conveys the speaker's belief that ______.
35. The speaker assumes that the audience's attitude toward_____will be one of _____.
36. In the ______(e.g., first, second, last) paragraph, the speaker seeks to interest us in the subjects of the discussion by stressing the ______.
37. It can be inferred by ______that ______.
38. The ______(e.g., first, second) sentence is unified by metaphorical references pertaining to ______.
39. The speaker's mention of ______is appropriate to the development of the argument as an illustration of ______.
40. As the sentence in lines______is constructed, ______is parallel to ______.
41. It can be inferred from the description of--- ______that the qualities of ______are valued by the speaker.
42. According to the passage, ______is______because ______.
43. In the context of the passage, ______is best interpreted as ______.
44. Sentence ______is best described as ______.
45. The antecedent for ______in line ______is ______.
46. What type of argument does the writer employ in lines ______?
47. Why does the speaker use the sequence of ideas in lines _____?
48. We can infer from ______that ______.
49. What pattern of exposition does the writer use in this passage?
50. What is the point of view in this passage/poem?
51. What is the purpose of the statement in lines _____?
52. What atmosphere or mood is established in lines ______?
53. The ______(e.g., first, fourth) sentence is coherent because of its use of ______.
54. What qualities are present in the scene described in lines _____?
55. What words and details suggest a ______(adjective) attitude on the part of the author?
56. In line ______, the use of ______instead of ______accomplishes ______.
57. In line______, the author emphasizes______because he/she______.
58. The use of ______suggests that ______.
59. What is the function of the ______(sentence, detail, clause, phrase, and so on) in lines ______?
60. The subject of the sentence in lines ______is______.
61. What assertions does the author make in the passage, and what is his/her purpose in doing this?
62. By ______, the author most probably means ______.
63. What meanings are contained in the word ______in line _____?
64. What can we infer from the passage about ______?
65. The author apparently believes that ______.
66. In lines______,the phrase______is used to refer to ______.
67. The author believes that we should______.
68. The ______(e.g., first, last, third) sentence of the passage is chiefly remarkable for its______.
69. What does the author want to encourage in a person?
70. What is the function of ______in relation to ______?
From the AP Language exam:
71. What is the author's attitude toward the subject?
72. What does the phrase ______mean?
73. How would you characterize the style of the passage?
74. What is the main point of the passage?
75. Restate the phrase, ______.
76. Define the phrase, ______.
77. What is the speaker's purpose in writing this passage?
78. What is the speaker's purpose in lines ______.
79. Why does the writer use the allusion to______?"
80. What is the tone of the passage?
81. How would you characterize the diction and style of the passage?
82. What is the speaker asserting in lines______?
83. Describe the structure of the sentence in lines_____.
84. What contrast does the speaker develop in lines ______?
85. What effect is achieved by the speaker's using the phrases ______?
86. What dominant technique is the speaker using in lines ______?
87. In lines ______, ______is a metaphorical way of saying ______.
88. What does the author achieve by juxtaposing______and______?
89. What does the speaker accomplish in this passage?
90. What does the choice of words show about the speaker's beliefs?
91. Where is there a shift of tone in the passage?
92. The syntax in lines ______serves to ______.
93. What is the speaker's attitude toward the subject?
94. What assumptions does the speaker make about the audience?
95. How does the author seek to interest us in the first paragraph?
96. What method does the author use to develop the argument?
97. Line ______is parallel to what other line in the passage?
98. What can you infer about the author's attitudes toward the subject?
99. What is the antecedent for ______?
100. What type of argument is the author using in this passage?
101. What pattern of exposition is the author using in this passage?
102. What is the atmosphere established in lines ______?
103. Why is the sentence in lines ______coherent, despite its length?
104. In line______, the use of______instead of______accomplishes what?
105. What is the function of ______in the passage?
106. What is the subject of the sentence in lines ______?
107. What does the author apparently believe about the subject?
108. What does the author believe we should do in response to this passage?
109. Why is the sentence in lines______remarkable?
110. What is the function of paragraph ______? of line ______?
2011 AP® ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
SECTION II
Total time—2 hours
Question 1
(Suggested time—40 minutes. This question counts for one-third of the total essay section score.)
Locavores are people who have decided to eat locally grown or produced products as much as possible. With an eye to nutrition as well as sustainability (resource use that preserves the environment), the locavore movement has become widespread over the past decade.
Imagine that a community is considering organizing a locavore movement. Carefully read the following seven sources, including the introductory information for each source. Then synthesize information from at least three of the sources and incorporate it into a coherent, well-developed essay that identifies the key issues associated with the locavore movement and examines their implications for the community.
Make sure that your argument is central; use the sources to illustrate and support your reasoning. Avoid merely summarizing the sources. Indicate clearly which sources you are drawing from, whether through direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary. You may cite the sources as Source A, Source B, etc., or by using the descriptions in parentheses.