The+Do's+and+Do+Not's+of+an+AP+Lang+Free+Response

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Notes for Writing a Free Response Question on the AP Lang Examination.

**The Do's :)**
- **Be sure to remember to add techinques found within the excerpts:** - Irony - Juxtaposition - Paradox

-**Name the technique as a verb:** -"By...(techinque as a verb), the author..."

-**This (example) serves to ...** - Use examples such as... -Expert testimonies -Facts -Literary references -Historical references

-** Do not start a paragraph with a pronoun, like "he" - Remember to use the author's full name the first time he or she is mentioned in the essay
 * - Use the author's last name each time he or she is referenced in a new paragraph.

-** make sure your introduction leads into your response and is representative of the opinions or arguments that you will be making in your essay - only use "you" when you are personalizing and creating common grounds -use it when you are agreeing - watch order of words - last and first words of paragraphs -make a longer conclusion in an argument essay
 * - Argument

The Do Not's :(
-**Do Not SUMMARIZE. Do not repeat too much of the excerpt.**

-**Not considering the author's purpose:** -Always remember to tie the question in with the purpose. Answer the question using the purpose of the author.

-Dont spend the entire essay trying to show the graders that the you know what the author's purpose is. Instead, use that knowledge of the purpose, to answer the question, and get the main point.
 * -Do not waste time proving your understanding:**

- **Do not add your own opinion into the text.** - Unless the text clearly states to add your own opinion in (and I highly doubt that will never happen), nobody cares about what you think. Your own opinion should be saved for a book club, not an AP Lang FRQ.

- **Do not misuse imply, insinuate, infer, and hint -** These are the real definitions of the words - imply: express or state indirectly - insinuate: introduce or insert in a subtle manner - infer: reason by deduction, aka deduce - hint: an indirect suggestion - Note that these words do not mean the same thing as explains or reveals

-**Argument -** don't contradict yourself in your intro - don't use generalized opening sentences and clique statments - "ads are everywhere, as common as the air we breath!!!! " - don't right too many rhetorical questions!! why so many?? you already know the answer, and the reader knows that! - do not use the word "you" when you are accusing someone os something - do not leap in logic -nobody said the ads are in the classroom, so why do you assume that they are? - statistics don't answer everything -avoid statistics in the intro -never start conlcusion with a new point

Notes from Essay One of the Semester 1 Exam:

-look for juxtaposition - easy to compare and find differences - don't continue writing if you have nothing to say - avoid listing techniques in thesis - ASAP not ASAAAAAAP - an extraordinary amount of analysis does not do you any good. keep it simple. - the author can exaggerate, not you - while you can quote an author exaggerating, you may not exaggerate in your analysis

Notes from Essay Two of Semester one exam: - with older passages, it is better to paraphrase more and use less quotes - clarify the view of the author and tell the claim immediately - notice shifts and complexitities of the essay - why did Lippman wait so long before telling his main point - the writing itself is less important than present a strong analysis and getting the main points - do not use laundry list! - try to use //then// less - the audience doesn't //feel//, explain what the author does to make the audience feel a certain emotion - anticipating is wrong the correct term is anticipate and refute