Top 3 Things To Know About the AP Exam: Essays
More Tips on the Different Prompts...
Prose Response Tips
The first two prompts have the nickname "the prose prompts". I find these two prompts easiest due to the fact that you are given a passage to read and analysis. The key tips that I have learned by practicing are annotate, give evidence, and think unique. Anything you read on the AP exam you want to annotate so you get your thoughts down on paper and don't have to think to harder to remember what ideas went through your brain. Giving evidence is a big thing. When you support your claim with direct quotes from the passage, it gives your thesis more credibility and helps you score higher. The last tip is to think unique. You want to find those not yet thought of ideas to show your level of analysis. These are just the tips that have helped me improve on both these essays whether the passage is an exert from a novel or a poem.
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Open-Ended Response Tips
The open-ended prompt can be the hardest free response or the easiest. For me it is harder than the others, but I follow these tips and score fairly well. The first is to have a go-to book. You want to have an AP level book that you can connect many themes or ideas to; which requires you to know the title, author's name, character's names, and specific details of the book. All of it will help you push for a better score. The next tip that I learned was to connect to the real world. Whatever the prompt is you want to find a way to connect it to a real world example or situation. The last advice I have to give you for the open-ended prompt and the other responses is to take your time and forget about it being and exam and just write to the best of your ability.
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If You Need A little Extra Help Look Below
Not sure on what the AP Examiners are looking for? Well you're in luck, I have a generic scoring guide for the AP Literature Exam Essays. Have a look through it and discover all the things that you will need to cover to aim for that 8 or 9.
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Your constantly told to practice, practice, and practice some more-- have you had enough practice yet? If not follow the link above to the College Board website where their are old AP exams from past years.
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Citations: The document links displayed above were provided by Mrs. Rutan.