LAST MINUTE REMINDERS!!!!!!

Persuasive Argument Prompt.

1. Begin with an engaging opening paragraph. Recommended: Start with an anecdote that works persuasive. The anecdote should lead directly to the issue and your specific thesis.
2. Each body paragraph should have a specific, illustrative example. Use history, current events, or personal experience. The more detailed the better.
3. HOW? WHY? These are the key questions. HOW does your specific, illustrative example prove/support your thesis? WHY should your audience think as you do on this issue? If you have 3-4 sentences per body paragraph that do just this, then you should expect a high score.
4. End your paper with a final, persuasive appeal. Do NOT summarize. Try to win the argument with your last paragraph.
5. Remember: Your audience is people who either disagree with you or have not yet made up their minds. Write in a manner to persuade this audience to your way of thinking. Reach out to them and fully explain WHY they should think as you do.
6. Address the Opposition: Related to the last point: You can’t persuade someone who disagrees with you if you don’t address their thinking. Explain why they are incorrect. Or, if they have a good point, explain why your position is still the best choice.
7. Be sure that you have a clear position. This is an argument FOR one position. Don’t try to play both sides. That’s not persuasion.

Synthesis Prompt

1. The synthesis prompt is argumentative. All advice for the Persuasive Argument prompt applies here.
2. Write one body paragraph in which you synthesis three sources in support of one of your points. The graders are evaluating your ability to merge outside facts/sources with your own. Show off!
3. Be sure to cite all facts, etc., taken from the sources. Consider this a research paper. Failure to cite sources can lead to a failing score, as you would be plagiarizing.
4. Use at least four sources. Five or more is recommended. The more, the better.
5. As you read over the documents, be sure to underline, circle, etc., all potential evidence/facts/quotes that you might use. On exam materials, create a simple chart (t-chart, etc.) to compile ideas on which to write. After each idea, put the document source (A, B, etc.). At the end of the reading, you want to quickly and easily see all possible ideas on which to write and which sources contain that information.
6. Recent prompts have used phrasing like, “Take a position…on what the most important considerations should be…..” Keep in mind that BOTH the considerations and the order in which they appear may differ from others. What should the most important consideration be? Be prepared to argue WHY.

Rhetorical Analysis

1. Your introduction should clearly establish the issue, the writer’s rhetorical purpose, and specifically reference the primary rhetorical strategy. (But avoid a “laundry list” of tactics. Don’t say, “The writer uses emotional appeal, metaphors, and an analogy.” Say, “The writer attempts to make his audience feel guilty by comparing their behavior to…..”)
2. Your body paragraphs do three essential things: (1.) Identify a rhetorical choice. (2.) Present specific evidence—with direct quotes being preferable.) And (3.) Explain WHY the writer made this choice and HOW this choice affects/shapes the way the audience thinks or feels. The more time spent on (3.), the higher your score will be.
3. Consider the order of ideas/choices in your analysis: Most arguments build, such that the ending naturally follows a series of steps. Address these steps (or stages) in order as you write. (For example: In America Needs Its Nerds, Leonid Fridman first established that America has an anti-intellectual culture; then he established that our international rivals have a pro-intellectual culture; and then he ends by suggesting that America’s future is endangered unless we changed our habits. –In this example it would be silly to begin your analysis by talking about strategies used at the end first. Follow the argument! Show your understanding as to how the writer develops the argument through his or her choices.)
4. End your paper by analyzing the writer’s concluding strategy or choices. Do NOT end with a dull sentence like, “In conclusion, the author used the above-described strategies to convince his audience that ________.”
5. Worth repeating: Talk about the intended effect on the audience. WHY did the writer make this choice? HOW does this choice affect/shape the way that the audience thinks?
6. Do NOT give your opinion in this essay unless asked. In rare cased, students have been asked to first analyze and then evaluate an argument. Be sure to do exactly what you are asked to do.

What are "rhetorical strategies"?

Consider the following:
1. Figurative language (e.g., metaphors, similes)
2. Analogies (or comparisons in general)
3. Emotional Appeals (how does the writer target the audience's emotions?)
4. Logical Appeals (how does the writer target the audience's intelligence?)
5. Attempts to establish credibility
6. Use of repetition (if they repeat it often enough, people tend to believe it)
7. Diction (note patterns of words)
8. Standout sentences (that is, sentences designed to grab your attention)
9. Tone (consider how effective sarcasm can be)
10. Cause-effect argumentation (if this happens, then....)
11. Addressing the opposition
12. Use of historical precedents (this falls under analogies but is worth noting separately)
13. Contrast (sometimes a writer best shows his position by contrasting it to another, weaker view)
14. Selection of Detail (remember, the person making the argument chooses what you see and don't see)

Remember the Keys to AP Writing!

Rhetorical Analyses:

Subject
Occasion
Audience
Purpose
You can do it!

Specific Examples
How does the writer's choice affect the reader/listener?
Rhetorical modes: Ethos, Pathos, Logos
Explain the writer's intent
Why does the writer think the reader/listener's opinion will be changed?

For Persuasive Arguments:

Specific thesis/specific examples
Hook the reader
Address the opposition
Don't fence sit!
Explain how and/or why your examples prove your thesis
Show attitude!


IMPORTANT:

For those who tend to score 4's and 5's on their essays, perhaps the key to last minute improvement is commentary. In commentary, the writer explains HOW or WHY the given evidence supports or proves his or her point. Commentary explains WHY the analyzed writer chose to use certain rhetorical strategies.

Simply having extended commentary improves most papers. The absence or limitedness of commentary results in low scores, as the writer never bothers to explain his or her thinking.

To better your commentary, consider using the following phrases after your examples:

From this example, one can.....
This shows that....
By this, the author.....
The intended effect of this.....
The reader (or audience) would.....

Whatever follows such phrases is analysis that explains HOW or WHY the state evidence proves the author's point, or supports the writer's ideas.

Papers scoring a 4 or less do not show adequate understanding. In other words, the commentary in 4's (or less) is nonexistant, not fully explained, or flat out wrong.

Key Terms:

The following essential terms have been taken from an Official AP Prep guide. The test writers expect you to know them. Use the links in the Literary Terms Section of this website to compile definitions.

Ad hominem argument
allegory
alliteration
allusion
ambiguity
analogy
antecedent
aphorism
apostrophe
atmosphere
clause
colloqualism
conceit
connotation
denotation
diction
didactic
euphemism
extended metaphor
figurative language
figure of speech
generic conventions
genre
homily
hyperbole
imagery
inference
invective
irony (including verbal irony, situational irony, dramatic irony)
loose sentence
metaphor
metonomy
mood
narrative
onomatopoeia
oxymoron
paradox
parallelism
parody
pedantic
periodic sentence
personification
point of view (first person, third person, omniscient narrator, limited-third person)
predicate adjectives
predicate nominative
prose
repetition
rhetoric
rhetorical modes (exposition, argumentation, description, narration)
rhetorical question
sarcasm
satire
simile
style
subject complement
subordinate clause
syllogism
symbolism
syntax
theme
thesis
tone
transition
understatement
wit

Also know the following terms that appear on the essay section:

attitude (or tone)
concrete detail
descriptive detail
devices
language
narrative devices
narrative technique
persuasive devices
persuasive essay
resources of language
rhetorical features
sentence structure
stylistic devices

Past AP Responses: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/exam/exam_information/2001.html
SYNTHESIS - Read student samples

A MODEST PROPOSAL - EARN CREDIT FOR MISSED RESPONSES

Define unfamiliar vocabulary

Explain answers on the multiple-choice questions using the process of elimination (POE). Credit will only be given for specific referenced responses.

ETHAN FROME Argumentative Esaay

Address the following prompt in a well-developed essay: Having now read the novel Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, write a carefully reasoned, argumentative essay in which you defend (agree), challenge (disagree), or qualify (agree with conditions) the following statement: Ethan’s greatest hindrance to happiness is himself (meaning: Ethan’s life leaves him unhappy/unsatisfied, and it is entirely his fault).

Ethan Frome Project

1. Jay	Discuss the use of stream-of-consciousness technique. Wharton chooses a man for a narrator and a stranger to the town of Starkfield. Why? Address frame story (prologue/epilogue) and its effectiveness. Address the point of view and any shifts.	Point of view Narration frame story stream-of consciousness
2. Victoria	What are Ethan's chief characteristics? Choose passages to illuminate ideas. As he struggles to find some solution to the problem of Mattie's dismissal, he discloses traits of character that make you respect and pity him. What are they? Note the effect on Ethan of Mattie's tears; of Zeena's reading; of orders about the stove; of going to Shadow Pond; and of Mattie's showing him the letter. Describe Mattie's background and unhappy experiences. Do you believe her boast that "she isn't the kind to be afraid"? Of whom is she afraid? Mattie's character is most fully developed in the ninth chapter. Explore reasons why Wharton did this. Through Ethan's thought you learn the background of his wife. What were the circumstances of his marriage with Zeena? Why is Zeena a hypochondriac? Why doesn't Wharton explain Zeena's behavior? How do you account for it. How does Zeena show her dislike of Mattie? Who are the minor characters? How do they contribute to the plot? Address Dr. Kidder, Harmon Gow, Mrs. Ned (Ruth Varnum) Hale, Andrew Hale, and Denis Eady.	Characterization
3. Kaitlin	How does setting reinforce mood, plot, and themes? How do the details of setting , particularly of chapters four and five, reflect Ethan's state of mind. How does setting help develop the novel's themes?
4. Sam	Is the use of suspense important in this novel? There is a "hint" of disaster early. Where? Explain its effectiveness. Ethan Frome is a model book in the use of irony. Outline instances of both irony of situation and verbal irony and trace how they provide unity in the novel. Explain all the ironic implications of the concluding dialogue. When and how does Wharton use foreshadowing throughout the novel?
5. Jon	How does Wharton's choice of symbols affect the mood of the novel? What relationships exists between symbols and themes in the novel? Between symbols and characters?
6. Steven	Explore rhetorical language and figurative language in the novel. How does the language reflect the mood or themes in the novel? Wharton often uses figurative language to heighten our perception of various story elements. Listed below are several metaphors and similes from the novel. Explain the significance of each. a. “Starkfield emerged from its six month’s siege like a starved garrison capitulating without quarter” (p. 7). (Setting) b. “He seemed a part of the mute, melancholy landscape, an incarnation of its frozen woe” (p. 11). (Character) c. “…the coming to his house of a bit of hopeful young life was like the lighting of a fire on a cold hearth” (p. 25). (Conflict) d. “The moon would push over the ridge behind the farm, burn a gold edged rent in the clouds, and then be swallowed by them” (p. 58). (Style) e. “It was as senseless and savage as a physical fight between two enemies in the darkness” (p. 83). (Conflict) f. “…a mysterious, alien presence, an evil energy…” (p. 87). (Character) g. “The inexorable facts closed in on him like a prison-wardens cuffing of a conflict” (p. 99). (Conflict) h. “…they seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods…” (p. 113). (Tone) i. “…her dark eyes had the bright witch-like stare that the disease of the spine sometimes gives” (p. 128). (Plot) Ethan Frome is a pictorial novel. Using barren, hostile images, how does Wharton create a physical wasteland that serves a a metaphor for the life of the main characters. Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, review pivotal passages from the novel that reflect an aphorism or allegorical perspective regarding the human condition.
7. Joann	Wharton emphasizes the significance of little things inthe novel. Why? How do details create beautiful harmony of tone and mood? Explore clothes, architecture, and social customs in the novel.
8. Colin	Discuss the realistic details that help create the sense of a life-like situation. Is the ending realistic? Explain. Discuss the use of local color and regionalism in the novel.
9. Kevin	Does the novel accurately depict life in New England in the early 1900s? Is Ethan's story a social tragedy forecast by the oppressive New England setting. Where in the novel can we detect life in New England as it really was?

True or False? “Poverty renders people hopeless; they become incapable of changing their circumstances.” Explain your position regarding this statement.

SATIRE

Read the texts below. Then, write an informal (but grammatically correct) response to them. Are they satirical? Who or what is being satirized? Why? Are they effective? What do you think? (Reading Satire handout - if you need it)

SAMPLE SYNTHESIS MODEL PROMPT FOR PROJECT:

1/5/2012	Catcher essays due; discussion of novel and Holden's character
1/6/2012	Practice 3-6 analysis
1/9/2012	Multiple Choice Test
1/10/2012	Review
1/11/2012
1/13/2012