AP Test Reminders

Show up around 7:40 at the district office board room. Don't forget your magic AP pencil. Don't panic. Get good sleep. Summary equals death. Cite 3 or more sources. Calm down. You're as ready as you're going to get. You've got this.

Watch this space. Charlie made you a video about the AP test.

This other one is from a couple of years ago...

Post AP Test Party Sign-up Sheet: Tab 1 for 4th period and tab 2 for 6th period (you may have to log in to edit, but I don't think so).

Here is the Dance Walking video for 4th period. It may get the blood flowing to your brains a bit before the test tomorrow morning. That and it's just silly. A bit of silliness before a big test couldn't hurt.

Structuring Arguments et al

originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle 

For Monday, read Chapter 6 from Everything's an Argument. We'll discuss Toulmin and his method of argument using the text and another simpler model.

Here is the file that will allow you to play with your prospective AP test performance to your heart's content.

By popular vote, the SAT Vocab Final will be held after break. Though 4th period was fairly evenly split, 6th period went overwhelmingly toward after break. The test will NOT be the day we get back, but will be later that week or even the following week depending on our paper that is due that Friday.

Speaking of your paper, please choose your prompt by Monday.

AP Test!!!!!!

Remember your Magic AP Pencil!

Remember a Blue or Black pen!

Remember to bring it!!!!!!

You're going to do great! 4's and 5's all around!!!

Mind what you have learned. Save you it can. -Yoda

AP Practice Test

The district office resolved their scheduling conflict. We are fine.

Show up at the district office at 7:40 just like it was regular 1st period.

Bring:

• a #2 pencil


• a blue or black pen


• notebook paper


• it

2nd Period and Trae :)

[caption id="attachment_1038" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Opening sentence of Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott"][/caption]

Hey all you DGPers! I know you've been missing it and are likely feeling a bit insecure that 1st, 3rd, and 4th periods have all passed and you have not. :(  That said, it's been a while since you've been given an opportunity. In fact, it's been so long that maybe you've forgotten all that you've learned.

Well have no fear! Mr. Reiser took the English 11 classes back to the basics since they had not been doing their homework and desperately needed it. They tasted sweet success, scoring over 82% as a class (both of them), which was .4% higher than 1st period. He used a way back to basics approach that is available to you too.

Go to http://www.german-latin-english.com/diagrams.htm and work through the The Basics of Sentence Diagramming (Part One and Part Two). You might also find the Anatomy of a Sentence to be helpful.

Do you think you can do this one? What if I just flat out told you it would be on the test? Kidding.

Start using this in conjunction with your DGP packet to master the structure of a sentence. Your test will be shortly, very shortly, after Spring Break.

The Ten Commandments of the Advanced Placement Language Examination

1. I am the Prompt, thy Prompt; thou shalt have no other Prompt before me. Thou shalt read the Prompt with rapt attention; the Prompt is thy friend. Thou shalt address the Prompt. Thou shalt not just get the general idea of the Prompt, nor shalt thou fight the Prompt or substitute thine own ideas for the Prompt.
2. Thou shalt not postpone, omit, or bury thy Thesis Statement.
3. Thou shalt not dwell with Summary, nor shalt thou cohabit with Padding of Writing, for it is an abomination in my sight. Neither shalt thou be satisfied with mere Reading Comprehension for thy Prompt is an analytic and interpretive Prompt.
4. Thou shalt not commit Free-Floating Generalization, but shall support and develop thine every assertion with Concrete Details and Evidence.
5. Thou shalt not mistake complexity for confusion, or subtlety for indecisiveness; thou shalt not attribute thine own insensitivity or ignorance to authorial ineptitude. The fact that thou gettest not the point doesn't mean that the passage hath no point: thou hast missed the point and thus must reread more carefully.
6. Thou shalt read every Multiple-Choice question with the same exquisite care that thou devotest to the Essay Prompt: thou shalt not "get the drift." By the same token, shalt thou strive to read what the writer actually wrote, not what thou expectest him or her to have written.
7. Thou shalt not finish early. Thou shalt spend an abundance of thy time planning thine essay responses and any time left over editing them.
8. Honor thy percentages by guessing thoughtfully when thou art not sure of the answers. Thou shalt guess when thou knowest not the answers and can eliminateth two of the four answers.
9. Thou shalt not merely identify stylistic and rhetorical devices, but shalt show how they function and provide examples.
10. Thou shalt never permit thyself to become discouraged: I am the prompt, thy Prompt. Thou shalt maintain thy focus, attention, and confidence. Yea, though thou hast totally mutilated thy last essay, the next essay maketh a fresh start.

—adapted from Martin Beller, AP Language & Literature teacher