Mrs. Wendy

Scruggs’s AP English

Language Brain

Dump

**Don’t forget that rhetorical

analysis (Question 2) must

always address any tropes,

schemes, or devices in terms

of effect or intended effect on

the audience! Your thesis and

topic sentences should focus

on OUTSIDE of PAPA SQUARE

**Synthesis and Argumentative

you should have more of your

analysis and thoughts and use

LOGOS (facts) to make your

claims!

Also, don’t forget to address the

other side of the claim like with

Rogerian logic.

Tips from AP Readers:

For conclusions:

Evaluation of the argument

Evaluate the author’s argument or style

in rhetorical analysis.

Evaluate the

moral/ethical/philosophical dilemma

present in the argument or synthesis

prompts.

Solution

Discuss the solution the author is

searching for in the rhetorical analysis

and discuss the pros/cons.

Identify a “fix” for the dilemma present

in argument/synthesis. What is a

theoretical or utopian solution?

A “look to the future” can also work in

the conclusion. It asks students to

discuss the global issues at stake or the

possible ramifications of the topic.

For each prompt, I’d usually post a

series of two questions students would

need to touch on in the conclusion.

They would be from the categories

above but be prompt specific.

Argument:

*The support you generate should be related on more than just the surface--don't try to use only

the contention you're using as their unification as support. They should flow logically. For

instance, avoid using the "as seen in (event), (Book), and (my own life)

*If prompt is abstract, then you may consider if literary examples are appropriate!!

*Think of the audience as skeptical, so you must prove your rationale as valid via your examples-

-not obvious cultural choices

*Consider your argument for an audience other than yourself:)

*Examples should fit the task of the prompt**

*The first thing that pops in your mind probably did in everyone else's mind, too--dig deeper

*” Students were asked to consider the quotation and write

an essay in which they defended, challenged, or qualified that assertion about the role of

adversity

in developing character. The prompt suggested some possible types of adversity—financial or

political hardship, danger, misfortune. (This did not deter some students from writing about

advertising.)

*Less-successful essays frequently relied on detailed narration or description for support

without discussing the causation implicit in Horace’s quotation. These essays were often

able to relate an example of adversity but weren’t able to connect this experience to the

development of character. Less-successful essays often belabored one example rather than

providing a cascade of examples, as more adept student writers often did.

* Errors: Many students relied on the formula of the five-paragraph theme, which fit poorly with

the demands of this prompt. The prompt allowed students the opportunity to truly “essay” a

topic, often in a personal way, and formulaic approaches to organization frequently

interfered with the freedom of a classical essay. True to the formulaic nature of such

writing, some students dutifully devoted one paragraph to reading, one to observation, and

one to experience.

**Mere assertion is not argument, no matter how frequently that assertion is repeated. In many

cases, students simply recalled—often at great length—a tale of adversity and then trumpeted

the triumph; the connection, the causality, the logic were often left unstated.

*Rather than providing students with formulas, teachers need to help students organize

their essays conceptually, according to the demands of the argument. This particular topic

focused essentially on causality: adversity is the cause, and the development of character is

the effect. Whether using exposition or narration, students had to analyze a causal

relationship to respond to this question successfully. Since the five-paragraph theme

focuses primarily on exemplification (with a particular fondness for three examples), it was

ill-suited to this particular task.

*reflect upon and examine the connections between their reading and the public questions

facing the various communities they inhabit.

*reflect upon and examine the connections between their reading and the

public questions facing the various communities they inhabit.

From College Board Q& A Feedback with Readers