AP Language & Composition: Towards A Working AP English Vocabulary

Tuesday, 22 September 2009

Towards A Working AP English Vocabulary

One of the biggest challenges of the course ahead will be to develop the working vocabulary we will need for AP. Those of you who had English in the second semester last year may remember some of these words from our regular vocabulary lists and quizzes, but for the rest of you many of these words will be relatively unfamiliar. My suggestion to each of you would be to begin a personal dictionary, in which you can record the following words and their meanings. A good understanding of the terms, and how they are used will serve us well in class discussions, but it will also help you to navigate the exam.

I will work to prepare you all a hard-copy of the vocabulary I believe is most pertinent for this Friday's meeting, but in the meantime, here are some of the words and terminology, as outlined in McGraw-Hill's "Five Steps to a Five: Writing The AP English Essay" (2004):

MODES OF DISCOURSE: Method writer uses to communicate with reader.

Exposition
Naration
Description
Argument

RHETORICAL STRATEGIES: How the writer will achieve his/her purpose.

Exemplification (Example)
Cause/Effect
Contrast/Comparison
Division/Classification
Process Analysis
Description
Narration
Argument/Persuasion
Definition

RHETORICAL DEVICES: Tools used to employ or develop strategies.

Alliteration
Allusion
Analogy
Antithesis
Apostrophe
Epithet
Hyperbole
Metaphor
Metonymy/Synecdoche
Onomatopoeia
Parallelism
Personification
Rhetorical question
Simile
Understatement

RHETORICAL TECHNIQUES: How the rhetorical devices are used.

Diction
Tone/Attitude
Syntax
Organization

This is not a complete list, but this will probably keep you all busy. If I taught you second semester you will have these words, and probably their definitions, in your notes. If you need help finding, or understanding, any of the definitions or concepts please don't hesitate to communicate with me. Otherwise, I will assume that you are dutifully working on your readings, recording your definitions, and keeping a writing journal... you are keeping a writing journal, aren't you?

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AP: Advanced Preparation?

While AP actually stands for Advanced Placement, a more apt title for what we are doing this Fall might be Advanced Preparation. The journey that we are embarking on next semester will require a great deal of packing and preparation. Before we leave port you will need to make sure that your bags are packed, and you've brought everything you think you will need. This preparation will take three forms, all of which will make our journey much more enjoyable:

1) Write! AP English Language and Composition is first and foremost a course in writing. If you are not writing in English regularly (read EVERYDAY) then you are not preparing yourself. Yes, it will be difficult. Yes, you will have days that you don't want to do it. Yes, you will need help sometimes, and I will do my level best to support you when necessary, but in the end, any real progress you make will come down to YOU. Like any kind of physical training, it takes practice and commitment. Take this seriously, and pay out in spades later on.

2) Read the texts I assign you. I realize that you have full course-loads, and that you will have other important commitments during the first semester, but reading the assigned texts will allow you to participate in a dialogue which will prepare you for the work ahead. There will be some texts that will interest you more than others, but each of them holds something for us that will help us on our journey. They are the paths laid down by the people who passed this way before us, and we ignore them at our peril.

3) Record your thoughts, questions and impressions as you read. Some of the texts will come up again when we sit down face to face in the classroom next semester, and keeping good notes on where you've been will save us from having to review and re-read. Good notes will keep us from walking in circles.

4) Participate in discussions. I know that we don't have a regular class-time, but use this blog and our Tuesday study-periods to voice your questions, concerns or comments. None of us, including me, has ever been on this particular journey before, and the best way to get everything we can out of the experience is by sharing with one another. If you have a nagging question, or you have had a sudden epiphany, let us know.

We have nearly four months before the ship leaves. Let's be prepared.