On the exam…
You will have 135 minutes to write 3 essays
 15 minutes for reading the synthesis
prompt
 40 synthesis
 40 rhetorical analysis
 40 argument
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…wear a watch!
The Break Down
Spend the first 10 minutes attacking the
prompt (prewriting)
 Next 20-25 minutes composing the essay
(composition)
 5-10 minutes revising and editing (revision)
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Do not sacrifice time on one step for extra
time in another!!!!
Attacking the
Essay
Step One: Analyzing the Prompt
What is the prompt asking me to do?
 (no narrative)
 Identify purpose
 Rhetorical analysis: read a passage and
respond by analyzing the effect of
writer’s rhetorical devices such as:
figures of speech, diction, syntax, tone,
and mood.

Step One (Cont.)
 Persuasive/Argument:
Defend,
qualify, or refute a given position or
opinion and try to sway audience to
either agree, change minds, or stir to
action. (only one source)
Step One (cont.)

Synthesis Free Response: defend,
qualify, or refute a given opinion and
build an argument to defend. Very
similar to research paper/DBQ—you are
to analyze found research (approx. 6-7
sources) including political cartoons,
chart/graph, image, or advertisement.
Identify Audience:
…or to whom am I writing?
• Sometimes the prompt will tell you who
your audience is (ie. School board or
local government)
• If not, write formally to a group of
unknown adults
Identify Topic
…or what am I going to write about?
• Once you understand prompt & to whom
you are writing, develop your own topic
and make sure everything you write
stays w/in your chosen topic.
• THESIS must be strong, clear, and
concise.
Identify Task
…or How am I expected to answer?
* Once you’ve identified purpose,
audience, and topic, look at the VERBS
that will tell you HOW you will write your
response
* Circle, underline, or rewrite the verbs on
your planning page.
Verbs you might see on free
response section:
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Explain
Describe
Analyze
Compare and
contrast
Interpret
Persuade
Convince
Discuss
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Define
Identify
Give examples
Provide details
Support
Cite information
On planning page…

You should also indicate key words such
as: point of view, tone, mood,
characters, and figurative language
Step Two: Planning
You HAVE to do it!
 You may outline, web, freewrite, concept
map, bullet point, ect.
 You MUST do some type of
prewriting!!!!!!!
 (I don’t care what Zinsser would say
about all those exclamation points; I
mean them!

Writing the Essay
Sound Structure
Everything you write must be unified
 Clearly state central idea (thesis) in 1st
paragraph
 Every subsequent paragraph must
relate to central idea (thesis)

Make Style Work For You
Readers will be reading thousands of
essays all on the same prompt
 Make your essay stand out
 Engage readers with sophisticated and
unique style
 Vary sentence structure and word
choice (wc), use precise, not vague
language, and never repeat yourself.
 WARNING: do not force creativity!!!

Make Organization Work For You
No more 3x5s!
 3x5s will only earn you a 5 or 6 (out of 9)
 Meaningful organization of ideas, details,
and proof is very important
 Organize ideas and details logically
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Increasing importance/interest
Decreasing importance/interest
Chronological
Or what fits your response and skills
Avoid tacky, 8th grade transitions like: first,
second, third, finally, in conclusion
Revising/Editing the
Essay
Revising a Draft

When revising, don’t worry about
grammar…yet…
 Have I fully and specifically answered the prompt?
 Have I developed my ideas with enough supporting
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details and examples?
Have I presented my ideas clearly?
Have I organized my essay in a logical way?
Do my ideas flow smoothly within paragraphs and
from one paragraph to the next?
Is my essay clearly focused throughout?
Have I shown variety in sentence structure and word
choice?
Are there any places where I can improve my writing
style or use of language?
Another approach:

Look at your language:
 Revise for style by varying sentence structure by
mixing simple, compound, complex, and
compound-complex structures.
 Revise for clarity by making sure all modifiers
are concise.
 Revise for interest by changing all being verbs
to strong, decisive action verbs. Don’t start
sentences with “It/he/she is”, “There is/was”, and
remember that all literature is discussed in the
present tense—“Sedaris writes” not “Sedaris
wrote”.
Editing Essays

Once you are satisfied with your
revisions, you can finally proofread your
essay with one last read-through. Look
for proper:
 Punctuation and capitalization
○ Commas, apostrophes, quotation marks,
semicolons, periods
○ Capitalization—1st word of sentence, proper
nouns, not unnecessarily capitalized
Editing…
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Grammar
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Complete sentences
Run-ons
Subject/verb agreement
Pronoun cases (remember the pronoun “everyone”
is singular)
 Pronoun/antecedent agreement

Spelling
 Common mistakes
○ Its/it’s
○ Your/you’re
○ There/there/they’re
○ Too/to
○ Affect/effect
Editing…
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AP Readers understand that you are composing
a first draft.
They do not expect perfection of language, but
sophistication in the development of ideas.
Do not worry so much about what your essay
looks like.
You are welcome and encouraged to insert ^s to
build upon ideas, draw arrows to show
reorganization of paragraphs, and *s to insert
lengthier passages.
You may also cross out words, phrases, and
sentences with a single line through your writing.
You essay may look sloppy as long as it is
legible.