Pre-AP Essay Test Preparation
The discussion below is intended to ease any test-taking anxiety or bewilderment.
Skill #1: Annotate a Passage for Deeper Understanding of Material
Materials Provided for Students:
 “How to Annotate a Reading Assignment” (worksheet)
Skill #2: Analyzing Tone of a Passage by Questioning Character and/or Diction (word choice)
Materials Provided:
 Rhetorical Triangle (worksheet)
 excerpt from The Bean Trees (a.k.a. “Tortolita passage”)
o teacher-led discussion/instruction/review
 excerpt from Marley & Me
o student-led discussion (3 students asked to show annotations to class to benefit all)
 “How an Author Creates an Intended Effect using Diction” (worksheets)
o Individual, partner, and full-class practice/discussion/completion (12/3 – 12/7)
o These worksheets train students to analyze how the word choices used by an author indicate
his attitude toward the subject of a passage.
o These worksheets also demonstrate for students how annotating a passage and analyzing word
choice helps them develop notes for an essay response.
Skill #3: Developing a Thesis Statement to begin an Written Response to a Passage
Materials Provided:
 “How an Author Creates an Intended Effect using Diction” (worksheets)
 “Best Word for the Job” (worksheets used during first two weeks of term—referenced for review of
weak, “pretty good”, and much improved versions of a thesis statement)
 Students were shown a sample end-of-course essay question and passage for test familiarity. This is
an example of a Constructed Response that appears on the EOCA for English 2. It is also very similar
to essay questions on the Advanced Placement English Language Exam.
SAMPLE END-OF-COURSE ASSESSMENT: Passage and Task
Test on Monday, December 10
1. Read directions.
2. Read passage not just once but at least twice. (As promised, it will be shorter than the sample
shown in class on Friday.)
3. ANNOTATE the passage in order to develop notes (and earn a few easy points for doing so!)
4. Remain focused on the skills we practiced: how diction (even imagery and figurative
language) determines tone.
5. Write your essay response. Begin with a thesis statement that includes the main elements.
(To review “the main elements” and this skill overall, refer to page 7 of your “Diction”
worksheets.)
NOTE: Actual end-of-course assessments and AP writing exams are timed. However, for this first
test, students will be allowed the full class period for test completion.
Test Page 1: Passage and Task
Test Page 2: Directions as shown here
Test Page 3: Lined Paper
DIRECTIONS:
1. Annotate the passage to find patterns of diction that create an intended effect.
2. In a written response, analyze how those words create an intended effect and reveal the author’s tone.
Note: There is always more than one tone present in a complex writing.
Based on
‘s use of diction, the writer’s attitude toward
the subject of the text
in
is
title of text
and
.