Page 21 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

®
®
®
AP Central, AP Classroom, and your AP Audit account are other resources that
®
provide released AP Exam questions, both multiple-choice and free-response. Your
®
students need to experience these AP -style questions frequently; practice using
time constraints too, so that students are ready for the timed nature of the exam.
®
You can use released AP essay questions as tests, assign them for homework, or
have students complete them in class — individually, in pairs, or in groups. If you
assign the essays for homework, be aware that students can access the sample
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used for this sample chapter.
essays. However, because there are so many released questions, it’s still effective to
use them for in-class writing. Also, remember that anything under your protected
®
AP Audit course page can ONLY be used in the classroom. When in doubt, do NOT
send a released essay or exam home, or post it to your class page without
®
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
permission. Be sure to grade the essays with the rubrics used on the real AP Exam.
You can show students the rubric, have them apply the rubric to their own essay
responses, to each other’s responses, or to sample student responses provided on
®
AP Central. Understanding how rubrics are applied will help your students write
®
successful essay responses on the AP Exam.
®
Understanding the structure of the AP Exam will also put your students in a
position for success. Section I consists of forty-five multiple-choice questions to be
answered in sixty minutes. This section accounts for 45 percent of the exam score.
There is no penalty for guessing, so make sure your students answer every question.
Questions are not in order of difficulty, so encourage students to avoid spending too
long on any one question, as there may be easier questions after it. Section II consists
of three essays (synthesis, rhetorical analysis, and argument) to be written in two hours
and fifteen minutes — approximately forty minutes per essay plus fifteen minutes for
reading the synthesis texts. Again, students are responsible for managing their time, so
they should avoid spending too long on one essay to the detriment of the others. The
essay section accounts for 55 percent of the exam score. If possible, provide students
with at least one full-length practice exam so they can experience the authentic
pressure of a timed exam.

What to Do after the Exam

Depending on your school calendar, the length of time after the exam and before the
end of the year can vary from a few days to more than a month. Here are some
suggestions of how to make creative use of the class time after your students have
®
taken the AP Exam:
®
1. Read some literature. If your students will be taking AP English Literature and
Composition the following year, consider reading one of the novels or plays avail-
able in the Digital Collection of Full-Length Works. Another option is to provide
your students with choice. Put them into literature circles and let them choose
their final book of the year. Students will appreciate the opportunity to choose,
and there can still be valuable discussion.
2. Plan a film festival. Have students write proposals for documentary films that
relate to the chapter themes in The Language of Composition that they would like
to view. Create a committee to choose among the proposals.
3. Work on college essays. Your students will be able to put the rhetoric and argu-
ment skills they have learned in this course to good use as college application
season ramps up.

®
Teaching AP English Language and Composition with The Language of Composition TE-xix

01_sheatlcte4e_46921_fm_i_lv_1pp.indd 19 25/01/23 7:00 PM