TIMED WRITING: HOW DO I DO IT?

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

…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)

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: Explain Describe Analyze Compare and

contrast Interpret Persuade Convince Discuss

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

Increasing importance/interestDecreasing importance/interestChronologicalOr 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

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… Grammar

Complete sentencesRun-onsSubject/verb agreementPronoun cases (remember the pronoun “everyone” is

singular)Pronoun/antecedent agreement

SpellingCommon mistakes

○ Its/it’s○ Your/you’re○ There/there/they’re○ Too/to○ Affect/effect

Editing… 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.