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Ten Commandments for Taking the AP English Language Test

Ten Commandments for Taking the AP English Language Test. Commandment #1.

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Ten Commandments for Taking the AP English Language Test

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  1. Ten Commandments for Taking the AP English Language Test

  2. Commandment #1 I am the Prompt, thy Prompt; thou shalt have no other Prompt before me. Thou shalt read the Prompt with rapt attention; the Prompt is thy friend.  Thou shalt address the Prompt.  Thou shalt not just get the general idea of the Prompt, nor shalt thou fight the Prompt or substitute thine own ideas for the Prompt or simply restate the Prompt.

  3. Commandment #2 Yea, though others around you may be scribbling hastily, thou shalt not begin until thou hast planned profitably.  Verily, thou shalt not wander into the valley of cliches, but look deeper to behold the glory of insight. Thou shalt not postpone, omit, or bury thy Thesis Statement.

  4. Commandment #3 Thou shalt not confuse complexity with confusion, or subtlety with indecisiveness; thou shalt not attribute thine own insensitivity or ignorance to authorial ineptitude.  The fact that thou gettest not the point does not mean that the passage hath no point: thou hast missed the point.  Deal with it.

  5. Commandment #4 Thou shalt not commit source-summary in the synthesis essay. Thou shalt mine at least three sources for evidence for thy thesis.

  6. Commandment #5 Thou shalt not merely identify literary, rhetorical, and stylistic devices in the passage for the analysis essay, but shalt show how they function and evaluate their effectiveness. Thou shalt not overlook the rhetorical situation, nor shalt thou be blind to uses of logos, ethos, and pathos.   

  7. Commandment #6 Thou shalt not commit free-floating generalization in the argument essay, but shall support and develop thine every assertion.  Thou shalt avoid logical fallacies.

  8. Commandment #7 Thou shalt not finish early.  Thou shalt spend plenty of time planning thine essay responses and shalt save enough time at the end of the test to read them over for careless mistakes.

  9. Commandment #8 Thou shalt read every multiple choice question with the same exquisite care that thou devotest to the essay Prompt: thou shalt not just ‘get the drift.’  By the same token, thou shalt strive to read what the writer actually wrote, not what thou dost expect him or her to have written.

  10. Commandment #9 Thou shalt guess when thou knowest not the answer.  Thou shalt not do so blindly, but shalt listen to thy gut, eliminate, and make an educated guess.  Feareth not to guess, for points can be gotten therewith.   

  11. Commandment #10 Thou shalt never permit thyself to become discouraged.  Thou shalt maintain thy focus, attention, and confidence.  Yea, though thou hast totally screwed up thy last essay, maketh thou a fresh start on the next essay.

  12. Works Cited • Adapted from Martin Beller’s 10 Commandments for AP Literature • Revisions by Carole Ford, Carole Hamilton, and Lisa K. Simmons, 2011

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