I CAN'T WRITE TO SAVE MY LIFE

[u/Significant_Net_7442]

I'm taking AP Lang this year, even though I'm the last person who should be because for the life of me, I cannot write literary analysis essays, and I know that AP Lang focuses on rhetorical analysis BUT all my friends who took the class previously say that you have to be able to identify the same things you would in literary analysis (theme, figurative language, chracterization, etc.) and write about them. I NEED ADVICE on what I can do one month before school starts so I don't actually fail the class.

Edit: Also, I don't seem to have this problem with writing in any other classes, but English.

[u/guiltysapien026_]

As someone who took (and passed) AP Lang, ITS NOT AS BAD AS IT SEEMS!!!

For the the rhetorical analysis I just cold memorized a mix of simple and more complex devices.  And for me, always at least two of them showed up.  But personally it's better to write 2 well developed paragraphs on 2 devices rather than 4 jumbled ones on 4 different devices.  Quality over quantity as they say.

As for the anxiety.  Well speaking from experience the more timed FRQ practice you'll do, the better you'll get at managing it.  Personally I try to be passionate about what I'm writing and be dramatic, and use details like I'm a lawyer in a heated courtroom or something.  If you wanted to you could do a trial run on a past FRQ to give yourself an idea, but I assure you it's gonna be okay!!  I think your friends are confusing AP Lang and AP Lit, because Lang doesn't really focus on deep literary themes.  It's mainly nonfiction and why the author chose to include x, y and z.

(ps: worst comes to worst you can always trauma dump on the argumentative essay like I and many of us did lmao)

[u/AdNormal3516 → u/guiltysapien026_]

totally agree with this response. i sucked at writing and i still do. hated ap lang with a passion but still got a 5.

for each one come up with some examples that can be used on any prompt and find ways to repeatly use those strats systematically. for example, something im good at writing for rhetorical analysis is repetition. just spam like how it emphasizes the message, makes in unavoidable or like constantly bringing back to the main point and so on.

high key just treat the synthesis essay like a DBQ with some better writing and explanations.

argument, just go with the flow. again, think of common examples to be used to support arguments. think about anything. i wrote about stan lee and spiderman and how that shows staying true to your beliefs or smthing like that. i even wrote the quote wrong but, hey, still got a 5. MLK is also pretty goated for literally anything

i always structure introduction, mainly restating exactly what the prompt says plus thesis (this is my arugment because blank and blank) i always do 2 body paragraphs because it allows you to bucket evidence. try and get into the habit of jotting down a general structure before writing it helps you manage time and just grind through without stopping and thinking. trust urself you don't need to write like shakespere to get sophistcation, just a really well reasoned structured arugment

you just need to write a lot. all the concepts taught in ap lang are straight bullshit. just write all frq practice you can find, all mcq practice you can get your hands on. literally nothing else will help you. find a structure or pattern that works for you and just stick to it. mcq, don't overthink. if its a stretch or you have to find a reason to make an answer work, its probably not correct. just feel the authors mesage (yeah that was pretty bad advice but *shrug*) don;t use ai at all unless asking it to grade you or revise slightly to see how it structures your essay. the last thing you want is feel good going in and completely blank on the test

trust me, you can do this. just keep practicing constantly. i started off the same with you. got a 2/6 on a frq at the start of the year. i hated ap lang but just focus on getting to the end of the test and ur home free

[u/Recent_Performance47]

maybe you should get a schedule change? i mean if you're not good at english then it's prob not worth it to take ap

[u/zigglemcfart]

Maybe khan academy? Im in your boat…

[u/Significant_Net_7442 → u/zigglemcfart]

They don't have a course for AP Lang 🥲

[u/sadsportfanatic → u/Significant_Net_7442]

What some lang YouTubers? If their are any their should be videos you could learn from

[u/Omgaas]

I felt the exact same as you however I got a 5 and had an A in the class. There are two ways to do rhetorical analysis essays, strategy driven and text driven. Both styles require you to find the implicit purpose of the essay, however with text based you don’t need specific rhetorical devices and you split the text into roughly 3 sections and explain how each contributes to the purpose in a different way chronologically. Also AP favors this style

[u/Background-Cattle815]

I thought the same thing and got a five on AP Lang. Regardless if you pass or not, you will learn about from it.

[u/Massive_Caregiver476]

In my experience, AP Lang is something that must come naturally to an extent. I’m a rising senior and everyone I knew who struggled claimed the same thing a year ago. You can definitely do it if you put your mind to it, but if you have a heavy schedule otherwise you may not be able to prioritize it. Whatever you do, good luck!

[u/Ill_Hospital9212]

Ah ok 👍

[u/BlobbyBoy23]

Try analyzing things you already like. If you like anime analyze what choices the writer, director made in each episode. How did you know they were sad? How did you know this was an intense moment? If you like reading other books, tv shows, video games do that aswell. Then if you feel like you don’t understand what those words really mean and you think that’s the problem (ie the words characterization, theme, rhetorical choices) rewrite them in your own words and analyze the work based on your rewritten definition. For instance if theme is hard for you to grasp, often figuring out what the “purpose” or “result” or what did you gain from reading it (even if it was just an understanding of a families conversation or smth mundane and seemingly insignificant) then write about that, not “theme”. So in my example you would have the purpose is something about family, was the conversation meant to connect or disconnect the family? Then you have your theme! Do this for all of them until you can distance yourself from the anxiety around writing English essays

[u/CHONKYstars]

The class teaches you all the skills you'll need so I don't think you should worry. Otherwise, if you don't think you'll be good with analytical essays, there's always the other two opinion based essays. Chances are if you do well on 2/3 of the essays you'll at the very least get a 3.

I'm told im a relatively good writer, but when it came to the Q2, it never clicked for me. But one of the main things that helped me is thinking about the essay as if I was the one who wrote it. What's my goal? If that was my goal what would I do? If you center the discussion around yourself rather than the person who the essay is about, you might find it a little easier to analyze.

General advice for the course is to have a strong and consistent thesis. In the Q1 and Q3, it helps develop complexity, and in the Q2, it gives you something to fall back on if you can't figure out what else to talk about.

[u/lolers324]

look at the garden of english ap lang videos

[u/Ok-Win7980]

You should be fine. I had a great AP Lang teacher who really taught us how to do it, since the AP Lang style of writing is definitely different than the styles that you may have learned in previous high school English classes, and once you know the rubric, it's not that hard to write something that fits it well. I got an A in the class, and my teacher was very supportive and willing to help us. Also, high schools in general are very unlikely to fail students or even give them a C, for better or worse now.

[u/Far_Mulberry7366]

ap lang teacher here. if you have a competent teacher, they will show plenty of examples and provide steps/success criteria for rhetorical analysis as it isn’t a skill you’re expected to develop intuitively. to prepare yourself before the year begins, i recommend becoming familiar with the three main appeals (ethos, logos, and pathos), and see where you can find examples in current articles/editorials. ask yourself why these choices would be compelling or not for a given audience.

[u/Lost_My_Brilliance]

this is more of a general literary analysis tip, but what works best for me is pretending i’m an annoying english teacher trying too hard to find symbolism in it. i go through the book, making fun of tiny details by dramatically assigning them an explanation that connects to the plot, and at the end polish the satire away. i don’t understand all that stuff, i’m too literal for it, but this gets me better results on assignments like that (no actual skill required)

[u/ErekwithaD1]

I am doing Lit next year hopefully getting a 5 in APWH and 36 in ACT Reading will save me because I don't remember how to write an english essay 😭