Language
and Composition:
Sample
Questions and Answers This link
takes you to
AP
Central. You will need to register or login. It is free.
Then the Teacher resources home page will appear. Select Exam Questions
on the left. You will then be given the last three year's exam essay
prompts.
Teachers'
Corner: English Language & Composition Another excellent
link to AP Central
Successful
AP Students Home Page This excellent site is designed
by Midwest AP consultant Gayle
Richter for the Language and the Literature classroom
AP
Language Syllabus and Lesson Plans
The
Analysis Essay: Considering the linguistic
power and expository effectiveness of various writers.
Random
Laws of Good Analysis
READ
CLASSIC ESSAYS
Author
Attitude Tone, or POV:
Checklist
for the Forty-Minute Tone, POV, or Author Attitude Essay
An
Excerpt from Herman Melville's Typee
Checklist
for The Excerpt from Eudora Welty's
One
Writer's Beginning
Practice
Using Tone to Convey a Message
A
List of Tone Words
"The
Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln
Defcining
Tone with Nathaniel Hawthorne
Effect:
John
F. Kennedy's 1961 Inaugural Address How does
President Kennedy manipulate the language to mold the audience's attitude
toward self, state, and duty?
Meaning:
Checklist
for the Analysis of Meaning
Alice
Walker: "The Driven Snow" Read
"The Driven Snow," a chapter in the book Meridian, carefully.
Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how Walker uses the extended
simile of "the driven snow" to convey her initial hostility toward conformity
and her eventual defeat by its forces.
Argument
(Also called Persuasion or Rhetoric):
Rhetorical
Analysis Essay
Identifying
the Argument of an Essay
The
Forest of Rhetoric This site is
intended to help beginners, as well as experts, make sense of rhetoric,
both on the small scale (definitions and examples of specific terms) and
on the large scale (the purposes of
rhetoric,
the patterns into which it has fallen historically as it has been taught
and practiced for 2000+ years).
The
Three Elements of ArgumentUse
these elements to evaluate the effectiveness of an argument.
Cicero
on the Genres of Rhetoric
Stephen
Toulmin on Rhetoric
A
Webquest for Understanding Fallacies
Logical
Fallacies Files
Wholistic
Scoring Rubruc for Critical Thinking The
rubrics found at this site apply well to how to evaluate an argument.
Rhetorical
Arguments - A Coca-Cola Study
Excerpt
from House Made of Dawn written by N. Scott Momaday Read
the paragraph carefully. Then write a carefully reasoned, persuasive
essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies Momadayís ideas about the
diminishing importance of language in the white manís world, and the underlying
implication that language is more important to people of color. Use
specific evidence from your observation, experience, or reading to develop
your position.
Using
Transitions to Write a Persuasive Essay
Close
Reading:
How
to Mark a Book by Mortimer Adler
Comparison
and Contrast Essay:
Checklist
for the Forty-Minute Effect Comparison and Contrast
Essay
Compare
"First Reactions" to "The Attack on America" by writers of literary merit.
Galapagos
Archipelago by Charles Darwin and The Encantadas (Enchanted Isles)
by Herman Melville.
Compare
George Orwell and Toni Morrison. Write a well organized essay that
compares and contrasts both writer's views on the importance of language
and their concerns about its loss of effectiveness.
Compare
two Presidential speeches. Following are two famous speeches
by two former Presidents. Read each speech carefully. Then
write a well-organized essay that compares and contrasts how each President
manipulates the language to mold the audience's attitude about self, state,
and duty.
Compare
and Contrast Three Versions of a Declaration of Independence: One
by
H. L. Mencken
, one by Elizabeth Cady Stanton , and one by
Thomas
Jefferson and company.
Carefully read the
NOBEL
LECTURE (December 7, 1993) by TONI MORRISON and POLITICS
AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BY GEORGE ORWELL. Then write a well
organized essay that compares and contrasts both writer's views on the
importance of language and their concerns about its loss of effectiveness.
Creative
Suggestions:
Book-A-Minute
Classics Ultra-Condensed Classic
Books Try making some of your own.
Critical
Thinking:
Fostering
Critical Thinking using Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream"
To
Kill A Mockingbird
Vitalizing
Vapid Vocabulary
Writing
Argumentative Essays
Name
That Topic One of the most needed skills in writing about literature
is the ability to verbalize the topic from a quote. This critical
thinking skill is what gives the writing a personal touch. This link
gives loads of practice creating insights by selecting the words to define
each subtopic.
Diction:
Changing
the Diction of E. B. White's "Once More to the Lake" from
Sondra Zeldin, Chatsworth High School, Chatsworth, California
Judging
the Speaker's Effective Use of Diction
Prairie
Home Companion - A little of Everything
Vocabulary
Page Analyzing the Diction of Martin Luther's Letter to Pope Leo
X in 1520 While reading the text, click on the highlighted vocabulary
words, read the definition and synonyms to get a look at all the
senses of the word. Then click on the back button to return to the
text, and continue reading. After a careful reading of the text,
write a well-organized essay which analyzes how the author's diction helps
to reveal his attitude toward Pope Leo X and other elements of the church
hierarchy.
Essays:
Essays
Online
Click
on
Essays Online for an extensive collection
of some of America's writers, chosen as favorites by English teachers across
the United States. These writings are arranged into these four
categories: On Writing, Analyzing the Pulitzer Prize Winners,
Evaluating and Writing the Personal Essay, and Satire, Irony, and
Ambiguity. ESSAY PROMPTS accompany all the writings. Included
with each category are optional assignments. In every
case it is important to analyze how these writers of literary merit go
beyond formulaic writing to write well.
On
Writing
American
Media Columnists
Online
Newspaper Columnist and Commentator Index Hundreds of North American newspaper
columnists and commentators. Also political and editorial cartoons and
cartoonists, political scientist resources, political sites.
Boston
Globe Online / Columnists
Choose
from a list of all Globe columnists and writers who publish occasional
columns.
Chicago
Sun-Times columnists
Choose
from a list of all Sun-Times columnists who publish occasional columns.
Newspaper
Columnists Pages and
Op/Ed
Pages from Around the World
Editorials,
opinions and commentaries, columns and columnists from English newspaper
and magazine Web sites.
Boston
Herald.com Columnists
Select
article by topic and columnist.
The
Denver Post Online - Columnists
Select
from Columns, Discussions, Editorials, Growth forum, Mike Keefe , Letters,
Perspective.
Houston
Chronicle.com Select an editorial by title.
SF
Gate - Columnists
Select
a columnist by name and subject.
Dallas
Morning News Select an editorial columnist by name and subject.
Prairie
Home Companion - A little of Everything
You've
Got Style Definitions. Diction, Essays, Favorites, Fiction, Figures
& Tropes, Grammar & Syntax, History, Homestyle, Mediastyle, Music,
Oratory, Philosophy, Poetry, Punctuation, Schoolstyle, Science, Sports,
Technology, Weblogs
The
Dave Barry Website
New
Yorker John Updike, Jonathan Franzen, Denis Johnson, Roger Angell,
Aharon Appelfeld, Rebecca Mead, Susan Sontag, Amitav Ghosh, and Donald
Antrim reflect on the tragedy of 9-11 and its consequences.
Essay
Tests:
Last
Minute Hints
Student
Grading Made Easy with Comprehensive Checklists
How
to Write the Agree or Disagree Test
Favorite
Quotes and Aphorisms:
Quotations
for English Language and Composition. Read
quotes by authors from the Recommended Reading List for AP English Language
and Composition Courses.
Extended
Writing Projects:
How
to Write an Extended Paper that Analyzes the Language of The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
How
to Write an Extended Paper that Analyzes the Language of Walden
by Henry David Thoreau
Assignment:
Use the following authoritative sites to research good writing practices.
The
Writing Process This page is designed to aid students at various
points in the writing process.
On
the Art of Writing Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, 1916.
This collection of lectures capture the artistic and vital nature of language.
50
Ways to Revise Your Paper |
|
Grammar
Strunk,
William, Jr. 1918.
The El4ements of Style
Journal
Writing:
William
Starr (Liberty IN) on Active Journaling
The
Cornell System A Short Explanation
about how Note-taking can be enhanced by dividing the paper in two sections.
Nature
Web
Resources on Nature Writing
Philosophy
The
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Poetry
Poetry
Lessons
Poetry
Library
Radio
Minnesota
Public Radio
Prairie
Home Companion - A little of Everything
Research
Paper
Research
Raper Template
MLA
Short Guide
Quotations
Page All writers quoted here have
written works of literary merit that have made the recommended reading
list for the Language and Composition class.
Essays
for the Abstract Research Paper This
site has tons of essays categorized by topics. This is good source
to use to add more articles to you research.
Topics
for the AP Language and Composition Research PaperThe
following list of works of literary merit have been paired by abstract
topics that have been implied or explicitly stated in previous AP Language
and Composition examinations since the middle 80's
A
Research Guide for Students
The
New Guide to Writing Research Papers
Term
Paper Help An excellent site to begin the paper and to guide
each step of the way. This is a must visit site!
A
Basic Guide to Term Papers An excellent introduction to term
paper writing for the novice student.
A
Guide to Writing Research Papers. Very helpful guidelines, well
organized and easy to use.
How
to Do Research Online
Ready
Reference Using the Internet Ready
Reference Using the Internet consists, with a few exceptions, of full-text
sources and data suitable for ready reference. Subject headings are a modified
Library of Congress arrangement. Users may reproduce this guide for non-commercial
purposes, as long as it
is
reproduced in full and includes this notice. No change should be made to
it without permission of the author. Please report dead or changed links,
additions and corrections to Carla Bosco, cbosco@winsor.edu Copyright 1995-1999,
by Ellen Berne, Director of the Library, The Winsor School, Boston MA 02215.
The
Best Information on the Net
This
site lists a lot of workable topics.
A
Simple, Six-Part Method for
Choosing
Term Paper Topics
This site can be a help too.
Citations
Styles Online This site includes links to world wide web
sites that document how to use the MLA, APA, Chicago, CBE Styles and other
sources for online styles to cite and document sources.
A
Guide for Writing Research
Papers
based on Modern Language
Association
(MLA) Documentation
Prepared
by the Humanities Department and the Arthur C. Banks, Jr., Library, Capital
Community College, Hartford, Connecticut. (An excellent source for
works cited and in text citations.)
Columbia
Guide to Online Style
Presents
a guide to locating, translating, and using the elements of citation for
both a humanities style (i.e., MLA and Chicago) and a scientific style
(APA and CBE) for electronically-accessed sources.
Preparing
a "Works Cited" Section Help for making a working bibliography.
A
Sample Works Cited Page
A
Writer's Practical Guide To MLA Documentation Good illustrations
of Works Cited and In-Text Citations
Working
with Quotations Instruction on the correct use of quotation marks.
A
Statement on Plagiarism
Using
Principles of te MLA Style to Document
Internet Sources
MLA
Documentation
Bibliographic
Citation Style Guides
Using
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Format
The
I Search Method
Research
Paper Packet
Bibliographic
Citation Style Guides
Using
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Format
Research
Strategies: Finding your Way through
the Information Fog
Rhetorical,
Literary, and Stylistic Devices:
CHIASMUSTons
of great examples from Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Oscar
Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Shakespeare, Benjamin
Franklin, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Dennis Ridley, Ridley Presidential Tour,
and Confucius
Glossary
of Rhetorical and Stylistic Devices
Rhetorical
Figures
Literary
Terms
A
Dictionary of Symbolism
A
Handbook of Rhetorical Devices
Satire:
Daryl
Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index Analyze the satire in
hundreds of different cartoonists' versions of the same topic.
A
Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift 1729
The
True Irony of Alanis Morissette
Technology
Texas
Center for Educational Technology
The
Virtual Classroom, Eastern New Mexico University
Timed
Writing:
Locate
Any Pre-1900 Work as an Online Text Then cut out an appropriate
excerpt, paste it into a word file, make an essay prompt, and give the
timed test (40 minutes) to the students.
How
to Write an Agree or Disagree Questions
Checklist
for the Agree or Disagree Essay
America's
Bigotry - Susan B. Anthony
The
Role of Computers - Lewis Thomas
The
Result of Family Quarrels -
F.
Scot Fitzgerald
The
Definition of Beauty - Jonathan Swift
How
America is "environed by hostile powers" as seen in The Jungle by
Upton Sinclair
The
Consequences of Suspicion - Francis Bacon
The
Diminishing Importance of Language - N. Scott Momaday
Assignment:
Essays - Search either of the two sources below for a quote. Tie
the topic into a larger concept. Then write a carefully reasoned,
persuasive essay which defends, challenges, or qualifies this concept as
you have defined it. Be sure to use evidence from your observations,
experience, or reading to develop your stance.
Bartlett's
Familiar Quotations
A
Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources
in Ancient and Modern Literature by John Bartlett.
Simpson's
Contemporary Quotations
Over
10,000 quotes from over 4000 sources, including 25 categories of
quotes, and 60 sections.
Ida
B. Wells-Barnett "Mob Murder in a Christian Nation"
Henry
V Speech to his Troops at Agincourt
The
Freedom Forum
Transcendentalism
Links
American
Transcendentalism WEB
Another
Transcendentalist Web Site
The
Transcendentalists
Ralph
Waldo Emerson
Selections
from The American Scholar 1836
Self-Reliance
Henry
David Thoreau
Thoreau,
Walden, and the Environment Writings,
Overview, Quote of the Day, and More.
Walden
& On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
Vocabulary:
Go
to our Vocab Library
General
Vocabulary Used in the 1982 Exam
A
Word A Day
Web
Make
Your Own Web Page
Create
Notes for homework and class information
and post them on the web in seconds using this free community service.
What
is a WebQuest?
The
WebQuest Design Process
Pre-Writing
Your WebQuest
The
GeoCities Way to Build a Web Site
The
Tripod Way to Build a Site |
