Pro Tips on How to Write an AP Essay & Score High
Of all the AP courses, the AP language essay is considered moderately complex by students.
Records show that the pass rate is usually lower than in other courses. Yet, the AP language is widely taken and hugely recommended for intending college students. As a high school student, developing knowledge in your AP English class will help you in many ways in college.
Practice makes perfect, so taking AP English classes will boost your writing strengths. Knowledge acquired through the class will also help you prepare to write your AP English essay tests and exams. However, studying AP English is time-intensive, considering how technical the exams can be.
Given that, students need to write and grade themselves on AP essays as tests before the exam. To guide you, use the below AP lang tips as guides for practice. It will help you build your writing strengths, learn from your errors and improve your AP lang exam abilities.
How to write an AP essay for good grades in exam
Writing the essay part of your AP language might seem challenging, but having some writing tips at your disposal makes all the difference. The AP English Lang essay contains three essay prompts: a synthesis essay, a rhetorical essay, and an argumentative essay. The essay you’ll write in each of these will follow the specific AP essay format crafted for it.
Each year, the college board provides AP teachers with the recommended syllabus for the AP English Language & Composition course. Therefore, the essays you’re required to write in your exam must follow the AP-style essay format taught in your AP class. Below are tips to help you when writing your AP lang essay.
1. Respond directly to the essay topic
Depending on the topic that has been chosen for you, make sure your response doesn’t deviate from it. Your response should follow the topic; else, the board will mark you down during the assessment.
To master how to tackle this area, read through as many AP essay examples as possible. They will help you understand how to tweak your responses to fit the topic.
2. Make your writing effective
The purpose of every AP essay exam is to test your writing abilities. One main characteristic of a good writer is the effectiveness of their writing. Use the following effective writing tools:
- Raise essential points in your essay
- Be concise
- Write from a given perspective
- Avoid grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.
3. Pick a side of the argument
This is mainly for the argumentative essay part. When writing it, pick one side of the debate and tailor your writing around it. To solidify the part you’ve chosen, provide evidence and create a solid thesis to match your argument.
4. Use rhetorical devices
Use rhetorical devices like figurative language and rhetorical questions to develop your essay. This applies to the rhetorical aspect of the AP essay. There are several rhetorical devices in literature; incorporate them into the body of your essay.
Using rhetorical devices lets you maintain the AP lang essay format and beautifies your work.
5. Craft strong essays
Regardless of the essay’s time limit, always construct strong essays that immediately capture the reader’s attention. When the examiner flows while reading your essay, it gives you a chance to earn more points. It’s a winning point most students don’t realize.
6. Use the five-paragraph essay structure
The five-paragraph rule is a basic essay structure that helps writers with the necessary elements to create outstanding essays. Study how to build the body paragraphs, maintain the reader’s focus, make good transitions between paragraphs, and create an effective conclusion. Practice including the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph.
7. Improve your sentence structure
Your sentence structure determines the flow and quality of your work. Study how to build proper sentence structures to help you in your AP essay. Learn to successfully detect and avoid misplaced modifiers, sentence fragments, and the passive voice.
8. Write logical sentences and avoid faulty comparisons
It’s possible to make incorrect comparisons when writing. When misused, your essay becomes faulty. Study how to write logical sentences that convey ideas without making comparison errors that ruin the quality of your work.
9. Practice consistently
Consistent practice is the only way to master these AP literature essay tips. As earlier said, AP lang is time-intensive; devote time to repeatedly studying to enable you to gain better grades.
Conclusion
Remember that no external materials are allowed when writing your AP essay exam. Practicing these tips will allow you time to make errors and correct yourself before the exam.
