Assignment 26 - Elizabeth Moore - 1st Hour was the best AP Lang Class Hands Down

I can honestly say that I loved your class, and that you are one of my favorite teachers to date. I learn best from practice, so the frequent timed writings we did this year were an excellent learning tool for me, especially since I sometimes struggle with panic under the pressure of time. I also thoroughly enjoyed Writing with Style. The author’s vivid use of language - in a grammar and syntax guide no less - was gripping, and his suggestions were eye-opening. My style certainly improved as a result of the book and your supplementary lessons. I never told you this, but I entered an International essay contest through Model UN, and as a direct result of some of the techniques you taught us, I won! I’m not sure how large the pool of entries was, but I do believe that I would not have performed as well were it not for your class.

Regarding AP Exam prep, I binge-watched the college board videos several days ago, and found that the thesis, evidence, and commentary tips were very helpful. I struggle to write quickly because I believe that prose is an art form, and I don’t like to rush art. Thinking about the timed analysis essay through the formulas that the college board videos teach instead has improved my thoroughness when responding to the prompts under a time constraint. I think we put SPACECAT on our laminated cheat sheets, but I don’t think I understood its purpose at the time. It might be helpful to other students like me if we practiced SPACECAT and some other formulaic writing prior to the first assigned analysis essay. Here are a few of the specific notes I took that have been helping me:

Device-driven thesis: Writer + verb + “through” + devices + purpose + message

Strategy-driven thesis: “By” + strategies + writer + verb + message

A list of possible devices and strategies to use for evidence

Explain the writer, audience, exigence, context, purpose, and message after each bit of evidence.

My personal favorite part of your class was your willingness to indulge impromptu class discussions. I loved the 1st hour tangents :)