is college worth it essay ap lang

AP Lang Essay 8: Is College Worth It?

Your next synthesis essay is about the value of college. The prompt and source materials are available here on pages 2-8.

The essay is due on Sunday, December 30 via Google Docs.

Assignment requirements:

• Your response should be at least 900 words and demonstrate a clear understanding of the thesis and topic sentence structure we have worked on all year.
• You should have a STAMPY introduction that is no more than 6 sentences, including the thesis.
• You need to use at least 4 kernels of text from the source material and at least a total of 6 citations (quotes and paraphrases).
• You must use at least  four of the sources in your essay , and may not use any additional outside research .
• You need to include at least one naysayer.
• Your essay must have a conclusion that does not merely restate the essay. Advance the intro, tie off the story, develop it into something of interest.
• Your essay must show evidence of careful proofreading and attention to detail.

In particular, pay attention to:

• well-developed paragraph structure (with sub-topics when possible).
• use of evidence to support your arguments, not make them.
• proofreading.
• clear thesis statements and topic sentences that show transitions.
• evaluating the best evidence available to you.
• making sure that the essay makes a clear argument.

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Expert Guide to the AP Language and Composition Exam

Advanced Placement (AP)

With the 2023 AP English Language and Composition exam happening on Tuesday, May 9, it's time to make sure that you're familiar with all aspects of the exam. In this article, I'll give a brief overview of the test, do a deeper dive on each of the sections, discuss how the exam is scored, offer some strategies for studying, and finally wrap up with some essential exam day tips.

Exam Overview

The AP Language and Composition exam tests your rhetorical and composition skills. Essentially, how do authors construct effective arguments in their writing? What tools do they use? How can you use those tools to craft effective writing yourself? That is the essence of rhetorical analysis.

The exam has two parts: the first section is an hour-long, 45 question multiple-choice section. It includes five sets of questions, each based on a passage or passages. In this section, there will be 23-25 rhetorical analysis questions which test your rhetorical skills. There will also be 20-22 writing questions which require you to consider revisions to the texts you're shown.

The second section is free response. It starts with a 15-minute reading period, and then you'll have 120 minutes to write three analytical essays:

• One essay where you synthesize several provided texts to create an argument
• One essay where you analyze a nonfiction passage for its rhetorical construction
• One essay where you create an original argument in response to a prompt.

You will have about 40 minutes to write each essay, but no one will prompt you to move from essay to essay—you can structure the 120 minutes as you wish.

In the next sections I'll go over each section of the exam more closely—first multiple choice, and then free response.

The AP English Language and Composition Multiple-Choice

The multiple-choice section tests you on two main areas. The first is how well you can read and understand nonfiction passages for their use of rhetorical devices and tools. The second is how well you can "think like a writer" and make revisions to texts in composition questions.

You will be presented with five passages, about which you will receive a small amount of orienting information, e.g. "This passage is excerpted from a collection of essays on boating" or "This passage is excerpted from an essay written in 19th-century Haiti." Each passage will be followed by a set of questions.

There are, in general, eight question types you can expect to encounter on the multiple-choice section of the exam. I've taken my examples from the sample questions in the " Course and Exam Description ."

Magic eight-ball says there are eight types of multiple-choice questions!

Type 1: Reading Comprehension

These questions are focused on verifying that you understood what a certain part of the passage was saying on a concrete, literal level. You can identify these questions from phrases like "according to" "refers," etc. The best way to succeed on these questions is to go back and re-read the part of the passage referred to very carefully.

Type 2: Implication

These questions take reading comprehension one step further—they are primarily focused on what the author is implying without directly coming out and saying it. These questions will have a correct answer, though, based on evidence from the passage. Which interpretation offered in the answers does the passage most support? You can identify questions like these from words like "best supported," ‘"implies," "suggests," "inferred," and so on.

Type 3: Overall Passage and Author Questions

These questions ask about overall elements of the passage or the author, such as the author's attitude on the issue discussed, the purpose of the passage, the passage's overarching style, the audience for the passage, and so on.

You can identify these questions because they won't refer back to a specific moment in the text. For these questions, you'll need to think of the passage from a "bird's-eye view" and consider what all of the small details together are combining to say.

Type 4: Relationships Between Parts of the Text

Some questions will ask you to describe the relationship between two parts of the text, whether they are paragraphs or specific lines. You can identify these because they will usually explicitly ask about the relationship between two identified parts of the text, although sometimes they will instead ask about a relationship implicitly, by saying something like "compared to the rest of the passage."

Type 5: Interpretation of Imagery/Figurative Language

These questions will ask you about the deeper meaning or implication of figurative language or imagery that is used in the text. Essentially, why did the author choose to use this simile or this metaphor? What is s/he trying to accomplish?

You can generally identify questions like this because the question will specifically reference a moment of figurative language in the text. However, it might not be immediately apparent that the phrase being referenced is figurative, so you may need to go back and look at it in the passage to be sure of what kind of question you are facing.

Type 6: Purpose of Part of the Text

Still other questions will ask you to identify what purpose a particular part of the text serves in the author's larger argument. What is the author trying to accomplish with the particular moment in the text identified in the question?

You can identify these questions because they will generally explicitly ask what purpose a certain part of the text serves. You may also see words or phrases like "serves to" or "function."

Type 7: Rhetorical Strategy

These questions will ask you to identify a rhetorical strategy used by the author. They will often specifically use the phrase "rhetorical strategy," although sometimes you will be able to identify them instead through the answer choices, which offer different rhetorical strategies as possibilities.

Type 8: Composition

This is the newest question type, first seen in the 2019/2020 school year. For these questions, the student will need to act as though they are the writer and think through different choices writers need to make when writing or revising text.

These questions can involve changing the order of sentences or paragraphs, adding or omitting information to strengthen an argument or improve clarity, making changes to draw reader attention, and other composition-based choices.

Some very important stylish effects going on here.

The AP English Language and Composition Free Response

The free response section has a 15-minute reading period. After that time, you will have 120 minutes to write three essays that address three distinct tasks.

Because the first essay involves reading sources, it is suggested that you use the entire 15-minute reading period to read the sources and plan the first essay. However, you may want to glance at the other questions during the reading period so that ideas can percolate in the back of your mind as you work on the first essay.

Essay One: Synthesis

For this essay, you will be briefly oriented on an issue and then given anywhere from six to seven sources that provide various perspectives and information on the issue. You will then need to write an argumentative essay with support from the documents.

If this sounds a lot like a DBQ , as on the history AP exams, that's because it is! However, this essay is much more argumentative in nature—your goal is to persuade, not merely interpret the documents.

Example (documents not included, see 2022 free response questions ):

Essay Two: Rhetorical Analysis

In the second essay, you'll be presented with an excerpt from a nonfiction piece that advances an argument and asked to write an essay analyzing the rhetorical strategies used to construct the passage's argument. You will also be given some orienting information—where the passage was excerpted from, who wrote it, its approximate date, where it was published (if at all), and to whom it was directed.

Example (excerpt not included, see 2022 free response questions ):

Essay Three: Argument

In the third essay, you will be presented with an issue and asked to write a persuasive essay taking a position on the issue. You will need to support your position with evidence from your "reading, experience, and observations."

This doesn't look like a very well-constructed argument.

How The AP Language and Composition Exam Is Scored

The multiple-choice section of the exam is worth 45% of your score, and the free-response section is worth the other 55%. So each of the three free-response essays is worth about 18% of your score.

As on other APs, your raw score will be converted to a scaled score of 1-5. This exam has a relatively low 5 rate. Only 10% of test takers received a 5 in 2022 , although 56% of students received a score of 3 or higher.

In terms of how the raw score is obtained, the multiple-choice section is similar to other AP multiple-choice sections: you receive a point for every question you answer correctly, and there is no penalty for guessing.

The grading rubrics for the free-response questions were revamped in 2019. They are scored using analytic rubrics instead of holistic rubrics. For each free-response question, you will be given a score from 0-6. The rubrics assess three major areas:

#1: Thesis (0 to 1 points): Is there a thesis, and does it properly respond to the prompt?

#2: Evidence and Commentary (0 to 4 points): Does the essay include supporting evidence and analysis that is relevant, specific, well organized, and supports the thesis?

#3: Sophistication (0 to 1 points): Is the essay well-crafted and does it show a sufficiently nuanced understanding of the prompt?

Each scoring rubric broadly assesses these three factors. However, each task is also different in nature, so the rubrics do have some differences. I'll go over each rubric—and what it really means—for you here.

Synthesis Essay Rubrics

EVIDENCE AND COMMENTARY

SOPHISTICATION

Time to synthesize this dough into some cookies.

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Rubrics

Examine your texts closely!

Argumentative Essay Rubrics

The best kind of frenzy is a puppy frenzy!

AP English Language Prep Tips

Unlike its cousin, the AP English Literature and Composition exam, the AP Language and Composition exam (and course) have very little to do with fiction or poetry. So some students used to more traditional English classes may be somewhat at a loss as to what to do to prepare.

Luckily for you, I have a whole slate of preparation tips for you!

Read Nonfiction—In a Smart Way

A major thing you can do to prepare for the AP Lang and Comp exam is to read nonfiction— particularly nonfiction that argues a position , whether explicitly (like an op-ed) or implicitly (like many memoirs and personal essays). Read a variety of non-fiction genres and topics, and pay attention to the following:

• What is the author's argument?
• What evidence do they use to support their position?
• What rhetorical techniques and strategies do they use to build their argument?
• Are they persuasive? What counterarguments can you identify? Do they address them?

Thinking about these questions with all the reading you do will help you hone your rhetorical analysis skills.

Learn Rhetorical Terms and Strategies

Of course, if you're going to be analyzing the nonfiction works you read for their rhetorical techniques and strategies, you need to know what those are! You should learn a robust stable of rhetorical terms from your teacher, but here's my guide to the most important AP Language and Composition terms .

• We've compiled a list of 20 rhetorical devices you should know.
• A heroic individual from Riverside schools in Ohio uploaded this aggressively comprehensive list of rhetorical terms with examples. It's 27 pages long, and you definitely shouldn't expect to know all of these for the exam, but it's a useful resource for learning some new terms.
• Another great resource for learning about rhetorical analysis and how rhetorical devices are actually used is the YouTube Channel Teach Argument , which has videos rhetorically analyzing everything from Taylor Swift music videos to Super Bowl commercials. It's a fun way to think about rhetorical devices and get familiar with argumentative structures.
• Finally, a great book—which you might already use in your class—is " They Say, I Say. " This book provides an overview of rhetoric specifically for academic purposes, which will serve you well for AP preparation and beyond.

You also need to practice argumentative and persuasive writing. In particular, you should practice the writing styles that will be tested on the exam: synthesizing your own argument based on multiple outside sources, rhetorically analyzing another piece of writing in-depth, and creating a completely original argument based on your own evidence and experience.

You should be doing lots of writing assignments in your AP class to prepare, but thoughtful, additional writing will help. You don't necessarily need to turn all of the practice writing you do into polished pieces, either—just writing for yourself, while trying to address some of these tasks, will give you a low-pressure way to try out different rhetorical structures and argumentative moves, as well as practicing things like organization and developing your own writing style.

Not the most auspicious start to an argumentative essay.

Practice for the Exam

Finally, you'll need to practice specifically for the exam format. There are sample multiple-choice questions in the " AP Course and Exam Description ," and old free-response questions on the College Board website.

Unfortunately, the College Board hasn't officially released any complete exams from previous years for the AP English Language and Composition exam, but you might be able to find some that teachers have uploaded to school websites and so on by Googling "AP Language complete released exams." I also have a guide to AP Language and Composition practice tests .

Once you're prepped and ready to go, how can you do your best on the test?

AP Language and Composition Test Day Tips

Here are four key tips for test-day success.

You are one hundred percent success!

Interact With the Text

When you are reading passages, both on the multiple-choice section and for the first two free-response questions, interact with the text! Mark it up for things that seem important, devices you notice, the author's argument, and anything else that seems important to the rhetorical construction of the text. This will help you engage with the text and make it easier to answer questions or write an essay about the passage.

Think About Every Text's Overarching Purpose and Argument

Similarly, with every passage you read, consider the author's overarching purpose and argument. If you can confidently figure out what the author's primary assertion is, it will be easier to trace how all of the other aspects of the text play into the author's main point.

Plan Your Essays

The single most important thing you can do for yourself on the free-response section of the AP English Language exam is to spend a few minutes planning and outlining your essays before you start to write them.

Unlike on some other exams, where the content is the most important aspect of the essay, on the AP Language Exam, organization, a well-developed argument, and strong evidence are all critical to strong essay scores. An outline will help you with all of these things. You'll be able to make sure each part of your argument is logical, has sufficient evidence, and that your paragraphs are arranged in a way that is clear and flows well.

Anticipate and Address Counterarguments

Another thing you can do to give your free responses an extra boost is to identify counterarguments to your position and address them within your essay. This not only helps shore up your own position, but it's also a fairly sophisticated move in a timed essay that will win you kudos with AP graders.

Address counterarguments properly or they might get returned to sender!

Key Takeaways

The AP Language and Composition exam tests your rhetorical skills. The exam has two sections.

The first section is an hour-long, 45 question multiple-choice test based on the rhetorical techniques and composition choices.

The second section is a two-hour free-response section (with a 15-minute initial reading period) with three essay questions: one where you must synthesize given sources to make an original argument, one where you must rhetorically analyze a given passage, and one where you must create a wholly original argument about an issue with no outside sources given.

You'll receive one point for every correct answer on the multiple-choice section of the exam, which is worth 45% of your score. The free-response section is worth 55% of your score. For each free-response question, you'll get a score based on a rubric from 0-6. Your total raw score will be converted to a scaled score from 1-5.

Here are some test prep strategies for AP Lang:

#1 : Read nonfiction with an eye for rhetoric #2 : Learn rhetorical strategies and techniques #3 : Practice writing to deploy rhetorical skills #4 : Practice for the exam!

Here are some test-day success tips:

#1 : Interact with each passage you encounter! #2 : Consider every text's overarching purpose and argument. #3 : Keep track of time #4 : Plan your essays #5 : Identify and address counterarguments in your essays.

With all of this knowledge, you're ready to slay the AP English Language and Composition beast!

Noble knight, prepare to slay the AP dragon!

What's Next?

Want more AP Lang review? We have a complete collection of released AP Language practice tests , as well as a list of the AP Lang terms you need to know and a guide to the multiple choice section .

Taking the AP Literature exam? Check out our ultimate guide to the AP English Literature test and our list of AP Literature practice tests .

Taking other AP exams? See our Ultimate Guides to AP World History , AP US History , AP Chemistry , AP Biology , AP World History , and AP Human Geography .

Need more AP prep guidance? Check out how to study for AP exams and how to find AP practice tests .

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

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Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

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AP® English Language

The ultimate guide to 2014 ap® english language frqs.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

AP® English Language FRQs

Have you ever wondered what it takes to get the best score possible on the AP® English Language exam?

In this guide we have compiled the do’s and don’ts of the 2014 AP® Language test to provide you with the best information to conquer the exam. As you prepare, keep a close watch for the best practices for each type of essay, and the things to avoid.

Let’s breakdown the test to see how it is scored and what you’re expected to do.

Test Breakdown

The Free Response Questions (FRQs) are the essay portion of the AP® Language exam. The exam itself has two parts: the first is a multiple choice section, and the second is the FRQs. This guide provides an overview, strategies, and examples of the FRQs from the CollegeBoard. There is a guide to the multiple choice here .

The FRQ section has two distinct parts: 15 minutes for reading a set of texts and 120 minutes for writing three essays. The 15 minute “reading period” is designed to give you time to read through the documents for question 1 and develop a thoughtful response. Although you are advised to give each essay 40 minutes, there is no set amount of time for any of the essays. You may divide the 120 minutes however you want.

The three FRQs are each designed to test a different style of writing. The first question is always a synthesis essay – which is why they give you 15 minutes to read all of the sources you must synthesize. The second essay is rhetorical analysis, requiring you to analyze a text through your essay. The third is an argumentative essay.

Each essay is worth one-third of the total grade for the FRQ section, and the FRQ section is worth 55% of the total AP® test. Keep that in mind as you prepare for the exam, while the multiple-choice section is important, the essays are worth more overall – so divide your study time evenly.

The scale for essay scores ranges from 1-9. A score of 1 being illegible or unintelligible, while a score of 9 is going to reflect the best attributes and aspects of early college level writing. You should be shooting to improve your scores to the passing range, which is 5 or above. Note that if you are struggling with the multiple choice section, a 9-9-9 on the essays will help.

The Tale of Three Essays

If you are currently taking an AP® class, you have probably experienced the style and formats of the three assignments. You may have learned about the specifics of the different types of essays in class, and you may have already found out which of the three is easiest for you. However, you must possess skill in all three to master the AP® test.

The First Essay (Synthesis)

The first essay on the test is going to be the synthesis essay . This essay can be the trickiest to master, but once you do get the hang of it, you will be one step closer to learning the others. The synthesis requires you to read six texts, which can be poems, articles, short stories, or even political cartoons.

Once you have read and analyzed the texts, you are asked to craft an argument using at least three of the documents from the set. The sources should be used to build and support your argument, and you must integrate them into a coherent whole.

On the 2014 FRQ section of the AP® exam, the synthesis essay focused on the value of a college education. The complete prompt for the section is below:

If we break down the task, it is asking you to use the six sources to create a “coherent, well-developed argument” from your position on whether or not college is worth the cost. As you read this, you might have some experience with discussions of college costs and the value of a degree; perhaps you have had the discussion with your parents or at school. You can use that experience, but your response needs to focus on the given texts.

To find the actual documents you can go here . Taking a look at the documents will provide some context for the essay samples and their scores.

The question is scored on a scale from 1-9, with 9 being the highest. Let’s take a look at some examples of student essays, along with comments from the readers – to break down the do’s and don’ts of the FRQ section.

You should always strive to get the highest score. Writing a high scoring paper involves learning some practices that will help you create the best possible synthesis essay. Let’s look at two examples of student writing:

Create a Clear Argument

One of the key elements of scoring high on the synthesis essay is to make your argument as clear as possible. Let’s look at the clarity in the example below:

This sample comes from a high scoring essay. If we examine the words closely, we can pick out some specific ways that this essay is clear:

• The student identifies one of the key components of the debate when he talks about “dollars and cents” – showing that he understands most people associate the worth or value of a college education to cost and future earnings.
• The student redirects the argument though to encompass “so much more” – giving the reader a clue that he is going to be discussing other definitions or explanations of the value or worth of a college education.

For the reader of this essay, it was laid out clearly by the student. The student addressed the main arguments usually made about the value of a college education, but then using clear wording redirected his argument to focus on a more broad definition of value.

Integrate Sources Seamlessly

Another essential part of scoring well on the synthesis essay is to integrate sources into your writing. The student example below demonstrates the skill:

The student who wrote this essay was able to integrate the different sources into his writing. Notice that in this particular passage the student was able to integrate a negative source (A) and positive source (B). The sources are integrated into the essay, supporting the student’s point about the emotional value of college.

When using sources, whether they support or oppose your point, you should always strive to integrate and explain how they connect to your argument. This student demonstrated the ability to have his writing flow through embedded quotes, which only added to the idea that he has a strong command of language.

There are some practices that students should avoid on FRQ 1 of the test. Students who do these things can expect to receive low scores on their essays, and if you wish to score above a five, you should avoid them at all costs.

Don’t Use the Wrong Tense or Words

One of the simplest changes you can make to score some extra points is to ensure you use the correct diction and grammar. The example below demonstrates what you shouldn’t do on the test:

This student doesn’t demonstrate his command of the English language. Instead, he shows that he does not have a grasp on simple structures like grammar. The student says, “…many of my friends and families yell and start to panic” – which shows that his command of language is weak because the word families should not be plural.

Unless the student has “many” “families” the correct word he should use would be family, and then it wouldn’t go with the verb “yell” in the sentence. This could be easily fixed with a re-read of the essay and changing the word “families” to “family members”.

It seems like it shouldn’t matter that much, but using the wrong word or tense can decrease the confidence a reader has in your writing skills. Students that make these “simple” mistakes, generally have more glaring errors in their essays – meaning they will be reading the rest of your paper more closely than before.

Make sure you proofread your essay before you move on – it could mean the difference between a high score and a low score. Even if it saves you just one point, that point could make the difference.

Don’t Misuse Sources

One of the easiest ways to fail question one is to write an essay that doesn’t utilize sources correctly. The student in this example doesn’t integrate the source they use:

This student doesn’t use the information provided by source F correctly. They give a quote, but then do not explain how the source relates to his argument, or what the given quote even means.

The information provided by source F is an argument against college education – stating that it isn’t as valuable as a good work ethic or being personable. The student cites this evidence, but then gives an argument against what it says without substantiating his argument.

The student provides no proof as to how college benefits the character of people. Instead the student writes some vague examples of how college can benefit the character of a person, which doesn’t refute the evidence he cites from the text.

If you want to score high, make sure you understand the sources you use and that they add to your argument. If you are using a source that opposes your argument, use another source that supports it in your refutation. Don’t use sources if you don’t know what they are saying.

AP® Readers’ Tips:

• Read every text before you start your essay. One of the pitfalls of many students is that they do not use enough sources and try to fit them in after the fact.
• Plan ahead. Ensure that you understand what you are going to be saying and how you will incorporate the different sources into your writing. You will need at least three sources to get above a 6, so ensure you have at least that many mapped in your plan.

The Second Essay (Rhetorical Analysis)

The second essay on the FRQ section is always a rhetorical analysis essay. This essay will focus on analyzing a text for an important aspect of the writing. In the case of the 2014 FRQ, the analysis was supposed to concentrate on rhetorical strategies:

The prompt asks the reader to carefully read a letter written by Abigail Adams to her son and write an essay analyzing the rhetorical choices she uses in the letter. Rhetorical choices are simply another term for rhetorical strategies and include things like the rhetorical appeals, and rhetorical devices.

Let’s examine the do’s and don’ts for the second essay.

When analyzing rhetorical strategies, you should pay close attention to the details within the text. The students below use some valuable strategies to enhance their analysis.

Provide Different Reasons to Support Your Argument

In this high scoring essay, the student provides many reasons that support her argument. In particular, she points out how Adams uses “maternal tone, historical allusions, qualified flattery, patriotic appeals, and lists” as the concrete rhetorical strategies in the letter.

Each of the reasons the student highlights provides support to the essay’s primary claim that Adams is writing to convince her son to be diligent and apply himself. The student makes it clear how she is going to argue in the rest of the essay by laying out these reasons in the beginning.

To make your essay easier to read, you should have distinct reasons and that each supports your claim in a different way. The more reasons you have, the stronger your argument will be by the end.

Use Outside Knowledge Effectively to Strengthen Your Argument

The ability to pull in outside knowledge from your classes or books you have read will help enhance your analysis. Let’s take a look at how a student did this on the 2014 exam:

In the example above, the student can provide a more in-depth analysis of Adams’ words by connecting her mention of “difficulties” to the American Revolution and rebellion from Britain.

The student can connect what she has learned in her history and literature classes to what is being discussed in the letter. This brings a new dimension to her writing and allows her to go into more detail in her analysis. It gives the student an edge over others who don’t use their background knowledge.

Whenever possible, bring in background information that will help with your analysis. It might only seem like extra knowledge about the topic or author, but it could provide some insight into why they chose to write about something or show the full effect of their argument.

Some things to avoid on the literary analysis essay include misreading the passage and providing inadequate analysis of the text.

Don’t be Vague about Your Argument

One way to receive a low mark on your essay is to be unsure about your claim, reasons, or evidence. Any essay grader is going to want to see proof of thought and planning throughout the essay, so you cannot afford to be vague. Let’s look at one of the examples of this from a student essay:

The student seems to have been rushed for time, but that is no excuse for leaving out necessary details. This is the entire first paragraph of the student’s essay. The student at the very least provides the reader with an idea that will be analyzing “pathos, repetition, and diction,” but she doesn’t go into detail about their argument.

The student is very vague about her overall argument. The student doesn’t specify a claim, and she does not go into detail about what the rhetorical strategies are doing in the letter. Leaving out those essential details led to the essay receiving a low score.

In your essay be sure to specify your claim and the reasoning behind your analysis in your thesis. It is a clear sign of good writing when the thesis makes sense, and you can connect your claim to the specific reasons you give for why your argument is correct.

Don’t Miss the Chance to Include Textual Evidence

Textual evidence is the bread and butter of a rhetorical analysis – so you will want to include as much evidence from the passage as possible. Here is an example of a student not including enough textual evidence:

The student references lines from the text, mentioning this as the primary rhetorical strategy she is showing, but doesn’t give enough evidence to show what the choices in diction do in the letter. The student would need to cite an example of how Adams uses diction.

Whenever there is a chance to show evidence from the text that supports one of your reasons, you should insert a quote from the evidence you’ve collected. Explicitly putting the evidence in your essay in the form of a citation is one way to make your essay stronger. Never give a reason without supporting it with evidence, otherwise you might as well not include it.

AP® Readers’ Tips

• Pay attention to both the holistic (overall) and analytic (particular) views of the piece. You will need to understand both the text as a whole and the specific parts of the text to analyze it effectively.
• Don’t just analyze the rhetoric used, but instead connect the rhetoric to the specific purpose of the author. This rule applies to any rhetorical analysis essay.

The Third Essay (Argument)

The third and last essay of the FRQ does not respond to a particular text. Instead, the prompt focuses on crafting an argument about a particular issue. Your essay will need to argue a particular position, though most of the questions put forth by the exam will not be simple either/or questions.

Let’s look at the prompt for the third essay from 2014:

Before we get into the do’s and don’ts of the essay, let’s talk about the particular challenge of this task. You are presented with a scenario, in this case, it deals with the need for creativity in the world, and you are asked to create an argument dealing with that issue.

For 2014, the scenario asks you to argue the value of creating a specific class to teach students creativity. You are invited to use your experience and understanding to write to your school board arguing for or against the idea of a class in creativity.

It is important to note that students are not being asked to argue about the value of creativity. The prompt assigns a significant value to creativity, so in the essay, a student would need to argue from that knowledge. The student must focus on the value of a class in creativity, if he instead discussed the importance of creativity itself he would lose points for the task.

A few of the most important things you can do to ensure you score well on the essay include providing strong examples and define the examples you discuss.

Provide Strong Examples to Substantiate Your Reasoning

There is always a need when arguing to provide strong examples to make your reasons and argument clear. In the student writing below, he goes to great lengths to provide strong examples of his argument:

The student gives a very thorough explanation and many good reasons why he is against the idea of a creativity class. In this case, he gives his reasoning why a separate class would be detrimental to the act of thinking creatively, and then the student gives an example from his experience.

The concrete example of his creativity class, coupled with his explanation of why a class on creativity would not be useful both serve to further his argument. The amount of detail present in the paragraph is indicative of a high scoring essay.

When you write, you will want to ensure that you give credible and concrete examples that are then supported with thorough explanation and detail.

Define the Terms and Reasoning You Use

An excellent essay should provide a definition for the terms used or an explanation of the ideas presented in the argument. If you are arguing that a class in creativity is not useful, it would be helpful to define or articulate what creativity needs to look like to be helpful.

Let’s take a look at one example of how one student articulated creativity:

The student gives a definition to what creativity looks like in the real world. He says that it is, “being able to develop novel ideas, apply, and adapt them…” This definition gives the student a way to explain the process of creativity – and show how a class in creativity is not useful.

If you are going to write an essay about the value of a topic or idea, it will suit your needs to determine what that topic or idea entails. In the case of the student above, by defining what valuable creativity looks like, he was able to explain then how it is only useful in the context of other issues – not in a disconnected class focusing on creativity.

If we take a look at the essay samples from 2014, there are few examples that stand out as don’ts. In particular, you should avoid going off topic and rambling in your essay.

Don’t Go Off Topic

One of the cardinal sins of essay writing is to go off topic. Students that fail to address the prompt are sure to get a very low score.

Let’s take a look at a sample from an essay that goes off topic and fails to adequately address the prompt:

The student does not address the prompt properly in his essay. He starts off the paragraph by talking about how some people are creative, and others are not. He goes on to explain how creativity is just thinking outside the box, and finally, he offers the idea that there are pros and cons to having a creativity class.

At the end of the paragraph, despite all of the words he has written, he has said nothing of importance. He has not formed an argument; he has not presented new ideas, instead he has just danced around the issue and offered some ideas that are off topic like “some people are born with creativity”.

You must always address the prompt. It is important that you take a stance. It may be a moderate or middle of the road position, but there has to be something concrete that you are arguing. It doesn’t do any good to write an essay that goes off topic and doesn’t address the prompt.

Don’t Ramble

It seems simple, but many low scoring essays show that the student didn’t know what he was going to say ahead of time. This type of “word vomit” leaves the reader confused, and shows that the writer didn’t have a good grasp of the subject. Let’s look at the example below:

The student seems to be rushed in this essay, but he writes whole sentences that do not add anything to his points. The first sentence in the example above doesn’t tell the reader anything new and simply serves as fluff. It is useless and will not earn you extra points to include sentences that say nothing.

The rest of the writing doesn’t go into any more detail, and the entire paragraph above could be cut from the essay without costing it any of its argument, evidence, or support. If you find that you are writing just to write, and not saying anything important – you should stop and figure out if you have anything left to write that will add to your argument.

• Keep track of all parts of the prompt. One of the easiest ways to drop points is to forget to answer an important aspect of the prompt. In the case of the 2014 prompt, the essay needs to discuss the creation of a creativity class.
• Try to reference literary examples in your writing. There wasn’t much opportunity to reference readings in the 2014 prompt, but if you can reference the different literature you have read as evidence, it can help boost your scores.

General AP® Readers’ Tips

Make a plan. One of the best things you can do for any essay you are writing under a time crunch is make a thought-out plan. Sometimes, in the heat of writing, it is easy to forget where you are in your arguments. Having a simple outline can save you from that misfortune.

Answer the question in your introduction, and be direct. Directly answering the prompt is one of the easiest ways to ensure you get a higher score.

Clearly, indent your paragraphs, and ensure that you always have an easy to navigate structure. Topic sentences are a must, so make sure those figure into your structure.

Use evidence, especially quotes, from the texts, and explain what they mean. You need to make an explicit connection between the evidence you use, and how it supports your points.

Part of all great writing is variety. Vary your sentence structures, don’t make all of your sentences short or choppy, but instead try to inject some creativity into your writing. Utilize transitions, complex sentences, and elevated diction in your writing.

Use active voice, and make every word add to the paper as a whole. Avoid fluff – you don’t want your paper to look bad because you are trying to pad your word count.

Go Forth and Conquer

Now that you better understand the expectations of the AP® English Language FRQ section, you are one step closer to getting your five on the exam. Take what you have learned in this guide, and work on applying it to your writing. So, now it is time to go practice to perfection.

If you have any more tips or awesome ideas for how to study for the AP® English Language FRQ add them in the comments below.

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How to Write the AP Lang Argument Essay (With Example)

December 14, 2023

We’d like to let you in on a little secret: no one, including us, enjoys writing timed essays. But a little practice goes a long way. If you want to head into your AP English Exam with a cool head, you’ll want to know what you’re getting into ahead of time. We can’t promise the AP Lang Argument Essay will ever feel like an island vacation, but we do have tons of hand tips and tricks (plus a sample essay!) below to help you do your best. This article will cover: 1) What is the AP Lang Argumentative Essay? 2) AP Lang Argument Rubric 3) AP Lang Argument Sample Prompt 4) AP Lang Argument Essay Example 5) AP Lang Argument Essay Example: Answer Breakdown.

What is the AP Lang Argument Essay?

The AP Lang Argument Essay is one of three essays included in the written portion of the AP English Exam. The full AP English Exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes long, with the first 60 minutes dedicated to multiple-choice questions. Once you complete the multiple-choice section, you move on to three equally weighted essays that ask you to synthesize, analyze, and interpret texts and develop well-reasoned arguments. The three essays include:

Synthesis essay: You’ll review various pieces of evidence and then write an essay that synthesizes (aka combines and interprets) the evidence and presents a clear argument. Read our write-up on How to Write the AP Lang Synthesis Essay here.

Argumentative essay: You’ll take a stance on a specific topic and argue your case.

Rhetorical essay: You’ll read a provided passage, then analyze the author’s rhetorical choices and develop an argument that explains why the author made those rhetorical choices. Read our write-up on How to Write the AP Lang Rhetorical Essay here.

AP Lang Argument Essay Rubric

The AP Lang Argument Essay is graded on 3 rubric categories : Thesis, Evidence and Commentary, and Sophistication . How can you make sure you cover all three bases in your essay? We’ll break down each rubric category with dos and don’ts below:

• Thesis (0-1 point)

When it comes to grading your thesis, AP Exam graders are checking off a box: you either have a clear thesis or you don’t. So, what crucial components of a thesis will get you your check mark?

• Make sure your thesis argues something . To satisfy your graders, your thesis needs to take a clear stance on the issue at hand.
• Include your thesis statement in your intro paragraph. The AP Lang Argumentative essay is just that: an essay that makes an argument, so make sure you present your argument right away at the end of your first paragraph.
• A good test to see if you have a thesis that makes an argument for your AP Lang Argumentative Essay: In your head, add the phrase “I agree/disagree that…” to the beginning of your thesis. If what follows doesn’t logically flow after that phrase (aka if what follows isn’t an agreement or disagreement), it’s likely you’re not making an argument.
• In your thesis, outline the evidence you’ll cover in your body paragraphs.

AP Lang Argument Essay Rubric (Continued)

• Avoid a thesis that merely restates the prompt.
• Avoid a thesis that summarizes the text but does not make an argument.
• Avoid a thesis that weighs the pros and cons of an issue. Your job in your thesis is to pick a side and stick with it.
• Evidence and Commentary (0-4 points)

This rubric category is graded on a scale of 0-4 where 4 is the highest grade. Unlike the rhetorical and synthesis essays, the evidence you need to write your AP Lang Argument Essay is not provided to you. Rather, you’ll need to generate your own evidence and comment upon it.

What counts as evidence?

Typically, the AP Lang Argument Essay prompt asks you to reflect on a broad cultural, moral, or social issue that is open to debate. For evidence, you won’t be asked to memorize and cite statistics or facts. Rather, you’ll want to bring in real-world examples of:

• Historical events
• Current-day events from the news
• Personal anecdotes

For this essay, your graders know that you’re not able to do research to find the perfect evidence. What’s most important is that you find evidence that logically supports your argument.

What is commentary?

In this essay, it’s important to do more than just provide examples relevant evidence. After each piece of evidence you include, you’ll need to explain why it’s significant and how it connects to your main argument. The analysis you include after your evidence is commentary .

• Take a minute to brainstorm evidence that logically supports your argument. If you have to go out of your way to find the connection, it’s better to think of different evidence.
• Include multiple pieces of evidence. There is no magic number, but do make sure you incorporate more than a couple pieces of evidence that support your argument.
• Make sure you include more than one example of evidence, too. Let’s say you’re working on an essay that argues that people are always stronger together than apart. You’ve already included an example from history: during the civil rights era, protestors staged group sit-ins as a powerful form of peaceful protest. That’s just one example, and it’s hard to make a credible argument with just one piece of evidence. To fix that issue, think of additional examples from history, current events, or personal experience that are not related to the civil rights era.
• After you include each piece of evidence, explain why it’s significant and how it connects to your main argument.
• Don’t summarize or speak generally about the topic. Everything you write must be backed up with specific and relevant evidence and examples.
• Don’t let quotes speak for themselves. After every piece of evidence you include, make sure to explain and connect the evidence to your overarching argument.

AP Lang Argument Essay (Continued)

• Sophistication (0-1 point)

According to the College Board , one point can be awarded to AP Lang Argument essays that achieve a high level of sophistication. You can accomplish that in four ways:

• Crafting a nuanced argument by consistently identifying and exploring complexities or tensions.
• Articulating the implications or limitations of an argument by situating it within a broader context.
• Making effective rhetorical choices that consistently strengthen the force and impact of the student’s argument.
• Employing a style that is consistently vivid and persuasive.

In sum, this means you can earn an additional point for going above and beyond in depth, complexity of thought, or by writing an especially persuasive, clear, and well-structured essay. In order to earn this point, you’ll first need to do a good job with the fundamentals: your thesis, evidence, and commentary. Then, to earn your sophistication point, follow these tips:

• Outline your essay before you begin to ensure it flows in a clear and cohesive way.
• Include well-rounded evidence. Don’t rely entirely on personal anecdotes, for example. Incorporate examples from current events or history, as well.
• Thoroughly explain how each piece of evidence connects to your thesis in order to fully develop your argument.
• Explore broader implications. If what you’re arguing is true, what does that mean to us today? Who is impacted by this issue? What real-world issues are relevant to this core issue?
• Briefly explore the other side of the issue. Are the instances where your argument might not be true? Acknowledge the other side, then return to proving your original argument.
• Steer clear of generalizations (avoid words like “always” and “everyone”).
• Don’t choose an argument you can’t back up with relevant examples.
• Avoid complex sentences and fancy vocabulary words unless you use them often. Long, clunky sentences with imprecisely used words are hard to follow.

AP Lang Argument Sample Prompt

The sample prompt below is published online by the College Board and is a real example from the 2021 AP English Exam. The prompt provides background context, essay instructions, and the text you need to analyze.

Suggested time—40 minutes.

Many people spend long hours trying to achieve perfection in their personal or professional lives. Similarly, people often demand perfection from others, creating expectations that may be challenging to live up to. In contrast, some people think perfection is not attainable or desirable.

Write an essay that argues your position on the value of striving for perfection.

In your response you should do the following:

• Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position.
• Provide evidence to support your line of reasoning.
• Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.
• Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.

AP Lang Argument Essay Example

As the old phrase says, “Practice makes perfect.” But is perfection something that is actually attainable? Sometimes, pushing for perfection helps us achieve great things, but most often, perfectionism puts too much pressure on us and prevents us from knowing when we have done the best we can. Striving for perfection can only lead us to shortchange ourselves. Instead, we should value learning, growth, and creativity and not worry whether we are first or fifth best.

Students often feel the need to be perfect in their classes, and this can cause students to struggle or stop making an effort in class. In elementary and middle school, for example, I was very nervous about public speaking. When I had to give a speech, my voice would shake, and I would turn very red. My teachers always told me “relax!” and I got Bs on Cs on my speeches. As a result, I put more pressure on myself to do well, spending extra time making my speeches perfect and rehearsing late at night at home. But this pressure only made me more nervous, and I started getting stomach aches before speaking in public.

Once I got to high school, however, I started doing YouTube make-up tutorials with a friend. We made videos just for fun, and laughed when we made mistakes or said something silly. Only then, when I wasn’t striving to be perfect, did I get more comfortable with public speaking.

AP Lang Argumentative Essay Example (Continued)

In the world of art and business and science, perfectionism can also limit what we are able to achieve. Artists, for example, have to take risks and leave room for creativity. If artists strive for perfection, then they won’t be willing to fail at new experiments and their work will be less innovative and interesting. In business and science, many products, like penicillin for example, were discovered by accident. If the scientist who discovered penicillin mold growing on his petri dishes had gotten angry at his mistake and thrown the dishes away, he would never have discovered a medicine that is vital to us today.

Some fields do need to value perfection. We wouldn’t like it, for example, if our surgeon wasn’t striving for perfection during our operation. However, for most of us, perfectionism can limit our potential for learning and growth. Instead of trying to be perfect, we should strive to learn, innovate, and do our personal best.

AP Lang Argument Essay Example: Answer Breakdown

The sample AP Lang Argumentative Essay above has some strengths and some weaknesses. Overall, we would give this essay a 3 or a 4. Let’s break down what’s working and what could be improved:

• The essay offers a thesis that makes a clear argument that is relevant to the prompt: “Striving for perfection can only lead us to shortchange ourselves. Instead, we should value learning, growth, and creativity and not worry whether we are first or fifth best.”
• The first body paragraph provides evidence that supports the essay’s thesis. This student’s personal anecdote offers an example of a time when perfectionism led them to shortchange themselves.
• The second body paragraph provides additional evidence that supports the essay’s thesis. The example describing the discovery of penicillin offers another example of a situation in which perfectionism might have limited scientific progress.
• The writer offers commentary explaining how her examples of public speaking and penicillin illustrate that we should “value learning, growth, and creativity” over perfectionism.
• The essay follows one line of reasoning and does not stray into tangents.
• The essay is organized well with intro, body, and concluding paragraphs. Overall, it is easy to read and is free of grammar errors.

What could be improved:

• Although the second body paragraph provides one good specific example about the discovery of penicillin, the other examples it offers about art and business are only discussed generally and aren’t backed up with evidence. This paragraph would be stronger if it provided more examples. Or, if this writer couldn’t think of examples, they could have left out mentions of art and business altogether and included alternate evidence instead.
• This writer would more thoroughly support their argument if they were able to offer one more example of evidence. They could provide another personal anecdote, an example from history, or an example from current events.
• The writer briefly mentions the other side of the argument in their concluding paragraph: “Some fields do need to value perfection. We wouldn’t like it, for example, if our surgeon wasn’t striving for perfection during our operation.” Since it’s so brief a mention of the other side, it undermines the writer’s overall argument. This writer should either dedicate more time to reflecting on why even surgeons should “value learning, growth, and creativity” over perfectionism, or they should leave these sentences out.

AP Lang Argument Essay Example—More Resources

Looking for more tips to help you master your AP Lang Argumentative Essay? Brush up on 20 Rhetorical Devices High School Students Should Know and read our Tips for Improving Reading Comprehension .

If you’re ready to start studying for another part of the AP English Exam, find more expert tips in our How to Write the AP Lang Synthesis and How to Write the AP Lang Rhetorical Essay blog posts.

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Christina Wood

Christina Wood holds a BA in Literature & Writing from UC San Diego, an MFA in Creative Writing from Washington University in St. Louis, and is currently a Doctoral Candidate in English at the University of Georgia, where she teaches creative writing and first-year composition courses. Christina has published fiction and nonfiction in numerous publications, including The Paris Review , McSweeney’s , Granta , Virginia Quarterly Review , The Sewanee Review , Mississippi Review , and Puerto del Sol , among others. Her story “The Astronaut” won the 2018 Shirley Jackson Award for short fiction and received a “Distinguished Stories” mention in the 2019 Best American Short Stories anthology.

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Hey everyone :) I'm taking AP English Language and Composition, and I feel like I need to read some high-scoring essay examples to improve my writing. Does anyone have any tips on where to find sample essays with scores and explanations?

Hello! It's a great idea to learn from high-scoring essay examples as it helps you understand what's expected and refine your writing skills. One of the best resources for sample essays is the College Board website, which provides essay samples from actual AP English Language and Composition exams. These samples include scoring guidelines and explanations, so you can see how each essay meets the criteria and why it received the score it did.

Another useful resource is CollegeVine, where you can find essay guides that break down the essentials of effective writing, highlighting techniques and tips to take your essay to the next level. Here's a CollegeVine guide specifically about the AP Lang Argument Essay: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-the-ap-lang-argument-essay

You might also consider joining a peer essay review group or an online forum like College Confidential, where AP English students often share their essays and provide feedback to one another. Reading through your peers' essays and sharing your own work can be a valuable way to improve your writing and gain fresh insights.

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How to Write the AP Lang Rhetorical Essay

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What is the ap lang rhetorical essay, tips for writing the ap lang rhetorical essay.

• AP Lang Rhetorical Essay Example

How Will AP Scores Affect College Chances?

The AP English Language Exam is one of the most common AP exams you can take. However, the average score on the exam in 2020 was a 2.96 out of 5. While this may seem a bit low, it is important to note that over 550,000 students take the exam annually. With some preparation and knowing how to study, it is totally possible to do well on this AP exam.

The AP Lang Rhetorical Essay is one section of the AP English Language Exam. The exam itself is 3 hours and 15 minutes long, and is broken into two sections. The first part of the exam is a 60 minute, 45-question multiple-choice section. The questions on this part of the exam will test your ability to read a passage and then interpret its meaning, style, and overall themes. After the multiple-choice section, there is a section lasting 2 hours and 15 minutes with three “free response” essays. This includes the synthesis essay, the rhetorical analysis essay, and the argument essay. 

• In the synthesis essay , you will have to develop an argument using pieces of evidence provided to you. 
• The argumentative essay will have you pick a side in a debate and argue for or against it.
• The rhetorical essay requires that you discuss how an author’s written passage contributes to a greater meaning or theme. 

The rhetorical essay is perhaps the most unique of all AP Lang exam essays because it requires the test taker to analyze and interpret the deeper meanings of the passage and connect them to the author’s writing style and writing syntax in only 40 minutes. This essay can be the trickiest because it requires you to have knowledge of rhetorical strategies and then apply them to a passage you’ve never seen before.

1. Outline Your Essay Before Writing

One of the most important parts of the AP Lang essays is structuring your essay so that it makes sense to the reader. This is just as important as having good content. For this essay in particular, you’ll want to read the passage first and write a brief outline of your points before you begin the essay. This is because you will want to write the essay using the passage chronologically, which will be discussed in detail below.

2. Understand Rhetorical Strategies 

If you feel like you don’t know where to start as you prepare to study for the rhetorical essay portion of the exam, you aren’t alone. It is imperative that you have a grasp on what rhetorical strategies are and how you can use them in your essay. One definition of rhetoric is “language carefully chosen and arranged for maximum effect.” This can include types of figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification, pun, irony, etc.) elements of syntax (parallelism, juxtaposition, anthesis, anaphora, etc), logical fallacies, or persuasive appeals. Overall, there are many elements that you can analyze in an essay and having a good grasp on them through practice and memorization is important.

3. Keep the Essay Well Structured 

Even if you understand the various rhetorical strategies you can use, where do you begin? First of all, you’ll want to write a strong introduction that outlines the purpose of the piece. At the end of this introduction, you will write a thesis statement that encapsulates all the rhetorical strategies you discuss. Perhaps these are style elements, tone, or syntax. Be sure to be specific as you list these.

Next, you will create your body paragraphs. As you discuss the rhetorical elements in the piece and tie them back to the work’s meanings, be sure to discuss the points in chronological order. You don’t have to discuss every single strategy, but just pick the ones that are most important. Be sure to cite the line where you found the example. At the end of the essay, write a short conclusion that summarizes the major points above.

4. Be Sure to Explain Your Examples

As you write the essay, don’t just list out your examples and say something like “this is an example of ethos, logos, pathos.” Instead, analyze how the example shows that rhetoric device and how it helps the author further their argument. As you write the rhetorical essay, you’ll want to be as specific and detail-focused as possible. 

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AP Lang Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example

Below is a prompt and example for a rhetorical essay, along with its score and what the writer did well and could have improved:

The passage below is an excerpt from “On the Want of Money,” an essay written by nineteenth-century author William Hazlitt. Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze the rhetorical strategies Hazlitt uses to develop his position about money.

Student essay example:

In his essay, Hazlitt develops his position on money through careful use of adjectives and verbs, hypothetical situations, and images. His examples serve to impress upon the reader the highly negative consequences of being in “want of money.”

Hazlitt’s word choice in his opening phrase provides an example of his technique in the rest of the essay. It is not necessary to follow “literally” with “truly” yet his repetition of the same ideas emphasizes his point. In his next sentence, one that lasts forty-six lines, Hazlitt condignly repeats similar ideas, beating into his audience the necessity of having money in this world. The parallelism throughout that one long sentence, “it is not to be sent for to court, or asked out to dinner…it is not to have your own opinion consulted or sees rejected with contempt..” ties the many different situations Haziltt gives together. What could have become a tedious spiel instead becomes a melodious recitation, each example reminding you of one before it, either because of the similarities in structure or content. Hazlitt addresses many different negative effects of not having money but manages to tie them together with his rhetorical strategies. 

The diction of the passage fully relays Hazlitt’s position about money. In every example he gives a negative situation but in most emphasizes the terrible circumstance with strong negative adjectives or verbs. “Rejected,” “contempt,” “disparaged,” “scrutinized,” “irksome,” “deprived,” “assailed” “chagrin;” the endless repetition of such discouragement shows how empathetically Hazlitt believes money is a requisite for a happy life. Even the irony of the last sentences is negative, conveying the utter hopelessness of one without money. Through one may have none in life, pitiless men will proceed to mock one’s circumstances, “at a considerable expense” after death! 

In having as the body of his essay one long sentence, Hazlitt creates a flow that speeds the passage along, hardly giving the reader time to absorb one idea before another is thrown at him. The unceasing flow is synonymous with Hazlitt’s view of the life of a person without money: he will be “jostled” through life, unable to stop and appreciate the beauty around him or to take time for his own leisure. 

The score on this essay was a 6 out of 6. This essay started out very strong as the student had a concrete thesis statement explaining the strategies that Hazlitt used to develop his position on money as well as Hazlitt’s belief on the topic. In the thesis statement, the student points out that adjectives, verbs, hypothetical situations, and images help prove Hazlitt’s point that wanting money can be problematic. 

Next, the student broke down their points into three main subsections related to their thesis. More specifically, the student first discusses word choice of repetition and parallelism. When the student discusses these strategies, they list evidence in the paragraph that can be found chronologically in Hazlitt’s essay. The next paragraph is about diction, and the student used specific adjectives and verbs that support this idea. In the last paragraph, the student emphasized how the speed and flow of the essay helped describe Hazlitt’s viewpoint on life. This last concluding sentence is particularly thoughtful, as it goes beyond the explicit points made in the essay and discusses the style and tone of the writing. 

It is important to remember that in some ways, the rhetorical essay is also an argumentative essay, as the student must prove how certain rhetorical strategies are used and their significance in the essay. The student even discussed the irony of the paragraph, which is not explicit in the passage.

Overall, this student did an excellent job organizing and structuring the essay and did a nice job using evidence to prove their points. 

Now that you’ve learned about the AP Lang rhetorical essay, you may be wondering how your AP scores impact your chances of admission. In fact, your AP scores have relatively little impact on your admissions decision , and your course rigor has much more weight in the application process.

If you’d like to know your chances of admission, be sure to check out our chancing calculator! This tool takes into account your classes, extracurriculars, demographic information, and test scores to understand your chances at admission at over 600 schools. Best of all, it is completely free!

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Synthesis Essay Materials

The two synthesis essay questions below are examples of the question type that has been one of the three free-response questions on the AP English Language and Composition Exam as of the May 2007 exam. The synthesis question asks students to synthesize information from a variety of sources to inform their own discussion of a topic. Students are given a 15-minute reading period to accommodate the additional reading required for the question.

Below is a sample synthesis essay question, sample scoring guidelines, comments from the Chief Reader about the sample student essays, seven sample student responses, and scoring commentary for each sample.

Approximately 300 AP English Language and Composition students from eight schools in New York, Maine, Texas, Tennessee, Washington, Florida, and New Mexico wrote responses to this synthesis topic. Students from these schools were given a 15-minute reading period followed by a 40-minute writing period in which to complete the sample synthesis assignment.

• AP English Language and Composition Synthesis Essay #1 (.pdf/84KB)
• Sample Scoring Guidelines (.pdf/43KB)
• Comments from the Chief Reader (.pdf/47KB)
• Sample Student Responses (.pdf/3.65MB)
• Scoring Commentary (.pdf/50KB)

An additional sample synthesis essay question is provided here.

• AP English Language and Composition Synthesis Essay #2 (.pdf/338KB)

AP ® Lang teachers: looking to help your students improve their rhetorical analysis essays?

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clear, concise rhetorical analysis instruction.

Is AP Lang Worth It?

September 3, 2022 by Beth Hall

One of the most common questions I received over on TikTok this summer was “Is AP Lang worth it?” 

The answer is “it depends.”

As someone who teaches both AP ® Language and Composition and College English (concurrent credit,) I think students need to consider a variety of factors before making this decision.

First and foremost, know that much of what I’m about to say depends on your interests/goals, the high school you attend, the state you live in, and where you want to attend college.

What is AP Lang?

For more information about the class, check out this video here . AP ® Language and Composition is a course offered through The College Board. Students have the option of taking an exam in May. Depending on the score they receive, students can earn college credit. More information on that to follow.

What is concurrent credit?

This term might vary a bit depending on where you live, but for the purposes of this blog post, concurrent credit means a college level class taught at a high school. Students receive both high school and college credit. The college credit often comes from a local college or community college and can transfer to other colleges. More information on this to follow as well.

What is dual enrollment?

Again, this term might very in its meaning depending on your school, but for the purposes of this blog post, dual enrollment is when you take an AP ® class and receive college credit from a local university at the same time.

 Availability

In some sense, students are limited to which classes their high school offers. Your school might have more AP ® options than concurrent credit options, or vice versa. Some concurrent credit programs will let students take classes over the summer or online of the school does not offer the class, so definitely talk to your guidance counselor about your options.

Generally speaking, both AP ® exams and concurrent credit classes are less expensive than taking the classes as a college freshman. In that sense, both can be great options.

If cost is a factor, look into the cost of the AP ® exam fee and compare it to the cost of an equivalent concurrent credit class.

There are a few states, mine is one of them, where the state department of education covers the AP ® exam fee for students. Also, in our area, students who qualify for free and reduced lunch can take a couple concurrent credit classes at no cost. Sometimes there are also scholarship options for concurrent credit students. Because this varies from school to school and state to state, talk to your teachers or guidance counselors, as they would likely be able to advise you based on the options in your area.

College Credit

Colleges and universities determine what they will accept for credit, so if you have an idea of which schools you might apply to, see which AP scores they accept and what their concurrent credit policy is. This information is typically on the college or university’s website.

College Credit for AP ® Classes

In regard to AP ® classes, one of the perks is that they are widely accepted for college credit, meaning that if you earn the score the school accepts, it is accepted in place of a college class. If you enter college with multiple AP ® or concurrent credits, you are (in theory) saving money, as you could graduate in 2-3 years instead of 4.

As a word of caution, though, college is a big adjustment, and sometimes “testing out” of several classes, whether it be because of AP ® or concurrent credit, can mean that you end up taking several difficult classes as a freshman–all while you’re adjusting to college life. For some people, this is an easy adjustment. For others, it is a challenge.

The downside of AP ® scores is that you might not earn the score you need. In these instances, I can see how it would be easy to think, “oh man, it was a waste.” But, don’t forget that you are a stronger student because of what you learned in the class. So when asked if AP Lang is worth it even if you don’t make the score you want, I think it is. Honestly, out all the AP ® and concurrent credit options out there, I think AP Lang and College English I (sometimes called Comp. I) are worth it because they reinforce how to read and write about nonfiction, a skill that most students will use in their future classes.

College Credit for Concurrent Credit Classes

With concurrent credit classes, it’s important to realize that in some cases private colleges and out-of-state schools are less likely to accept the concurrent credit. While I know of cases where a student attended a private college or out-of-state college and the schools accepted the concurrent credit, I know cases in which the school did not accept the credit. Just as with a school not accepting an AP ® score, I’d venture to say that the student still gained valuable knowledge from the concurrent credit class even if the credit didn’t transfer.

Moral of the story? Do your research.

Make a spreadsheet of the colleges you’re interested in and keep track of the AP and concurrent credit policies. This will help you make an informed decision once you start applying to colleges and receiving acceptance letters.

For more information about how to make a college list, check out this video here.

This is another factor that varies from school to school. Many schools give a “GPA boost” (5.0 scale) for completing an AP ® class. Schools may or may not give the same GPA boost for concurrent credit or dual enrollment classes.

Is AP Lang Hard?

In addition to being asked “is AP Lang worth it,” I’m also frequently asked if “is AP Lang hard.”

This depends on a variety of factors:

• your interest in English, especially nonfiction
• the classes you have previously taken on will be taking at the same time as AP Lang
• your teacher
• your learning style
• your other commitments (school, family, job, etc.)
• the class content and workload

I love that AP ® Lang focuses on rhetorical analysis, synthesis, and argument, as these are valuable skills. I also love that students are exposed to these skills in different ways throughout the year, as I believe these skills are valuable well beyond the class itself.

Want to know more? Check out this blog post about what is on the AP ® Lang Exam.

So is AP ® Lang hard? Maybe. But one of my goals is to try to make it a little easier for students, which is why I started my YouTube channel and TikTok .

Final Recommendations

When deciding “is AP Lang worth it,” make an informed decision by

• Doing your research to see what all your course options are
• Talking to your teachers, guidance counselors, parents/guardians, and students who have taken the classes at your school in previous years–while it should be your decision, sometimes it’s good to hear other people’s perspectives.
• Making a spreadsheet, t-chart, or list to compare the cost and credits accepted

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with The College Board. The advice and opinions expressed in this video are my own.

For more information about AP ® Language and Composition, please go to The College Board’s website, which can be accessed here.

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