AP Lang Final Blog

Finally, we are moving on from Rhetorical Analysis, to Argument. Yes, I had to drive to Staples, in my pajama pants covered in cats, and my father's XL men's hoodie (stained of course), to get a new binder because my old one ripped in half! And right after I thought that nothing could get any worse than the reading sheets, the Multiple Choice Assignment popped up in our wonderful little lives. These were daunting pf course, everything was in this class. I had however learned from the mistakes that I had made with the reading sheets, and I tackled these. Some things that I had learned from doing these assignments was that to get them done with the least amount of stress possible, was to conquer them early, and finish them before you start any of your other homework. Along with these assignments came the Multiple Choice quizzes that we had to take the day after the homework assignemnt to see whether or not the reading sheets helped our scores. These were at least 6 pages...

No one thinks to themselves and ponders upon their love for homework, exciting to sit down for countless hours doing work that you have no desire to do. I for one had a special hatred for homework, having to come from practice, and then work just to sit down, sweaty, tired, and hungry to learn about palabras or WWII. But something about reading sheets, oh boy those really, really got to me. The reading sheet, my arch nemesis, a page filled, front and back of boxes that daunted my OCD. Wanting my handwriting to perfectly cover the entirety of the box, written neatly. You read the passage, the filled in the questions that each box asked, such as what "tone" did the author use, and what was the overall message that the author is attempting to express to the audience.  As I sat in my room reading these questions, I would literally say outloud to myself (and soemtimes my dog), "I don't know", over and over until a tear shed down my face and I realized that I was b...

If you told me one year ago that I would not only know what ethos, logos, and pathos were, never mind be able point out where they are used in a passage written by some old guy talking about wars, or voyages across the sea, excuse my French but I would think that you are bat shit crazy. Ahhhh, the good old Rhetorical Analysis, well now after completing the course of AP Lang I can, and probably have written them in my sleep. I'm not gonna lie and say that the first time I was taught the "RA" I grasped it immediately, it took many, and many, and I mean MANY tries to get it down pact. My first semi-decent good grade on a rhetorical analysis was on my Banneker piece, where I received a 6 out of 9. Reading the analysis over right now, I can guarantee Ms. McMahon was being a tad bit generous by handing me the 84.  Lets go back to the beginning though, the first week in good ole' AP Language and Composition. Ms. McMahon entered the room and started saying phrases and vo...

The amount of warnings that I had received during the summer going into my Junior Year was daunting. My friends and siblings asking me why I would take such a difficult class in the year when my grades mattered the most. To say that I was intimidated was an extreme understatement (hah get it), and to say that I had never thought about emailing my guidance counselor and requesting to change my class decision to an easier class would be a lie. Many of my friends, who are a year above me, apart of the graduating class of 2019 always expressed not only how happy they were that they took the class, but also how amazed they were at the personal growth that they had endured. As I listened to their thoughts of AP Language and Composition I thought to myself if I was up for the task, and if I was smart enough to go through such a demanding curriculum. Then came the discussions I had about Ms. McMahon. Ms. McMahon was, to me, one of those teachers where you could walk into their classroom'...