AP Writing Gateway Page

CLOSE READING: Refer to this page often, frequently, continually

Literature Exam

Writing Prompts:

Poetry Explication

Character Analysis

Open-ended ("significant to the work as a whole")

Composition Exam

Writing Prompts

Synthesis Essay

Rhetorical analysis 

Argument Analysis / Persuasive Essay

Essays for analysis

• "Consider the Lobster" at http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider_the_lobster?currentPage=1
• ""On Laziness" at http://essays.quotidiana.org/morley/laziness/
• "Of Cannibals" at http://essays.quotidiana.org/montaigne/cannibals/
• "The Pleasure of Hating" at http://essays.quotidiana.org/hazlitt/pleasure_of_hating/

THESIS STATEMENTS AND TOPIC SENTENCES

Thesis statements are:

• argumentative
• text-rooted
• sensitive to the surprising, the ironic, the unexpected, the problematical

When drafting a thesis, ask:

• Why?
• How?
• What's surprising? 
• What's unexpected?
• What's causing a problem? 

Thoughts on Thesis Statements from College Professors: 

"Five Ways of Looking at a Thesis," by Professor Simpson at Grinell College (Iowa)

"Getting an A on an English Paper," by Professor Lynch at Rutgers

"Writing A Thesis," by Professor Barsanti at Penn