The American Experience

As the second quarter of AP Lang finally comes to a close, my thoughts on the "American experience" have changed. But first, what does the American experience actually mean? Some may confuse it with the American dream, but is it possible to have a collective American experience? Does the American experience even exist? It seems quite ridiculous, to imagine that everyone in the United States experiences the same events with the same reactions. In fact, no one person will ever experience something in the same way as another, regardless of how alike they are. However, the key word to the American Experience is collective. While most people disregard the concept of an American Experience solely on the fact that everyone does not experience uniformly, it does not necessarily mean that the American experience is nonexistent. To determine what the American Experience is, means to define what the collective atmosphere of a certain time period for the majority of the American population was or is.

I originally thought that the American experience was characterized by hardships, the ability to overcome, and the ability to progress. Certainly, these characteristics can still be applied in today's world, but is it truly the experience for the majority of Americans in contemporary society? Considering that the majority of the population is of middle class (something I had not taken into account before), it seems that my original idea of the American experience must change. As a part of this majority, I see the American experience as a kind of entitlement and comfort. Despite the ongoing economic recession, we still seem to have enough money to buy the latest iPad or the newest Ugg boots. We have become more immune to the notion that we live in the land of milk and honey, which isn't necessarily false. But, can you imagine a life without your cell phone or laptop? Probably not. It's not just the notion of entitlement that characterizes the American experience, but the things we think we are entitled to. We have come to think that the soap we discard in hotel bathrooms are worthless, but in actuality, there are people on the other side of the world who can't even imagine what soap smells like. They don't have the luxury of using soap. When we think about the term: luxury, images of driving an expensive car come to mind. America has raised the standards so that the necessities in life are merely the bare minimum while the luxuries are merely the standard. Even the 99% that many people fight for in the Occupy Wall Street Movements are far better off than most people in the world. When people say "having an iPhone is a necessity", it becomes evident that today's collective American experience is epitomized by entitlement and comfort.

TOP 5 LIST: Things an AP Language and Composition Student Should Know

(This list will guide you to success! - and hopefully help you avoid becoming this guy)

1. Time Management 
Time management is a pretty big deal in AP Lang. There is going to be a lot of graded assessments that will be time constrained. So, the more comfortable you are under the clock, the better you'll be prepared for the class.


My first experience with time management in this class was the AP-Language Salt Argumentation Timed Writing. Timed writings aren't usually too bad, but this essay was just... DREADFUL. Maybe you're thinking that I'm just a bad writer (that is true in some cases), but my insufficient practice with time management was ultimately the cause of my downfall.


Just for you curious students, here's the prompt:

"In his recent book, Salt, Mark Kulansky states 'In every age, people are certain that only the things they have deemed valuable have true value' (13). In a well-written essay, develop a position on Kurlansky's argument about value."

I had 45 minutes to write this essay and it seemed reasonable, but once I started writing, it seemed that the likelihood of me handing in a quality paper that included insightful analysis, deep commentary, and an overall persuasive argument began to diminish with each tick of the clock. I ended up spending most of my time writing the thesis and first body paragraph, leaving me with a little less than 10 minutes to write the rest of my essay. My conclusion ended up being one sentence that weakly summed up my main argument. 

In essence, it was like someone telling you, an inexperienced climber, to scale Mount Everest. Now, at first you think can actually make it to the summit. After all, your mom always told you that "you can achieve anything as long as you set your mind to it!" However, as you make you way ten feet up, the challenge of climbing Mount Everest dawns upon you. You start to tense up, sweat (as if you aren't already), and maybe pull out some hair before you realize that you can't possibly make it to the top without falling off the mountain - you ultimately lack the skills to reach the summit. It's okay to fall of the mountain the first time, just like it's okay to not be entirely ready for a timed writing. But the next time you climb Everest, learn the necessary skills, which is to be bright enough to pay for a helicopter ride to reach the top. Similarly, learn the necessary skill of time management to achieve success in AP Lang.

Don't worry... You will have lots of practice!

and more practice!

and even more practice!

until a point where you might explode from all the practice!

*Note: If you don't believe that a helicopter can fly to the top of Mount Everest, check this website out: http://www.greatoutdoors.com/published/helicopter-on-everest-makes-history


2. Know Your Vocabulary of Rhetoric & Argumentation

Your first quarter of AP Lang will be vocabulary intesive. There really isn't any way of getting around the vocabulary...considering that the quizzes count as "major assessments". More importantly, the vocabulary serves as the necessary and ultimate tool for just about everything you do in this class, which includes: argumentation essays, rhetorical analysis essays, synthesis essays, compare and contrast essays, contextualization, annotations, AP multiple choice assesments, etc. (the list can go on forever).

Imagine you're a caveman or cavewomen. To survive, you must use the resources around you to fulfill your basic needs of water, shelter, and hunger. These resources can be trees, berries, rivers, even mammoths. Now all these things can certainly sustain your basic needs - trees for firewood and shelter; berries and mammoths for food; and a river for water. But how are you going to get a hold of these resources? Hypothetically, you could obtain some of these things without anything, but your hands and instincts. However, having a saw, a spear, a basket, or even a pot would certainly make your life substantially easier.

This is when vocabulary comes in to play. Vocabulary is the saw, spear, basket, and pot to your survival. Without these things, you have a much larger and more likely possibility of dehydration, starvation, and hypothermia, which will ultimately result in death, or in AP Lang's case - failure. But don't worry! It's nearly impossible not to learn the vocabulary unless you absolutely ignore it.

Here's a sample of the "monster" vocabulary packet we use in class

Most of you are probably thinking that learning vocabulary is pretty easy. After all, you technically could just memorize the set of words 5 minutes before class. That may be true, but most of the vocabulary will be used in context! This means that you'll be given an excerpt from some random piece of writing and be expected to identify what rhetorical term it is. Not too bad, right? WRONG. As you all know, English is never black and white - there's always different shades, which means there rarely is a definite answer. So, not only is it necessary to know your vocabulary, but to also apply your vocabulary. By applying the vocabulary of rhetoric modes, devices, and stratagies, you'll be able to understand the author's main argumemt, how texts are constructed, and how ideas and evidence are used to create meaning!

This is the type of format I was talking about. There's more application of the vocabulary words, it's not just mere memorization. 

So, how do you study to apply your vocabulary? In my class, we have this thing called Rhetoric Alert! The main objective is to find examples of rhetoric/argumentative vocabulary in everyday life and bring it in to class and present it. It's more fun than it sounds, especially when you need a good laugh. Here's a glimpse of what Rhetoric Alert! really is:

Logical Fallacy

Slippery Slope: predicting without justification that one step in a process will lead unavoidable to to a second, generally undesirable step.

So even when you are watching TV on the couch, you can apply the vocabulary you learned. It's a win-win situation! (You'll soon find out that rhetoric is EVERYWHERE)

3. A Unique Opinion 
AP Lang is all about having a unique opinion. Most of the time, the person who's going to read your essays won't be interested if you write the same thing that everyone else is thinking. Be fun, creative, and think outside the box! 

DUCK OR RABBIT?

It's something like this: Is it a duck or a rabbit? Most people will probably say it's a duck, rabbit, or both. But, what if you said the amusing illusion was actually an epitome for the growing need of entertainment in society? Or maybe, it symbolizes the hazardous effects of entertainment on society - in which society is too preoccupied with trivial matters (such as deciding whether this picture is a duck or a rabbit).


Having a unique opinion on things makes your writing so much more INTERESTING and more PERSUASIVE! It wasn't until today, when I started talking about my opinion on the "What is the American Experience?" with my classmates. A lot of people talked about the American Experience as optimism or the overcoming of hardship. These ideas were very common and somewhat true, but I wasn't truly fascinated until one of my classmates told me her unique opinion about the American Experience. Instead of using typical overused opinions, she thinks that the "American Experience" doesn't actually exist mainly because it's ridiculous to think that everyone in America experiences the same thing in the same way. Everyone's experiences will always be different, no matter how alike the individual can be. 

Lesson learned: You can always write a well-written paper, but its a unique opinion that makes it more memorable and all the more enjoyable. So, don't use a drab, cliche idea and call it your opinion. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!

4. Independent motivation

One of the biggest shifts from 10th grade English to AP Lang is independent motivation. The teacher won't be "holding your hand" this time around. Most of the work is expected to be done on your own time which means more homework! A lot of the assignments are going to be worksheets known as "SOAPTIME" or "break it down and spins" or "QEJ's" which serve as help to determine the main idea, purpose, perspective, and not to mention rhetorical analysis of a text. Don't frantically try to scribble down random words on these assignments and turn them in thinking they'll get graded for completion. The reality is that most of these assignments are going to be graded on quality. This means that you should be motivated by the fact of actually learning the material rather than getting an "A." What matters most is how well you understand and apply the material for the AP Language and Composition Exam. 

QEJ - Quadruple Entry Journal

SOAPTIME

Break it Down and Spin

Don't rely too much on the teacher - you are responsible for your work! Don't wait until the night before to read The Life and Narrative of Frederick Douglass. Plan your assignments routinely because your teacher won't be checking up on you every time he/she sees you. 

5. Critical Thinking

In preparation for the AP Language and Composition Exam, critical thinking is one of the most important skills you need to develop (it's almost like a super power). So, what is critical thinking? Dictionary.com defines it as "the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion." In other words, use your knowledge and try to pick the right answer. Critical thinking will be essential for your AP multiple choice. At the very least, the AP multiple choice will be difficult. Each question has five choices. While most choice are true, the problem is finding the best, possible choice. Don't be discouraged if you get a low grades for these assessments. The more practice, the better you'll be at identifying, contextualizing, and analyzing!

Practice, Practice, Practice! 

If you read all of this, good for you! Keep these 5 things in mind and you'll do great in AP Lang! 

You can do it!

Hello!

Hi future AP Lang students! 
This is a resource for you to get a little more acquainted with the class through my rundown of the 5 most important things you should know about AP Lang. If you’re on the fence on whether or not you should take this class, you definitely should! It’s fun, enriching and at times, a pain in the butt. As a current AP Lang student, I can say that this class has continuously entertained me with the free flow of thought-provoking and humorous opinions of my classmates (there rarely is a dull moment in this class). However, AP Lang isn’t all fun and games. You’ll have to develop and learn the necessary skills in order to keep up with the expectations and workload of analyzing, augmenting and contextualizing a myriad expanse of writings.