AP Language & Composition

I... think how hard the class is depends on the teacher. For instance, my teacher gives insane terrible tests that no one can possibly understand or pass because she is the biggest ditz ever (example of a question on the test: Hint hint. The answer was connotation. Umm.) Not saying a 95 percent isn't you know, really good- it is, and I'm sure you've had to work hard, but this class can never be the same across all levels so a 95 percent at one place may not be possible in another class, just due to differences in teachers.

And also, just because a book is long does not necessarily make it better. I liked Of Mice and Men a LOT more than Grapes of Wrath- I despised Grapes. I think what is considered a good, or 'AP' book is the amount of symbolism and foreshadowing behind it and how much you can take out of the context. It doesn't need to be long necessarily. Not that I'm calling it an AP book or anything, but I can dissect the HELL out of Harry Potter. I think it really depends on the amount of material you have to work with, and that doesn't mean length, it means... deepness of plot for lack of a better explanation.

I dunno.

Currently I am taking AP Comp. and Lang. I felt that was easy although our teacher is a psycho rhetoric whore. However, we have only read a few books, as our teacher sees this class as more composition/language, than reading. We read not to write, but to analyze and read for rhetoric. So, there is the possibility that your class may be less similar to others and more similar to mine.

On a side note: mora_christy
I just wanted to point out that you have many flaws in your writing: such as first of all, your lack of punctuatio; leaving you with many syntactical and grammatical errors. Your spelling is also atrocious, for example: "writters" should be 'writers', "bbok" should be 'book', "which is a over" should be 'which is an over', "concreat" should be 'concrete', "commentarys" should be 'commentaries', and lastly, "liturature" should be 'literature' (hopefully you know this prior to joining AP Literature, that is, if you plan on doing so).

I just wanted to points these flaws out to example how different classes and teachers expect different criteria from their students. So, it would be in your best interest to either talk to student, at your school, whom have previously taken the course, or directly to your future AP English teacher.
Good luck getting into Berkeley!

Hey!

I feel the same way as you about my performance in English classes.

For my summer reading program we have to read East of Eden and a misc. book of our choice from a book list and annotate them.

~D

Hey BerkeleyBound! Hope I'm not too late to help out.
I just graduated from Berkeley with a comp. lit. degree, and if I could go back and do it all over again, this is the website I'd use to help me out: http://www.shmoop.com/literature/
It only went public like two months ago and it's still in beta mode, but even at this stage it totally blows the competition out of the water. Not only that, but the writers are actually really funny and compelling. Check it out! I think it could really help you with your AP English class.

Hey Berkeley Bound,
Don't worry too much about AP Comp. and Lang. I am taking it this year as a junior and it is fairly easy. There is A LOT of reading in my class, and analyzing the text. I guess the level of difficulty is the dertermining factor of the class. My class is super easy for me, but i feel that a harder teacher will help prepare for the AP Test a lot more.

Do it. My teacher is great, but AP Lang consists of the following

REALLY confusing (not SAT simple reading) reading comprehension (serious college level, making deep notions about the purpose of writing our using seriously colorful language to describe something. Personally, it all sounds mostly ridiculous, like eviscerating Cat in the Hat. There's not that deep of a meaning! COME ON!)

and Essays (synthesis, which is basically like a DBQ), argumentative, and analyze. If you're not used to really analyzing during essays, train yourself to consciously do so. Ex: The author used this word to portray his anger against the establishment, and it seems to have been very effective in its attack.

That's what I've noticed.

Oh, for Of Mice and Men its a good read. You'll feel sad for the big guy and maybe hate someone in the book. haha, the movie makes it even more obvious and realistic.

I can understand what you want to discuss here and I think AP English Language & Composition Exam is three hours and fifteen minutes long and consists of two parts. In Part I, students will receive one hour approximately 55 multiple-choice questions. In Part II, after fifteen minutes reading period, students must answer three free-response questions within two hours. The multiple-choice questions test how well students are able to analyze the rhetoric of prose passages.

yeah, I'm going to have to disagree with you, mora. Any book can be at AP level, depending on how in depth you go with it. For my summer reading, I had to read Dante's Divine Comedy, Beowulf, The Grapes of Wrath, and A Farewell to Arms, to name a few.

I am currently in this class too but I have noticed that I am different than most who have posted here. I am in this class as a sophomore but I feel like it is not "too" hard. It is however the hardest English class I have ever taken and the transition was pretty brutal. I went from honors English 9 straight to reading four books in one summer for an AP class with kids 1-2 years ahead of me (juniors and seniors). My advice so far would be read, read, read, even if the books are not that interesting. On a side note, can someone give me a rundown of the AP exam if you have already taken it. Thanks!