Test Preparation Services (TPS)
Information on Tips for success in the AP Literature & Composition exam in Ottawa and Gatineau.
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TPS - AP Literature & Composition & AP
Language & Composition Tips
Sources for Tips and Free Practice
One has to understand that although TPS concentrates on the English exams there are many other AP exams so you need to specify that you are interested not just in AP English but specifying whether you are interested in the AP literature & composition or AP Language & Composition exam. The first most obvious place to look for free practice is the official site There is an impressive menu of links to free AP online practice exams but also other resources. Another site called High School Test Prep. They are not as good as the official site practice exams (most students believe they are a bit easier but they are good for additional practice if you have done all the free ones from the official site. If you seek more, go into the website called "Hack Your Course", which essentially lists all the sites that offer free resources.
When searching for videos, remember that you need to know whether the video is dealing with the Literature or Language course. Essentially AP literature deals with fiction analysis and AP Language deals with rhetorical and non-fiction analysis. Avoid catchy phrase videos with huge headlines and comical looking presenters. Often they promote strategies that are iether very obvious, waste your time or can even slow you down on an exam
For YouTube videos on Language & Composition, I find the most reasonable one is done by Educator.com. I particularly like their video on the argumentative essay. For Literature & Composition I like the one doe by The Princeton Review. It's a bit goofy in tone but the 7 concepts they outline are reasonable. It is 7 not 9 concepts. The title image below is in error.
When searching for videos, remember that you need to know whether the video is dealing with the Literature or Language course. Essentially AP literature deals with fiction analysis and AP Language deals with rhetorical and non-fiction analysis. Avoid catchy phrase videos with huge headlines and comical looking presenters. Often they promote strategies that are iether very obvious, waste your time or can even slow you down on an exam
For YouTube videos on Language & Composition, I find the most reasonable one is done by Educator.com. I particularly like their video on the argumentative essay. For Literature & Composition I like the one doe by The Princeton Review. It's a bit goofy in tone but the 7 concepts they outline are reasonable. It is 7 not 9 concepts. The title image below is in error.
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TPS AP TIPS
TPS gives some tips of its own - ones that are used with students. I will try to give as many as I can and eventually archive them in my blog.
TPS AP Lit & Comp Tip #2: General
Setting Measurable Goals
Reading
Committing to memory is not just about reciting or being familiar with the meaning. Aim for working memory retention. I will in future posts, explain how to go from short term memory to long term memory top what we call automatic – which involves, unfortunately, quite a number of cognitive processes.
In this area, it is important to be practical. You cannot hope to build reading skills by relying on translation for every 2 or 3 words and trying to improve reading skills and vocabulary retention at the same time can be very taxing on the brain. Work on the easier passages in the beginning so that you can free yourself to concentrate on actual reading skills rather than being preoccupied with word meaning. Make sure that the reading passages you choose are more than 50% understandable and you shouldn’t have to look up in the dictionary more than 7 words per page.
For the words you do not understand, work at either
1. Ignoring the word
2. Guessing the word in context
3. Using features of the work to guess meaning
Read more tips at the AP Blog
Committing to memory is not just about reciting or being familiar with the meaning. Aim for working memory retention. I will in future posts, explain how to go from short term memory to long term memory top what we call automatic – which involves, unfortunately, quite a number of cognitive processes.
In this area, it is important to be practical. You cannot hope to build reading skills by relying on translation for every 2 or 3 words and trying to improve reading skills and vocabulary retention at the same time can be very taxing on the brain. Work on the easier passages in the beginning so that you can free yourself to concentrate on actual reading skills rather than being preoccupied with word meaning. Make sure that the reading passages you choose are more than 50% understandable and you shouldn’t have to look up in the dictionary more than 7 words per page.
For the words you do not understand, work at either
1. Ignoring the word
2. Guessing the word in context
3. Using features of the work to guess meaning
Read more tips at the AP Blog