AP English Language Companion Journal Study Guide
Shakespearean Comedy
* A Shakespearean comedy is Midsummer Night's Dream, in which Theseus, the Duke of Athens, is planning his marriage with Hippolyta, and due to that, he is planning a large festival. * Hermia and Lysander are in love, which is forbidden due to her hand in marriage being promised to Demetrius. * They decide to escape in order to be able to marry for love, and a series of comedic scenes occur.
Complex Sentence
* A complex sentence has an independent clause and at least one dependent clause. * An example would be "When the cake is brown, take it out of the oven."
Compound-Complex Sentence
* A compound-complex sentence has two or more independent clauses and one or more independent clause. * An example would be "Though Tom enjoys watching action films, he instead rented the romantic film, and ended up enjoying it very much."
Diction (Euphemistic)
* Euphemistic diction refers to the author's choice of words in which polite expressions are used instead of their truthful, and sometimes harsh truths. * An example would include "Thomas's grandfather recently passed away after a difficult battle with cancer. * He was a differently-abled man yet always managed to trudge through life with a smile on his face." @ The "passing away" is a polite way of saying died, as well as differently-abled meaning disabled.
Simple Sentence
A sentence consisting of only one clause, with a single subject and predicate. An example would be "Tom reads newspapers."
Define GOPHERS and how it can be used?
GOPHERS stands for * Government (and current events) * Observations * Philosophy and psychology * History * Entertainment (and pop culture) * Reading * Science (and technology) respectively. - * GOPHERS can be used to develop and support one's argument, as well as display one's accumulated knowledge in an argumentative prompt * -
Fancy Words
Examples: * To have clandestine organizations secretly controlling our world, just like puppeteers controlling their puppets, is a calamitous event (Page 44). * It is about time that we demystified the Bermuda Triangle and research what it truly is (Page 45).
Define the acronym S.E.A.L.
S.E.A.L respectively stands for: * Symbolism * Exaggeration * Analogy * Labeling
Define Satire.
Satire is defined as the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule in order to expose people's and/or society's vices and flaws, especially in the context of contemporary politics as well as other contemporary issues. J
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale
* Follows the life of Janie Crawford, who is a girl of mixed heritage, both black and white. * As a child, Janie saw a bee pollinating a flower in her backyard pear tree and decides that she would one day pursue true love. * The novel then documents her emotional growth and heartbreak through the experience of three marriages. * In Janie's first marriage, arranged by her grandmother, Nanny, she becomes chafed under an uninspired but reliable husband Logan. * After having left her abusive husband, she moves onto her second husband, who is the ambitious Joe Starks. * Despite living the high life, she is placed into a marriage which has very rigid barriers regarding what a woman can do. * After Joe's death, she meets a fun-loving vagrant named Tea Cake, and she finally finds happiness mingling with the migrant workers alongside Tea Cake, who ends up getting rabies and shot by Janine.
Frederick Douglass
* Frederick Douglass was born into slavery at about 1818, in Talbot County. * Despite his unfortunate upbringing, he became one of the most respected intellectuals and abolitionists of his time, and helped advise multiple presidents regarding the treatment of African Americans in the United States. * His most famous work was the autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, in which he depicted the cruelty of slavery and the horrors its' victims must endure. * He also gave lectures across the country, which attracted crowds of thousands, regarding slavery and women's rights (Page 53).
Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
* Hester Orynnne recently had a baby, however, she is also imprisoned after being forced to wear an "A" to mark her as an adulteress (which is someone who has had relations outside of their marriage). * Hester's husband returns home under an alias, Roger Chillingworth, and is desperately searching for her lover. * It was discovered that Arthur Dimmesdale is Hester's lover, and her husband ended up harassing this man for over seven ears. * Arthur gradually feels extremely guilty for his sin, developing a red mark which he showed to the entire town before dying. * Hester's husband then dies and leaves a large sum of money to Pearl so that she and Hester can head back to England after leaving the colony.
The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald
* In the Great Gatsby, a very complicated situation arrives as Nick comes to New York, where his cousin Daisy resides. * However, Tom, a man Daisy is in a relationship with, is cheating on her with a woman named Myrtle Wilson. * Nick's neighbor, by the name of Gatsby, befriends Nick on the basis of wanting to get closer to Daisy rather than an interest in friendship in the first place. * Tom and Gatsby end up fighting over Daisy, while Daisy ends up running Myrtle over with a car belong to Gatsby. * However, George, who is actually Myrtle's husband, believes that it was Gatsby who ran his wife over, and ended up killing Gatsby, then himself shortly afterwards. * This novel seeks to show the idiosyncrasies of humanity, as well as the issues that arise due to lack of loyalty when one is married or in a relationship.
Johnathan Swift
* Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, 1667, and is an Irish author, clergyman, and satirist. * He received a bachelor's degree from Trinity College, going on to work as a statemena's assistant. * Then became the dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, and most of his writings were published under pseudonyms (Page 54).
Mark Twain
* Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri, as Samuel L. Clemens. * He authored the two major classics, which are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both depicting a comedic and satirical style of writing, yet reflect upon deep and important issues in society, such as slavery. * Twain was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, and entrepreneur (Page 54).
IMPORTANT ABBREVIATIONS
* NRA: The NRA stands for the National Rifle Association, and is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun rights in the United States, which was founded in 1871. * EPA: The EPA stands for the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which was established by President Richard Nixon as an independent agency of the United States government for environmental protection. * PETA: PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and is an American animal rights organization. * NAFTA: NAFTA stands for the North American Free Trade Agreement. * WHO: WHO stands for the World Health Organization, which is used to direct international health concerns and lead partners when health crises arrive. * CDC: The CDC stands for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with a main goal of protecting public health and safety.
Shakespearean Tragedy
* One of Shakespeare's tragedies, Romeo and Juliet, takes place in Verona, Italy, where an ongoing feud between the Montague and Capulet families take place. * However, the two children from those families fell in love, in an ill-fated and starstruck love story which ended with the two of them dead due to unfortunate circumstances which played out. * Romeo and Juliet attempted various ways in order to be able to pursue their love for each other, however, they ended up becoming the iconic "star-crossed" lovers who met unfortunate endings. * Their deaths made their families realize that such a tragic feud must end with them.
Mary Wollstonecraft
* One of the most notable feminist writers and intellectuals of her time, and was born on April 27, 1759, in London. * Unfortunately brought up by an abusive father, and left home, dedicating herself to a life of writing and advocating for women's rights. * Her most famous and notable work was A Vindication of the Rights of Women, which was a radical text and served as a rebellion against all of the discrimination and prejudice women experienced during the time (Page 54).
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
* Oscar Wilde mocks the social practices and issues of the Victorian time period, in a satirical and amusing manner. * Mocks the extreme rigid and specific way in which those in this society are expected to behave. * During this period, marriage was seen and was simply a transaction between two families in order to establish, further, or maintain the power and financial status they had, as well as a way of suppressing and controlling unnatural urges such as homosexuality. * The characters in this writing piece simply end up together due to their economic status and the financial gains they will receive from each other. * * This also mocked the fact that women were only interested in the fact that a man's name was "Ernest," indicating that he was wealthy and successful in society rather than marrying him based upon his character or other attributes.
Plato
* Plato was a student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle. * The topics covered in his writings are justice, beauty, equality, amongst political philosophy, theology, and cosmology. * He was a philosopher in Classical Greece, as well as the founder of the Academy in Athens.
Allegory of the Cove by Plato
* Plato, a philosopher that lived in Ancient Greece, developed the notion of conformity and apathy towards being comfortable and knowing the truth in the world. * Plato believes that the majority of human beings would rather accept the truth presented to them by the society surrounding them rather than digging deeper and finding the truth for themselves, as such an action is perceived to be human nature, according to Plato. * He also believes that the pacific nature of human beings cause them to not question authority and find the easiest opinion to follow, because it is much more difficult to challenge authority and find their own truth than follow the conventional beliefs.
Shakespearean History
* Shakespeare's history play, Henry V covers events during the Hundred Years' War, which was immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt. * Henry then becomes king, in which he also considered making a claim for France, along with England. * He also considers the heavy responsibilities of kingship after having toured his men's camp in disguise.
Give a brief overview of the AP Language exam and format.
* The AP Language and Composition Exam consists of two parts: multiple choice questions and the writing portion. * Given one hour to complete the multiple choice and two hours and fifteen minutes to complete the written exam which consists of three essays: * Rhetorical analysis, synthesis, argument.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
* The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, through a series of unfortunate events and blame between girls and an African American slave named Tituba. * In the home of Reverend Parris, his daughter, Betty is extremely ill. The night before, the reverend discovered Betty, his niece Abigail, and Tituba dancing in the woods, which he believes is a ritual of witchcraft. * Abigail then threatens the other girls if they were to confess that she drank blood in order to cast a curse upon Goody Proctor. * Reverend Hale arrives in order to investigate these strange happenings, summoned as an expert in witchcraft by the townspeople. * Abigail then blames Tituba for enticing her to sin by performing witchcraft. * It was discovered that Mary Warren was pregnant, and blamed other girls as well as told others that she could see spirits.
List the nine modes of discourse (composition) and define each in 5 words or less.
* The first mode of discourse is narration, which is essentially telling a story. * Moving onto the second, description, which is telling a story using senses. * The third is process analysis, which is explaining by steps. * The fourth, argumentation, which uses examples to argue. * The fifth is comparison and contrasting, which highlights similarities and differences. * The sixth is classification and division, which sorts things into categories. * The seventh is definition, which explains what something means. * The eighth is cause and effect, which explains what causes the other. * The ninth and final mode of discourse is exposition, which explains or informs the reader (Pages 21 - 25).
1984 by George Orwell
* The novel begins with Winston Smith being a member of the Outer Party, becoming disillusioned with the society around him being filled with large telescreens watching him. * One day, he decides to start a diary, determined to maintain his individuality and humanity in an inhumane world. * He falls in love with a woman, Julia, and despite knowing that they will be caught by the Party, or Big Brother, they continue their relationship. * They confess their love for each other to O'Brien, who they perceived to be an enemy of the Party, and he gives them a treasonous book named "The Book," written by their leader by the name of Emmanuel Goldstein. * However, O'Brien ended up torturing Winston for months, and he comes out a changed man, as well as Julia changing in his mind as well.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
* The story begins with the mischievous Tom Sawyer, who lives with his aunt Polly and half-brother, Sid, in the town of St.Petersburg's near the Mississippi River. * Tom cleverly evades doing the chores he had to do as punishment for dirtying his clothes while playing hooky one afternoon by trading with his friends small treasures in order to escape the chores. * One day, he then witnesses the murder of Dr. Robinson by the hands of Injun Joe, who ends up blaming Muff Potter for his crime. * The boys then run away to become pirates and enjoy their newfound freedom, at the dismay of those who are searching for their bodies. * Overcome with guilt, they return while Tom had the brilliant idea of surprising everyone with his return at the funeral. He then confessed against Injun Joe at Muff Potter's murder trial.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
* This novel is split into four separate sections, all having to due with Asian culture. * The first section speaks of An-Mei Hsu's remembrance of her mother scarring her own flesh, due to tradition. * The second section speaks of Lindo Jong, a girl forced into marriage, using superstition to escape it. * The third section was Ying-Ying St. Claire's description of how she was separated from her family as a little girl at the Moon Festival. Lena St. * Clair recalls wishing that she was able to bring Ying-Ying back from catastrophic depression. * It was simply the interconnection of these characters' lives and how they relate to each other.
Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft
* This was a treatise in which women can take in order to overcome the oppression placed upon them by society. * Therefore, due to the lack of education society forces upon women, they are then forced to prioritize things such as appearance, chastity, and modesty rather than being able to speak their minds and pursue deeper and more meaningful hobbies. * Women's looks then become a more profound concern, and they are taught to indulge their emotions and suppress the right to express themselves in a male-dominated society. * Wollstonecraft encourages women to become more self-aware of their station in society, and that the availability of education to women is extremely important in society in order for them to develop an equal standing with men.
Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
* This was an essay which talked about the idea of not thinking about others, as well as comparing oneself to others. * Anyone who can independently think for oneself should be considered a genius. * There are three major components of the essay, the first being one's self-reliance and emphasis on the individual, and second being self-reliance and emphasis on society, and the third being self-reliance in a more general setting, applicable to everyday life. * Ralph expresses the importance of having one's own thoughts in society, instead of just following what the majority of society believes and its' practices. * It is also about not changing one's opinions when someone else does, and sticking to one's beliefs and having faith in one's institution. He also talks about leader's fears of self-reliance because they are afraid of failure.
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
* Tom Joad, who has just recently been released from prison, meets up with preacher Casy, as they discuss the current hardships of society during the Dust Bowl as well as their personal flaws. * Once Tom has been united with his family, they all decide to head to California in search of work and better prospects for the future, as banks continually close down houses and take back farms, as farmers are stripped of their livelihood and home due to the economic hardships of the Dust Bowl. * The grandfather and grandmother died during the trip, and they stumble upon a camp called Camp Hooverville, being exposed to the hardships of exploitation by farm workers. * This novel sought to expose the issues of the Dust Bowl as well as the treatment of farm workers.
Three Facts About William Shakespeare
* William Shakespeare was born on April 26, 1564. * Considered one of the greatest playwrights and dramatists to have ever lived * Has written about thirty-eight plays and one hundred and fifty-four sonnets.
IMPORTANT EVENTS (Shorten)
*Keystone XL Pipeline: A pipeline which was restarted again by the Trump administration in 2017, which was previously denied by the Obama administration in 2011. This was a highly controversial issue due to protests from people to not initiate the construction of the pipeline. When the pipeline was restarted, there was a major leak which resulted in American citizens protesting against it yet again (Page 91). *Global Warming (Extreme Weather): Global warming, also known as climate change, is the shift in our planet's weather across the past few decades. For examples, more hurricanes and tsunamis have occurred with a shorter duration of time. The planet itself has also heated up and plants and animals are dying out due to the drastic weather conditions (Page 92). *Migrant Caravan: A "caravan" (group) of migrants from Mexico attempting to enter the United States for a myriad of reasons, with most attempting to escape persecution and seek better opportunities in America. However, due to Trump's hostile policies towards immigration, he opposes the entrance of such caravans into the United States and seeks to impose military action when they are close enough to the border. This is a highly controversial issue regarding human rights and safety. *Charlottesville: Neo-nazis began to gather and chant racial slurs as well as racially motivated derogatory terms in Charlottesville, nearly nine months after Donald Trump's inauguration. A protest rally for white supremacy occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, proved that bigotry and racism continue to be prevalent in our society. The very existence of such ideologies defies our current philosophy of democracy and equal treatment for all. *Me Too Movement: The Me Too Movement seeks to spread the prevalence of sexual harassment, as well as express sympathy and empower victims. This movement also seeks to protest against sexual harassment and abuse, with a trending hashtag, which is #MeToo, to show a sense of unity and rallying behind the cause of allowing and encouraging victims to have a voice, especially in the workplace. *North Korea Weapons Testing: North Korea has continually tested the political relationship between the United States and North Korea. Recently, North Korea has conducted its' sixth nuclear test on September 3, 2017, which was a hydrogen bomb (also known as a thermonuclear weapon). The tests conducted in the past have been a show of strength as well as signs of rebellion against America's democratic government. *NFL Protests: The NFL protests were protests against racial injustice in sports, which started with Colin Kaepernick's choice to sit down during the national anthem as a sign of protest against inequality in sports that continues to exist to this day. Furthermore, the motivations behind such protests are, for example, resistance against the police shooting of an unarmed African American man as well as justice for oneself. Many have seen the protests as a gesture of free speech, however, others saw it as a the radical politicization of sports. *Elon Musk: Elon Musk is a technology entrepreneur and investor, as well as the lead designer of SpaceX, and co-founder, CEO, and product architect of the iconic car brand Tesla. He also co-founded Neutralink and Paypal as well, causing him to be worth over 22.6 billion dollars as of 2016. He is an inspiration to many due to his work ethic and dedication to the projects he is truly passionate about. *Net Neutrality: Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers charge all types of content equally, without prejudice or charge users differently for any reason. Essentially, it is the concept of American democracy applied on the internet, which also believes that providers should not favor or block any particular products or sites, making information free and available for all. *NRA ISSUES and DEBATES: One of the most major issues facing not only the NRA, but the entirety of America, is the rise of school massacres and violence involving guns, which has caused a great sense of fear in people. Therefore, despite the NRA wanting to protect gun rights for American, this increased sense of fear has caused legislators to impose stricter gun control policies in order to prevent or at least decrease the occurrence of these tragedies.
What is the THISS method? What essay does it support? How?
- * The THISS method is used to organize and construct a synthesis essay and is respectively *- : * Topicality: Topicality is referring to the background knowledge regarding the understanding of the prompt, the sides of the issues, as well as the writer's personal stance on the issue. * Inherency: Inherency refers to the need to establish a sense of urgency in order to solve the problem presented, and the status quo of society and its' political, educational, and cultural implications. * Harms: The harms involve the problems with the status quo and how such problems negatively impact the society around us. * Solvency: The solvency is our approach towards solving the problem. * Significance: The significance involves the implications regarding the solution itself, and its' impact on society.
Student/Teacher Dynamics (Shorten)
1) Teacher/Inspiration: Socrates Socrates believed in ideals belonging in a world in which only wise men can understand, which made the wise man the only person who is suitable to govern others. Socrates also openly objected to the democracy which was prevalent in Athens during his life, believing that the right to govern belonged to those who were wise and knowledgeable in their respective field. 2) Student/Inspired: Plato Plato had a wide variety of philosophical ideas, including ethics, in which he discussed the nature of virtue, metaphysics, which included the nature of mind, man and realism, also wandering into political philosophy (which discussed censorship and what the ideal state ought to look like). He also discussed religious issues as well as opposed materialistic ideologies and views of the world. 3) Teacher/Inspiration: Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson was at the forefront of the Transcendentalist Movement during the mid-19th century, in which he promoted independent thinking and the belief that in order for society to be successful and progressive, the individuals within that society must think for themselves and tackle issues which matter to them. They must also follow their individual moral compasses and was taken with the mystical and powerful effects of nature. 4) Student/Inspired: Thoreau Henry David Thoreau was also involved with the Transcendentalist Movement, along with his mentor and friend, in which they believed in independent thinking and appreciation of nature along with that. Thoreau's philosophy of thinking for oneself, as well as non-violent protest stemmed from his mentor's inspiration. He chose a prose style to express his appreciation for nature and politics. 5)Teacher/Inspiration: Gandhi Gandhi was one of the most influential figures regarding non-violence protests, often adopting a philosophy of being the change he wanted to see in the world. However, he was also deeply critical of many social practices of Hindus and sought to reform the religion through his own peaceful means. He was influenced by a combination of political and spiritual tenets. 6) Student/Inspired: Martin Luther King Jr Martin Luther King Junior was deeply influenced by Gandhi's nonviolent protests and sought to express his discontent with the immorality of discrimination against African Americans without losing his humanity and nonviolent ideology in the process. He seriously studied Gandhi's method and sought to apply them for his own cause. 7) Student/Inspired: Cesar Chavez Cesar Chavez was inspired to become an activist by both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Junior, and was also inspired by the legacies of nonviolence left behind by these inspirational figures. Therefore, he fought in order for migrant farm workers to have more rights and reduce the exploitation they experienced.
Compound Sentence
A compound sentence is a sentence with more than one subject or predicate. An example would be "I like tea and he likes coffee."
List the levels in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs from bottom to top.
Start with physiological (the most basic needs which are food, water, breathing, and sleep), and moves onto safety (which involves financial security, employment, resources). * The ultimate level in Maslow's hierarchy is self-actualization, in which one's creativity, spontaneity, and lack of prejudice is able to form. * All of the previous needs must be met before being able to move onto the next, starting with the most basic and primal and moving onto more advanced and intricate needs
