Download Study Guide for First-Quarter Test

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Study Guide for Mid-Term Exam
AP Language – Mr. McIlwain – 1/15
The exam will cover much of what we’ve studied since August. The format is dual: a timed
synthesis essay followed by 30 multiple-choice questions.
For the synthesis essay you will receive a prompt and sources and will have 15 minutes to
study the sources. Then you’ll have 40 minutes to write the essay, just as you will on the AP
exam in May. The prompt and sources are related to The Grapes of Wrath, but the novel per se is
not a source.
As for the multiple-choice section, you’ll have approximately 30 minutes to answer about 30
questions. Vocabulary words will be part of the exam, but grammar (e.g. parts of the sentence)
and logical fallacies will not. The Toulmin model of argumentation and the enthymeme will be
addressed, as well as rhetoric in general. Some of the multiple-choice questions will be about The
Grapes of Wrath, especially what we’ve read lately. Think about the economics of the migrants’
situation and the moral issues raised by it.
Check the syllabi for first and second quarters, review your notes (scanty or otherwise) and
look back over the selections to refresh your memory. Study for the exam by reviewing your
notes and quizzing yourself. You needn’t re-read everything, but you may wish to review
selected chapters, particularly the “epic” chapters in which Steinbeck presents his larger
arguments, implicit and otherwise.
Some of the terms listed below appear on the exam, which also features reading
comprehension questions similar to those that appear on the AP English Language &
Composition exam in May. Review your notes about how to approach multiple-choice/reading
comprehension passages/questions.
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abstract language:
alliteration
allegory
allusion
ambiguity
analogy
analysis
anecdote
antithesis
aphorism
appeal
argument, argumentation
Aristotelian appeals (logos, pathos,
ethos)
audience as author’s mindset
claim
conclusion
concrete vs. abstract
connotation, denotation
context
counterargument
deductive reasoning
specific, illustrative detail
didactic (morally instructive)
diction (low, elevated)
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enthymeme
euphemism
figurative language
generalization
hyperbole
implicit vs. explicit
implication
imagery
inductive reasoning
internal rhyme
irony (situational, dramatic, verbal)
juxtaposition
malapropism
meiosis (understatement)
meter
metaphor
narrator
objective vs. subjective
paradox
parody
persona
personification
prose
pun
qualifier, qualified claim
reasoning
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rebuttal
refutation
rhetoric
rhetorical précis
rhetorical purpose
rhetorical situation
rhetorical triangle
sarcasm
simile
speaker
spoonerism
summary
syllogism as deductive reasoning
symbol/symbolism
syntax
synthesis, synthesis essay
tone
Toulmin model of reasoning
thesis