Dear AP Student, Congratulations for signing up for this class. Let me personally welcome you to what will be one of the most fun yet difficult English classes of Regis Jesuit you may experience. You have just opened up a world of exciting literature, rigorous studies, and very little sleep. However, if you can get the hang of this course (that will no doubt teach you the basic skills you need to know for any kind of writing), you WILL go far in life. One major component of “AP English Language and Composition” is actually getting down to the nitty-gritty, to actually write a… composition. This class has three basic formats of essays, each of which come with a different set of advantages and disadvantages. This letter is here to help explain …show more content…
Be careful though, you don’t actually formulate an opinion of your own. You use the sources to create a viewpoint that may not necessarily be something you think, but it uses a majority of the sources efficiently and tastefully. If it asks you to pick a side, then you will want to gather the sources that can be used for your argument and use them in your first two body paragraphs. This is where you prove to those AP readers that you are right and know what you are talking about. In your third paragraph, time permitting, you’ll want to take the sources that oppose your view and put them into a counter argument. This shows the reader that you’re willing to acknowledge another viewpoint from the sources provided (It also allows you to show them why they’re wrong). It’s really like a win-win. You get to maturely say hi before mentally slapping them with your wisdom and argumentative skills. If the prompt asks to list the pros and cons, you do just that in your first two paragraphs, and your third paragraph is to explain which view is better. Typically you will get six sources and want to use most of them. The best way to formulate a strong stance on this essay is the Toulmin style thesis, previously mentioned in the Argument