Talluluh's Ap Lang Blog

Answer: In 6th grade, I worried that my other classmates thought I was dumb. I was in an accelerated math class, and I struggled more in that class than other students. I was slower at understanding the topics, and I felt I didn't belong in the class because I wasn't as smart as everyone else. My brother was also in that class. He was much smarter and had much higher grades than me. I tried so hard to get perfect test scores in accelerated math, but mine were never as good as his. I was worried that the teacher and other students thought he was the smarter sibling out of him and I. Looking back, my grades were pretty good, and I didn't need to be so hard on myself. Summary: Today we learned two more rhetorical devices: procatalepsis and distinctio. Reflection: Procatalepsis is addressing objections that the reader may have to the writer's claim. Distinctio is elaborating on the definition of a word to clarify what the writer meant when they used it. I can use both of th...

  Answer: One time in ninth grade, I had to draw a map for my AP Human Geography, and I asked my mom for help. It was a hard assignment and I was stressed, so I said, "I'm never going to finish this assignment." I didn't actually mean the assignment was impossible. I exaggerated to express my frustration that I still hadn't finished the homework. I did end up completing the assignment finally, and it turned out very good. Summary: Today we took notes on three rhetorical devices: hyperbole, understatement, and litotes. Reflection: Hyperbole is to use exaggeration, understatement is to say less than what one would expect, and litotes is to use a word opposite to the condition, like "not good" instead of "bad." Using these three as well as many more types of rhetorical devices will help me make my writing stronger and more advanced.

  Answer:  Nowadays, it does feel like interactions are more online than they used to be. I have noticed this phenomenon especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, when people were stuck in their houses. We had to do all work on the computer rather than at the workplace or school building. The shift from in-person to online caused a huge change. Even after the pandemic ended, many activities I did in class were on the chromebook, which I had barely used before covid. As reliance on technology grew, face-to-face social interactions were replaced with online connections. Summary:  Today we took notes on three more rhetorical devices: antithesis, hypophora, and rhetorical question. Reflection:  I can use antithesis to contrast two things or ideas in my writing, use hypophora to answer the questions I know my reader will have, and use rhetorical question to add complexity to my argument by asking a question while implying the answer.

  Answer: After reading my feedback, I learned that I did a good job on my evidence and commentary. I had lots of examples of personal experiences that I connected to the argument, and I explained them effectively. But, one of my reasons was that selfies “capture genuine and authentic feelings,” which can be contradicted because people can fake or present themselves differently in a selfie. I should’ve used qualifying claims to address this. Also, I used a lot of personal experiences as my evidence. Next time I write an AP Lang essay, I’ll be sure to use a variety of evidence so what I can write is not limited. Summary: Today we read our feedback on our argument essays, then started our digital poetry posters.  Reflection: I learned how to better my argument writing skills, and how to use figurative language and word choice in poetry.

  Answer: In 7th grade, I had to make a poem book. The hardest poem for me to write was a limerick, a five-line poem where the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other and are all eight syllables, and the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other and are six syllables. It was also supposed to be a silly, absurd type of poem, and I couldn’t think of what to make it about. I finally decided on a limerick about a sneeze, because I could make it very exaggerative saying it “blew roofs off cars” and “blew all the way to mars.” In the end, I liked the finished product because it was just as silly as I’d hoped. Summary: Today we read and analyzed the poem, “Constantly Risking Absurdity” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.  Reflection: I learned the steps to reading and understanding a poem. I not only have to read it once, but twice: one time to get a feel for it, and one time to find the deeper meaning and connect it to my own experiences.

Answer:  I think the hardest part of writing the argument essay was coming up with evidence. I also felt rushed during the last few minutes because I still had to finish my body paragraphs before writing my conclusion. Next time we write an essay, I need to work on managing my time. The planning needs to only take the first few minutes, and then the writing of the essay should take the rest of the time. The easiest part of that argument essay was coming up with the three reasons, or claims. Backing them each up with two pieces of evidence and then explaining it was what was hard. Summary:  Today we wrote our full argument essay. Reflection:  The essay prompt was about  whether or not selfies are a way to document one's life.