. . .so miss me and pray for me. . .
Jun 17
DAY 5.5 DAYTONA UPDATE: MONDAY
I read 425 essays today.
Things I learned today:
1. Adjectives can be wild. (Note from me: File this factoid away for possible YouTube video for avid grammarians: Adjectives Gone Wild.)
2. Tone wraps itself around my head. (Note: Lately, this happens only when my iPod’s plugged in to my ears.)
3. Ellipsis or dot dot dot. (Not that a poll was taken, but I would imagine that 99.99% of the AP Readers can spot an ellipsis when they see one. . .or two.)
4. ______________ can jump out at you/the reader. (Note: the following words have jump-ability: tone, diction, syntax, commas, sentences, clauses, emotion. I’m sure there are other words, but I’ve tried to purge them from my brain.)
5. Syntax can be creative, fluent, and factual.
6. Phallacies.
7. Pedastools.
8. Reiterate over and over and over again.
More considerations for AP students:
1. Please, please, please do NOT write your essays using pencil. Difficult to read. And why, in the name of everything AP holy, would you want to make your essay bothersome to read?
I realize that for some of you, there’s no payoff in credit hours for your AP score or taking the test was not your choice. AP readers shouldn’t bear the brunt of that.
Word to the not-so-wise: Buck up and confront those people, not us. We who volunteer to spend at least eight days away from families, summer vacation, or-for some teachers-the end of school, to sit in a room from 8:30 until 4:30 every day scoring AP essays because we happen to believe in students and their ability to exceed beyond their expectations and because we can, as high school and college teachers, experience professional development that will enable us to be better teachers for you.
And to those of you who don’t, thanks.
2. Illusion and Allusion are not synonymous.
3. I think I mentioned this already (see #8 above), but–save yourself the trouble of defining literary terms, rhetorical strategies and/or complex sentences.
4. Trust me. As readers, we’re rooting for you. We’re looking for a reason to give you a higher score. Help us help you.
