The
AP English Language and Composition Exam was my first AP test. Although we did
a lot of practice leading up to the test, I had no idea of what I was truly in
for on Wednesday. I didn’t know what the pressure of writing three essays in
two hours and fifteen minutes felt like or how difficult it was to answer 55
multiple choice questions after attempting to understand an irrelevant passage
that had no significance in your life. After taking the exam and being able to
undergo the pressure that students feel during the exam, I can say that I don’t
think I will ever forget my experience. Personally, the multiple choice section
was the hardest part of the test. There were a lot of vocabulary words that I
haven’t ever seen or used before, and I think that threw me off during the
test. Throughout the entire multiple choice section, I found myself attempting
to translate the passages and the questions so that I could make sense of them.
I would replace words I didn’t understand with words that I thought could make sense
with the context of the passages. Additionally, I felt that my interpretations
of the texts were different from the interpretations of the College Board, so
making an assertive answer choice was obscure. Thus, to better prepare for the
test, I would’ve exposed myself to more advanced vocabulary.
Despite
my uncertainty of the multiple choice section, I felt that the essay portion
went well. I knew that the multiple choice section was going to lower my final
grade, so I wanted my essays to be impressive. For each essay, I made sure that
I followed all of the rules and applied skills that would allow me to have a
higher score. I was able to finish all of my essays by utilizing all of the
time given. However, when I was in the middle of writing the second essay, my
head started to hurt. It wasn’t a headache, but it was annoying. I’m assuming
that it was from the fact that my brain was working extremely hard and unlike
the way it usually does to write three essays in two hours. I found writing
three essays in a row to be difficult. Therefore, I would change the fact that
the break was given to us after we completed the multiple choice section.
Alternatively, I would suggest that the break would be closer to the middle of
the exam. For instance, students should complete the multiple choice section
and one essay and then receive the break, allowing students to have only two
essays to write in a row. Overall, the exam was thoroughly challenging and required
a mastery of skill in analyzing rhetorical texts.
