What are some ways to prepare for AP English Language and Composition?

Question

I'll be taking AP English Language and Composition starting September. I really want to do well and get at least a 5 on the AP exam in May. What are some ways I should prepare? Useful websites will be well appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Read a lot of good English. You don't have to read classical novels. You can read websites, gossip magazines, comic books, whatever interests you. They have plenty of fine English going around, anyway. Read, read, read.

Answer 2

I don't really remember what the AP English Lang/Comp test was like.

I think you need quotes in your papers (i'm sure you do), so try to find a good book that has a lot of good themes. Great Expectations and The Scarlett Letter were my go-to works for AP English Lang and Lit. So, do some reading to get some characters and themes in your head.

Also, work on your vocabulary. Have a good bank of words that you can easily use. Curmudgeon is a good word. =]

Know your elements of grammar, that's really important.

Have good handwriting. A friend of mine wrote amazing time-writes and got a 3 on the test, and we all think (and our teachers agreed) that it's probably because the graders stopped reading it because it was too difficult.

Do practice time-writes and give yourself 10-minutes less than the time you're allotted on the test.