2 | MCQ (Writing Questions) | Practice Sessions | AP English Language and Composition

Summary

In this video session led by John Zanan, an AP language teacher at Chelsea High School, the focus is on tackling the writing section of the multiple-choice questions in the AP English Language and Composition exam. Zanan provides strategies for handling the three different passages found in this section. He emphasizes the importance of identifying the main topic, claim, thesis, tone, and method development when reading each passage. Additionally, he offers tips on answering questions by carefully parsing them to understand what is being asked and suggests narrowing down answer choices by validating or disqualifying key words or phrases. Throughout the session, Zanan also analyzes example questions, breaking them down to help viewers understand the best approach to arriving at the correct answer, setting viewers up for success in future practice.

Highlights

• John Zanan breaks down the writing section of the AP Language MCQ test. 📝
• Emphasizes understanding the passage's topic, claim, and tone. 🎨
• Teaches how to parse multi-layered questions effectively. 🧩
• Illustrates techniques to eliminate wrong answer options. 🚫
• Engages with sample questions for practical understanding! 💡

Key Takeaways

• Focus on the unique skills needed for the writing section of the MCQ test! ✍️
• Always identify the main topic, claim, thesis, and tone when reading passages. 📚
• Parse questions carefully to understand their true demands! 🕵️‍♂️
• Eliminate distractor answers by spotting minor inaccuracies in wording. 🧐
• Practice makes perfect—apply these strategies in your prep sessions! 🎯

Overview

In a lively session with John Zanan, AP Language students dive into the writing portion of their multiple-choice exams. Zanan, a seasoned teacher at Chelsea High School, emphasizes the importance of grasping the passage's main claim, tone, and thesis, setting the stage for a systematic review of this challenging section. 📖

Zanan guides students through techniques for breaking down questions, highlighting the importance of dissecting each question to uncover its true meaning. He provides insights into choosing the best answers by disqualifying distractors and validating correct phrases. This approach aims to sharpen students' skills and build confidence as they tackle the test. 🔍

In addition to sharing invaluable strategies, Zanan walks students through example questions, demonstrating how these tactics work in real time. By practicing these methods, students gain a clearer understanding of how to succeed in the writing section, preparing them for their upcoming exams. 🏆

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Overview In the 'Introduction and Overview' chapter, the speaker, John Zanan, an AP language teacher at Chelsea High School, welcomes viewers to the AP daily practice sessions. He outlines the focus of the session on writing multiple choice questions. He encourages viewers to download a PDF of the passage and questions for practice. He reminds the audience about the structure of the multiple choice test, which includes both a reading section and a writing section.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Focus on Writing Section The chapter focuses on the writing section of an exam, which comprises three passages. The first two passages contain seven to nine questions each, while the third passage is shorter with four to six questions. Though the specifics of the passages are unknown, there are general strategies and skills that can be employed to tackle this section effectively. The chapter provides a review of some essential tips for approaching the writing section, starting with the importance of reading carefully as you approach it.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Reading and Revising Passages The chapter entitled 'Reading and Revising Passages' discusses strategies for analyzing passages to grasp their fundamental elements like the main topic, claim, thesis, tone, and method of development. The emphasis is on understanding the passage for effective revision and spotting areas that might need changes. It mentions the importance of anticipating questions related to unclear or unpolished sections, as these are likely areas for examination. The chapter advises careful parsing of questions as they tend to be complex and multilayered, necessitating thorough understanding to respond effectively.
• 03:00 - 05:00: Understanding Tone and Structure This chapter focuses on the importance of understanding tone and structure in language exams. It emphasizes the need to thoroughly analyze the questions to ensure they are correctly understood. A key strategy discussed is validating or disqualifying keywords or phrases in potential answers, highlighting that if any part of an answer is incorrect, the entire answer should be considered wrong. The chapter encourages practicing these strategies with an example passage from an AP language course and exam description.
• 05:00 - 06:00: Multiple Choice Question Strategies The chapter "Multiple Choice Question Strategies" focuses on developing skills for analyzing and understanding passages, specifically in the context of multiple-choice questions. It begins by discussing the importance of grasping the big picture, including identifying the main topic, the claim being presented, and the method of development used in the passage. Readers are advised to pay attention to any trouble spots that may arise. The chapter emphasizes the substance and style of a passage, using a specific example of converting to the metric system, which involves a discussion on Imperial versus metric units. The chapter encourages learners to read carefully and think critically about the content in order to answer related questions effectively.
• 08:00 - 10:00: Analyzing Thesis Statements The chapter 'Analyzing Thesis Statements' discusses the central ideas expressed in a passage about the metric system versus the imperial system. It emphasizes that throughout the passage, the reader is repeatedly reminded of the widespread use of the metric system globally contrasted with the United States' continued use of the imperial system. The author strongly advocates for the U.S. to adopt the metric system. The chapter highlights that the thesis or the primary claim of the passage is encapsulated in the concluding sentence: "It's time for the United States to make the leap to metric in everything else."
• 10:00 - 13:00: Supporting Evidence for Arguments The chapter 'Supporting Evidence for Arguments' examines the placement and recognition of a thesis statement within a passage. It highlights how an unusual positioning of a thesis, like one placed later in the piece, can lead to confusion. Furthermore, it discusses a specific example where a sentence early in the passage suggested abandoning future Mars survey missions, which was misleading as it wasn't the main claim. The need for revising such theses to align more closely with the passage's conclusion is emphasized.
• 13:00 - 14:00: Question Analysis The chapter titled 'Question Analysis' discusses a passage with an academic and persuasive tone. It explains the structure typically found in persuasive essays, which includes presenting an argument supported by reasoning and evidence. The chapter emphasizes maintaining this tone during revisions. It outlines the method of development starting with an attention-grabbing hook followed by a claim and context, specifically relating to the conversion to the metric system.
• 15:00 - 16:00: Conclusion and Next Steps The chapter titled 'Conclusion and Next Steps' summarizes the key arguments and strategies employed in making a persuasive case for conversion. It highlights reasons supporting conversion and dangers of not converting, acknowledges potential challenges in the transition while firmly advocating for the conversion. It concludes with an application of this knowledge to multiple-choice questions, exemplifying the persuasive essay method.

2 | MCQ (Writing Questions) | Practice Sessions | AP English Language and Composition Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 welcome to AP daily practice sessions my name is John zanan I'm an AP language teacher at Chelsea High School in Chelsea Michigan today we're going to be discussing the writing multiple choice questions and if you want to work through the passage and questions we're using today feel free to click on the link provided and you can download a PDF of the passage and questions that you'll see featured in our video as we prepare to start our review and practice today let's first remember that there are two different sections of the multiple choice test the reading section and the writing section um as We Know those are
• 00:30 - 01:00 very different sections that require different skills and approaches So today we're going to focus just on the writing section the writing section contains three passages the first two of which have seven to nine accompanying questions and the third passage will be a little bit shorter with four to six questions and while we don't know what those passages will look like exactly we do know there are some general approaches and tips and skills we can use to try to work through them successfully so let's review a few of those tips for starters as you approach the writing section make sure you read
• 01:00 - 01:30 the passages to identify the main topic claim uh thesis tone and Method development of the passage even if you're just getting a general overview of the piece it helps us understand how best to revise it or make changes we want to anticipate potential spots for revision if you see something that seems a little off or unpolished there's a good chance we're going to see a question on that later on down the road we want to parse the questions carefully to find out what they're really asking these questions tend to be loaded or multi-layer LED so we want to take time
• 01:30 - 02:00 to really dig into them and make sure we know what we're answering and lastly we like our last video we want to narrow our options by trying to validate or disqualify certain key words or phrases in the answer because if any part of the answer is wrong the whole answer is wrong so with that is our front loading let's practice uh I have a passage up on screen for you here from the AP language course and exam description why don't you pause the video now for a few moments so that you can read the passage and again I want to encourage you to practice those tips we just reviewed
• 02:00 - 02:30 look for a big picture topic claim method of development um also any trouble spots that you notice try to just get a feel for the substance and style of our passage and then we'll be able to answer the questions why don't you pause the video to read when you're ready to hear my notes and comments you can press play to resume all right so as we start here I always like to think just big picture what topic are we working with in our passage and I think the topic here was converting to the metric system that started early on when we were talking about Imperial versus metric units and
• 02:30 - 03:00 then throughout the passage we are reminded that most of the world uses the metric system the United States is an outlier with the imperial system we are reminded over and over that it would be good to adopt the metric system that a switch would be beneficial so the authors seem really intent on um calling for us to convert to the metric system I also like to think about a thesis is there a place where an author gives us that overarching claim and I think we get that thesis in our last sentence it's time for the United States to make the leap to metric in everything else it
• 03:00 - 03:30 measures um to me that was a little unusual placement of the thesis usually the thesis comes earlier in the passage and I actually saw something around sentence three that sounded close to a thesis but it threw me off because that line told us that we need to abandon future Mars survey missions as we look at the highlighting on screen we know that was not the main claim of this passage so that thesis if it is a thesis is likely going to be need to be revised so that it more closely matches something like what we see at the end Beyond that um I like to think about a
• 03:30 - 04:00 tone I thought that this passage had a somewhat academic pretty typical persuasive essay kind of tone where it's offering an argument giving us some reasoning and some evidence to back it up so we want to make sure we maintain that in any revisions and then lastly a method of development again this is fairly typical persuasive essay writing we started with a little bit of an attention getter or a hook to bring the audience in we transitioned into what was looks like supposed to be a claim um and some context on converting to the metric system and what it is we got some
• 04:00 - 04:30 reasons for converting or reasons why not converting would be dangerous and then we closed that out with some concessions to why it might be harm uh not harmful but hard or difficult to make that um transition while ultimately still pulling the audience back to that main claim that we should convert so a pretty typical persuasive essay type of method of development with that as our overview let's take then a look at a few of the multiple choice questions to see how we can apply that knowledge to our questions number one which of the
• 04:30 - 05:00 following sentences if placed before sentence one would both capture the audience's interest and provide the most effective introduction to the topic of the paragraph again we have to parse this question carefully and acknowledge that we are looking for something that checks two boxes captures our interest and introduces the topic of the paragraph let's see if any of our options do that well option A NASA's Mars climate Orbiter was launched on December 11 1998 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida option b on
• 05:00 - 05:30 September 23 1999 NASA officials were a gas when the $125 million Mars climate Orbiter vanished as it prepared to enter the red planet's orbit option C as part of the new set of missions intended to survey the planet Mars the Mars climate Orbiter was launched by NASA scientists to study climate and weather option D when NASA officials lost contact with their Mars climate Orbiter on September 23 1999 the immediately investigated a
• 05:30 - 06:00 search for the spacecraft using NASA's deep space network of radio antenna or E the Mars climate Orbiter carried two instruments when it attempted and failed to enter Mars's orbit in September 1999 the Mars climate Orbiter color imager and the pressure modulated infrared radiometer again a reminder we're looking for an option that captures our interest and introduces the topic of the paragraph and in addition to that it's going before sentence one sentence one made an explicit mention after an
• 06:00 - 06:30 unsuccessful search so whatever we're choosing needs to mention that something was lost or that something was gone we can eliminate option A for that reason though it talks about somewhat the topic of the paragraph the Orbiter it doesn't tell us that it was lost and there's nothing there that really captures our interest by contrast option b works really nicely we are a gas at The Disappearance of this very expensive item that vanished seemingly without explanation we are focused on the Vanishing of that climate Orbiter this
• 06:30 - 07:00 checks a lot of our boxes and would really set up sentence one as well because it makes a reference to what had vanished or was lost option C I'm going to eliminate here again I don't know that we get any reference of something being lost and I'm not sure that there was anything that specifically really hooked us or grabbed our attention in the writing option D I like for a few reasons we have that reference to something being lost which might grab our attention we also have a discussion of the topic of the past Mage and we
• 07:00 - 07:30 know there was a search for that Orbiter so a lot of good check marks there for that one let's leave it on the table and option e I'm going to eliminate again it does mention that something failed to enter the atmosphere we might want a more explicit mention that it was lost or that it vanished and beyond that even if we do think of that being a reference or a setup to sentence one I'm just not sure there's enough here that really grips our attention this is very informational but it's not really going to do the work of hooking us and drawing Us in making us want to read more about
• 07:30 - 08:00 what happened or why it was gone so we're down to options b and d and what I noticed when reviewing these two options even though they both have a lot to offer is that the diction in passage or option b was much stronger we are a gast when something was lost um we have a detail that's more gripping the number of dollars spent on this Orbiter the word vanished to me sounds much more gripping than it was lost or we lost contact with it so for those Reasons I'm going to choose option B even though
• 08:00 - 08:30 option D checks a lot of our boxes B is more of an authentic attention getter it's going out of its way to grab our interest and introduce that topic and set up what follows in the sentence to come so we will go with option b let's take a look at a second question in sentence three reproduced below which of the following versions of the underlined text best establishes The Writer's thesis in the passage the Orbiter Mission failure is just one reason albeit an extremely expensive one that the United States needs to abandon
• 08:30 - 09:00 future Mars survey missions fortunately when we read we identified this as a trouble spot we knew this thesis didn't really work and that the writing was really calling on the United States to do something different so let's see if we can find a phrase here that better addresses that option A as it is now B should consider privatizing space exploration C needs to adopt the metric system D should partner with other countries on future missions to outer space or e must stress STEM Science
• 09:00 - 09:30 technology engineering and mathematics education starting in an early age we know right away it's not going to be option A the Mars mission was not the focus of the passage so that can't work as a thesis option C looks really nice that was our metric system most direct most specific reference to what we saw previewed in all the other paragraphs option b we can eliminate this wasn't a space exploration passage maybe if we only read the first paragraph We thought that was the case but not if we read everything not if we saw the big picture
• 09:30 - 10:00 overview similarly option D not about future missions to space or option e it's not really stressing stem studies option C is our best choice this captures what we saw come up over and over again in the passage let's take a look at one last question before we go number three the writer wants to add more information to the third paragraph sentences 6 to9 to support the main argument of the paragraph all the following pieces of evidence help achieve this purpose except which one this is one of those
• 10:00 - 10:30 tricky except questions where if an answer does help the paragraph achieve its purpose we actually eliminate that as an option we are looking for the option that doesn't help the paragraph achieve its purpose let's see if we can find one that does that option A an airplane that ran out of fuel mid-flight because of a conversion error by the pilots when they calculated how much fuel they needed option b a mechanical failure on an amusement park ride that occurred because the Imperial size of a
• 10:30 - 11:00 particular part was ordered instead of the metric size option C a quote from Thomas Jefferson's 18 century proposal for a new Decimal System to standardize weights and measures option D data from a United States company demonstrating an increase in profits because of its conversion to the metric system or option e a map showing the countries that use the metric system shaded in one color and those that use the imperial system shaded in another color we are essentially looking for the option that
• 11:00 - 11:30 doesn't fit with the rest of that paragraph's main argument which information would seem out of place so for option A an airplane that runs out of fuel mid-flight because of a conversion error to me that fits with What sentences 6 to9 were discussing that was a paragraph really focused either on the benefits of switching to the metric system or the potential hazards or drawbacks of not switching option A fits with that so that will not be our answer for this question for option b a mechanical failure that
• 11:30 - 12:00 occurred because of a mixup in the metric units versus imperial units that to me also fits with the paragraph This is a potential Hazard that comes from not using the right system or units so we're going to leave that one out because that does support the main argument option C is an interesting one Jefferson's proposal for a new Decimal System to me this turns a little bit away from focus on converting to the metric system and talks about an entirely new system all together I'm not
• 12:00 - 12:30 sure that that's really going to work with what we saw in the rest of the paragraph there option D data from a United States company demonstrating an increase in profits to me this is now flipping to the benefits that would come from converting to the metric system so this does match the argument of the paragraph which means it's not going to be our answer and lastly for option e we see a map showing countries that use the metric system that might initially seem like uh an outlier here but when we think about it realizing that the United States is just one of three countries
• 12:30 - 13:00 that hasn't made the switch that might give us a little bit of a nudge to say this is a worthwhile shift it will help us sort of blend in or connect better with other countries I think that that does add information that supports that main argument of the paragraph So for those reasons we're going to go with option C Jefferson's quote on a proposal for a new Decimal System just doesn't really match that idea of the benefits or the hazards that come from switching or not switching to the metric system so as a quick refresher here today we
• 13:00 - 13:30 worked on reading a passage to identify a topic claim tone and method of development we looked at anticipating spots for revision with helped us with at least one of our questions we parsed those questions carefully to figure out what they were really asking especially when they were loaded questions and we narrowed our options by eliminating words that don't work validating phrases that do we're trying to make sure we have the best option possible thanks for watching the video I hope this has helped in our next round of videos we're going to take a look at synthesis essay
• 13:30 - 14:00 writing and I Know It's a Grind to get ready for these tests but you guys are almost there thanks for putting in this extra time you guys are going to do great