(OE020) Reading Maus With AP ELC Peer Tutor Emma Dreispiel

In this article, the Board of SASS interviews AP English Language and Composition (OE020) Peer Tutor Emma Dreispiel. We hope that this article will help current and future AP ELC students in their academic journey!

When did you take AP English Language and Composition (OE020), and who was your instructor?

I took it in the 2019-2020 school year, as a senior, and my instructor was Dr. Russell.

What did you enjoy about AP English Language and Composition (OE020)?

I loved all the readings. They’re very different from what you’re used to in English class. I also thought Dr. Russell prompted some great discussions. I loved being able to write essays exploring ideas I was actually excited about.

What challenged you the most in AP English Language and Composition (OE020)? How did you overcome those challenges?

Revising essays. My first draft is always a brain dump of ideas, so the revision process is really important to me. Between my first and final draft, I would rewrite the entire thing. As the semester progressed, I was able to establish a structure for essays that worked for me, as well as identify how I could write stronger essays. I developed an intuition for which structure worked best for my argument and how I could move things around to write well-defended essays

Are there midterms/finals in this class? How would you recommend reviewing for these exams?

Not really. Just the 4 essays each semester.

What are the major assignments for this class? How would you recommend approaching these assignments?

The essays are the major assignments. First, you need to start by doing the readings and the discussion questions. It’s really hard to come up with an essay prompt on the spot, which is why if you do the rest of the work, you will start forming ideas as you go along that then will help you in coming up with a thesis. Always write the draft for peer review in class. Even if it’s not complete or makes little sense, it will help you as a brain dump and eventually your final version will be much better. Give yourself a week to work on the essay, as you need to take a break between writing and revising. Outlines work really well, too. Come up with a thesis and find ways that you would have to support it, and then go looking for the evidence that would make it strong.

What tips do you have that could be useful to students taking AP English Language and Composition (OE020)?

Discuss the readings! Think about them in the context of today, and find ideas for the essays that you’re excited about. Don’t write about something because you think the teacher will like it. You’ll be able to make a much better essay if it’s something you would actually want to read.

About how much time did you spend a week working on assignments and preparing for discussion sessions in AP English Language and Composition (OE020)?

It varies by week. I would take about 4-5 hours with the readings and discussion questions. When we had essays due, I would also take about 2 hours on the essay and then 1 hour revising it.

What did the typical week in AP English Language and Composition (OE020) look like?

Mostly you’re just doing the readings for class, sometimes you’ll also watch a short lecture. Most of the work comes from discussing in class, so I advise you participate and share your thoughts. It’s a great way to run ideas by Dr. Russell, and if you end up using these ideas in your essays, you’ll already know what to say. On weeks with essays, that’s the main focus for the week and there’s no reading.

What was your favorite topic covered in AP English Language and Composition (OE020)?

This is tough, I really loved all of it. My favorites would have to be Foucault, Maus, Persepolis, and our last unit with short stories. The teachers really made the curriculum great, so you won’t be bored at all.

Do you have any resources (i.e. study tips, useful websites) to share with students who want to take the course?

The AP website has a useful acronym for analyzing texts, and if you’re ever stuck on what to say, you can fall back on it. It’s SOAPSTone: S (speaker - who is the author? What credibility do they have?), O (occasion - context surrounding the text), A (audience - who was it intended for?), P (purpose - what’s the goal of the text?), S (subject of the text), and Tone of the writing.

If you took the AP exam, how well did AP English Language and Composition (OE020) prepare you for the AP exam? How would you recommend studying for the AP exam outside of class?

I think the course prepared me very well for writing the essays and analyzing texts. However, it might take a little bit more effort for the last FRQ essay (the argument question), as it isn’t something we really practice in class. You’d have to keep up with the news for that one, and kind of do your own research about topics they might ask. At the end of the year, the teachers do an AP review unit, so you’ll have practice with writing specifically for the AP prompts.

Do you have anything to add?

Good luck to everyone taking this class! Feel free to book an appointment with me to talk about essays, or even before that, to talk about your thoughts on the reading.

Emma Dreispiel is a peer tutor for AP ELC and can be found on the Writing and Tutoring Center.

#APELC #OE020