TOW #30: Letter to a New APELC Student

Dear New APELC Student,

      Welcome to AP English Language and Composition! This class may be one of the most challenging classes you have taken so far in your high school career, but don't fret–if my peers and I survived this year, I'm sure you will have no problem taking on the work that this course demands. This letter will hopefully clear up many misconceptions about APELC, give you many tips for this school year, and offer morale-boosting encouragement for when the going gets tough. First off, the workload is not as bad as one would think. Most of the homework assigned to us were either TOWS or readings, and there was the occasional multiple choice practice passage or essay. Be sure to always be on top of those assignments. Missing a TOW can affect your grade and keep you behind on developing the writing skills necessary for the AP exam. If you miss a reading assignment, you will have no idea what to do when you're handed a pop quiz on that assignment the next day.
     Secondly, everything seems much harder in the beginning of the school year. The first test you take or timed essay you write may be one of the worst grades you've ever gotten, but with hard work, you will be able to take those tests and write those essays with no problems. I would say that I had a tough first marking period, but I think that was simply because I was just starting my junior year and I wasn't used to rigorous AP courses. By the end of the first marking period, I figured out how to balance out the work among all my classes and I saw a great improvement from my first to my second and third marking periods.
      Timed essays were really hard for me to write in the beginning of the school year because I would always read the essay prompt and then get writer's block. 45 minutes was not enough for me to write just one essay, and on the AP exam, we're only given around an average of 40 minutes per essay (that's right: you have to write three essays on the exam.) However, once I practiced more and read challenging nonfiction pieces, I could outline my ideas faster. I found Analysis essays to be the hardest essays to write, and although I still find them hard to write, I was more confident in writing them on May 9 than I was in September, and I owe that to TOWs, IRBs, the Language of Composition, etc. Basically, I think the best way to get better at writing essays is to read more sophisticated nonfiction works and to practice analyzing them. Having to write three essays is very intimidating, but once you're sitting in the square gym and taking the AP exam, everything will easily come to you. Trust me. I hope this letter was helpful and that my impartial opinions gave you a good idea of what APELC really is and what you need to do to succeed. Good luck!

From,

Old APELC Student

TOW #29: Documentary Rhetorical Analysis (Part 2)

     Directed by David Gleb, "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" is a documentary that has much to say about the importance of hard work. Jiro Ono, an 85-year-old man, is the owner of one of the most renowned sushi restaurants in the world, and he states the secret to his success is his determination and training. He is so involved in his sushi making that he claims to have even dreamed of making sushi. He trains his apprentices the way he feels is best: getting them up early in the morning to do their tasks, whether it's roasting seaweed or massaging octopi, and repeating that process for years before they perfect it. One apprentice even claimed that it takes about ten years before one can even dream of making a fried egg. "Jiro Dreams of Sushi's" claim that hard work and determination is the best way to achieve success is correct as shown through the lives of many, including my own parents.
     Both of my parents grew up in India and lived there until they were in their 30's. When they were young, they obviously did not have access to the type of technology we have these days, and since they lived in a developing country, they often went without electricity and lived in poor conditions. My dad was the first in his family to attend college and have a professional degree. They were both completing their residencies when they had my older sister, and they moved to Saudi Arabia a couple years later, where they had my other sister. My mom stopped working for a bit, and my family moved to England, where both of my sisters grew up. In 1996, my dad got a job offer in the United States, and they all packed their bags to move for the final time. Unfortunately, the United States does not allow attending physicians to have practiced their residencies in different countries, so my mom and my dad had to do their residencies all over again while taking care of three children. They claim that growing up, they never had even thought about living in America or having lifestyles as good as the ones they have now. Because of all of their hard work, my mom and my dad got the successful lives they wanted, and they continue to pass down the value of hard work to me and my sisters.
     Many people work hard in order to get what they want: Liz Murray went from being homeless as a high schooler to a Harvard graduate, Oprah Winfrey went from abuse and hunger to being one of the most well-known women in the world, and Jiro Ono went from being an unknown war veteran to the owner of one of the most successful sushi restaurants in the world. "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" is just one of millions of stories that claim one of the truest claims there is: hard work pays off in the end.