Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings Review

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(More customer reviews)If you're looking to get into film studies, this is THE essential anthology to buy. I've seen pretty much every major anthology of film theory out right now and this is without a doubt the most comprehensive of the lot.
First, a word of warning: one review indicates that the essays are difficult and this is very true. "Introductory Readings" is slightly misleading because this collection isn't aimed at someone completely new to the field. Some of these essays (particularly those by Metz and Deleuze) assume quite a bit of knowledge on topics such as Lacanian psychoanalytic theory and postmodern critical theory. It's really not a "film appreciation guide" in any way. Those are out there and they're great at what they do, but this is different. It's a collection on some of the most important theoretical essays in the field.
It's now in the 6th edition and there are a fair amount of new essays. I'm not sure that it's worth upgrading if you have a recent edition though. I definitely wouldn't discard your 5th edition, as this edition drops at least three or four essays in favor of newer ones.
A couple things are noteworthy: first, there is now a presence of Deleuze, an omission that seemed curious until now. Second, there is a wider range of ideas now. The best example is Jeff Sconce's article on new critical approaches to exploitation cinema. I always felt this collection slightly favored historic theoretical works (e.g. Eisenstein, Pudovkin) over newer approaches, but the inclusion of writers such as Sconce help to balance the collection out.
I can't recommend this collection highly enough. There is a very good reason that every intro to film theory course uses this anathology. No serious film student should be without this.

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Since publication of the first edition in 1974, Film Theory and Criticism has been the most widely used and cited anthology of critical writings about film. Extensively revised and updated, this sixth edition highlights both classic texts and cutting edge essays from more than a century of thought and writing about the movies. Editors Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen have reformulated the book's sections and their introductions in order to lead students into a rich understanding of what the movies have accomplished, both as individual works and as contributions to what has been called "the art form of the twentieth [and now twenty-first] century." Building upon the wide range of selections and the extensive historical coverage that marked previous editions, this new compilation stretches from the earliest attempts to define the cinema to the most recent efforts to place film in the contexts of psychology, sociology, and philosophy, and to explore issues of gender and race. The sixth edition features several new essays that discuss the impact of digital technology on the traditional conceptions of what films do and how they manage to do it. Additional selections from the important works of Gilles Deleuze round out sections dealing with the theories of such writers as Sergei Eisenstein, André Bazin, and Christian Metz, among others. New essays also strengthen sections dealing with the idea of "excess" in film, film spectatorship, the horror genre, and feminist criticism. Film Theory and Criticism, 6/e, is ideal for undergraduate and graduate courses in film theory and criticism.

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Writing Fiction (6th Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)The steep price of this book gives away that it's a college textbook, not a book for the general reader. There are books for the novice out there that answer the same questions this book but cost you a lot less. But this really is better than most books.
Rather than trying to address itself to writing globally or simply act as boosterism to get you busy, this book actually gets into the nuts and bolts of the writing craft. It answers questions about constructing narrative fiction that even experienced writers have from time to time. There's no fiddling business about comma use--there are other books for that--but for narrative structure, beginnings and ends, building tension, and more, this is your book.
Many books of this type are laden with platitudes and aphorisms about writing. They're pretty, but they don't really help you get going. What really sets this book apart is that, after it gives you your standards and rules, it gives you excerpts from other writers' fiction to demonstrate how it works in the real world of published fiction. Now that's truly useful.
All that said, it suffers from the same problem that afflicts all fiction-writing books: it can't really teach you how to write. It's okay to have this book at hand to answer your questions, give you tutorials, and work on fine-tuning, but the only way you'll really get good at writing is to stop studying books and start writing like you mean it.
This book is good within the limitations that surround all fiction-writing books. To really succeed, you need to just knuckle down and write, but as you're doing that, this is the book to have within reach. Now stop reading my stupid review and start writing your fiction!

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The most widely used and respected book on writing fiction, Writing Fictionguides the writer from first inspiration to final revision.Supported by an abundance exercises, this guide/anthology explores and integrates the elements of fiction while offering practical techniques and concrete examples. A focus on the writing process in its entirety provides a comprehensive guide to writing fiction, approaching distinct elements in separate chapters while building on what has been covered earlier. Topics include free-writing to revision, plot, style, characterization, dialogue, atmosphere, imagery, and point of view. An anthology of diverse and contemporary short stories followed by suggestions for discussion and writing exercises, illustrates concepts while offering variety in pacing and exposure to this increasingly popular form. The book also discusses key issues including writing workshops, using autobiography as a basis for fiction, using action in stories, using dialogue, and maintaining point of view. The sixth edition also features more short short stories than any previous edition and includes quotation boxes that offer advice and inspirational words from established writers on a wide range of topics--such as writing from experience, story structure, openings and endings, and revision.For those interested in developing their creative writing skills.

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Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft (Penguin Academics Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)Not to start a war here, but Janet Burroway's book *is* fresh, and it's the best, most comprehensive multigenre text on the market. And it's affordable both for university students and writers who want to use it on their own. No, it's not full of inspirational gobbledygook and gimmicky suggestions to touch the heart of the writer. Instead, it's a very smart book that asks the writer to join in the long histories of the genres it discusses and offers the most succinctly articulated descriptions of techniques and approaches that will not only get a writer started writing but that will also help that writer understand what makes good writing good. The most innovative aspect of Burroway's book is that it takes creative writing as a whole and discusses those basic elements that make all writing good, from the need for concrete imagery that says something to the need for narrative to move and develop across a work. And it offers dozens and dozens of recent examples to illustrate its points. As an anthology alone, this book would be a good read. But Burroway's comments very aptly help a reader to understand what is working well in each of her excerpts. No, it doesn't offer up elaborate metaphors about bones or light or any inner writing child as a way to nurture the soul of the writer. But from my experience as a writing instructor, it's not the soul of the beginning writer that needs nurturing. This book understands quite well the need to nurture the mind of the writer first.

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Written by best-selling author Janet Burroway, Imaginative Writingis an introductory creative writing book that covers the four genres: essay, fiction, poetry, and drama,.Part I addresses the elements of craft (Image, Voice, Character, Setting, Story, and Development and Revision) while Part II explores the genres (Essay, Fiction, Poetry, and Drama). "Try This" Exercises appear throughout each chapter. Provocative and fun, the exercises help readers develop the specific writing skills discussed within the chapters. The book also includes an anthology of 90 complete readings in the four genres. Photographs and graphics, with accompanying warm-up activities, open each chapter.Appendices include collaborative exercises to emphasize the sensory foundations of imaginative writing, a description of standard formats for submitting finished work in each of the four genres, and an outline of the basic elements of prosody. For those interested in developing their creative writing skills.

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Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)This book, `Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide' edited by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, is a book widely used in colleges and universities, as well as advanced high school classes across the nation. It is a very useful text, and I use it when tutoring students in preparation for community college level writing and reading work. It is used at our college in the basic skills reading courses, too.
The book looks at how writers develop their work. The first few chapters look at some of the basic mechanics of writing - planning, writing, editing and revising. It also looks briefly at certain skills needed for writing, such as brainstorming and idea generation, as well as journal writing. There are many exercises included here to give students first-hand experience.
The second section looks at the various types of writing students will be called upon to produce - narrative papers, process papers, cause-and-effect, descriptive works, comparison-and-contrast, classification, definition, and persuasive/argumentative papers. Each chapter keeps a solid focus on the type of work presented, so that students can develop the particular skills; the final chapter in this section looks at combining the patterns, to produce more complex and comprehensive research papers and essays.
There is a thematic listing of articles that shows the breadth of topics covered - family relationships, language, education, business and work, sports, race and culture, gender, nature and the environment, media and society, history and politics, and ethics. Among more than one hundred articles are sixteen pieces written by actual students, so that students can see the model produced by people at their same level of development. Writings from famous people such as Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Flannery O'Connor and Mark Twain also give breadth and interest to the selections included here.
The writing assignments include journal writing, essays of the types modeled in the chapters, collaborative activities, and even an internet assignment. There is a companion website for students to use, and instructors can take advantage of materials provided by the publisher, such transparencies and additional samples.
The appendix has a ten-step process for writing a research paper (one of the more common types of college writing expected of students). The steps include everything from choosing a topic to documenting sources. Avoiding common pitfalls such as plagiarism (intentional and inadvertent) is also covered.

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Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell, best-selling authors with more than twenty-five years' experience teaching college writing, know what works in the classroom. In Patterns for College Writing, they offer a balance of classic and contemporary essays by writers like Sandra Cisneros, Deborah Tannen, E. B.White, and Henry Louis Gates Jr., providing students with exemplary models for their writing--and instructors with excellent, class-tested selections. With extensive headnotes before each reading, abundant apparatus after, and more examples of student writing than any other reader, Patterns has always been an exceptional resource for students. In the tenth edition, a new chapter on editing and proofreading in Part One, "The Writing Process," gives students more help recognizing and correcting errors common in their writing, while Part Two, "Readings for Writers," offers a greater number of informative and argumentative essays, preparing students better than ever for the demands of college writing.

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The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing (Cambridge Introductions to Literature) Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm skeptical of this book's claims that it's meant to accompany a course in creative writing - it's not practical enough. Then again, as an academic approach to the topic, why shouldn't we expect it to be found in a classroom?
Flipping through this book, I always expect to get more out of it than I actually end up gleaning from its pages. The organization is not particularly helpful; the ten chapters are as follows:
1: Introducing creative writing
2: Creative writing in the world
3: Challenges of creative writing
4: Composition and creative writing
5: Processes of creative writing
5: The practice of fiction
7: Creative nonfiction
8: Writing poetry
9: Performing writing
10: Writing in the community and academy
These categories give little indication of where to find what, and the index is not particularly helpful in finding information, either. For instance, why is the section "On Titles" buried in the "Processes" chapter? It's useful; Morley writes:
"Like it or not, [the title] may tip the balance between your work being read or not, and it might form part of what is graded within a writing course. You must make your title work as hard as all the words in your piece - harder, in fact, for the title is a door for the reader to open, or a little window through which they peep at the interior, an intrigue making them question whether they should enter or take part. A lazy or imprecise title can damn an entire book" (132).
This quote exemplifies the book's value as well as its pitfalls. It's not so much about writing for the sake of being a writer, but a guide to academic success in a creative writing course. Even at that, the poor organization makes it difficult to exploit the book fully, and the majority of the writing exercises fall flat. And it is a wordy philosophical treatise more than an eager guide. Still, the book is packed with useful information, quotations, and even a few cartoons. If you're willing to put in the time and effort to decipher Morley's work, your writing will improve. But it's not the easiest way to go about it.

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This pioneering book introduces students to the practice and art of creative writing and creative reading. It offers a fresh, distinctive and beautifully written synthesis of the discipline. David Morley discusses where creative writing comes from, the various forms and camouflages it has taken, and why we teach and learn the arts of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. He looks at creative writing in performance; as public art, as visual art, as e-literature and as an act of community. As a leading poet, critic and award-winning teacher of the subject, Morley finds new engagements for creative writing in the creative academy and within science. Accessible, entertaining and groundbreaking, The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing is not only a useful textbook for students and teachers of writing, but also an inspiring read in its own right. Aspiring authors and teachers of writing will find much to discover and enjoy.

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The Blair Reader Review

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(More customer reviews)As a core text for my freshman writing classes, I use the Blair Reader to integrate the diverse ethnic backgrounds of my students through writers with whom they can relate. The Blair Reader also provides an instructor's resource manual that guides the teacher through the use of collaborative group and multimedia activities to stimulate student writing. I would highly recommend this text to any writing or reading instructor who faces the challenge of the diversified classroom.

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For English Composition courses. This broad thematic reader offers over 100 teachable essays selected by professors.Each teachable essay is supported by an introduction about the author, and writing activities.Additionally, each theme has a focus section which helps students expand their ideas and write about critical issues.This edition offers new non-fiction, poetry, and fiction selections as well as many new visual images give students a richer, more interesting learning experience.

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Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief Review

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(More customer reviews)There aren't a lot of creative writing texts that cover all four genres out there, and "Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief" seemed a promising, inexpensive option to assign for my college creative writing class. The discussions of craft are solid and each section is followed by a checklist that my students found useful. Each chapter includes three opening examples that the craft lessons refer back to in order to illustrate their points, and I found this to be very clear and effective. My two main complaints have to do with the selection of plays and editorial problems with the book. There are only 7 plays in this book (by contrast, there are 26 poems, 14 stories, and 13 essays). I'm guessing the decision to include so few plays was made because the plays take up more pages than the entries in the other genres, but the result is a very limited (and somewhat lackluster) selection of dramatic works. A more annoying issue was the rather embarrassing extent of typographical errors in this book. There are small typos here and there, and at one point, a whole paragraph is repeated verbatim. The complete table of contents in the front matter is correct, but there is also an abbreviated table of contents inside the front cover, and this table of contents contains the incorrect page numbers! Besides being irksome, these typos make it hard to make the case to students that they should treat their writing with care and precision. Why do so when the very textbook they've paid almost $40 for appears not to have been proofread?! With a better/wider selection of plays and some good proofreading/copyediting, this could have been a fantastic book, so it's really too bad.

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How can students with widely varied levels of literary experience learn to write poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and drama — over the course of only one semester? In Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief, David Starkey offers some solutions to the challenges of teaching the introductory creative writing course: (1) concise, accessible instruction in literary basics; (2) short models of literature to analyze, admire and emulate; (3) inventive and imaginative assignments that inspire and motivate.

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Three Genres: The Writing of Poetry, Fiction, and Drama (7th Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)I find that this text provides a better discussion of poetry than Janet Burroway's recent creative writing book, though her text is stronger in its discussion of fiction. While I don't agree with everything Minot says about writing (he can be too simplistic and authoritative in ways that could limit writers' expression and experimentation), and I don't like his selection of poems or stories very much, I use his book as simply one more resource for students. He offers another voice besides my own, and the class can dispute or agree with his comments if we so desire. The poetry chapters I've found most helpful are "Images," "The Sound of Words," and "Traditional Rhythms." I've also used parts of his fiction discussion. I supplement the book with many handouts (mostly poems) and some excerpts from Steve Kowit's In the Palm of Your Hand and Dorianne Laux/Kim Addonizio's The Poet's Companion. I use Burroway's text primarily for the fiction unit, and I also use parts of Jerome Stern's Making Shapely Fiction.

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Appropriate for undergraduate courses in creative writing.This time-tested, hands-on introduction to poetry, fiction, and drama writing addresses the dynamics of the creative process while providing a non-technical analysis of each genre. It also encourages writers to find their own voice and provides advice on how to begin writing creatively.--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Discovering Popular Culture (A Longman Topics Reader) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book was very interesting and really explains the diverse aspects of popular culture. It is easy to understand and the topics of each passage are engaging. Overall the book was enjoyable and is great to use as a reference to papers on popular culture.

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International Views presents international perceptions of the U.S.'s relationship to the world, as well as views of that relationship from inside the United States, offering opportunities for students to examine the lines of political, ideological, and cultural conflict that can both enrich our international experience and threaten our understanding of America's place in the world.

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Study Driven: A Framework for Planning Units of Study in the Writing Workshop Review

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(More customer reviews)Why isn't this book more widely read? Wood-Ray offers excellent direction to teachers - at all grade levels - who are seeking to improve the instruction of writing. Her central ideas are:
1.Texts should be used to mentor students to write real things in the ways real writers write.
2.Writing needs to be `studied' and not `taught.'
3.Teachers need to be writers and gatherers of mentor texts, but curriculum can not be determined before the students begin to study.
For teachers who want their students to write well, this is a text that lays out options for letting this happen. You'll want to spend a summer reading it and thinking, so that when you return, you'll be ready for superior kind pedagogy. It is rare for a book to speak so compellingly to all teachers, Kindergarten to College, but I believe that Study Driven is the wonderful exception.

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No matter what grade you teach, what state your school is in, and what level of diversity is present in your classroom, students have the right to be shown real-world examples of the kinds of writing they're asked to produce. For Katie Wood Ray, this foundational idea is also the beginning of an important way of approaching rigorous writing instruction.

In Study Driven Ray shows you that encouraging students to read closely can improve the effectiveness of your writing instruction. Detailing her own method for utilizing the popular mentor-texts approach, Ray helps you immerse children in a close study of published texts that supports their learning, leads them to a better understanding of the traits of good writing, and motivates them to become more accomplished writers.

Ray shows you how to set up your writing workshop to facilitate close study. From grounded understandings to informed practice to supportive resources, she demonstrates:
how to find a rich variety of texts that give students a clear vision of the writing you want them to do
how to strategically select texts to support whole-class learning as well as individual choice
how your teaching language gives structure to curriculum development and student learning
how good planning turns curricular standards and objectives into sensible units of study
why depth can be a more practical and effective curricular goal than breadth in writing instruction


Study Driven also gives you the ideas and resources for thirty units of study, ranging from genres to punctuation and appropriate across grade levels.

Get students into the habit of studying what they read to help them plan their writing. Give them examples of real-world texts as well as the structure, the space, the time, and the guidance to change and grow as writers. Give yourself Study Driven and find out how.

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Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them (P.S.) Review

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(More customer reviews)Francine Prose, in "Reading Like a Writer," argues that creative writing cannot be taught in a classroom. A workshop may provide valuable encouragement and support for a fledgling writer, and a good instructor may show a novice how to edit his work more effectively. However, a writer learns his craft by reading and rereading the books, novels, plays, and short stories of great writers, and he improves his skills through practice. Prose recommends studying "meter with Ovid, plot construction with Homer, comedy with Aristophanes." She backs up her thesis by giving a host of examples from writers she admires, such as Austen, Hemingway, Joyce, Chekhov, and others who are a bit more obscure.
Prose discusses the basics, including the use of the exact word, sentence building, paragraphing, point of view, character, and dialogue. Close reading, she asserts, enables us to understand not only what the writer is stating, but also what he is implying. The subtext is often as important, if not more important, than the text itself. Throughout "Reading Like a Writer" are excerpts, some brief, some lengthy, from a variety of sources, followed by Prose's witty, insightful, and informative commentary. Why does the writer choose one particular word or phrase rather than another? How do the seemingly minor details and gestures in a scene sometimes convey more information than the characters' statements?
"Reading Like a Writer" is not a handbook or a manual. It is a love letter to the mysterious alchemy, the magic that occurs when a reader encounters a book, poem, or story that not only entertains him, but also moves and transforms him. Francine Prose's favorite writers may not be our favorites, but all readers who love literature will appreciate her enthusiasm and respect for the written word. Her suggestions about how to read more effectively are useful not just for budding writers but for anyone who would like to come away from a book with a deeper appreciation of the author's craft. As Prose says, "Reading this way requires a certain amount of stamina, concentration, and patience."" The reward for all of this effort lies in "the excitement of approaching, as nearly as you can hope to come, the hand and mind of the artist."


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Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)I have taught writing for the past five years utilizing the teaching structure, writing workshop. I have also taught teachers how to teach using writing workshop and this has been the most helpful book in training new teachers. It is an easy read with lots of timelines, teacher guides, quick summaries at the end of chapters and practical advice. There are a lot of books out there about writing workshop, but this one is concise, clear and enjoyable to read. This is worth the money! Enjoy :)

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Is the writing workshop the only way to teach writing? No. There are a variety of approaches or programs, but none of them matches the writing workshop when it comes to growing strong writers. That's why, despite the pressures of testing, the writing workshop has endured and even flourished in thousands of schools across the country.

Today we face a time when as many as ten million new teachers are entering the profession. It is for these teachers, and others who are unfamiliar with writing workshop, that Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi wrote this book - as a way to introduce and explain the writing workshop . . . to reveal what a potent tool the writing workshop can be for empowering young writers.

Above all Writing Workshop is a practical book, providing everything a teacher needs to get the writing workshop up and running. In clear language, Fletcher and Portalupi explain the simple principles that underlie the writing workshop and explore the major components that make it work. Each chapter addresses an essential element, then suggests five or six specific things a teacher can do to implement the idea under discussion. There's also a separate chapter entitled "What About Skills," which shows how to effectively teach skills in the context of writing. The book closes with practical forms in the appendixes to ensure that the workshop runs smoothly.

Fletcher and Portalupi's twenty-plus years working with teachers have convinced them that there is no better way to teach writing. This important book is the culmination of all their years of effort, a synthesis of their best thinking on the subject.

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Little, Brown Handbook (11th Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)This handbook is all an aspiring writer needs to grasp the technical aspects of the English language. Virtually every nuance of English grammar is discussed at length, including the subjunctive mood (yes, English has one), and the Passive voice (yes, the one your English teacher always asked you not to use!). The book has 883 pages. I will value this even more when I go to graduate school next year.
Why is this book useful? Have you ever wanted to know how to correctly use question marks, commas, and quotation marks? Well, virtually every punctuation mark in existence is explained in the book. Typically rules of usage are given first, and then the explanation is followed by an example sentence. This format makes learning the concepts very easy.
There are also extremely helpful chapters on the use reasoning skills, reading and thinking critically, revising, editing, finding sources, and many, many more helpful topics. The book has sections on MLA, APA, CBE, and Chicago Styles of citing works. So whether you need to write a paper for a Psychology class or an English class, you can find help here. There are also tips included on how to do work in various fields, such as the humanities and social sciences. Another informative section is Glossary of Usage chapter. Included here are commonly misused words, and an explanation of their correct usage (and examples of such usage). For instance, did you know that "lay" is transitive and "lie" intransitive? Or did you know that the past participle form of "lie" is "I have lain?"
I could go on and on about what is included, but there is just so much, it would take more than a few pages! You will have to trust me that this book offers grammar tips, writing hints, citation methods, and other helpful tools. Here is a listing of the contents for all interested:
Preface for Instructors
Preface for Students: Using This BookIntroduction: Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing
Pt. I The Whole Paper and Paragraphs
Pt. II Grammatical Sentences
Pt. III Clear Sentences
Pt. IV Effective Sentences
Pt. V Punctuation
Pt. VI Mechanics
Pt. VII Effective Words
Pt. VIII Research Writing
Pt. IX Special Writing Situations
App. A Document Format
App. B Writing with a Computer
App. C Oral Presentations, Glossary of Usage, Glossary of Terms

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The most trusted and authoritative name in handbooks, The Little, Brown Handbook,11/e is an easy-to-use reference that will answer any question you may have in grammar, writing, or research. It also includes exercises so you can practice skills. This edition offers the latest information on writing with computers, writing online, analyzing visuals, and researching effectively on the Internet. With clear explanations, a wealth of examples, and quick reference checklists and boxes, The Little, Brown Handbook will makes it easy to find what you need and use the information you find.

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Portable MFA in Creative Writing (New York Writers Workshop) Review

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(More customer reviews)Just finished THE PORTABLE MFA IN CREATIVE WRITING by NEW YORK WRITERS WORKSHOP. It impresses me as a book for the pros, not the academics. No dull jargon, no preposterous theory, just the straight dope on writing in five different forms. Since I'm primarily a poet, I spent the most time with Rita Gabis's section -- it's like Mary Oliver's POETRY HANDBOOK meets THE ARTIST'S WAY. You can't read this book without developing the habit of writing, and in the ten-to-twelve days that I've had my copy, I've seen my work improve. This book is indispensable.

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Writers can get the core knowledge of a prestigious $50,000 MFA program without paying tuition. With sound, nuts-and-bolts instruction and real-world career advice, this book is the only book speaking directly to the tens of thousands each year who don't make it into MFA programs. The topics include magazine writing, memoir and personal essay, poetry, fiction, playwriting and more: inspiration and tips on revision, stamina and productivity; clear instruction on the craft behind the art; and, detailed reading lists to expand writers' literary horizons. Those who heed its advice will gain the wisdom and experience of some of today's greatest teaching minds, all for the price of a book.

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CliffsAP English Language and Composition Review

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(More customer reviews)I had a really bad experience with my AP Lang class; the teacher never did anything relevant to the AP exam, and all we did was read novels and put together scrapbooks that somehow related to the books. When May arrived, I knew that I was in trouble, and I borrowed this book from my library, and I absolutely attribute my 5 on the exam to it. The practice questions are extremely similar to the real thing, and the explanations are in the right line of thinking that you have to bring the exam in order to do well, and that's all that this exam is about, just how you think. The essay samples are also really well evaluated, and the book offers a glossary on literary terms that you'll have to know. The book is good for quick preparation (I literally had a little over a week with this book) and long-term practice (which is what I wish I had done instead of freaking out a week beforehand). This is definitely the book to get!

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Your complete guide to a higher score on the *AP English Language and Composition examWhy CliffsAP Guides?Go with the name you know and trustGet the information you need--fast!Written by test prep specialistsAbout the contents:Part I: Introduction* Review of the format and scoring of the recent examPart II: Analysis of Exam Areas* Description of the multiple-choice section and effective test-taking techniques* Overview of the essay section and strategies for successPart III: Diagnostic Mini-TestPart IV: Past AP English Language EssaysPart V: Glossary of Important Terms for the ExamPart VI: 6 Practice Tests* 6 full-length practice tests followed by answers and explanationsPart VII: Suggested Reading List*AP is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.AP Test Prep Essentials from the Experts at CliffsNotes?

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