26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The One to Get, December 31, 2007
This review is from: CliffsAP English Language and Composition (Paperback)
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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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Middling quality, May 20, 2007
This review is from: CliffsAP English Language and Composition (Paperback)
A decent book, but flawed in a few ways. Provides enough information about the test itself, but focuses more on practice tests - which is probably the best way to prepare.
However, the practice tests are mediocre at best. The multiple-choice sections are decent, but a number of the questions are a bit iffy. Each practice test includes answers and explanations. The explanations are frequently insufficient; often they would say no more than "Answer D is the only correct answer choice". This isn't an explanation - it's a restatement of the answer. Of course, many of the explanations were good; a few even detailed why each particular answer choice was wrong. However, I encountered far more vague explanations than thorough explanations. The book also fails to deal with documentation questions on the multiple choice. Each practice test includes one or two, but when I took the AP there were four or five documentation questions. Furthermore, these questions were more varied than the practice ones. The CliffsAP book failed to adequately deal with this aspect of the test.
CliffsAP did even worse on the free-response section. The practice tests failed to represent the basic format of the free-response: one synthesis essay, one rhetorical analysis, one argumentation. Many of the practice tests presented two rhetorical analysis essays or two argumentation essays. Many of the essay prompts feel hastily prepared and poorly designed. The synthesis essays were the worst. Occasionally, the prompt and the sources addressed different issues. On nearly all of the synthesis prompts, the documents were very poorly selected. One essay featured four articles by the same newspaper. Another was comprised primarily of letters to the editor. Actual AP synthesis questions feature a variety of sources; the one I encountered included encyclopedia entries, newspaper articles, and book excerpts, among other sources. The CliffsAP essays were way off target.
Nonetheless, the book helped me prepare for the AP. It did a decent job, but I can't help but feel like it could've been far better written. In the end, I regret buying this book. I don't know what the Princeton Review book is like, but I can't imagine it's worse than this.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The BEST help you will ever need!, December 19, 2006
This review is from: CliffsAP English Language and Composition (Paperback)
I used the the first edition of this book with my students for years and the newly-updated edition is even better than before! VERY practical advice and REAL examples from the author's students, so it's not some adult trying to be a teenager. Don't let the Cliff's title fool you--this is quality instruction from an experienced educator!
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