AP Seminar
Mostly Everything You Need to Know About AP Seminar
Exam Outline
Performance Task 1
| Name | Exam Weight |
|---|---|
| IRR | 10% |
| TMP and Oral Defense | 10% |
Performance Task 2
| Name | Exam Weight |
|---|---|
| IWA | 24.5% |
| IMP | 7& |
| Oral Defense | 3.5% |
End of Course Exam
| Name | Exam Weight |
|---|---|
| EOC A | 13.5% |
| EOC B | 31.5% |
IRR/IWA Tips
Understanding the Essays
IRR – Informative Essay
IWA – Argumentative Essay
1) Do NOT have plop quotes. Paraphrasing shows your understanding.
What not to do: AP Resources said, “Do NOT have plop quotes. Paraphrasing shows your understanding.” This shows that paraphrasing is bad because it is not good to do.
What to do: According to AP Resources, research papers should not have plop quotes because they are not appropriate at this level of writing. Paraphrasing quotes shows your understanding of the content and makes your writing more fluent.
2) Ensure Synthesis
- Evaluate the information.
- How does it further your claim?
- Draw conclusions.
- Connect it to your other sources.
3) An Appropriate Essay
- Check Spelling and Grammar. Use tools like Grammarly!
- No Rhetorical Questions
- No Contractions (Example: ain’t)
- No Exclamation Points
4) Credibility
Ensure Strong Credibility (Example: Elysia Clemens, professor of applied psychology and counselor education, and her colleagues report)
What not to do: Elysia Clemens, a professor, reports that…
What to do: Elysia Clemens, professor of applied psychology and counselor education, and her colleagues report…
5) Check Your Citations
MLA Format: Your citations page will be called “Works Cited”
APA Format: Your citations page will be called “References” or “Bibliography”
Utilize Owl Perdue to make sure your in-text citations and citation page formatting are correct: Click for Owl Perdue’s MLA Guide
6) Proper Acronyms
Your AP Graders will not know what every acronym means.
What not to do: A FAO report says…
What to do: A Food and Agriculture Organization report says…
However, if you are using an acronym multiple times:
Do this the first time: A FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) report says… Later: FAO’s other report says