#3) How to succeed in timed writing

"you have forty minutes from now on! Ready? Get set, go!" 

Timed writing can be extremely stressful and difficult in AP LANG. In order to succeed in timed writing, you have to have a good time managing skill.When i have timed writing in class, I always bring my watch with me so I can keep track of time. 

Before we start, Do we all know what timed writing is? It's simple. You get a prompt, and write an essay about  in forty minutes. Does forty minute sounds like a lot to you? NO!!! many students in AP lang, including myself, complain about how we do not get enough time to write an essay. The best way to manage your time when you timed write is to read the prompt no more than five to seven minutes to understand and analyze, the author's main argument. Make sure you annotate important importation or evidence as you read along because this will help you to find evidence easily by looking at your notes. After finish  reading the prompt, you can pre-write or go straight to your final paper. However I strongly suggest you to pre-write and plan out your essay first. you will have about 25 minutes, write your final essay, skim through and correct errors for two to three minutes. 

 What should you think about when we time write?

1. what is the main argument of the prompt?
2. what is my thesis going to be?
3. Am I answering the right question?
4. what are my support types?
5. what are my evidence?
6. what is my tone?
7. and how much time do I have left? (important?)   

Here are the list of things NOT do do when you time write

1. Do not zone out! you do not have time!
2. Do not go out of subject! (this happens very often due to the lack of time and stress, results you to write random craps that does not even make sense)

Don't write something as your thesis about something you can not prove in twenty minutes

This picture shows how timed writing is graded. 

If you never had timed writing yet, I will show you two examples of how the prompt looks like. notice how I annotated? This will help you to understand the text more when you timed write. 

Sometimes you have to find the deep hidden meaning of the prompt, but do not over analyze it. Find key words, and the tone of the author. Most of the times, main ideas are often repeated in the prompt. Try to understand the prompt by reading closely and think WHY the author wants to argue about the idea.

Here is the video of how to write a good timed essay