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I spend so much time on an essay only to get a B-. I hate it how effort doesn't translate into success in English. I feel like giving up.

By Clickspring (Clickspring) on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 08:18 pm: Edit

Well obviously you need to change they way you are doing things. Either you're not putting your efforts into the right things or your efforts just aren't what your teacher wants. Talk to your teacher about how to be more successful.

By Babybird87 (Babybird87) on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 09:18 pm: Edit

ooh, I love AP English-- my best subject besides AP Politics

By Curiouskatie (Curiouskatie) on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 09:22 pm: Edit

i agree with clickspring--you should stay after and tell the teacher how much effort you are putting in. ask what you should work on to make the essays better. your teacher is there to help you and to prepare you for the AP test, and will give you any advice s/he can to bring your grade up.

By Alphamom (Alphamom) on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 10:11 pm: Edit

Cherrybarry, find a writing tutor and see if there are some obvious areas for improvement. They should be able to give you some great suggestions. Colleges all have tutoring and could probably recommend someone, so give the nearest one a call. Good Luck!

By Aim78 (Aim78) on Tuesday, October 05, 2004 - 12:00 am: Edit

Same with me, man. The teacher is a tough one. She made us rewrite our first essay and I ended up with a lower grade, which she wouldn't change. She's not specific about she wants, and she approaches our writing in the wrong way (like "yikes, this is gonna be bad...")

But you have to adapt. That's how high school is.

By Lefthandofdog (Lefthandofdog) on Tuesday, October 05, 2004 - 12:12 pm: Edit

Could you take your writing to the teacher before the due date and say something like, "This is how I'm approaching the assignment. Can you take a look and tell me if I'm on the right track, or what I might do differently?" If you have a teacher who really wants to teach, they will give you some help. By bringing them what you've already worked on, you're giving them a starting point and shown that you're willing to put in the effort but need their help. I would hope that the teacher is writing specific comments on your graded paper - make sure you read those comments and put that advice into the next paper you write.

By Piman3141 (Piman3141) on Tuesday, October 05, 2004 - 02:48 pm: Edit

ugh, I hate English and any social sciences related subject. Bleh, AP English no for I.

By Nlkrueger (Nlkrueger) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 04:43 pm: Edit

My English teacher is nuts. We have about 4 assignments to do at any one time. Right now, we're busy on a literary criticism (6-8 pages long), reading Mythology, we will soon start on Beowulf (while still reading Mythology), vocabulary tests, and a few more smaller assignments.
I hate her. She's a good teacher, but she's the devil.

By The_G_Wall (The_G_Wall) on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 07:02 pm: Edit

I got B-Minuses throughout AP English, and now in college I find myself getting B-plusses on the same type of material. Dont' think that it's just going to get tougher.