Many students who do not take additional courses in their secondary curriculum often find that their scores are too low on their first-year entrance exam to continue with an English course. For example, students who do not have additional upper division classes may not receive a passing grade on the AP Exam, even though they have passed all of their AP Exams in high school.
In the first year of high school, many students begin their English classes without having taken a class of composition or literature. Students learn to read and write, but they also need to read the same type of material as the teacher in order to be prepared for the higher-level courses that will likely be required of them. If there is a lack of exposure to literature in the classroom, the students will not learn the concepts of plot, structure, character development, language use, the relationships between words, and how to relate an idea to an audience.
For students who do not take additional courses in their secondary curriculum, they should choose a class of composition or literature, which is typically a prerequisite for entering college. Some people choose an English course to give them a head start on their future studies of English literature. Others decide to take the AP Exam as their primary entrance exam. This way, they will learn how to read and write at the college level.
When choosing an English course, consider that subject is most important to you in school. Some students might feel the same way about English composition for beginners as they do about composition for experienced writers. In fact, there are some students who prefer to study the sciences before taking their academic subjects.
The first English course for most students at the high school is English Composition. Some students have trouble taking a class of composition and choose an upper level course instead, like English Composition II. to help them get over these difficulties.
One of the best ways for students to learn how to read and write is to read what others have written. During their first semester at college, students who do not take an introductory course in English are given a set of essays to write. They must submit these essays to a committee that reviews their work and assigns them points that they need to meet. In order to earn a passing grade on their assignment, students must write persuasive, well-organized and convincing essays that demonstrate their knowledge of the specific topic under discussion.
The point of these assignments is to show how the writer analyzes a piece of text in order to arrive at an opinion about it. The more thought and consideration put into a topic and its implications, the more likely the student is to reach a reasonable conclusion. Most students who do well on their essay writing in college become confident essayists because they learn to think more thoroughly about a topic, and write from their point of view rather than from the perspective of others. They can also write persuasive essays that convince other people and allow for better communication in the classroom.
