Tow #30: Letter to a New APELC Student

Dear New APELC Student,

I hope you did well on your summer essay! Yes, it was summer work, but that doesn't mean Mr. Yost will go easy on you. He grades every essay as if he were reading an essay from the AP Exam. But don't panic! One bad grade won't kill you. Just know that if you did not do well on the essay, you should probably study for the test.  That is one big mistake I made an the beginning of the year. Take the assessments very seriously throughout the course. He has the same standard for you at the beginning of the year as he will at the end of the year. That is why this class will seem very difficult at first. However, as the year goes on, it gets easier. You will learn the skills that are necessary for you to succeed in this class. So don't panic! If you get a B the first marking period, so what? You can still get an A for the year. I know plenty of people who got a B the first marking period, but still got an A for the year (I unfortunately was not one of those people.) Besides, a B in this class is difficult to get, so be proud of that. Lower your standards! Only 20% of people get an A in the class anyways! Even if I had gotten a C in this class, I still would not regret taking it. I have learned so much more in this class than I ever have in any other English class. I used to coast through English class and get an A without even trying and without learning anything new. Now I've learned so many new skills that have improved my analysis writing skills as well as argument writing skills. I learned to accept that there is never any black and white with writing. Say goodbye to TEAEAC and TICAP essays because they will be of no use to you anymore.  If all that matters to you is getting an A in a hard course for your transcript, then don't bother taking this class. DROP OUT NOW! Go to honors English where you can do the same thing you have been doing for the past 10 years in English classes (assuming you came from Honors English, I have no idea what gifted was like.) If you want your writing to move away from the typical 5 paragraph essay, please stay in this class, no matter how hard it gets. I promise you, if you really care about English, it will be worth it. Getting a B doesn't matter! If it's your first B ever who cares? It was probably bound to happen anyways! So relax, it's only school. When times get tough, think about why you took this class and what it will eventually lead to. You will do amazing things in life and your grade in this class won't matter then. I'd take B any day if it meant I learned something useful! I hope you can to.

Sincerely,

An Old APELC Student

P.S. Take your TOW's seriously! Mr. Yost grades them as assessments sometimes and they really do help prepare you for the AP Exam.

Tow #29: Documentary Rhetorical Analysis (Part 2)

Any amount of violent crime in one country is too much crime. However, it is impossible to prevent all of the crime that happens in one place before it happens, but, according to the documentary "Psychopath", the use of the Psychopathy Checklist could prevent a significant amount of crime. The Psychopathy Checklist is a diagnostic tool that determines whether or not a person is a psychopath and their degree of psychopathy on a scale of 1 to 40. The United States could greatly benefit from including the Psychopathy Checklist in a child's doctor check-up because a person's basic personality is mostly developed by the age of eighteen, and roughly half of the violent crime committed in the United States is committed by psychopaths. If there is any hope to change the behavior of psychopaths, it should be done when they are children. A child's personality is much easier to mold than that of an adult. For example, if a child has the personality trait of being too noisy all the time, a parent will scold them to change their behavior. Eventually the child will learn to only be noisy in appropriate situations. If an adult has the same problem, it is much more difficult for them to change their behavior because no one holds any authority over them. Psychopaths should be identified at a young age so their tendencies to commit violent crimes are reduced. It is important to address their issues early so that they are less likely to commit violent crimes in the future. Psychopaths should also be identified early in life because they are responsible for about half of the violent crime that is committed in America, according to "Psychopath". If psychopaths are identified in childhood, they can learn from a young age what is right and what is wrong, especially if they are taught by parents who are aware of their condition. Parents can be more careful about letting certain behaviors slide. Even if half of the psychopath's behaviors are corrected, there is still a significant amount of violent crime reduced. I understand that this solution may be unethical; I'm sure mothers would not be thrilled to learn their child is a psychopath. However, violent crime is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. By having children tested early in childhood, lives could be saved, including those of the victims and the psychopaths themselves. Psychopaths commit half of the violent crimes in America, but their personality cannot change too much after the age of 18. This is why something needs to be done about the issue soon, before the amount of crime in America escalates even further.