AP English Language & Composition

Honestly, this class isn't challenging. Yes, it's an AP course, the first of many, but don't let the AP label frighten you sophomores. The class in itself is pretty easy; if you manage to keep up with the work, you should be able to earn an A. The actual AP curriculum that you need to learn for the test is kind of funky; it's nothing you can't take but it's nothing you've ever done before. The good news is, your teachers are pretty great and if you listen to them then you should be able to pull out of a 5 (I was able to easily). Basically the test is made of three essays that you have to finish in around 2 hours and 40 minutes and 50 multiple choice (your AP E&L teachers should tell you all about this in class so if I'm wrong, smite me)
One is the synthesis essay, where you are given documents and an issue where you have to utilize the documents to support your stance on that issue. This one is hard because you have to be able to read and analyze quickly, but as you go through the course, hopefully Mrs. Link, Mrs. Cheney, or Mrs. Madrid will give you enough practice that it'll come easy breezy! As for tips for the synthesis, honestly, if you're sitting there just stuck, I just hit the documents first. Always go for a strong stance, but if you can't find one, choose the side that probably easier to argue from the documents. In short, read the documents first and then choose your stance from there. It doesn't hurt to hone your reading skills in a short time frame; I wouldn't be lying if I said that being a fast reader didn't help me on the synthesis.
The second is going to the rhetorical analysis essay. This essay is by far the hardest for most students (thought I personally found it to be the easiest and most enjoyable to write, but maybe I'm just weird). This is when you encounter something you never have before: you aren't writing about meaning, you're writing about how the author conveys that meaning through strategies. What the heck does that even mean? Well for example, I'm using a colloquial tone in this piece in order to keep you interested in what I have to say. I'm using shorter sentences to keep the consistency of my writing choppy in order to make this advice column seem less banal than it already is. If that made no sense to you, no worries! Honestly rhetorical analysis isn't something you learn over night, I started out with a 6/7 essay and ended up consistently getting 8/9's. If you're stuck on this one, your safety net will be the triangle of a good argument, pathos, ethos, logos and tone. I think what prevents most people from doing well on this essay is the sheer foreignness of its nature. You should try to practice these essays as often as possible in order to morph your writing from literary to rhetorical.
The third is probably the easiest, the argumentative essay. It's pretty similar to the SAT argumentative essay, you're given an issue and you have to take a stance and support it. It's easiest for students because it's probably the one that most of us are familiar with. The hard part: the examples. Build an example bank if you can and always have some really broad ones that you can go to no matter what the topic. Good examples are going to be ones that are hard hitting, for example the Arab Spring vs something banal like your daily struggles at Troy (not to trivialize your pain). I read a lot of news online (Huffington Post & National Geographic are good) and I have a subscription to Time; I would highly recommend reading the paper every day just to naturally build your awareness about the world and thus your example bank. Literary examples are always a surefire way to do well, but of course even if you use a literary example, you aren't guaranteed a 5. The thing about literary examples though is that they play on so many different themes that (for example) I could easily use Brave New World by Aldous Huxley to talk about homogeneous societies or the effects of technology on society. I, myself, am a pretty avid reader, so it made it easier for me to think of examples for my essay. :) In recent years, the essay topics have become a little more philosophical, so it also wouldn't be a bad idea to read up on some Socrates or Aristotle (like the Symposium), just to get your smart juices flowing so you don't look at a prompt about existentialism and just blank out.
As for the multiple choice, it's pretty tough. There are really strange and obscure questions about terminology but don't sweat it because the curve is often going to be big enough so that you can get 7's on your essays and a 50% on the MC to get a 5. With that said, don't take it lightly though. I would highly recommend just practicing as much as you can (5 steps to a 5 500 Questions brought me from a 50% average to a 90% on MC), and read fast.
That's about it. I hope my tips help some of you get 5's! Best of luck (and skill).