Hood
SY 2010-2011
Advanced Placement Language and Composition
Instructor:
Contact Info:
Mr. Scott Hood
Room 209
973-351-2010 (School)
shood@nps.k12.nj.us
shood10@gmail.com
www.scotthood.wordpress.com
Course Overview:
According to the College Board’s course description, “an AP course in English Language and
Composition engages students in becoming skilled readers of prose written in a variety of
rhetorical contexts, and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes.” In
this spirit, this course will focus on critical reading and thinking skills and the development of
effective means of argumentation through discussion and the written word.
The reading in this course will be comprised mostly of non-fiction pieces organized into
thematic units. American literature, the usual content for the junior year, will be used to
supplement this non-fiction argumentative writing, which is meant to expose you to other
people’s thinking about important issues. As much as possible, the supplemental literature has
been organized to coincide thematically with the non-fiction work.
For the most part, this work in the classroom will be based on discussion, and therefore, you
are expected to be an active participant in class. You have done a great deal of work to get to
this point; be proud of and sure in your abilities and add your voice to the class. You will be
assessed on your written work, homework, daily activities, and class participation. Essays will
require you to engage in the full writing process from drafting to publishing, and, if necessary,
re-writes will be allowed.
Finally, understand this class will be challenging and will require you to be motivated,
committed, and mature. You have the ability to be successful, but do not think it will be easy.
Course Objectives:
Students in this course will:
1. Study numerous texts from various genres of fiction and non-fiction from the sixteenth
to the twenty-first centuries in order to identify, analyze, and explain how and for what
purpose a writer uses rhetorical devices and techniques.
2. Gain an understanding of the study of literature as a discipline, including the importance
of the social and historic context and traditions and the theories of literary criticism.
3. Participate in daily discussions of literature by defending an analysis of a literary work
and asking probing questions about an author’s choices and effectiveness.
4. Study visual texts to understand the use of visual rhetorical strategies.
5. Complete numerous informal writing assignments to develop the ability to write in a
variety of forms for multiple purposes, to use the techniques exhibited in the course
readings and to further an awareness of themselves as writers.
6. Engage in the full writing process – drafting, revising, editing, publishing – to improve
style, focus, organization, coherence, sophistication in diction and syntax, and the use of
Standard English.
7. Develop and defend clear thesis statements in critical essays using textual evidence and
logical arguments.
8. Use technology and other tools to conduct research on course-related concepts and to
evaluate the quality and reliability of sources.
9. Compose a research paper that presents an original argument that synthesizes ideas
from a variety of sources.
10. Accurately cite sources following the format of the Modern Language Association
Primary Texts:
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Prentice-Hall Literature: The American Experience. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall,
2002.
Shea, Renee, Lawrence Scanlan and Robin Dissin Aufses, Eds. The Language of
Composition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.
Materials/Requirements:
You will need:
1. A3-ring binder split into 4 sections (This means you will need dividers, also) and filled
with blank notebook paper.
a. Daily Agendas: In an effort to stay organized, you will be required to keep a log
of each day’s date, objective, activities, notes, and homework.
b. Do Nows/Journals: Upon entering class each day, you will have a warm-up
activity. You should include the date and the written activity or journal response.
c. Vocabulary: You will have regular vocabulary quizzes
d. Notes: This section will include all class notes and handouts.
2. Access to a computer, Microsoft Word (or a comparable word processing program) and
the internet. All writing assignments must be typed, and many assignments will require
the internet for conducting research. You will not be excused from these assignments
for any reason. If you foresee a problem with this requirement, please see me ASAP.
Also, you must have access to your account on the UHS server.
3. Pens, pencils, highlighters, and paper. These items should be brought to class everyday.
The “Do Nots”:
1. Lateness will not be tolerated. You should arrive to class on time or with a pass
excusing your tardiness. You must sign-in when tardy to class. Excessive lateness will
result in a conference with you and/or your parents/guardians.
2. You may not leave the room without a hall pass and expressed consent from me. You
must sign-out and sign-in when you exit and enter the room during class.
3. You may not use cell phones in class. As per UHS rules, cell phones being used in class
in an unauthorized manner will be confiscated and may only be returned to your
parent/guardian.
4. Be respectful of your classmates, the classroom, yourself, and your teacher at all
times. All interactions, including disagreements and debates, should be handled
maturely and respectfully. Any behavior unbecoming of a UHS student may result in
appropriate disciplinary measures and will result in a conference with you and/or your
parents/guardians.
5. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Any instances of plagiarism and/or cheating
will result in a failure for the assignment in question and a conference with your
parents/guardians.
6. All UHS rules and regulations will be followed. If something is a rule in our school, it is a
rule in my classroom.
Make Up/Late Work
1. As stated in the make-up policy of the English department of University High School, if
you have an excused absence, you have as many days as you were out to make up the
work, regardless of A/B day scheduling.
2. All make-up work will be placed in folders at the front of the classroom and will be
retained there for one week. Most notes and handouts, whenever possible,will also be
posted on the class website. Be sure to check the website and your classmates’ agendas
and copy the information. These will detail everything we have done in class on that
day, valuable information. I WILL NOT REMIND YOU TO RETRIEVE AND/OR DO MAKE
UP WORK. After one week, I will throw away any extra handouts and will not make new
copies. It will be your responsibility to obtain anything you missed.
3. Work missed because of an unexcused absenceor tardiness will NOT be accepted. Cuts
will result in a conference with you and/or your parents/guardians.
4. NO LATE HOMEWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED. Homework is considered late if you do not
have it when I collect it. Multiple zeroes will result in a conference with you and/or your
parents/guardians.
5. Essays and major projects will be accepted up to one week late, with 10% being
deducted for each day it is late. Multiple late essays, or failure to do an essay, will result
in a conference with you and/or your parents/guardians.
Grading Outline:
Assessments (65%)
 Tests
 Quizzes
 Projects/Presentations
 Essays
Class Work and Participation (25%)
 Warm Ups/Do Nows
 Class Discussion
 Debates
 Class Preparation
 Notebook Checks
Homework (10%)
 Assignments to be completed by the students at home and are not assessments
 In class activities that check for completion of homework
Approximate Point Ranges:
Essays = 75-100 points
Tests/Timed Writings = 50-100 points
Projects = 50-100 points
Quizzes = 20-50 points
Homework/Classwork = 10-20 points
Do Nows = 5-10 points
Course Planner:
Cycle I (10 weeks): Introduction to the course, Critical Reading, Rhetorical Modes and
Rhetorical Devices, Narration, Definition
The first marking period is dedicated to introducing all aspects of the course, including
terminology, types and quality of readings, and writing criteria and expectations. Initial
discussions and assignments will focus on the reading process. Students will engage in close
reading activities and begin to develop techniques necessary for deep examination and analysis
of literary works of fiction and non-fiction. Specifically, students will look at tone, author’s
purpose, diction, syntax, and detail in literary works and examine how these devices and
concepts contribute to a work’s meaning, context, and reception. Students will also begin to
analyze visual text as text and how forms of new media alter and/or replace traditional forms of
literacy in the present day. Additionally, our study of rhetorical modes will begin with narration
and definition.
Unit 1: Introduction to Course and Rhetoric (1 week)
Reading: Language of Composition
Chapter 1, “An Introduction to Rhetoric”
Chapter 2, “Close Reading: The Art and Craft of Analyis”
Writing:
Journal Entries
Reactions to summer reading – Native Son (Wright)
Unit 2: Education and Narrative Writing (3 weeks)
Reading: The Language of Composition
Chapter 4, “Education”
Supplemental Readings from Prentice Hall: Literature Textbook
from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (Equiano)
from Journal of the First Voyage to America (Columbus)
Excerpts:
Teacher Man (McCourt)
“The Banking System” (Freire)
Others as assigned
Writing:
Journals
Informal writing
Narrative Essay
Timed Writings: Argument (1-2)
Unit 3: Arguments about Work and Definition as an Organizational and Analytical Strategy (6
weeks)
Reading: The Language of Composition
Chapter 5, “Work”
Supplemental Readings from Prentice Hall: Literature Textbook
from Letters From an American Farmer (de Crèvecoeur)
Excerpts
Nickel and Dimed (Ehrenreich)
Fast Food Nation (Schlosser)
The Jungle (Sinclair)
Others as assigned
Writing:
Journals
Definition Essay
Timed Writings: Analysis (2)
Cycle I Independent Reading :
The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne)
Hard Times (Dickens)
Cycle II (10 weeks): Political Arguments, The Argumentative and Analysis Essays, Cause and
Effect, Description, Exemplification
During the second cycle students will examine multiple essays that will further develop their
concepts of argumentation, as well as types of argument and specific argument fallacies. Also,
students will engage in building on the vocabulary of rhetorical strategies – how is the author
conveying his message? By comparing and contrasting multiple essays in terms of the authors’
purposes and means of argumentation, students will begin to understand how the rhetorical
context and the author’s purpose work together to define a work and its effectiveness.
Students will also practice analyzing the lines of thinking and speaking and using the observed
strategies. Students will deepen their analyses of visual media and works of visual art and
scrutinize how visual messages also rely on rhetorical devices and strategies. The rhetorical
modes of study will be cause and effect, description and exemplification. Finally, the class will
continue to sharpen the students’ ability to compose timed argumentative and analysis essays.
Unit 4: Political Discourse, Cause and Effect as a Rhetorical Mode, and an Introduction to the
Synthesis Essay (6 weeks)
Readings: The Language of Composition
Chapter 3, “Synthesizing Sources”
Chapter 13, “Politics”
Supplemental Readings from Prentice Hall: Literature Textbook
fromThe Iroquois Constitution
The Declaration of Independence (Jefferson)
fromThe Crisis, Number 1 (Paine)
"Speech in the Virginia Convention" (Henry)
Newspaper, magazine, and internet sources
Others as assigned
Writing:
Journals
Editorial Writing
Article Analysis
Cartoon Analysis
Timed Writings: Argumentative (2)
Unit 5: Depiction and Discussions of Nature and Health and Descriptive Writing (4 weeks)
Reading: The Language of Composition
Chapter 8, “Sports and Fitness”
Chapter 12, “Nature”
Supplemental Readings from Prentice Hall: Literature Textbook
Fireside Poets
“The Minister’s Black Veil” (Hawthorne)
Excerpts:
Nature (Emerson)
Walden (Thoreau)
Newspaper, magazine, and internet sources
Others as assigned
Writing:
Journals
Fine Art/Photography Analysis
Description Essay
Timed Writings: Analysis (2)
Cycle II Independent Reading:
Ethan Frome (Wharton)
The Crucible (Miller)
Midterm Exam: Two Hour Assessment designed to resemble the AP Exam
Cycle III (10 weeks): Introduction to Synthesis Essay, Exposition, Documented Argumentative
Essay, Classification/Division, Compare/Contrast, Test Prep
As the class begins to focus more on developing test-taking strategies for multiple-choice and
free-response questions, students will delve deeply into the art of analysis and will write
extensively on the effects of author’s linguistic and rhetorical choices. Here, students will be
able to take advantage of the critical reading skills honed over the first two cycles by engaging
with challenging texts in an increasingly independent manner. By doing so, students will
strengthen the skills needed to succeed during the AP Exam and to engage with a variety of
texts with confidence and a critical eye. Readings will be primarily non-fiction – used on a near
daily basis – but students will also use their close reading and analytical skills and methods to
develop and defend interpretations of fiction and poetry. Students will finish the marking
period by researching and composing a documented argumentative essay.
Unit 6: Evolving Ideas of Community and Gender and the Division Essay (5 weeks)
Readings: The Language of Composition
Chapter 6, “Community”
Chapter 7, “Gender”
Supplemental Readings from Prentice Hall: Literature Textbook
from "Self-Reliance" (Emerson)
Emily Dickinson
Walt Whitman
from My Bondage and My Freedom (Douglass)
The Awakening (Chopin)
Writing:
Journals
Community Document/Graphic Analysis
Division Essay
Timed Writings: Synthesis (2-3)
Unit 7: The Power of Language (3 weeks)
Reading: The Language of Composition
Chapter 9, “Language”
Supplemental Readings from Prentice Hall: Literature Textbook
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Langston Hughes
Harlem Renaissance Authors, Artists
Excerpts
Voices of the Self (Gilyard)
Writing:
Journals
Photography/Fine art Analysis
Compare/Contrast Essay
Unit 8: Documented Argumentative Essay (2 weeks)
Students will select a persuasive essay from The Norton Anthology (or another approved
source). The first part of the paper requires that students, using the SOAPSStone method, write
an analysis of the chosen selection. The second part of the assignment requires that they take a
position for or against the author. They must also, in order to support the stand they have
taken, use a minimum of two credible outside sources, which must be credited and
documented using proper MLA format. The composing process of this essay will feature
student-teacher conferences and ample opportunities for re-writes.
Cycle III Independent Reading:
Souls of Black Folk (DuBois)
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Hurston)
Cycle IV: Process Analysis, Exemplification, Test Prep, Film
In the final cycle, the class will spend a great deal of time preparing for the AP Exam, sharpening
test-taking skills and tips for answering multiple-choice and free response questions. Students
will scrutinize process writing and continue to explore important thematic questions. After the
AP Exam, students will complete a unit on Film and begin to work on their personal statements
for college admission.
Unit 9: The Impact of Science and Technology and the Analysis of Process (4 weeks)
Readings: The Language of Composition
Chapter 10, “Science and Technology”
Supplemental Readings from Prentice Hall: Literature Textbook
Excerpts
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (Darwin)
Frankenstein (Shelley)
Newspaper, magazine, and internet sources
Others as assigned
Writing:
Journals
Textbook analysis
Timed Writings: Synthesis (1), Analysis (1)
Unit 10: Analysis of Popular Culture and Film as Text (4 weeks)
Reading: The Language of Composition
Chapter 11, “Popular Culture”
Television and Film sources
Internet Sources/New Media (e.g. Social Networking, Fan Fiction sites)
Writing
Journals
Film Analysis
Timed Writings: as necessary
Unit 11: After the AP Exam – Looking Forward to College! (2 weeks)
Writing:
Personal Statements
Cycle IV Independent Reading:
In Cold Blood (Capote)
Streetcar Named Desire (Williams)
Bibliography
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5 Steps to a 5: AP English Language
A Writer’s Reference (Hacker)
Elements of Style (Strunk & White)
Everything’s an Argument (Lunsford, et al.)
How to Read Like a Professor (Foster)
On Writing Well (Zinsser)
The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, Second Edition
The Norton Anthology of American Literature
The Norton Anthology of Poetry, Fifth Edition
The Norton Reader
Wariner’s English Composition and Grammar, Fourth Course
Hood
English
I have read and understand the policies, expectations, and guidelines put forward in this
syllabus.
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