Mr. Sanks
Room 108
michael.sanks@fwisd.org
Web-site: www.whhsroom108.wikispaces.com
ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
Course Overview
The AP Language and Composition course overview and description are taken from the College
Board’s AP English Course Description May 2013, May 2014 and AP Central. The course is an
introduction to college-level writing where students will master rhetorical techniques such as
narration, description, exemplification, process, cause and effect, comparison-contrast, and
classification-division. They will write using informal as well as formal contexts by utilizing
different stylistic effects created by varied syntactical choices and levels of diction.
Students will also read a wide variety of complex texts that span cultures, time periods, genres,
genders, philosophies, and modes with an emphasis on prose. This will allow them to respond
personally, analytically, and reflectively to a range of literature while making thematic and
cultural connections between literary selections. Although some fiction is included in the course,
the majority of works students study are non-fiction.
Course Planner
The duration of the course is one year. The fall and spring semesters are divided into 6 six-week
units. All texts, written and visual, are thematically linked. Essay questions taken from the AP
Language and Composition Released Exams are strategically selected to connect to the unit of
study. In addition, AP released multiple choice exams are integrated into each six weeks unit.
The AP Released Language and Composition Exams are essential components to the curriculum
as they prepare students for the reality of the rigor and challenge expected from the course and
the AP Language and Composition Exam. Our district firmly encourages students to take the AP
exam in May.
Close Reading Strategies
The course focuses on developing the literacy skills necessary for reading, understanding, and
analyzing a variety of texts. Students learn strategies for effectively annotating texts.
Students are taught to use strategy when confronted with text and to choose a close reading
application appropriate for that text. For example, if the text is a photograph, they should use the
Photograph Deconstruct strategies; For analyzing texts for rhetorical purpose, students can use
any of the following: SOAPSTone Plus, which is the preferred method in the course (Speaker,
Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Tone, Plus Stylistic Devises and Rhetorical Techniques.
Style and Rhetorical Analysis
Using close reading strategies, students develop the skills necessary to write effective style and
rhetorical analysis. Students learn to view style as a component of rhetoric rather than some
“ alien” or separate element. Students learn to discern the connection and nuances between
purpose, meaning, style, effect, and structure. The oftentimes challenging task of moving
students from close reading application to the actual writing of analysis paragraphs and essays
led me to create an analysis helper packet (presented in Week 3 of AP Language Basic
Training) entitled, “ From SOAPSTone to Style Analysis Paragraphs and Essays.” We use these
packets throughout the course, as they remind students that analysis is not the mere
identification of the writer’s techniques, but rather the effect of those techniques. Here also,
students learn to realize that writers are using various techniques and devices to achieve their
purpose and that this is the root of analysis. The helper packets break analysis into manageable
“ ingredients” that must present and be sustained throughout their analysis. In addition to the
teacher-made packets, we use activities from Nancy Dean’s Voice Lessons: Classroom
Activities to Teach Diction, Detail Imagery Syntax, and Tone. Formulaic writing is discouraged,
and the six week basic training period in the first semester will help students to write analytically
under the Toulmin and Rogerian models.
Discussion (Listening and Speaking)
Discussion is a key component of the course. Students participate in Think-Pair-Share and
Socratic seminar discussions throughout the course. Students learn to develop their listening
and speaking skills and to make relevant contributions to these conversations. During these
activities, students are provided with a variety of texts such as film, speeches, letters, essays,
research, and photographs. Students learn to identify the assertions made in the texts and to
take positions, ask questions, and share ideas. This process includes refuting the ideas of
others, accepting the ideas of others, and meaningfully engaging in conversations that lead
them to be better listeners, speakers, and writers. Discussions are student or teacher lead.
Divergent thinking and multiple viewpoints are encouraged.
Visual Literacy
Throughout the course, students learn to read their visual world. Students are introduced to
photographs, political cartoons, graphics, and film. Visual texts are paired with thematically
linked written texts. To help develop visual literacy skills, students use a Cartoon Deconstruct
Helper and Photograph Deconstruct Helper that students use in the same way they use
SOAPSTone with written texts. Film is also used and analyzed as text using visual literacy
strategies.
Argumentative Writing Skills
The introduction, development, and refining of argumentative writing skills serve as a
curriculum power piece throughout the course. Students are taught the Toulmin as well as the
Rogerian model of argumentation as they appear in The Norton Reader and in Everything’s an
Argument. This process includes learning the terminology such as syllogism, data, claim,
warrant, logos, ethos, pathos, concession, refutation, etc. More importantly, students learn to
view the rhetorical triangle as the relationship between speaker, audience and text. Further,
students learn to SOAPSTone their own arguments and to use strategy in order to construct an
effective argument.
Students participate in interactive writing intensive workshops in order to develop their
argumentative compositions. Here, students read and discuss the works of authors from the
reading list as well as give peer response to student samples from AP Language and
Composition Released Exams. These activities include perusing the Chief Reader commentary
provided on AP Central and reviewing the AP scoring guides. Students learn to revise and
refine their drafts modeling the good work of others as well as by using the writing process.
Student-generated samples from within the class are also used as “masterpiece” models. The
competition and desire to create a “masterpiece” serve as an incentive to strive for improvement.
Narrative, Expository, and Descriptive Writing
Opportunities to write in the argumentative mode are balanced with assignments that require
students to use narrative, expository and descriptive writing. Most of the writing takes place in
an on-demand, in-class timed setting; however, some writing assignments are completed as
homework. Major essay assignments require students to use the writing
process and to show evidence of this process through prewriting and drafts. Following all major
writings, students are required to reflect, revise, and refine their work.
Sentence Composing
During the revising and refining of drafts, students learn to deconstruct and rebuild their own
writing. This step is a sentence-by-sentence process. Here, we teach the value and power of
sentence variety and techniques for constructing simple and compound sentences into complex
structures. Here, we teach the use of polysyndeton, asyndeton, gerunds, infinitives, inverted
sentences, loose sentences, period sentences, etc. We analyze the sentence structures of
some of the representative authors and require students to model their techniques. These
imitation exercises help them when they are assigned full-blown style-modeling essays. As an
aid in this process we will incorporate various lessons from Don KillGallon’s Sentence
Composing for High School throughout the year.
Writing Journals
Each student is expected to obtain and maintain a composition notebook (the black and white
speckled kind) which they will use throughout the entire year for both in-class and out-of-class
analytical writing. Keeping a journal such as this will allow the student to take ownership of
his/her own writing and track their progress over the course of the year.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary development is another vital element to the course taught in every unit. Most of the
vocabulary comes from the content of the texts; however, literary terms (from the Pre-AP/AP
Vertical Teams Guide for English) and SAT vocabulary (from SAT lists and practices) are also
taught. A variety of strategies are used to develop vocabulary. Some of these include flash
cards, Vocabulary Episodes, student-generated vocabulary lists, sentence completion activities,
and analogies.
Behavioral Expectations
Since this is a college-level class, students should conduct themselves in a manner appropriate
to the best universities’ standard; careful listening, mutual respect, and extreme courtesy are
essential in maintaining a class where all members feel comfortable participating.
Coursework and Grade Expectations
In a college level course students are expected to be the primary responsible party in keeping up
with coursework and grades. As the teacher I will do all that I can to assist students in
maintaining or raising scores or keeping up with coursework, but true success at the college level
does not happen unless the student him/herself takes personal responsibility.
Grading System
50% - Quizzes, Homework, Class-work, and General Class Participation
25% - Tests and Exams
25% - Essays, Projects, and Socratic Seminars
Late Work
The fast pace of the AP Language course does not easily lend itself to a student who wishes to
turn in work late. I will review each late work request on a case-by case basis, taking a 5 point
deduction per calendar day.
Extra Credit
Extra credit is offered throughout the year, but it is often times a lengthy assignment or project
that takes time to complete. If a student feels they will need extra credit, it is a necessity that they
ask for it early in the grading cycle. Best practice is to always do it—just in case. If a student
waits until the day before grades are due to complete extra credit, it is quite unlikely they will
have time to complete it.
Class Supplies
Due to the building nature of this course, it is imperative that students have a large three-ring
binder to keep up with all assignments and handouts. There are many items that I will hand out at
the beginning of the year that will be used on a recurring basis throughout the course. If a student
fails to keep up with his materials, it is his/her responsibility to obtain a copy from a classmate—
paper is scarce so I don’t have enough to give out multiple copies of the same handout.
I do not have a strong preference about writing utensils, but you should not use red or pink ink as
that makes my comments hard to distinguish from the students writing.
Course Organization:
Semester 1
UNIT 1: AP LANGUAGE BOOT CAMP
During this first six week period, students are introduced to the basic strategies required to
succeed in the AP Language and Composition course. Each week a new topic and writing
strategy is added to the student’s repertoire of knowledge. In this introductory period, students
will read essays from a variety of authors and genres that illustrate the strategy being studied.
Students are then required to write informal, in-class analytical writing which focuses on the new
writing strategy. In addition to the in-class discussion and writing, 2 to 3 one-page essays are
assigned to be done outside of class each time the class meets. These assignments are due at the
start of the next class period. The out-of-class essays are to be typed in MLA format. Late work
is not accepted in this unit. Teacher feedback will be given on each of these essays and returned
to the student by the start of the class following submission. The graded essays are to be kept in a
folder with brads; these will be used for reference throughout the year and stored in the student’s
writing folders.
The topics are as follows:
Week 1: The AP Language and Composition Exam and Scoring Guide
In this week, students are introduced to the structure and scope of the AP Language and
Composition Exam. Overview is given for each type of prompt given (rhetoric, argument, and
synthesis) on the exam. Overview of Multiple Choice is given in class.
Students will be assigned one essay from the AP Language and Composition practice exam, as
available in the 2008-2009 AP Language and Composition Course Planner, each night. The
next day in class, the sample student responses, and commentary on those responses, will be
reviewed and compared with the rubric. Grade will be given on student responses according to
the AP Rubric.
Week 2: Style Analysis and Rhetorical Techniques
This mini-lesson focuses on a basic set of literary terminology on which students will build
throughout the year. Students learn terms and identify each in a text that emphasizes the
particular strategy. Students then go from simple identification of the term to its effect and then
to the writer’s rhetorical purpose.
Students also learn methods for analyzing texts for purpose such as SOAPSTone Plus (Speaker,
Subject, Occasion,Audience, Purpose, Tone, Plus Stylistic Devises and Rhetorical Techniques).
This week’s reading is focused on excerpts from the memoir Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A personal
history of Violence in America, by Geoffrey Canada.
Week 3: The Rhetorical Précis (From SOPASTone to Rhetorical Analysis)
In this week, students will review in depth the close reading method learned in the week
previous, SOAPSTone. Students will annotate the passage, On Correcting Others, by Judith
Martin as they are reminded to read “on the line, between the line, and off the line.”
Students will also break down each paragraph from the text by technique and the effect that
technique has on meaning. Students will then take this close reading skill to develop and refine
the rhetorical précis. As practice, one précis will be written about the Martin piece.
To draw on prior knowledge, students will return to Geoffrey Canada’s text, Fist, Stick, Knife,
Gun and write a précis for several prompts taken from the memoir.
Week 4: From Fiction to Non-Fiction, a practice with Visual Texts and Speeches
In this week, students are reminded of Aristotle’s Triangle of Rhetoric. Students will learn to
extract the logical, emotional, and ethical appeal from a speech or visual text. Various current
political cartoons will be chosen from publications like The New Yorker, as well as from daily
publications like the Dallas Morning News and the New York Times. Additionally, students will
view television advertisements chosen from the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns, and
compare those with ads from Nixon, Kennedy, and Lyndon Baines Johnson’s campaigns.
Additional texts include:
· Pericles' Funeral Oration, from Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War
· Inaugural Address, John F. Kennedy
· I Have A Dream, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Students will construct their own précis from a prompt followed by a written understanding of
the writer’s ethos, pathos, and/or logos.
Week 5: Modes of Discourse
In this week, students will become familiar with the four modes of discourse: Narrative,
Persuasion/Argument, Description, and Exposition. Students will review one to two modes per
class period and will be then assigned to read on a “ cold” piece for homework and write on how
that author uses a specific stylistic devises to achieve meaning.
Writing this week becomes more complex as it not only includes the précis, understanding of
ethos, pathos, logos, but also extends to how the narrator’s mode and his/her use of evidence
(personal experience, example, definition, statistics, or research) conveys meaning. In other
words, writers should demonstrate a readiness to construct full argumentative essays in the
upcoming week.
Week 6: Strategies for Constructing the Argumentative Essay
In this final week of basic training, students are fully ready for taking on the argumentative
essay. The introduction, development, and refining of argumentative writing skills serve as the
central foundation for students throughout the course. Students review the Toulmin as well as
the Rogerian model of argumentation, a process that includes learning the terminology such as
syllogism, data, claim, warrant, logos, ethos, pathos, concession, refutation, etc. More
importantly, students learn to view the rhetorical triangle as the relationship between speaker,
audience and text.
Additionally, throughout this first six weeks, the student will begin developing and acquiring
critical tools needed in the reading and understanding of non-fiction. They will look at the writer,
exploring the importance of the writer’s background, purpose and attitude, and audience.
Students will also look at the importance of the reader’s background and attitudes when
approaching a text. They will learn how to question a text for qualifications, relevancy, accuracy
and conclusions. Finally, students will explore various, common propaganda devices including
generalizations, inferences, generalities, cardstacking, transfer, avoiding sources, bad names/glad
names, name calling, testimonials, bandwagon, snob appeal, and plain folks appeal.
UNIT 2: LEARNING TO READ NON-FICTION and THE ANALYSIS ESSAY
During this six weeks students are exposed primarily to two different, key types of writing:
journalistic writing and the essay. In this unit we will look at the differences and similarities
between various kinds of journalistic writing, including interviews, columns, reviews, articles,
editorials, and editorial cartoons. We will also explore different types of essays such as the
formal essay, the informal essay, wit and humor essays, comparison and contrast essays, and the
persuasive essay. Through our study of these two categories of writing, students will learn both
how to read and analyze two different types of writing, as well as how to produce similar types
of writing themselves.
The primary texts used in this unit will include (book titles indicate excerpts only):
“A Visit in Franconia, Interviews with Robert Frost,” Carl Wilmore
“Notes from Conversations with Robert Frost,” Morris Tilley
“A Prescription for Healing,” A. Stanley Krammer
“Review of Hiroshima,” Rudolph Hirsch
“The Peripatetic Reviewer,” Edward Weeks
“What is the Crime of War?” Louis Ridenour
“Chemistry and Craving,” Hara Estroff Marano
“Buckingham Stops Here!” Peter Plagens and Jennifer Foote
“Possible ‘Killer Bees’ Destroyed,” The Plain Dealer
“Stop Abusive Parents; put children’s rights first,” Peter Prichard and Karen Jurgensen
“Gun Crazy,” New York Times
“Postage Stamp of the Future,” Ray Osrin
“Peace Today,” Rube Goldberg
“Snobs,” Harold Nicolson
“The United States,” Edmund Wilson
“Hands at Home,” Celeste Raspanti
“An Editorial Lost in a News Item,” Louis Nizer
“The Grown-Up Problem,” Art Buchwald
“On the Difference Between Wit and Humour,” Charles Brooks
The Complete Murphy’s Law, Arthur Bloch
“A Tree for Wives to Hang Upon,” The Gesta Romanorum
“Resume,” Dorothy Parker
“The Fox and the Grapes,” Aesop
“Chamber of Commerce,” Will Rogers
“The Facts of Life,” Art Buchwald
“The Pangs of Utopia,” John Crosby
“An Excerpt from the New Businessman’s Bible,” John McLaughlin
“Television and Reading,” Marie Winn
“I Have a Dream,” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Also during this six weeks, students will be introduced to the Analysis Essay. Students will be
exposed to the different types of prompts they should expect to encounter on the AP Language
and Composition exam, as well the various types of texts that might appear. We will review AP
rubrics used on the Analysis Essay, review annotating skills, and look at some possible ways to
respond to the analysis prompt. During this unit we will also look as several rated student models
and explore why they received the ratings that they did.
Students will practice one timed writing over a released analysis prompt each week of this unit.
Students will use the self-, peer-, and teacher-criticism received on these essays to begin tracking
where they need improvement.
UNIT 3: LEARNING TO READ NON-FICTION (cont.) and THE ARGUMENTATIVE
ESSAY
During this unit students will continue to explore various types of non-fiction writing by looking
at different kinds of personal chronicles. These writings will include, but are not limited to:
diaries, journals, letters, personal reflections, autobiography, profiles, portraits, sketches,
memoirs, and biography. Through our study of personal chronicles, students will learn both how
to read and analyze the different types of chronicles, as well as how to produce similar types of
writing themselves.
The primary texts used during this unit will include (book titles indicate excerpts only):
Hiroshima Diary, Michihiko Hachiya
The Diary of a Writer, F. M. Dostoievsky
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard
The Book of Abigail & John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family 1762-1784, Abigail and John
Adams
“A Dream Deferred,” Langston Hughes
“Letter to the Editor of The New York Times,” Lorraine Hansberry
“Virginia O’Hanlon’s Letter to the Editor,” and “Dear Virginia,” The Sun
“The Whistle,” Benjamin Franklin
“There is no News from Auschwitz,” A. M. Rosenthal
If You Could See What I Hear, Tom Sullivan and Derek Gill
“Jackie, the Prisoner of Celebrity,” Norman Mailer
“Physical Therapist: Brenda Walker,” Dorris Innis
“A Little Annie Oakley,” Stewart Holbrook
Memoirs of a Medico, Martinez Alonso
Death Be Not Proud, John Gunther
People, Places and Books, Gilbert Highet
From the Deep Woods to Civilization, Charles Eastman
Mahatma Gandhi: A Great Life in Brief, Vincent Sheean
Cyrus the Great, Harold Lamb
Also during this six weeks, students will be introduced to the Argumentative Essay of the AP
Language and Composition exam. We will continue to develop skills in taking a position on a
given topic, learn how to support positions taken, and how to construct an argumentative essay.
During this unit we will also look as several rated student models and explore why they received
the ratings that they did.
Students will practice one timed-writing over a released argumentative prompt each week of this
unit. Students will use the self-, peer-, and teacher-criticism received on these essays to begin
tracking where they need improvement on the argumentative essay.
Semester 2
UNIT 4: WRITING AT THE ADVANCED LEVEL and THE SYNTHESIS ESSAY
Key to developing the ability to analyze someone else’s writing is the ability to have an
appropriate grasp over the various genres of writing yourself. To that end, students will use much
of the second semester to hone their own ability to write in various genres for various purposes
to various audiences. During the fourth six weeks, in addition to their timed writing journals,
students will begin to develop their own writing portfolios in which they will include different
types of writing including, but not limited to autobiography, letters, anecdotes, definitions,
analogy, and fiction. Also, students will deepen their awareness of the role of the audience in
writing; this will include, but will not be limited to exploring how to invent a topic; deciding
upon the voice of the speaker; deciding upon the logical, emotional, and linguistic content of a
message; and examining how to write to an educated audience.
The primary texts that will be used in this unit will include (book titles indicate excerpts only):
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
Letters from Peking, Delia Jenner
“Memory Storage and Neural Systems,” Daniel Alkon
“The American Wedding,” Marcia Seligson
“A Preliminary Delineation: Conservative and Radical,” Russell Kirk
“On Tribalism Today,” Ashley Montagu
“Kitsch,” Gilbert Highet
Future Shock, Alvin Toffler
“Will Collegiate Football Perish Like the Dinosaur?” Ralph McGrill
“Theme Writing,” Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Understanding English, Paul Roberts
“The San Francisco Earthquake,” Jack London
“Guns,” Donald Baer
“Faulkner’s Mississippi,” Willie Morris
“The Agony of College Admissions,” Eric Schurenberg
“Frederic Remington: Masterworks of Western Art,” Peter Hasserick
“Our Dirty Air,” Merrill McLoughlin
“England Your England,” George Orwell
The Edge of the Sea, Rachel Carson
“The Death of Benny Paret,” Norman Mailer
The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indians, Ralph Andrist
The Book of Uncles, The Macmillan Company
“Notes on Opera as Basic Theatre,” Gian-Carlo Menotti
Stride Toward Freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Mary Wollstonecraft,” Virginia Woolf
A Way of Seeing, Margaret Mead and Rhoda Metraux
Also during this six weeks, students will be introduced to the Synthesis Essay of the AP
Language and Composition exam. We will continue to develop skills in taking a position on a
given topic, learn how to support positions taken, and how to construct an argumentative essay;
but we will also examine the differences between the argumentative essay and the synthesis
essay. One main difference we will explore is how to incorporate other texts into the students’
personal argument. During this unit we will also look as several rated student models and explore
why they received the ratings that they did.
Students will practice one timed-writing over a released Synthesis prompt each week of this unit.
Students will use the self-, peer-, and teacher-criticism received on these essays to begin tracking
where they need improvement on the synthesis essay.
UNIT 5: WRITING AT THE ADVANCED LEVEL (cont.) and THE MULTIPLE
CHOICE SECTION
Continuing a focus on developing the skills of a writer, students will examine how the
experienced writer shapes his/her message. In this unit students will explore the shaping of a
message through the study of organization, connotative language control, levels of diction,
figurative language, tone control, sentence structure, and sentence variety. Additionally, students
will be exposed to specific examples of classical, medieval, and modern texts, gaining a better
mastery of reading over older texts and imitating styles of writing with the goal of producing an
advanced level of skill in writing.
The primary texts that will be used in this unit include (book titles indicate excerpts only):
“The Portable Phonograph,” Walter Van Tilburg Clark
“Flight” John Steinbeck
“The Ring of Time,” E. B. White
“The Winds of Words,” George Will
“When Berlitz is not Enough,” Margaret Logan
“Taking the High Road,” David Ansen
“Dippy Harry,” John Skow
“Cracking That Bullwhip Again,” David Ansen
Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T. E. Lawrence
“Three Bears in Search of an Author,” Dan Greenburg
“Dialogues,” Plato
“Funeral Oration of Pericles,” Thucydides
The Greek Way, Edith Hamilton
“Duties of the Individual to the State,” Cicero
“Paul’s Letter to the Romans,” Bible
Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
A Distant Mirror, Barbara Tuchman
“Hugh Selwyn Mauberley,” Ezra Pound
“The Second Coming,” by W. B. Yeats
Civilisation, Kenneth Clark
Literary Modernism, Irving Howe
Also during this six weeks, students will be introduced to the Multiple Choice section of the AP
Language and Composition exam. In this unit students will be exposed to the various types of
multiple-choice questions they should expect to encounter on the exam, as well as learn
strategies for approaching those questions.
Students will continue to practice one timed-writing over a released exam prompt each week of
this unit. This six weeks, though, the prompts may be from any of the three essay types on the
exam: analysis, argumentative, or synthesis. Students will use the self-, peer-, and teachercriticism received on these essays to continue tracking where they need improvement in writing.
Additionally, in this unit students will take several released multiple-choice sections of the exam,
with an emphasis on working both the passages and the questions, as well as pacing.
UNIT 6: WRITING AT THE ADVANCED LEVEL (cont.), EXAM REVIEW, and AP
LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION PREPERATION
During this unit students will continue their focus on evaluating and developing their skills as
writers, review what we’ve learned over the year in preparation for the exam in May, and will
begin to prepare for AP Literature and Composition by being introduced to the aims and
objectives of the course, as well as beginning to work on some of the key skills needed.
In their on-going exploration of writing, students will in this unit study additional styles not
addressed already, additional ways of organization not yet covered, the expectations of the
different genres, how rhetoric effects their reality, and descriptive writing.
The primary texts that will be used in this unit will include (book titles indicate excerpts only):
“Tossed about on Land Like Ships in a Storm,” Ernest Hemingway
Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez
“America—At Ease With Computers,” U.S. News and World Report
“Dear Mr…,” E. B. White
“The Role of Computers in Automated Work Place,” Carlton Rochelle
“Letters to the Editor,” Jerry Puryear
Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin
“The Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant,” John Godfrey Saxe
For Whom The Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway
“’Domenick’ is the definition of compassion,” Ed Blank
“Dead Poets Society,” Robert Seidenberg
After students have taken the AP Language and Composition exam, we will turn our focus
towards preparing for English V, AP Literature and Composition. Our goal during the remainder
of the school year will be to explore a few of the differences and similarities between the study
of language in general and the study of literature in particular. Students will also be introduced to
key categories of allusions necessary in fully grasping much of literature. These categories will
include, but not be limited to biblical allusions, mythological allusions, literary allusions,
historical allusions, and social allusions.
Outside Reading
There will be a total of four outside readings that each student will be responsible for completing
on his/her own. Each reading is allotted about six weeks to complete and have assignments
related to them which will include analytical journals, Socratic Seminars, and an oral
presentation in which each student will be responsible for teaching the class some aspect related
to the reading.
Outside Reading Unit 1; The Power of Language – Political Motives: The Prince by Niccolo
Machiavelli: September 15, 2014 – October 24, 2014
Outside Reading Unit 2; The Power of Language – Corruption: Macbeth by William
Shakespeare: November 3, 2014 – December 19, 2014
Outside Reading Unit 3; The Power of Language – The Influence of Media: Amusing
Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman: February 9, 2015 – March 27, 2014
Outside Reading Unit 4; The Power of Language – The Written Word: Fahrenheit 451 by
Ray Bradbury: April 6, 2014 – May 15, 2014
ONGOING ASSIGNMENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

Each six weeks, students are responsible for learning to appropriately use the 50
vocabulary words selected because of their frequency on both AP and SAT tests.
Students are evaluated on their knowledge and retention of these words in a variety of
ways.

Each six weeks, students are also responsible for completing a current events assignment
which is to be turned in during the last class of the fifth week. This assignment asks
students to analyze modern rhetoric while encouraging them to be world citizens, not just
WHHS students. Once each six weeks students will do each of the following
assignments. For both assignments, however, students choose one column from a regular
or guest columnist in a newspaper or magazine dealing with a controversial local,
national or global issue in which they are interested. The column may be about any topic,
but it must be published during that six weeks (the Sunday before the six weeks begins
will count as the beginning date of publication). They may NOT use letters to the editor
as these often do not model sophisticated rhetoric. Students may only use one article from
each columnist they choose thereby reading the work of at least twelve columnists in the
year. Although it is possible that two people will choose the same article, it is highly
unlikely that their reports will say the same things in the same way. Avoid even the
appearance of cheating. Credit will not be given for partial or incomplete responses. Full
credit will be given to typed responses: 1 inch margins, single spaced, 12 point font, New
Times Roman.
The columnists you may choose from are:
Dave Barry (Miami Herald)
Michael Barone (Washington Examiner)
Maureen Dowd (The New York Times)
Larry Elder (Jewish World Reviewer)
Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal)
Mitch Albom (Detroit Free Press)
Ann Coulter (townhall.com)
Matt Drudge (drudgereport.com)
Suzanne Fields (Washington Times)
Leonard Pitts Jr. (Miami Herald)
Rick Reilly (ESPN)
Bud Kennedy (Star-Telegram)
Thomas L. Friedman (The New York Times) Kathleen Parker (The Washington Post)
Assignment A
Answer the following questions in complete sentences. Some answers will require more
writing than others, but as you are composing your answers, you should give attention to
the variety of your syntax and to the maturity level of your diction.
1. What is the basic subject of the column?
2. What information/facts does the writer give?
3. List the main points (these may be bulleted).
4. In your own words, and in one sentence, state the writer’s opinion about the subject.
5. Does the writer state his/her opinion directly? If so, write out the sentence(s) that state
the opinion explicitly. If the opinion is not directly stated, explain how you know the
opinion.
6. What techniques/devices/strategies does the writer use to support the opinion? Give
quotes from the article.
7. What do you learn about the columnist from this article?
8. For what type of reader was this article written?
9. Does the writer offer enough evidence to convince you to agree with him/her?
10. Include the bibliographic information for the article, following the correct MLA
format. Include the following information: author, title of article, title of periodical
(underlined), date, and page number(s) of the article. If it’s from a newspaper, also write
the section of the newspaper with the page number. See the sample below:
Barrows, Carlyle. “With an Eye Toward the Future.” New York Times. 1 Sept. 2001:
33D.
11. Staple the article behind your work.
Assignment B
1. Write one paragraph (minimum 150 words) detailing what topics are discussed in the
article what prompted the piece to be written, for what type of audience it was written,
what the article’s specific purpose is, what you learn about the speaker, and what the tone
implies about the columnist’s feelings.
2. Write at least one paragraph (minimum 150 words) explaining how the major
rhetorical strategies the writer employs help to accomplish his/her purpose. This is a
method/ meaning analysis, so you must incorporate quotes and/ or paraphrases from the
text and then explain their effects.
3. If you believe you can devise a more appropriate way to divide these certain
paragraphs, I encourage you to re-organize the essay in any way you wish as long as your
method of organization is clear and consistent, while still maintaining a 300 word
minimum.
4. Include the bibliographic information for the article, following the correct MLA
format. Include the following information: author, title of the article, title of periodical
(underlined), date and page number (s) of the article. If it’s from a newspaper, also write
the section of the paper with the page umber. See the sample on Assignment A. You do
not have to include a separate Works Cited page; the bibliographic citation may be at the
beginning or end of your paragraph.
5. Staple the article behind your work.

Each six weeks students are expected to turn in a writing assignment in which they
incorporate a list of assigned rhetorical or literary devices. This assignment is due the last
class of the third week of each six weeks and is to follow standard MLA format: typed,
double spaced, 12-font, Times-New Roman. The devices assigned are to be highlighted
and labeled, and any assignment not highlighted and labeled will not receive credit until
done correctly. Students will receive credit only for those devices used correctly. The
assignments by six weeks are: 1st six weeks – Letter to Wellman; 2nd six weeks –
Editorial; 3rd six weeks – Letter to the Editor; 4th six weeks – Speech; 5th six weeks –
Teacher of the Year Nomination; and 6th six weeks – College Application Essay.
Bibliography
Textbooks
Borders, Barbara; Connell, James; Hayes, Joyce; Mullen, Eileen; and Perrotta, Marie.
Nonfiction: A Critical Approach. The Center for Learning, 2001.
Brereton, John C. and Barnet, Sylvan. The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction, Twelfth
Edition. New York, W.W. Norton and Company, 2008.
Killgallon, Don. Sentence Composing for High School. Portsmouth, N.H.: Boynton/Cook,
1998.
Dunn, Kathleen; Kovacs, Mary Anne; and Manear, John. Advanced Placement Writing 1;
Strategies for Honors, Gifted and AP Students. The Center for Learning, 1997.
Lundsford, Andrea. A., John J. Ruszkiewicz, and Keith Walters. Everything’s an
Argument: With Readings. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.
Rankin, Estelle and Murphy, Barbara. 5 Steps To A 5; AP English Language. New York,
McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Rodriguez, Richard. Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez: An
Autobiography. New York: Bantam Books, 2004.
Course Supplements
Dean, Nancy. Voice Lessons: Classroom Activities to Teach Diction, Detail, Imagery, Syntax,
and Tone. Gainesville, FL.: Maupin House, 2000.
Harmon, William., and Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 9th ed.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Harvey, Michael. The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. Indianapolis: Cambridge, 2003.
Jolliffe, David., and Hephzibah Roskelly. Everyday Use: Rhetoric at Work in Reading and
Writing. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2005.
Joseph, Nancy L. Research Writing: Using Traditional and Electronic Sources. Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.
Lopate. Phillip, ed. The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era
to the Present. New York: Anchor Books, 1994.
Shea, Renee H., and Lawrence Scanlon. Teaching Nonfiction in AP English. Boston:
Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2005.
References
College Board. AP English Course Description. New York: The College Board, 2005.
College Board. The AP Vertical Teams Guide for English. New York: The College
Board, 2005.
College Board. The Official SAT Study Guide: For the New SAT. New York: The
College Board, 2004.
College Board. AP English Language and Composition: 2006-2007 Professional Development
Workshop Materials. New York: The College Board, 2006.
College Board. AP English Language and Composition: Writing Persuasively. New
York: The College Board, 2006.
College Board. AP English Language and Composition Teacher’s Guide. New York: The
College Board. 1998.
Erickson, Lynn. Stirring the Head, Heart and Soul: Redefining Curriculum and Instruction. 2nd
ed. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press, 2001.
Erickson, Lynn. Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction: Teaching Beyond the Facts.
Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press, 2001.
Online Sources
www.collegeboard.org
www.timemagazine.com
www.newsweekeducation.com
www.apcentral.com
www.rhetoric.com
www.tea.state.tx.us
www.politicalcartoons.com
* In addition to the above teacher sources, I developed the course using my notes from
colleague training and the AP Summer Institute, 2009 and 2014.