Syllabus 2012-2013
Instructor: Deb Carr
Contact Information: dcarr@sad55 or 625-3208
Welcome to your first AP-level class! AP, or Advanced Placement, is a type of course that has a high level of academic rigor that you have not yet experienced as a student. Though the material is challenging—and at times downright difficult—rest assured that if you persevere, you will not only learn a few things about communication in various formats, you will become a much better, much deeper thinker about the things you see and hear every day.
The purpose of AP Language and Composition is to teach you how to think more critically about various types of communication. The title of the course includes the word composition , which would seem to suggest we will merely be looking at different types of writing. In fact, this course will cover both verbal (spoken and written) and nonverbal types of communication
(advertisements, graphs, paintings, statues, etc). You will learn how to decode the rhetoric of the message a rhetor is trying to send to you, and you will also become emerging and effective rhetors yourselves. Our culminating event, of course, is the Advanced Placement exam, given in
May, and proctored by someone other than the instructor of the course. Given a high enough score on this exam (generally a 4 or 5, sometimes 3) you may be awarded college credit at the college of your choice. Even if that does not come to pass, you will still take the basics of rhetoric away from this course and these will serve you well in your continuing academic pursuits.
Our texts are as follows:
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The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric (Shea, Scanlon, Aufses,
Bedford St. Martins, 2008) –primary text (all readings, unless otherwise indicated, come from this text, though they have previously appeared in print elsewhere.
Bibliographic information is available in the back of the textbook).
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Vocabulary Workshop (Shostak, Sadlier-Oxford, 1996) supplementary text, used as necessary to build a larger and more apt vocabulary )
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SAT preparation materials ( www.collegeboard.com
), used as necessary for test practice
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AP Language and Compostion test materials ( www.collegeboard.com
), used as necessary for test practice
 “Essay Writing” Packet (teacher created) that specifically shows how to:
1.
Build a strong thesis statement
2.
Write a creative and engaging introduction, including several ways of catching the reader’s attention
3.
What to put in the body of an essay (or full-length paper), how to incorporate sources, check for correct grammar, write with appropriate voice and tone
4.
How to write a conclusion

Grading
Homework
Quizzes
= 35% (This includes: preparedness, time on task, tardiness, participation)
= 25%
Tests and Writing = 40%
Late/Incomplete Work
Late work is highly discouraged in this class. If your work is consistently late or incomplete, you will put yourself and your group mates at a distinct disadvantage in class. The course is designed so that you get the most practice possible for the A.P. exam in May. Work that is not complete or of general poor quality will affect both your course grade and likely your exam score. Late or incomplete work is accepted at my discretion, and only for up to 60% credit. NO work that is more than a week past due will be accepted, and the student will receive a 0 .
Extensions
Generally I do not grant extensions except in two cases. One, you have been staying after for extra help and we mutually agree that you will need more time to work on an assignment in order to improve the quality; two, you have had an unforeseen event in your life that will make it necessary for you to take longer to complete an assignment. “But Mrs. Carr—I forgot there was an away game in Buckfield tonight!” is not a reason to be granted an extension. You have due dates a week or more in advance. “But Mrs. Carr, the game we were supposed to play in
Buckfield next week has been suddenly reschedule to today!” might be, however.
Make Up Work
Work that is missed due to absence is due within three days after your absence. Work that was due on the day you were absent is due on your next day of class. If you are out due to an extended illness or emergency, please see me to work out a makeup schedule. You have one

week beyond your return to school to see me to complete the work; after that, all owed work becomes a 0.
If you miss class on the day of a scheduled test, in ALL cases, you will be given an alternate test after school. You will not be given an alternate test if you miss due to an unexcused absence.
Plagiarism
There is no excuse for stealing—taking credit for—work that is not your own. This may come in the form of cut-and-paste to your own document from a website; borrowing someone else's idea, picture, sound clip, or film clip without permission; failing to properly cite a source, or copying someone else's homework . Also, working together (collusion) where inappropriate, will be considered plagiarism. If you have a question as to whether something you have written is plagiarized, please see me before submitting it.
Writing
Although not outlined as such in this syllabus, students will have opportunities within each unit to practice formal and informal types of writing, including narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative. Writing practice will be assigned in groups and individually, depending upon the needs of the students. Regardless of how writing practice is assigned, its use in this course is specifically to expose each student to many samples and types of writing for best performance on the A.P. exam.
AP Exam
The purpose of this course is to, first and foremost, help the student to become a better reader, writer, and interpreter of multiple types of text, thereby becoming a more effective rhetor. As such, one of our goals is AP Exam preparation. Each student is expected to take the AP Exam in
May. As a part of this, class will periodically engage in mock AP Exams to help the student understand and more effectively perform on different portions of the exam. These tests will come at various intervals, to be determined as the needs of the course dictate.
Substitutions
As your teacher, I reserve the right to supplement and/or substitute readings and assignments outlined in this syllabus. It should serve ONLY as a guideline and not as a “master plan”. Each year, students exhibit their own unique strengths and weaknesses; as such, I may spend more or less time on one area of this syllabus and/or add to it as the needs of the class dictate.
Quarter One
The focus of quarter one is an explanation of and introduction to the concept of rhetoric. Our primary text will be The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing and Rhetoric .
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Key Elements of Rhetoric
The Rhetorical Triangle
Ethos, Pathos, Logos

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Visual Rhetoric
Rhetoric from Literature
Rhetorical arrangement, development (for various purposes; examples to include narration, description, process analysis, exemplification, comparison and contrast, classification and division, definition, cause and effect)
Homework and participation grades will be derived from in-class discussions. If you have not read and prepared for the discussion and you do not participate enough in class, you will not earn a passing grade on the day’s assignment. Note that it is NOT ENOUGH to simply participate; the quality of what you say in addition to the insight that you are able to add is calculated into your overall homework grade.
Also, you MUST fill out a participation rubric and grade yourself accurately using the rubric. If you do not do so, you will earn a grade of -0- on the discussion. Rubrics are due the day following the close of a discussion. Late rubrics will follow the late work policy, regardless of whether you were in class on the day of the discussion. If you miss a day of graded discussion, you can only make this up by staying after school and completing a writing piece.
Assignment: When Rhetoric is not Effective (test grade):
Read the following:
 “Princess Diana Dies in Paris Crash”
 “Queen Elizabeth's Televised Speech”
 “Earl Spencer's Eulogy for Diana”,
 “Wikipedia entry for Princess Diana”
Write a thoughtfully crafted essay in which you discuss the purpose of each text and how the interaction of speaker, audience and subject affects the text. Consider how effective each text is in achieving its purpose. Essays should not only discuss purpose, they should work to compare and contrast the various texts in the assignment.
In groups of three, you will share your completed writing. Each student will have his or her paper evaluated by two peers. This evaluation will include feedback on grammar and style and specific feedback on the quality and effectiveness of the discussion created within the paper.
Students will have one subsequent class period to make corrections and meet with the teacher regarding any writing difficulties or other roadblocks in understanding, and then are to have a polished piece of writing by the following class. (Due date to be announced). Extensions will be granted only in the case of illness or emergency, except with specific prior approval by the course instructor.
This paper will be graded as a first test and you will be given a grading rubric to guide you as you complete he assignment. All papers will be typed, double-spaced, in 12pt
TNR font and given to the instructor at the beginning of class. Extensive collusion or
“borrowing” from any source other than those given and the student's own thoughts will be considered plagiarism and a grade of zero will be assigned.
In-class assignment: Interpreting text

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Read the email “SPECIAL URGENT INVESTMENT RELATIONSHIP” and evaluate the effectiveness of its message. Then, in groups, discuss what you think about the ethos of the piece. Finally, craft a letter to the author, Mr. Baldwin Onuigbo of Ghana, offering some suggestions for how he can specifically make his email query more effective. Your letter should concentrate on using enough specifics from the original email to make your message clear to Mr.
Onuigbo. Also, make sure that your tone is appropriately polite and academic throughout the letter. Have fun with this one!
Quarter One (continued)
Close Reading: The Art and Craft of Analysis
Analyzing Style
Talking with the Text
Introduction to Directed Notes/Text Annotation as a tool to guide understanding
Introduction to Graphic Organizers
Learning How to Interpret a Visual Text
Moving from Analysis to Essay
Assignment: Practice Annotations (quiz grade)
Using the Kennedy inaugural address you were given, use directed notes and a graphic organizer to help you understand the text. Once you've identified the diction and syntax, answer the given close-reading questions in your assigned groups. Consider how
Kennedy's diction and syntax create the tone of the speech. Also consider how you can use Kennedy's tone as a basis for an essay or speech.
Assignment: Glossary in action! (In class, quiz grade)
Using the glossary terms provided, work in your groups to identify examples of each of the given terms. Note that many of the terms given here are on your master list of terms to know for the AP exam.
Assignment: Essay (test grade)

Using the preceding thesis given in the text reading:
“While the speech's respectful eloquence is appropriate for the occasion of an inauguration, its youthful energy and look to the future make it distinctly John F.
Kennedy's.”
Write an essay analyzing the rhetorical strategies JFK uses in his inaugural address to achieve his purpose. Because you have already looked closely at the text in groups and in class, you will not be given class time to confer with peers over this writing assignment. However, you will be given one class period to work on the writing and to meet with the instructor as necessary to work on writing roadblocks you may be having as the course becomes more challenging. You will have until the next class period to write and type a well-crafted essay on this topic. Please observe standard essay conventions in grammar and format. You will be graded both on grammar and the overall effectiveness of your essay. Don't forget...the more work you put in to answering the close-reading questions and learning the glossary definitions, the easier it will be to put this paper together. Aside from the writing—in which collusion is not allowed—collaboration is key! Use your peers to help you to understand and problemsolve this challenging, multi-layer assignment. Please note: rules regarding late assignments apply.
Vocabulary Quiz:
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Synthesizing Sources: Entering the Conversation
Types of Support
Writers at Work
Assignment: Putting it Together (quiz grade)
Read a selection from the best-selling 2000 book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and
Revival of American Community by Harvard professor Robert D. Putnam. Read the passage carefully, noting (directed notes!!) Putnam's citation of sources and his footnotes regarding those sources. Then, answer the questions that follow. We will come together as a class to make commentary and observations.

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The Synthesis Essay (examining an example and creating one of your own)
Walk through of the synthesis essay process of writing
Recognizing Complexity
Formulating a Position
Incorporating Sources to Inform Rather than Overwhelm
Assignment: First Synthesis Essay (test grade)
Vocabulary Quiz:
Using the various types of sources given in the text:
 From “Millennials Rising” Neil Howe and William Strauss
 “Community Service Mission Statement” The Dalton School
 “Volunteer Work Opens Teen’s Eyes to Nursing”
The Detroit News , 4/16/05
 “In the Good Name of Community Service” Tara Bahrampour,
Washington Post
 “Mandatory Volunteerism” Arthur Stukas, Mark Snyder, and E Gil Clary,
Psychological Science , January 1999
 “Volunteer” Cartoon, The Breeze , James Madison University Newspaper formulate a thesis on the topic of requiring community service. Bring this thesis to your group. As a group, discuss whether each thesis statement will work and help your classmates to troubleshoot for potential problems. Then, using the four working thesis statements given, discuss how each one could potentially work to craft a well-written paper. Remember! The strongest thesis statements will both have a clear focus and acknowledge the complexities of the issue. In the two subsequent class periods, you will have an opportunity to write and get feedback from the instructor on your thesis and essay itself. The completed synthesis essay is due at the beginning of the next class. Each essay must follow standard grammatical and format conventions and properly cite in-text the given sources using MLA format. Please note: rules regarding late assignments apply.
The focus of the remainder of this quarter as well as the beginning of quarter three is to continue to use the skills built in the introductory portion of the course. The class will focus primarily upon two questions written around central themes of work and community:
1.
How does our work shape or influence or lives?
2.
What is the relationship of the individual to the community?

How does our work shape or influence our lives?
Central Essay:
“Serving in Florida” excerpts, Barbara Ehrenreich and the author on writing
Classic Essays:
“The Atlanta Exposition Address” Booker T. Washington
“The Surgeon as Priest” Richard Selzer
“The Traveling Bra Salesman's Lesson” Claudia O'Keefe
“Labor” excerpt, Thomas Carlyle
“The Writing Life” excerpt, Annie Dillard
“ In Praise of a Snail's Pace” Ellen Goodman
Fiction, Poetry, Visual texts:
“I Stand Here Ironing” short fiction, Tillie Olson
“Harvest Song” poetry, Jean Toomer
“We Can Do It!” poster, J. Howard Miller
“The Great GAPsby” cartoon, Jeff Parker
Conversation: Focus on Working Parents
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“More Working Parents Play 'Beat the Clock'” Marilyn Gardner
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“Why Women Have to Work” Amelia Warren Tyagi
“The Case for Staying Home” Claudia Wallis
“Sick Parents Go to Work, Stay Home When Kids are Ill” Christopher Mele
“My Mother, Myself, Her Career, My Questions” Kimberly Palmer
“Don't Call Me Mr. Mom” Buzz McClain
Student Writing – Close Reading: Analyzing Style in Paired Passages (quiz grade)
 In groups, read and examine the given student writing. Then answer the questions following and be prepared to report your answers.
Grammatical Conventions: Short, Simple Sentences and Fragments (quiz grade)
From the topics suggested in the text, choose three, then write a brief outline that shows how you would use the given readings and visual texts as evidence. Working in your pairs or groupings, determine which topic will work best for you. Then, spend the remainder of class working to write your essay. You will have the remainder of class plus the next to write and refine your essay using assistance from the instructor. This essay must observe standard English grammar conventions and format and properly utilize in-text citations of sources used. Your essay is due the class period following your last working day. Please note: rules regarding late assignments apply.
 Exercises 1,2, 3 and discussion of effectiveness of writing

What is the relationship of the individual to the community?
Central Essay
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Complete the following:
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Questions for Discussion
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Questions on Rhetoric and Style
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Narrative Essay: “Describe a time when your participation in, or loyalty to, two different communities conflicted. Explain the nature of the conflict and how you resolved it.”
Classic Essays
 “Where I Lived, and What I lived for” Henry David Thoreau
Assignment: Using the reflective style of Thoreau, write your own philosophical essay entitled, “Where I Live, and Whait I Live For”.
 “All Happy Clans are Alike: In Search of the Good Family” Jane Howard
Assignment: Exploring the Text questions (all, in groups)
 “The New Community” Amitai Etzioni
Assignment: Exploring the Text questions (all, in groups)
 “Commencement Speech at Mount Holyoke College” Anna Quindlen
Assignment: Exploring the Text questions (all, in groups)
 “Walking the Path between Worlds” Lori Arviso Alvord
Assignment: Exploring the Text questions (all, in groups)
Fiction, Poetry, Visual Texts
Assignment: Exploring the Text questions (all, in groups)
“New York Day Women” and the author on writing, Edwidge Danticat
“Child of the Americas” poetry, Aurora Levins Morales
Reflections painting, Lee Teter
Three Servicemen sculpture, Frederick Hart
“The Black Fly Festival” (Tim Sample, Maine Speaks, Maine Writers and Publishers
Alliance, 1989).
Conversation: Focus on The Individual's Responsibility to the Community
Assignment: Answer all text questions in groups or for homework, as assigned

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“The Happy Life” Bertrand Russell
“The Singer Solution to World Poverty” Peter Singer
“Lifeboat Ethics:The Case against Helping the Poor” Garret Hardin
“In Westminster Abbey” poetry, John Betjeman
Student Writing – Synthesis: Incorporating Sources Into A Revision (quiz grade)
 In groups, read and examine the given student writing. Then answer the questions following and be prepared to report your answers.
Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: Parallel Structures (quiz grade)
 Exercises 1-3 and discussion of the effective use of parallelism, including, more specifically, anaphora, antithesis, antimetabole, and zeugma
From the topics suggested in the text, choose three, then write a brief outline that shows how you would use the given readings and visual texts as evidence. Work in your pairs or groupings determine which topic will work best for you. Then, spend the remainder of class working to write your essay. You will have the remainder of class plus the next to write and refine your essay using assistance from the instructor. This essay must observe standard English grammar conventions and format and properly utilize in-text citations of sources used. Your essay is due the class period following your last working day. Please note: rules regarding late assignments apply.
Vocabulary Quiz:
What is the impact of the gender roles that society creates and enforces?
Central Essay:
“Women's Brains” Stephen Jay Gould
Assignment:
Questions for Discussion
Questions on Rhetoric and Style
Persuasive Essay: Write an essay using scientific data to develop an argument that has ethical or social implications. For example, use statistical data to make a case about the impact of global warming or a propostal to address what is being called the obesity epidemic in the United States. Frame the essay with a quotation (as Gould does), a description, or an anectdote.

Classic Essays:
“Professions for Women” Virginia Woolf
Assignment:
Questions for Discussion
Questions for Rhetoric and Style
“Letters” John and Abigail Adams
Assignment: Exploring the Text questions (all, in groups)
“About Men” Gretel Ehrlich
Assignment: Exploring the Text questions (all, in groups)
“The Myth of the Latin Woman I just Met a Girl Named Maria” Judith Ortiz Cofer
Assignment: Exploring the Text questions (all, in groups)
“Being a Man” Paul Theroux
“AIDS Has a Woman's Face” Stephen Lewis
“There Is No Unmarked Woman” Deborah Tannen
Fiction, Poetry, Visual Texts
“Sweat” fiction, Zora Neale Hurston
“Barbie Doll” poetry, Marge Piercy
Cathy cartoon, Cathy Guisewite
“New and Newer Versions of Scripture” table, Bill Broadway
Conversation: Focus on Defining Masculinity
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“Why Johnny Won't Read” Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky
“Mind over Muscle” David Brooks
“Putting Down the Gun” Rebecca Walker
“Boy Problems” Ann Hulbert
Student Writing-Argument: Supporting an Assertion (quiz grade)
 In groups, read and examine the given student writing. Then answer the questions following and be prepared to report your answers.
Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: Pronouns (quiz grade)
 Consistency of viewpoint and number, sexist pronoun usage, and rhetorical and stylistic strategies: exercises 1-4

From the topics suggested in the text, choose three, then write a brief outline that shows how you would use the given readings and visual texts as evidence. Work in your pairs or groupings determine which topic will work best for you. Then, spend the remainder of class working to write your essay. You will have the remainder of class plus the next to write and refine your essay using assistance from the instructor. This essay must observe standard English grammar conventions and format and properly utilize in-text citations of sources used. Your essay is due the class period following your last working day. Please note: rules regarding late assignments apply .
How do the values of sports affect the way we see ourselves?
Central Essay
“The Silent Season of a Hero” Gay Talese
Classic Essays
“The Proper Place for Sports” Theodore Roosevelt
“Kill 'Em, Crush 'Em, Eat 'Em Raw!” John McMurtry
“How I learned to Ride the Bicycle” Frances Willard
“A Spectator's Notebook” Kris Vervaecke
“The Real New York Giants” Rick Reilly
“For Fasting and Football, A Dedicated Game Plan” Samuel G. Freedman
Poetry and Visual Texts
“Ex-Basketball Player” poetry, John Updike
“Prothalamion” poetry, Maxine Kumin
Untitled cartoon, Edward Koren
Conversation: Focus on Body Image
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“A Unique Take on Beauty” Donna Britt
Sports Illustrated
, “Little Sister, Big Hit” cover
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“Drugs, Sports, Body Image, and G.I. Joe” Natalie Angier
“Disordered Eating and Body Image Disturbances May Be Underreported in Male
Athletes” American College of Sports Medicine
“Enhancing Male Body Image” National Eating Disorders Assoc.
Student Writing-Rhetorical Analysis: Comparing Strategies in Paired Passages (quiz grade)
 In groups, read and examine the given student writing. Then answer the questions following and be prepared to report your answers.
Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: Precise, Direct, and Active Verbs (quiz grade)
 Exercises 1-4

From the topics suggested in the text, choose three, then write a brief outline that shows how you would use the given readings and visual texts as evidence. Work in your pairs or groupings determine which topic will work best for you. Then, spend the remainder of class working to write your essay. You will have the remainder of class plus the next to write and refine your essay using assistance from the instructor. This essay must observe standard
English grammar conventions and format and properly utilize in-text citations of sources used. Your essay is due the class period following your last working day. Please note: rules regarding late assignments apply .
To what extent does pop culture reflect our society's values?
Central Essay
“High School Confidential: Notes on Teen Movies” David Denby
Classic Essays
“Corn Pone Opinions” Mark Twain
“Godzilla vs.
the Gian Scissors: Cutting Antiwar Heart Out of a Classic” Brent Staples
“We Talk, You Listen” Vine Deloria, Jr.
“Dreaming America” Danyel Smith
“Show and Tell” graphic essay, Scott McCloud
“Popular Culture in the Aftermath of September 11 is a Chorus without a Hook, A Movie without an Ending” Teresa Wiltz
Poetry and Visual Texts
“Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley in Heaven” poetry, Hans Ostrom
“Sanctuary: For Harry Potter the Movie” poetry, Nikki Giovanni
“The Innocent Eye Test” painting, Mark Tansey
Conversation: Focus on Television
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“Watching TV Makes You Smarter” Steven Johnson
“The Argument against TV” Corbett Trubey
“He Doesn't Like to Watch” Julia Scott
“TV Turnoff Week”(details from a poster) Anthony DiVivo
“Is Media Violence Free Speech?” debate, George Gerbner and Todd Gitlin
Student Writing-Visual Rhetoric: Interpreting a Painting (quiz grade)
 In groups, read and examine the given student writing. Then answer the questions following and be prepared to report your answers.

Grammar as Rhetoric and Style: Modifiers (quiz grade)
 Exercises 1-5
From the topics suggested in the text, choose three, then write a brief outline that shows how you would use the given readings and visual texts as evidence. Work in your pairs or groupings determine which topic will work best for you. Then, spend the remainder of class working to write your essay. You will have the remainder of class plus the next to write and refine your essay using assistance from the instructor. This essay must observe standard English grammar conventions and format and properly utilize in-text citations of sources used. Your essay is due the class period following your last working day. Please note: rules regarding late assignments apply .