Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Syllabus
Course Name: Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
Course Texts: The Bedford Reader, 11th Edition and Elements of Literature 5th Course
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Course Overview:
The focus of the course in accordance with College Board guidelines is on a study of language. As determined by the
College Board, an AP course in English Language and Composition attempts to aid students in becoming skilled readers
of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts, and in becoming skilled writers who compose
for a variety of reasons. Both the writing and the reading opportunities provided within the course serve to make students
aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subject, as well as the way generic
conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing.
The goals of an AP English Language and Composition course are diverse because the college composition course, which
it is modeled after, is one of the most varied in the curriculum. The college course provides students with opportunities to
write about a variety of subjects and to demonstrate an awareness of audience and purpose. The AP Language class serves
the same intents and purposes. Most composition courses emphasize the expository, analytical, and argumentative writing
that forms the basis of academic and professional communication, as well as the personal and reflective writing that
fosters the development of writing facility in any context. The same can be said of this class. The writing process is one of
the most essential components of the course. From the maintenance of a personal journal to develop and increase
individual writing style, self awareness, and reflective thinking, to an extensive research based essay, the AP Language
course requires a variety of writing types. Timed and process writing including multi-drafted compositions and test essays
occur frequently. Both teacher commentary and peer review are essential aspects of this process. Students will write
argumentative and analytical essays that combine the elements of narration, exposition, persuasion, and description. While
some essays will be draft quality in imitation of the AP exam, others will go through the entire writing process to include
peer editing, a teacher review, and a final, polished essay in MLA format for a grade in the 55% category.
The AP English Language and Composition course helps students move beyond such programmatic responses as the fiveparagraph essay. In the AP Language classroom, students are encouraged to place their emphasis on content, purpose, and
audience and to allow this focus to guide the organization of their writing. Throughout the year, students write in both
informal and formal contexts to gain authority and learn to take risks in writing. Imitation exercises, journal keeping, peer
editing, teacher lead writing conferences, and in-class timed responses occur throughout the year. Students will evaluate
their own writing for use of active, power verbs, complex sentence structure, and incorporation of both SAT and ACT
vocabulary. Students will include rhetorical strategies and literary elements studied in class in their own writing.
As well as engaging in varied writing tasks, students taking the AP Language course become acquainted with a wide
variety of prose styles from many disciplines and American literary periods and gain understanding of the connections
between writing and interpretive skill in reading. Concurrently, to reflect the increasing importance of graphics and visual
images in texts published in print and electronic media, students are asked to analyze how such images both relate to
written texts and serve as alternative forms to text themselves.
Student Selection Process:
Enrollment in AP Language is open to any student starting his or her junior year. Students who are willing to work hard
and who are motivated to learn are encouraged to challenge themselves with this Advanced Placement course.
Course Grading:
Test Grades (in-class objective based assessments/essays, performance-based projects, final drafts of papers that have gone through
the entire writing process, culminating AP Timed Writes): 55% of the course grade.
Quiz Grades (some in-class writing assignments, vocabulary quizzes, Synthesis Essay Response Practice, Book Reports, Journals):
30% of the course grade.
Homework (reading worksheets, written question/answer response, class work) 15% of the course grade.
Each semester the course grade is reduced to 80% of the total semester grade, and the semester exam (semester 1) and the Georgia
End of Course Test (semester 2) become 20% of the total semester average.
Late Work and Make Up Work
Make arrangements prior to an absence if possible. If you must miss class, be sure to check the green binder in the room
for class assignments that you must complete when you return to school. I follow the student handbook makeup policy.
Late work is dropped 10 points when it is past due.
State Testing Requirements: There are two State tests students are required to complete in Language Arts during
their junior year:
The Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSWT) in Writing
End of Course Test (EOCT) for English III. (Students will not be required to pass the EOCT to graduate, but
must pass the course to earn credit.)
This year the EOCT will count at 20% of the semester grade.
Ongoing Course Assignments:
The following course assignments occur throughout the academic term:
SERP (Synthesis Essay Response Preparation) – Students select a current news event and find two news articles that
address the current event. Students also find two editorials, arguing two different views on a particular issue. In addition
to the four written pieces, students find one cartoon or non-print source addressing the issue. Students complete an
annotated bibliography, using MLA formatting guidelines, and a complete researched précis of each article and compose
an interpretive analysis of the non-print source. SERP’s are tentatively due on the last Friday of each month. On the day
the SERPs are due, a discussion of the information occurs during the first semester and is followed by individual journal
analysis. In the second semester, students practice writing synthesis essays using previous AP exam prompts and teacher
directed synthesis prompts.
Rhetorical and Persuasive Preparation – Students will analyze a variety of selections and compose essays in which
they practice detailing rhetorical and persuasive techniques employed by authors. Additionally, students will practice
effective strategies and techniques in personal writing.
Weekly Journaling – Students write either one or two entries per week according to the Individual Reading requirements
handout. While some topics are assigned based on issues discussed in class and often include imitation exercises, most
entries are at the discretion of the student. Each entry must be a full page( 100 words) and include a topic and date on the
first line.
ID (Interactive Discussion) Days – A take on the Socratic seminar, ID days help students make meaning of difficult
texts. Used with essays, novels, and complex excerpts, students are allowed to question and examine language in a
method that is open and inviting. Open-ended questions are used and a participation grade is assigned based on a written
response completed at the close of the discussion.
IT’s (Imitation Themes) – A type of focused imitation exercise, students are given excerpts from a novel, essay, or other
literary work and are asked to imitate the author’s particular style. These include incorporating varied sentence structure,
inclusion of power verbs, and complex writing styles.
Vocabulary – The development of mature academic voice is essential to the course and the mastery of new content
vocabulary and language is ongoing. New vocabulary is introduced each week and mastery of new language acquired
within the course is assessed weekly. Vocabulary units include literary terms and objectives of the AP Language course as
well as SAT / ACT vocabulary units. Vocabulary test make up will be on the day you return to school. If you are absent
the day prior to the test, you will take the test with the class on the scheduled test date.
Course Objectives: Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
Recognize a variety of rhetorical strategies and techniques.
Apply effective strategies and techniques in his or her own writing.
Analyze and interpret samples of good writing, identifying and explaining an author s use of language to create
and sustain arguments based on readings, research, and/or personal experience.
Write for a variety of purposes.
Produce expository, analytical, and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central idea and
develop it with appropriate evidence drawn from primary and/or secondary sources, cogent explanations, and
clear transitions.
Demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic maturity in his or her
own writings to include the use of active verbs, complex sentence patterns, and a college level vocabulary.
Demonstrate understanding of the conventions of citing primary and secondary sources.
Move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to inquiry and research,
drafting, revising, editing, and review.
Write thoughtfully about his or her process of composition.
Revise a work to make it suitable for a different audience.
Analyze image as text.
Evaluate and incorporate reference documents into researched papers.
Cheating/Plagiarism:
Cheating and plagiarism are strictly prohibited. This includes copying homework, copying answers on a test,
using a cell phone during a test, talking during a test, and using an author’s work without giving credit to the
source. Remember – this activity can get you expelled from college!
I acknowledge that I have read all of the information contained in this syllabus and will work with my
son/daughter, parent/guardian, and teacher to successfully complete this course.
Parent’s/Guardian Signature___________________________ Date ________________
Parent Cell ______________________________ Parent Email _________________________________
Student’s Signature __________________________________ Date ________________
Student Email _______________________________________
+++ This sheet must be signed by both parent/guardian and student and returned to the teacher by August 9+++
Course Planner:
Unit One: And in the beginning there was the word…
An Overview of American Literature and Rhetorical Analysis
The course opens with an immediate follow-up on a summer assignment, which consists of reading two American literary classics and keeping active
notes on the readings. With a focus on the author’s use of language to achieve purpose, students find ways to recognize what’s remarkable in the two
selected novels. Students consider rhetorical context- purpose, audience, and strategies- as they focus on close reading. Both novels are explored and
numerous interactive discussions occur. An emphasis is placed on the linguistic and rhetorical choices of the authors. Imitation writing and short
analytic essays are also assigned throughout this unit of study. The opening unit of the course also includes an introduction to the materials to be
covered within the course and the objectives to be mastered within the course. A diagnostic test is administered and the expectation of the course for
each learner is outlined. The unit culminates with a multi-drafted composition that provides an in-depth understanding of how the author’s use of
language achieved the author’s purpose in their respective work. The culminating unit assessment consists of students completing a first draft of the
paper and peer reviewing the product. Once revisions are made, the instructor evaluates the work and a writing conference is held. The final draft of
the paper is then submitted for grading.
Unit Readings:
The Scarlet Letter
The Crucible
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Reading Selections from The Elements of Literature:
• Origin Myths of the Native Americans: reflection of the culture which created them (various handouts, various tribal writings)
• Of Plymouth Plantation, journal by William Bradford: insight into the Puritan lifestyle, Puritan Plain Style writing, Biblical allusion
• The History of the Dividing Line by William Byrd, comparison to Of Plymouth Plantation in purpose, style
• The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: reflection on the slave trade and an extension of early American culture
• Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, sermon by Jonathon Edwards: parallel structure, figurative language, imagery, diction,
emotional appeal
• Speech to the Virginia Convention, speech by Patrick Henry: parallel structure, rhetorical questions, arguments of logic and emotion,
diction, imagery
• The Crisis, No. 1 by Thomas Paine: arguments of logic and emotion, diction, style, figurative language
•Declaration of Independence—Jefferson’s first draft and the final copy, compared for rhetorical differences, emotional impact
•The Autobiography - Benjamin Franklin’s experience and escape from an ‘indenture’ or apprentice experience: style, dialogue, and a
look at the Saying of Poor Richard as aphorisms.
•Poems by Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley: thematic and stylistic differences
Reading Selections from The Bedford Reader, 8th Edition
• Chapter 1: Reading Critically
• Chapter 4: Narration: Telling a story
 Maya Angelou Champion of the World excerpt: dialogue, imagery, irony, view of being American
 Amy Tan Fish Cheeks excerpt: imagery, irony, , juxtaposition, view of being American
 Sherman Alexie Indian Education excerpt: organization, symbolism, hyperbole, compare/contrast
• Chapter 13: Argument and Persuasion
 H.L. Menchken The Penalty of Death: persuasion, logos, ethos, pathos, definition
 Michael Kroll The Unquiet Death of Robert Harris: persuasion, logos, ethos, pathos
 Colleen Wenke Too Much Pressure
 Barbara Huttmann A Crime of Compassion
Writing:
• Comparison/contrast of style and themes Amy Tan (Fish Cheeks) and Maya Angelou (The Champion) Polished essay, entire writing
process
• Imitate Edwards’ persuasive style in your journal using fear as a motivator to discourage some behavior in classmates (figurative
language, imagery, diction)
• First AP prompt essays: rhetorical analysis, open ended argument, synthesis
• Additional AP prompt: Essay discussing Bradstreet’s use of an extended metaphor in “Author to Her Book” to reveal her attitude
toward her poetry (1996 exam)
• Various journals/reading responses to include journal entries from The Crucible and quotes and meanings from The Scarlet Letter
• Practice prompts for the Georgia High School Graduation Test for Writing (content, organization, style, conventions)
Students will take the Georgia High School Writing Test at the end of this unit.
Unit Two: Opinions are Like Noses!
A study into the nature of Argumentation and Researched Writing
The second unit of study undertaken within the course addresses argumentation and researched-based writing. The guidelines
established by the Modern Languages Association are used as the preferred style sheet and students are perfecting the appropriate use
of MLA formatting. Essential components to AP Language, an understanding of argument and researched writing are necessary for
student mastery of course goals. Through a study of non-fiction texts (The Bedford Reader, Elements of Literature, SERP
assignments), students are exposed to the elements of both argumentation and research. Through interactive discussion and in-class
writings over non-fiction works, students will study the elements of effective persuasion and learn how to appropriately structure an
argument. Both the Toulmin and the Rogerian method of argumentation are studied and analyzed for effectiveness. After providing a
brief history in rhetoric and argumentation, the course goes into a study of modern day methods of persuasion. From non-print sources
such as television and radio advertisements to more traditional editorials and cartoons, students are exposed to not only argumentation
but to how argumentation impacts the world in which they live. With the importance and value of visual literacy growing within the
composition course, students are instructed on how graphics and visual images both relate to written texts and serve as alternative
forms of text themselves. The unit culminates with a researched based essay addressing a current event of the student’s choosing that
blends the elements of MLA formatting, sound academic research, and mastery of persuasive elements. Again, the culminating unit
assessment is a multi-drafted composition. Students complete a first draft of the paper and peer review the product. Once revisions are
made, the instructor evaluates the work and a writing conference is held. The final draft of the paper is then submitted for grading.
Unit Readings:
The Jungle
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Reading Selections from The Elements of Literature:
• American Romanticism: introduction to movement, historical background
• Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving: motifs, language and style, diction, symbolism, satire
• The Fireside Poets: Longfellow, Whittier, Wendell Holmes, Lowell (various poems) theme, style, diction, metaphor, Abolitionist
poetry
• American Renaissance: introduction to movement, historical background, transcendentalism
• Nature by Emerson: excerpt to examine imagery, ethos, pathos, logos, diction, and aphorisms from his journals
• Self-Reliance by Emerson: excerpt to examine figures of speech, persuasion, purpose, imagery
• Walden by Thoreau: organization, purpose, style, cause/effect, audience, paradox
•The Fall of the House of Usher and “The Raven” by Poe: imagery, symbolism, atmosphere, tone, diction, foreshadow, repetition,
allusion
• “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Hawthorne: symbol, diction, parable, audience, purpose
•Moby Dick by Melville: excerpts to view purpose, metaphor, characterization, parody
•Specimen Days by Walt Whitman: excerpts to show definition of war, description, pathos
•Walt Whitman/Emily Dickinson: various poems to show view of American life and various poetic devices to include slant rhyme,
catalogs, imagery, pathos, logos, diction, metaphor, personification, rhythm. Power point presentations
Reading Selections from The Bedford Reader, 8th Edition
• Chapter 3: Using and Documenting Sources
• Once More to the Lake by E.B. White: epiphany, style, purpose, audience, imagery
• Only Daughter by Sandra Cisneros
• Disability by Nancy Mairs
• The Ways We Lie Stephanie Ericsson
Writing:
•Using a SERP researched topic, students will produce a polished research based essay using the entire writing process
• Imitation exercises for sentence structure (Faulkner) and diction (Poe)
• AP prompt: Synthesis essay prompt from 2010 exam
• Various journals/reading responses to assigned readings
Unit Three: Taking a Closer Look…
An exploration of the American identity, the American Dream, and close reading
Close reading is not only modeled within this unit of study, but is emphasized. A work of fiction is selected and annotation, Cornell
notation, and other methods of making meaning of text are studied and modeled. The emphasis of this unit of study is on how an
author makes meaning within a text and how a reader makes meaning of a text. Large and small portions of text are analyzed and
student understanding is discussed through interactive discussion, think-pair-share, informal writing, and imitation writing. In addition
to the whole-class text selected, other works of literary merit (poems, excerpts from dramas, novels, essays that relate to the selected
work or topics presented within the work, short stories, film excerpts, song lyrics) are utilized to show how language lends itself to
meaning. Again, the importance of viewing graphics and visual images that relate to written texts and serve as alternative forms of text
themselves is emphasized and studied for scholarly academic discourse. The unit culminates in a character analysis paper that
addresses the stylistic devices employed by the author to create meaning within the text. As with aforementioned culminating
assessments, the character analysis paper is a multi-drafted composition. Students complete a first draft of the paper and peer review
the product. Once revisions are made, the instructor evaluates the work and a writing conference is held. The final draft of the paper is
then submitted for grading.
Unit Readings:
The Great Gatsby
Reading Selections from The Elements of Literature:
•Realism: introduction to movement, historical background, Civil War writings
•from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain: excerpt to show diction, purpose, audience, extended metaphor
•Spotlight on the Civil War( excerpts to include Theodore Upson, Walt Whitman, Major Sullivan Ballou, Alexander Hunter, Abraham
Lincoln (Gettysburg Address), Susie King Taylor, Frederick Douglass, Mary Chestnut, Seth M. Flint) to show point of view, pathos,
logos, narrative, and allusion
• “To Build a Fire” by Jack London: to examine imagery, theme, diction
• “Occurrence at Owl Creek” Ambrose Bierce
• “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth: themes, contrasting style, rhetorical devices used to achieve purpose and support theme
• “The Story of an Hour” and “A Pair of Silk Stockings” by Kate Chopin: writing style, Regionalism, symbolism, characterization,
theme
• “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane: Naturalism, stylistic voice, choice of detail, figurative language
•Modernism: introduction to movement, historical background, themes
• Various works of Robert Frost examined for experimentation in form and theme
• “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner: Southern Gothic literature, social setting in support of theme
• “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter: stream of consciousness, issues of aging
• As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner: excerpts to evaluate stylistic variances for different character voices, Southern Gothicism,
stream of consciousness
• Faulkner’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech
Reading Selections from The Bedford Reader, 8th Edition
• I Have a Dream by Martin L. King, Jr.: diction, parallelism, repetition, allusion, style
• No Name Woman by Maxine Hong Kingston: audience, purpose, style, diction
• Black Men and Public Spaces by Brent Staples: audience, purpose, style, diction
• Homeless by Anna Quindlen: audience, purpose, style, diction
• Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts by Bruce Catton: Comparison/Contrast, organization, purpose, audience, style
Writing
• Released multiple choice items are used for instruction and to test readiness. Reading strategies such as annotation and prediction are
practiced. During this grading period students take the Georgia High School Graduation Tests in Language Arts, Math, Science, and
Social Studies.
• Character analysis: must include analysis of the stylistic devices employed by the author to create meaning within the text and is a
multi-drafted composition
• Practice interpreting writing prompts, review of each type of AP essay, rhetorical analysis essay from 2012 AP exam
Unit Four: My Novel, My “Self” : The Autobiography
Within this unit of study, students are be given an opportunity to select a memoir/autobiography of someone who is a member of a
social group other than their own. While reading, analyzing, and studying the selected memoir, students locate and analyze various
literary elements such as imagery, language, and other particular aspects of a text that contribute to theme or underlying meaning of
the work and will draw comparisons between the specific incidents in the work and broader themes that illustrate the writer’s
important beliefs or generalization about life from the selected autobiography or memoir. The unit culminates in the submission of an
ongoing discovery journal that explores the student’s relation to the text, society, and language.
Unit Readings:
Malcolm X
Independent Autobiography /Biography Selection
Reading Selections from The Elements of Literature:
• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry: the changing American Dream, conventions of drama; reading is supplemented by
viewing of Columbia Pictures’ A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
• Various Harlem Renaissance Movement poets/artists to include James Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Langston
Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Jacob Lawrence.
• from Black Boy by Richard Wright: dialogue, central image, diction, imagery
• from The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday: setting, narration, purpose
• from In Search of our Mothers’ Gardens by Alice Walker: metaphor, simile, symbol, paradox
• from Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin: diction, imagery, pathos
• from The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien: enumeration, diction, pathos, style
• Imagist Poetry
Reading Selections from The Bedford Reader, 8th Edition
All selections analyzed for mixing the methods of writing, logos, pathos, ethos, organization, style,
audience, purpose, rhetorical devices
• I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King
• The Meaning of a Word by Gloria Naylor
• Drugs by Gore Vidal
• Our Barbies, Ourselves by Emily Pager
• I Want a Wife by Judy Brady
Writing
• During this grading period students take the End of Course test for American Literature and the AP exam. Practice essays in various
formats will be done periodically.
• Continue to practice interpreting writing prompts, review of each type of AP essay, review various writing strategies, and complete a
nonfiction book report on self-selected biography/memoir/autobiography