Office in E209
O.H: 1, 3, 7
540-4709
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
Mr. May joe.may@lz95.org
I. Course Description
AP Language and Composition teaches students the essential skills of rhetorical analysis and allows the students to apply these analytical skills to several methods of written expression. Students will read texts from a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts and write essays that reveal their understanding of purpose, effect, and tone.
Although the AP exam primarily focuses on non-fiction works, throughout the year, we will look at both fiction and non-fiction. However, with both types of texts, we will look at how various effects are achieved by writers’ linguistic and rhetorical choices. Every text and activity will allow the students to engage the text beyond its superficial properties as they analyze the relationship between author’s purpose, audience’s expectations and effectiveness of the subject matter. Throughout the year, students will keep a portfolio of revised essays and reflections. Each quarter, students must revise the previous quarter’s essays based on peer review as well as teacher feedback. Also, they must complete a reflective essay about their progress as efficient writers.
II. Course Objectives
A.
To prepare students to take the national, three-hour AP exam in English Language and Composition by:
1.
developing the vocabulary and skills necessary for the close-reading and analysis of a text.
2.
emphasizing analytical and persuasive writing along with expository writing.
3.
developing an understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic maturity in their own writing.
4.
giving experience with impromptu questions in timed writing situations.
5.
dealing with several different genres that are representative of the texts used on the AP Language and Composition Exam.
6.
becoming familiar with the types of questions and expectations for answers on the AP Language and Composition Exam.
B.
To prepare students for the transition from secondary school to college by:
1.
developing critical thinking skills that go beyond the basic cognitive skills of recall, recognition, and comprehension.
2.
emphasizing writing as a process of drafting, reflecting and revising.
3.
emphasizing writing in a variety of genres and contexts, both formal and informal, while employing an awareness of audience and purpose.
4.
emphasizing analytical and persuasive compositions that develop a hypothesis and support it with appropriate, specific evidence, cogent explanations, and clear transitions.
5.
providing opportunities to synthesize both primary and secondary texts and properly cite them in MLA format.
III.
Textbook
A. Peterson, Linda H., John C. Brereton, and Joan E. Hartman, eds. The Norton
Reader. Tenth Edition. W.W. Norton & Company: New York, 2000.

IV.
Writing assessments will require students to write in several forms including narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative essays. They will also write in informal contexts including journal writing, reflective essays, in-class responses and imitation exercises. Each unit will include one or more of the following compositions:
A.
Writing prompts simulating AP essay questions
1.
Analysis of rhetorical devices and strategies
2.
Synthesis and argument using sources
3.
Argument based on student's reading, observation or experience
B.
Analytical and persuasive essays requiring research.
C.
General forms and genres regularly seen in our texts including narration, exposition, personal essays and creative writing.
V. Other unit assessments
A.
Tests & Quizzes
B.
Portfolio of revised works and reflections
C.
Exercises in and out of class
D.
Participation in both formal and informal class discussions
VI. Units will include one or more of the following genres:
A. Nonfiction essays and passages
B. Nonfiction books
C. Novels
D. Short Stories
E. Poems
F. Music
H. Movies, Photographs and other visual images
VII. List of units and possible works
Unit 1

Introduction to AP Language and Composition and the analysis of memoir, narration and description
Introduction to the vocabulary of analysis (rhetorical triangle, language, imagery, diction, detail and syntax), close reading, and the timed essay using passages from Annie Dillard’s An American
Childhood, Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking , Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air , Brent Staples’
Parallel Time , Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire and other selected works.

Analysis of the AP questions, essays and scoring

Composition: rhetorical analysis of passages from summer reading.
Unit 2

Analysis of exposition including samples for close reading from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David
Thoreau, Brian Doyle, Chief Seattle, Paula Gunn Allen, and other authors whose essays fit one or more of the following modes of exposition: definition, exemplification, process, division and classification, compare/contrast, and cause/effect.

Introduction to the writing portfolio

Composition: rhetorical analysis from previous AP exams.
Unit 3

Analysis of argumentation using a variety of short contemporary and historical essays, editorials, and speeches including works by Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Paine, and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton.

Analysis of political cartoons and statistics as means of argument.

Composition: Analysis of arguments from previous AP exams

Unit 4

Analysis of arguments that use multiple rhetorical modes focusing on a variety of contemporary and historical essays including works by Niccolo Machiavelli, Henry David Thoreau, and George
Orwell.

Debate concerning the role of politics using MLA format to cite newspapers, speeches, websites, etc.

Analysis of documentary as a means of argument

Composition: arguments from previous AP exams
Unit 5

Race, power, education, and growth using Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes were Watching God and passages from Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to analyze how satire can be used to construct an argument and to show how dialect and other rhetorical devices extend each author’s commentary on race and empowerment.
Students will compare and contrast the above with rhetorical devices and arguments used in The
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglas, Letter from Birmingham Jail by
Martin Luther King Jr., and contemporary essays concerning power, education, race and independence.

Research paper: Argument/analysis using a contemporary non-fiction work. This composition will teach students to evaluate, use and cite primary and secondary sources. It will reinforce and teach how to cite sources using MLA format.

Semester final will consist of both a practice AP exam and questions concerning the previous units.
Unit 6

Definitions of America and the American Dream using The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald to analyze Fitzgerald’s use of rhetoric to dictate the audience’s attitude as well as his own social statement.
Students will compare the above with similar rhetorical methods and arguments in The Mall of
America by David Guterson, and an excerpt from “The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History” by
Jennifer Price.

Analysis of political cartoons and photographs that define, defend or criticize American culture.

Composition: an argument essay and an introduction to the synthesis essay from the sample essays on the College Board website
Unit 7

Perspectives of poverty using Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.
Students will compare the book with similar themes, arguments and rhetorical devices used in A
Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, On Dumpster Diving by Lars Eighner, and selections from various contemporary essays concerning poverty.

Debate that uses skills from the synthesis essay to construct an argument about poverty using provided sources and graphics.

Composition: A synthesis essay from previous AP exams

Unit 8
Analysis and argument in both visual and written media using photographs, websites, excerpts from various newspapers, contemporary essays, and other media sources.

Debate concerning the influence of media using MLA format to cite newspapers, speeches, websites, etc.

Composition: Review of all AP essay prompts

Concentration on preparation for the Advanced Placement Examination: Wednesday, May 13 (am)
Unit 9

Analysis of argument in unique styles and narrative structures using Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt
Vonnegut and a contemporary documentary to analyze the organization, voice, and purpose of an an unconventional narrative structure.

Completion of the Writing Portfolio including a personal essay and a critical analysis of personal style and growth as a writer.
Note: This list is merely an outline of the year and is subject to change by addition and subtraction.
Throughout the year, I will add several supplementary essays, stories, poems, songs, etc. I will try to adhere to the general order of the units, but the order of the specific works may be altered.