AP Language and Composition
Western Hills High School
Lauren Hill, Teacher
lauren.hill@franklin.kyschools.us
Course Overview:
“I won’t teach you anything,” said Professor Jack Conrad Willers on the first day of my
Philosophy of Education class. I learned everything I needed to know about teaching that day, and
much of what I know of being a student. So, I say it again here. I will not teach you anything in this
course. I will challenge your perception of yourself as a reader, writer and thinker. I will push you to
do those things better, with more clarity and purpose. But, I will do it with the acknowledgement
that you will only learn what you choose to learn. Teaching and learning begins and ends with you.
As we examine our world, we enter into a recursive process, an argument between you, the
architects of your world’s landscape, and the untamable forces that surround both, in an effort to find
meaning. The goal of this course is to deepen the complexity of that process. Specifically, to ask you
to experience the analysis and creation of language and images in a way that makes them breathe,
gives them life. If we only learn what we choose to learn, then it is logical to believe that the more we
see, the more intense our curiosity will become about what we cannot see.
We will walk through the labyrinth of language. Admittedly, we may never get out, but I give
high marks to the journey.
We start today.
Non-Fiction: Choose a full-length book of your choice.
It may be a compilation of essays, a biography, or an historical account – anything. I will post a list of
suggestions. I must approve the book. I will provide you with instructions for a reading journal and
a rhetorical analysis. The analysis will come in the form of a series of elements for you to discuss
about your book. You will provide me with a journal that illustrates your reading process, asks
questions, and shows that you have read thoroughly. You will also turn in a typed, detailed analysis
with evidence from the text. It does not have to be in the form of an essay. Then, you will conduct a
ten-minute, multi-media book talk for the class, giving them and me a chance to ask you questions
about what you read. The analysis will be due at the start of class, but you may prepare your book
talk after class begins. Your book choice is due by June 23.
For extra credit, you might do additional research on your subject; write an essay evaluating the
writing style, research or content of the text, and/or other related activities.
Writing: A Personal Essay
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We all feel strongly about something, something about ourselves, our school, our community, our
world. Choose a topic that matters to you; it may be something big or small. Write an essay
clarifying what that something is and why you feel so strongly about it. It could be a way you see
yourself, an attitude you try to keep throughout your life, a political position, or even the love of a
particular book. I am not particular.
Use your best writing skills. Decide on a topic and send it to me by June 16. Send me a rough draft
by July 31. Turn in a final draft on the first day of school.
For extra credit, you might illustrate your piece, provide a multi-media presentation of your topic,
write an accompanying poem, and/or share your work with the class during the summer for
feedback.
Community: Our Blog Site
We will maintain a class blog where we will share our writing, debate a variety of topics, ask
questions, and generally build our AP Language and Composition community. You will be required
to make at least two thoughtful posts every two weeks during the summer for a total of eight.
The address is: http://franklin.kyschools.us/whhs/english/lhill/default.aspx - I will send this by email. Use your school login, go to “blog” and then arrow through to see the different topics posted.
Feel free to add your own and make comments.
Ask questions.
Procedure and Grades, Summer:
Send your classmates and me (via e-mail) paragraphs you craft, observations you make, or
concerns or questions you encounter. Include me in your process. I know that some of you have not
done this kind of work before. Do not hesitate to ask questions or for guidance. Be prepared,
however, for me to say things like, “That’s up to you,” and “What do you think will work best?”
These works will receive credit based upon the extent to which you complete the assignment
as well as the depth of analysis displayed. For your non-fiction work, I do not expect you to be an
expert. I have not taught you anything yet. I do expect an attempt at depth and attention to detail.
Your personal essay should exhibit grammar, spelling and general writing skills
commensurate with students who have completed sophomore honors English at our school. Type
your work. Keep all drafts. I will use the Analytical Scoring Guide (Appendix A) to evaluate your
writing. Your essay, however, will serve primarily as a benchmark to help guide me in focusing
instruction during the year. I expect you to try your best.
Each of the three assignments earns credit separately, cumulatively equaling 20% of your first
nine-week grade.
Procedures and Grades:
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During the school year, each assignment accumulates points. Points will average within each
category to contribute to a final grade. Each nine-week grade is based upon the following weights,
excluding the first nine weeks that includes the summer work as noted:
Writing (on-demand and drafted)
Exams, projects and presentations (excluding on-demand)
Homework/Class work (guided and non-guided practice and study)
40%
40%
20%
Rationale: You must show you can perform the skills and manage the content of this course. As a
college-level course, I give as little credit for homework as possible, while still offering enough
incentive to see that it gets done.
Revision policy: You may re-write drafted essays as many times as you wish. Each new draft will
receive a new grade to replace the old one. You earn this privilege by meeting all deadlines leading
up to the final draft and engaging in teacher and peer conferences during the writing process.
Conferencing: Conferences can occur before or after school, during homeroom or my planning time
by appointment. I also consider e-mail a valid and important way to communicate about all courserelated issues. Use it.
Extra Credit: You may earn extra credit in the homework/class work category by focusing on a skill
or content area you need to improve. Together, we can choose assignments that will improve your
overall work in the course. You may not do so much extra credit that your grade raises more than a
single letter grade.
Late work: No late homework receives credit. Homework assignments enhance our class time.
Come prepared every day. Late writing assignments, projects or presentations, however, drop a
single letter grade for each day they are late. No paper will drop below a “D”, therefore, after four
days, even an “A” paper will not receive credit.
Note: This is a course intended to replace a college freshman English class; therefore, the quality of
work expected is quite high. I also understand that getting an “A” is important to you. I hate grades.
They keep you from learning. So, the extra credit is compromise. Learn more, try harder, stretch
your understanding of your limits and you will earn that “A”. Work just to get the “A”, and you do
not have a chance of achieving it.
General Practices:
These strategies and practices will be interspersed throughout the year as appropriate and may not
be mentioned explicitly in this syllabus.
Writing:
Reflective writing: Often done in your writing journal, this more personal work will ask you to
reflect on your beliefs, ideas, and processes. The ideas are more important than spelling or grammar,
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and shared with your peers or the teacher only when you allow it to be, or it is determined ahead of
time.
Writing to learn takes the form of notes, ideas jotted down based on discussion, or in response to
questions in a text. This type of writing encourages you to put to paper words and ideas that may
otherwise stay all jumbled up in your head. Many of us think we do a wonderful job of note taking.
Historically, however, it is one of the most effective learning tools used least effectively. I will
provide explicit instruction in note taking (Classroom Instruction That Works by Robert Marzano) and
will provide specific guidelines so we all improve in this essential skill for any college-bound student.
Writing to show understanding, or expository writing, explains or elaborates. This is what you do
on an open response question or any test or assignment to show that you understand or can apply
content.
On-demand writing asks you to use your best writing skills in a timed environment. Although you
should have time to plan and re-read or edit your work, here you show how you can formulate an
argument and communicate it clearly and effectively, using your best language skills, quickly. This
type of writing is required on the AP Language and Composition exam.
Writing with multiple drafts represents essay writing which may be a culmination of many of the
other types of writing. It will go through extensive peer and teacher conferencing as well as your
own ever more vigilant revision process. The result should be “portfolio ready”. This writing will
ultimately be judged using the standards set forth in the Analytical Scoring Guide (Appendix A).
Strategies:
Audience, purpose, strategy: Our course mantra, this guides all discussions of all types of literature.
Who will read/see this? How has the author indicated his or her awareness of this? What is the
purpose of the work? How can we tell? Which appeals does it use? How does its organizational
pattern support the purpose? How do this diction, syntax and tone differ from other works? To
what effect?
Bell-ringers will create a bridge between previous knowledge and the work of the day. We may
write a reflective journal entry, employ an exercise from Voice Lessons (Nancy Dean) to focus on
diction, detail, imagery, syntax or tone; or complete a revision exercise, using your work and focusing
on the skills and ideas previously taught.
Reading journals are our way of interacting with the text. Each reading assignment requires a
reading journal that will vary somewhat based upon the goals for that assignment. It also shows me
that you have read deeply and completely and prepares you for class discussions and further work
based on the text. See “Wrestling with the Text” for more information.
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We will continually add to our vocabulary notebook, adding the specialized vocabulary of rhetoric
as well as words from our reading. See above for more details.
The most common classroom strategy we use is “Think, Pair, Share” (Thoughtful Education). As a
question is posed (in class, as homework, etc.) you will have time to reflect on an answer and then
time to discuss it with a classmate before brining your ideas to the whole class. This works to build
confidence in your responses and to create a community where everyone has a chance to participate.
Each student answers at least one question each day. Only after students are called on will
volunteers receive a chance.
We will engage is cooperative learning or “group work” often. Each member will have individual
and group accountability and a specific role to play so this work remains fair and beneficial.
We will also employ task rotations (Thoughtful Education) which address multiple learning styles.
You will have a chance to work in the styles most comfortable for you as well as in modes that
challenge you in areas outside your natural proclivities. (Appendix C) These will appear as class
work and as assessments
Comparing styles, strategies, and our own writing, can help us bring into focus more complex
elements of what we read and write. We will employ Thoughtful Education’s compare/contrast
strategy that, most basically, asks us to analyze our subjects, define at least four criteria by which to
compare, find evidence to explicate each element, and then to draw conclusions about what we have
found. Finally, we will look at the “so what” of it all, synthesizing our analysis or using it to evaluate
our subject. Compare and contrast criteria may be student or teacher designed. This may take the
place of a standard assessment.
Culminating assessment will combine some or all of the preceding, and will include multiple choice
and on-demand essay questions modeled on the AP exam as well as projects and presentations
indented to synthesize our work.
Evaluation: Each unit or other natural grouping will include a time to evaluate your work, the
process, and to make suggestions as to what we need to do next. I value your ideas and opinions.
We will also do a more formal course evaluation after the final posting of grades each nine weeks.
Textbooks:
Shea, Renee, Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Aufses. The Language of Composition. New York:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007.
In addition to serving as a basic rhetorical primer, this book presents a wide variety of essays
and visual texts, contemporary as well as classic, organized thematically. Each unit presents
challenging essential questions making the integration of additional readings logical and
enriching to that theme. As no one could cover each unit in the book, I have chosen the ones
that facilitate the inclusion of the selected fiction included in this course.
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Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. New York: Bedford/St.
Martin's, 2007.
Although AP Language and Composition is primarily a non-fiction course, we will also
attempt to integrate fiction into our work. This book is especially helpful as, in addition to the
short stories themselves, Charters includes critical analysis, reflective pieces from the authors,
and other authors writing about the works or the writing process. Reading this together helps
you to see writing, even fiction writing, as a conscious process rather than a finished work
immaculately conceived. It also illustrates the various approaches writers have to writing,
enabling you to more deeply reflect on and create your own.
Marius, Richard. A Writer's Companion. Boston: McGraw-Hill College, 1999.
A Harvard professor wrote this book after years of teaching his ill-prepared freshmen how to
write for college. Written conversationally and with myriad examples, Marius does in just a
few pages what much grander texts fail to do at all; speak to you so you will listen, and
ultimately transform your writing. It is also with Marius that we will examine diction, syntax,
sentence structure, the use of the active voice, and other elements of strong writing.
Clauss, Patrick. i*claim: visualizing argument. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007.
Employing the internet, i*claim serves as a glossary from argument theory and classical
rhetoric. It also “provides direct access to over 70 multimedia arguments.” This CD will assist
you in extending your work with visual sources in an organized and structured way. Works
are accessible by type of appeal or by purpose. (CD jacket)
Downs, Doug. I*cite: visualizing sources. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.
This work uses multimedia to help us in evaluating and citing sources and defining
plagiarism. Using the internet, i*cite asks students to evaluate the “evening news…, listen to
an interview, or click through a Web site.” (CD jacket)
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The Content:
Non-Fiction: More than Your Textbook
Unit focus: Exploring the purposes for writing, battling the premise that, “Everything is an
argument,” setting a purpose for reading, and beginning the conversation with ourselves as readers
and writers which will set the tone for the course.
Major texts: Non-fiction works chosen in the summer by the students and “The Prince Who Thought
He Was a Rooster,” by Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav.
Featured essay: Nabokov’s “Good Readers and Good Writers”: How does this apply to non-fiction?
What suggestions might Nabokov make to us? How does the structure of this essay reinforce the
content?
Content: These summer assignments were chosen to represent three distinct purposes for nonfiction writing; personal reflection, making an argument, and to present the results of research to
make an argument. By engaging in similar tasks, you may draw conclusions about the purpose,
audience and strategies for non-fiction writing beyond the expository writing found in texts. To
clarify your conclusions, we will compare the three works, focusing on audience, purpose and
strategy and again, looking specifically at writing style. Groups will present findings, showing and
analyzing evidence from their assigned work.
Unit IA: Writing is More Complicated than I Thought
AP Focus: Writing Well
Unit Focus: We will establish basic guidelines for outstanding college writing. We will compare our
work with those standards, and set goals for bridging the difference.
Major text: A Writer’s Companion by Richard Marius
We will take notes for each chapter, discuss and ask questions, write our own examples and revise
our work. We will establish rules for peer conferencing and sign up for teacher/student writing
conferences.
In this initial conference, we will set individual goals. Each of you has different strengths and
weaknesses as readers and writers. We will review your work from the summer and establish a list
of priorities for improvement. General issues include use of a variety of sentence structure,
appropriate use of subordination and coordination, logical organization, transitions, and general
focus and voice.
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As we read and discuss the text, we will formally and informally reflect on, analyze and revise our
work from the summer as well as examine the works represented in Unit IB. Main topics of the text
include, but are not limited to, an understanding of audience, purpose and strategy; conciseness,
diction, and tone; drafting, conferencing and the writing process; elements of the essay; making
arguments and logical fallacies (an introduction); using and decoding paragraphs, syntax and diction;
the purpose of figurative language; “False Rules and What is True about Them;” persistent problems
with grammar and mechanics; use of the active voice; beginnings and endings; avoiding
discrimination and clichés.
The Language of Composition: Chapter 1, “An Introduction to Rhetoric”
This chapter reviews the major concepts of rhetoric, including the rhetorical triangle, ethos, logos and
pathos; visual rhetoric, rhetorical patterns and rhetorical problems. It also addresses purposes for
argument (proposal, causal, and other patterns of development). It uses examples and presents
exercises for you to apply what you learn. We will do these verbally and as homework. It culminates
in an assignment asking you to examine three texts related to Princess Diana’s death (a news article, a
televised speech available online, a eulogy and a Wikipedia entry) which we will examine together
and analyze for purpose, audience and strategy.
Strategies: We will post online the personal essays students produced in the summer. You will rewrite what you see, revising for specific elements to begin each class. Student notes will prepare you
for class discussions based upon the reading. We will also devise a strategy for peer editing which
will evolve throughout the year as we deepen our understanding of rhetoric.
Major Paper and Assessment: Personal essay revisited. Through peer and teacher conferencing and
your own revision process, take the work through multiple drafts. The final product should reflect
the ideas and standards presented in A Writer’s Companion and as depicted in the scoring guide
created by the class.
Reflection: Describe your writing process as it has emerged throughout high school and during this
course. We will do this again at the end of the class, so do not feel that you are committed to this
process forever and ever. Choose an organizational structure that best illustrates your process.
Unit IB: The Paradox of Individualism
AP Focus: The Analysis Essay
Essential Thematic Questions:
 How much control do I have over my actions? My future?
 Is my personality a result of my genetic make up? My family and friends? The society?
 Is it possible to be an individual? If it is, what would one look like?
 How does our writing style reflect our beliefs?
Major Texts:
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The Language of Literature, Ch. 2, “Close Reading: The Art and Craft of Analysis. The work in this
chapter will assist you in seeing the multiple layers in what you read, and will explore the multiple
ways we can “talk with the text,” including annotation, journaling, graphic organizers, etc.
The Great Gatsby will be read with an eye to purpose, audience and strategy. We will pay special
attention to Fitzgerald’s use of imagery, point of view, and figurative language. We will also use this
novel to introduce students to critical theory, looking at the novel from multiple perspectives. We
will use the strategies presented in TLC, Ch 2, to devise a plan for an effective reading journal for the
novel, given our purposes for reading.
The Story and its Writer: Author studies of Hemingway and Flannery O’Connor
TLC, Ch. 4 extends our discussion of how we learn and why we do it. Entitled “Education,” it
includes works that explore the question: “To what extent do our schools serve the goals of a true
education? Authors include Prose, Alexie, Talbot, Baldwin and Mori. Beyond the content of these
essays, the book provides questions that direct you to examine the purpose, audience and strategy of
each piece. These questions should be done for homework and will provide the impetus for the next
day’s classwork.
We will also read Emerson’s “Self Reliance” and Thoreau’s “Walden” from Literature and the
Language Arts, examining their rhetorical process, noting specifically the use of aphorism, metaphor,
imagery and parallel structure.
Major Paper: We will examine our own school, state and national education system, programs,
and goals. Students will write an essay in which they explore a problem in education and show its
ramifications for Western Hills.
Project: Emerson posits that, “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind.” Create
a self-portrait that represents the essential “you-ness.” Using whatever materials you prefer, explore
your inner Transcendentalist and create a piece of art, literal or metaphorical, that represents you.
Write a description of your work that explains your artistic choices. Present yourself to the class,
trying your best to show an honest, authentic portrait of yourself.
Culminating assessments:
You will complete:
 An in-class rhetorical analysis essay.
 A group project designing the ideal high school for students in our town on our site, using the
works by Mann, Botstein, Gitlin, Broder, Norris (survey results) and Rockwell (painting) in
TLC.
Unit II: Gender
AP Focus: The Synthesis Essay
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Theme: “What is the impact of the gender roles that society creates and enforces?” (TLC, Ch.7)
Skills: You will learn to synthesize multiple sources to draw conclusions about gender in America
and add to your rhetorical toolbox. We will also extend our familiarity with reading and writing
literary criticism. We will also review American literary movements and the use of MLA formatting.
Texts: TLC, Ch 3 – Synthesizing Sources: Entering the Conversation; TLC, Ch. 7 – Gender, The
Awakening: The Norton Critical Edition by Kate Chopin, and author studies of Charlotte Perkins
Gilman and Joyce Carol Oates in TSW.
Content: Works include pieces by Gould, Woolf, John and Abigail Adams, Ehrlich, Cofer, Theroux,
Lewis, Tannen, Hurston and Piercy. Visual texts include works by Guisewite (cartoon) and
Broadway (table). We will also examine TLC’s focus on defining masculinity.
Project: The Awakening web quest. We will use the internet to explore the historical context and the
literary criticism that surrounds this novel. We will use this context to examine the purpose,
audience and strategy of Chopin’s writing style, and to explore the ending of the novel.
Major paper: Using what we have read, write an essay in which you support an original thesis about
an element of gender in America. Choose at least six different sources to support your claim.
Examine the suggestions for writing in TLC for ideas. Use MLA formatting in your final draft.
Culminating assessments: Based on the readings in The Awakening: The Norton Critical Edition,
write an essay in which you clarify which literary movement Chopin’s The Awakening most
reasonably belongs to, focusing on the metaphysics of the novel. In addition, we will write an ondemand synthesis essay in class.
Unit III: Everything’s An Argument
AP Focus: The Argument Essay
Theme: Can We Believe What We Read? See?
Texts: i*cite and i*claim, AWC, Rhetorical Strategies and Logical Fallacies and EA, Fallacies of
Argument
Content: How do we evaluate sources? What is plagiarism? Is there truth in advertising? We will
also build our toolbox of specialized vocabulary (anaphora, straw men, syllogism, connotation, etc.)
and apply those tools to a project.
We focus on the terms now for a very important reason. You are already extremely capable of
analyzing texts and describing the function of language. If we let our knowledge of tools drive the
discourse, then our focus may become limited to identifying and describing them. By choosing to
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rely upon our own language to this point, the rhetorical terminology becomes another tool rather
than an end in itself.
This unit will also focus on visual and multimedia arguments, utilizing the structure supplied by
i*claim.
Project: Continue our discussion of the nature of humanity. We will break into teams and debate the
merits of the philosophical ideas embedded in the study of the American literary movements.
Culminating assessment: on demand argument essay
Unit IV: Race in America
AP Focus: Multiple Choice
Skills: We will reinforce our understanding of our rhetorical toolbox. We will also challenge our
ideas about structure and organization within a longer work.
Texts: Biography of student’s choice, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.
Essays: WEB DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk, (excerpt), ZN Hurston’s “How it Feels to be Colored
Me,” and author study in SW, James’ Baldwin’s “My Dungeon Shook,” and his short story, “Sonny’s
Blues.” And, TLC: Unit 9 on “Language,”
Content: Hurston, DuBois and Baldwin present challenging ideas about how much control we exert
over who we are and who we wish to become. We will contrast the three works philosophically as
well as stylistically.
Major paper: You will begin your research paper during this unit. We will work together to
determine a thesis that presents an original argument. It can be personal. Students have written
about the causes of their eating disorders or their laziness. It can be more global such as one
student’s belief that fast food causes families to spend less time together. In any case, the non-fiction
reading during this unit comes from your research. Sources must be a logical combination based
upon your topic of interviews, personal experience, academic journals, books, and internet sites. You
must justify the credibility of each source. We will have intermittent deadlines for a bibliography,
notes, outline, a draft, conferences, another draft and a final draft, formatted as required by MLA.
(See Hacker)
Culminating assessments:
#1) Clarify your position. Write an essay that explains your beliefs to the extent to which you control
who you are and who you will become. Use evidence from your own life to support your
conclusions. You may include ideas presented in the novels. Detail specific goals for yourself and
explain how you wish to attain them. What obstacles might you face? How will you overcome
them?
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#2) Practice AP Language exam.
Unit V: Postmodernism
AP Focus: Putting it all together, all the time
Theme: Rules and How to Break Them
Skills: We will focus on the relationship of form to function and the manipulation of language for
effect.
Texts: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, works and related readings of Poe, Carver, Kincaid,
Melville and Chekhov in SW, and TLC: Unit 10 on “Science and Technology”.
Major paper: Comparison of writing styles, rhetorical strategies: divided vs. alternating structure
Culminating assessment: AP Language and Composition exam.
Unit VI: AP Language and Composition Review
In our last unit before the AP exam, we will choose a unit from TLC and complete it in its entirety.
Based on student interest, we may examine community, work, sports, popular culture or nature. We
will review our rhetorical tools and analyze the arguments and the rhetorical strategies of the authors
included in that unit. Groups will write their own practice exam, another group will edit it. The best
exam as suggested by the class and approved of (and even tinkered with) by me will be given to the
class and will serve as the culminating assessment.
We will also meet on a Saturday morning to do a practice exam released by the College Board. We
will review it the following week.
The AP Exam is in early to mid May. We usually have three weeks of school after the exam. During
that time, we will read and prepare for our final exam.
Final Exam: Independent Book Project
You will choose a book of literary merit that is approved by me. It may be fiction or non-fiction as
this assignment serves as a bridge to AP Literature and Composition. You might consider an
additional work by someone we read this year or a book that extends an idea you feel compelled to
continue to study. This project serves as the culminating assessment for the entire course and
consists of three parts.
Reading Journal (20%): Keep a journal demonstrating the highest level of analysis of which
you are capable.
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Essay (30%): Write an essay analyzing the rhetorical (or literary) strategies of your author.
Use your journal to gather evidence and help organize your thoughts. If you do outside
research, be sure to cite your sources. Write a thesis-driven, focused essay using your most
tightly honed writing skills and, of course, MLA format. This work will not go through formal
conferencing with me or any other formal peer editing. Take responsibility for the writing
process that works for you.
Creative Project and Presentation (50%): Focus on what you learned from your book – it may
be thematic or related to the author’s writing style. Create SOMETHING. The possibilities are
endless. Write a short story in the style of your author, create a piece of art that reflects the
theme, make a video or poster that extends your author’s ideas or argument. Use music or
poetry. Ultimately, you have twenty minutes to share this with the class. THIS IS NOT A
BOOK REVIEW OR ANALYSIS. This is a chance to be an author yourself. Use the book to
inspire you, not to guide you.
Personal Essay: We will write and re-write this essay all year. After the AP exam, we will have an
evening coffee house where we will celebrate our successes and read our work.
Final course evaluation:
The time has come to sum up, to take stock, to reflect, to decide if all of this was worth it. You will
create a document that will serve three purposes:
1. Give you an opportunity to reflect on and evaluate changes to your reading, writing and
thinking processes since you began this class;
2. Offer me some evidence that what I do here is working or is not working; and
3. Provide you with a place to start when you write your reflective piece for your portfolio next
year. Choose an organizational structure that best suits the purposes of this assignment.
*Not all readings, assignments or projects are outlined here. This syllabus intends to present an
overall impression of the course and assist you in planning.
Textbooks:
Shea, Renee, Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Aufses. The Language of Composition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007.
Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007.
Marius, Richard. A Writer's Companion. Boston: McGraw-Hill College, 1999.
Clauss, Patrick. i*claim: visualizing argument. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007.
Downs, Doug. I*cite: visualizing sources. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.
Supplemental Texts:
Hacker, Diane. A Writer's Reference. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007.
Lunsford, Andrea, John Ruszkiewicz, and Keith Walters. everything's an argument: with readings. New York: Bedford/St.
Martin's, 2004.
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Skiba, Laurie. Literature and the Language Arts. St. Paul: EMC/Paradigm, 2006.
Dean, Nancy. Voice Lessons: Classroom Activities to Teach Diction, Detail, Imagery, Syntax, and Tone. Gainsville:
Maupin House, 2000.
Marzano, Robert, Debra Pickering, and Jane Pollack. Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-based Strategies for
Increasing Student Achievement
American Literature: Fiction
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening: An Authoritative Text, Biographical and Historical Contexts, Criticism. Edited by Margo
Culley. New York: Norton, 1994.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Collier Books, 1992.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Perennial Classics, 1998
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five. New York: Dial Press, 1999.
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Wrestling with the Text
(Or, how to journal in this class)
You will find many ways to read a text. But, keeping a journal as you read is one of the best ways of exploring
a piece of writing. With this process, you integrate reading and writing, and find that you can interact with
the work more fully. Take in every detail, every description. Try to avoid hasty judgments or analysis because
it can prevent you from understanding the meaning of the whole story. Remember, to analyze anything fully
you must have a complete understanding of it.

Begin each new piece without predetermined bias. You do not have to, nor should you, enjoy every
work of literature that you read. But, you should be willing to recognize that the author did have a
purpose for each detail, phrase, and word. Fight with the book until you get it to sit up and tell you
what it means. Play detective, if you like that metaphor better.

Read slowly. If you roller-skate through an art museum, you will not see the paintings, nor will you
feel as if you have missed anything, as they all will seem the same.

Read with pen and highlighter in hand.
On a separate sheet of paper and/or on the text itself:
1.
Copy down or highlight key phrases or important statements made by a character or the narrator.
2.
Note anything that seems important, striking, or just plain strange. Hypothesize about its purpose.
Anomalies are not accidents.
3.
Take notes on ideas or questions. Do not trust your memory.
4.
Keep lists of the characters and/or major events if you have trouble remembering them.
5.
Look up words that you do not know or words you think you know but seem to have a special
weight or usage. Note their meanings.
6.
Look for elements of setting, conflict, contrast, contradiction, and characterization.
7.
Identify symbols and suggest meanings, look for themes and motifs.
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8.
Look for rhythm, repetition, patterns or inventive structures. Successful works of fiction and nonfiction incorporate structure to create a mood or convey an idea. Pattern is form, and form is the
shaping the artist gives to his or her experience. If you can identify the pattern and relate it to the
content, you will have achieved something magical. Writing style carries as much weight at
content when finding meaning.
9.
Ask silent questions of the material as you read. Do not read passively, waiting to be told the
"meaning." Most authors will seldom pronounce a moral. Even if they do, a work is always more
than its theme. Use the questions devised by reporters: Who, What, When, Where. Why and How
may take more study--such questions probe the inner levels of a text.
10.
Comment on the title. Does the title add to or change your understanding?
11.
Make personal connections to the text (“He reminds me of my brother because…”) and pass
judgment on characters or plot twists (“That was a totally thoughtless thing he just did. I wonder
why the author might have made him do that? What does it say about this character’s
personality?”)
12.
When you have finished with the above and have read the entire piece, THEN share your opinion.
Use specific language and references to the text. Remember, authors almost never write to show
you a good time; (OK, some do, but we call them “trashy.”) their goal is to enlighten. Often, the
enjoyment comes from the struggle to understand and not the story itself.

When I grade a reading journal, I look for evidence of the TWELVE items listed above. Obviously,
one cannot do all of them, all of the time. React to and wrestle with the text you are given; do not
force it into a predetermined structure of what you think it should be or what you imagine I am
looking for.

To get an “A,” I need to see that you are thinking deeply about a piece and have completed the
reading. Find your own way to do that, but be sure to reference ideas from the entire piece so I can
see that you finished it.

Everyone’s reading journal will be of differing length. Length does not equal depth. However, each
chapter usually requires some amount of comment. I am looking for depth and reference to detail.

Do NOT write in complete sentences unless you choose to for your own benefit. This is YOUR
journal and I will never read every word of it. I assign them so YOU can do a better job with the
reading, and so I can incorporate your ideas into our class discussions. Besides, taking that much
time away from the text ruins the reading experience. Jot down your thoughts in ways that will be
clear to YOU when you need them to be; in class or when writing a paper. If you are being too
cryptic or brief, I will let you know.
NOTE: Plot summary is a good way to remember what you have read. No credit, however, will be given for
plot summary.
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